Comments on: …. The bad

By: Only Baseball Matters » Blog Archive » …. And so it begins

Only Baseball Matters » Blog Archive » …. And so it begins — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:51:11 +0000

[...] and used him as a pinch hitter, or pinch runner; and hoped nobody would notice their failure. I noticed. And so did [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:04:18 +0000

Well, it’s an outrage pure and simple and you guys have nailed it beyond question.
I hate to say it because when your team is in a pennant race it’s so damn much fun,
but the best thing might be for them to seriously tank it in the stretch. There’s an off
chance that way that somebody high up will see through the smoke and mirrors and
make some changes. If they do manage to make the playoffs or get close, there’s no
way. Next year will be a train wreck.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:12:55 +0000

Posey was called up on September 2nd and there was some thought that he might catch Lincicum on the 3rd when the G’s faced Pedro Martinez in Philly what with Molina on the bench with a sore leg. Molina, a lifetime .105 AVG against Martinez, caught the game instead, predictably going 0 for 4 taking his lifetime average versus Martinez to .087.

So far this month Bengie has batted 25 times, had 6 hits, no walks, 3 strikeouts with 3 RBIs and has left 12 men on base. He is sore, no doubt tired, and he is slumping.

Why not let Posey play?

By: marc

marc — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:50:21 +0000

Good post John – I don’t see the point of Winn either, nor Renteria. You have these other guys who are, at least, pretty unanimously thought of as plausible prospects – and here we are, again, with players who are nearing the end of their careers. And end of career = no longer replacement value, right? Well, Burriss and Lewis may not be All-Stars, but they’re replacement level, and golly – they might get better. From what I understand, it’s not that Lewis is a bad outfielder, he’s just not skilled – i.e., takes routes 50 feet longer than necessary. He doesn’t seem like he’s not intelligent – bet he would figure that out, or as you say, there just might be a few people still living who can tutor him on how to play the outfield. I understand it’s not a newly created position.

I’ve seen posts on other sites defending Posey sitting – but I don’t agree. Maybe it’s down to some weird Bochy old-catcher complex. But the Giants making the playoffs is, and has been all season, a wish for good luck. On paper, it’s never been likely. So why not let the kid take his knocks now, see what it’s like, find out where he needs to take his game up a notch. God knows he won’t hurt the team at the plate, and with only a couple of weeks left, he’s liable to hit a few 500 feet, Niekro-style. Happens all the time with rookies.

Yes, the trades made zero sense, and Frandsen and Ishikawa got effectively tossed. The Giants have thrown away a lot over the last few years, and I’m quite convinced that Sandoval and how Uribe has played were “accidents” – ironical that if the GM wasn’t so clueless, they probably wouldn’t be on the team.

A lot, a lot, of waste. It’s not a good thing when your GM would have been more effective had he done nothing.

By: John

John — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:09:33 +0000

You’re still alive?

Thanks for stopping by my site, now stop by my house.

By: B

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:01:52 +0000

Can’t say I agree with this at all. Throughout our entire organization, including the minors, it seems there’s no emphasis put on things that matter like walks, plate discipline, and every other aspect of hitting that actually produces runs. I see guys come up that aren’t any better at the things we need than the guys Sabean signs. Just because our minor league system did well this year doesn’t really say much about the job our coaches are doing – rather, the major league talent we bring up from our system speaks more about the job they’re doing, and frankly, lately it’s been better but over Sabean’s tenure it’s been a collection of awful.

By: Mook

Mook — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:03:07 +0000

You youngsters! I’ve been watching Giants since Mays, McCovey, Lanier, Davenport and Hart. Growing up, I never attended a game they even WON with my Dad.

They are chronic underachievers…

By: Geoffrey

Geoffrey — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:44:55 +0000

So the Giants are on pace for ~650 runs. No team has ever made the playoffs (I only checked the wild card era but am pretty sure this will hold for all time) having scored <650 runs.
Only two teams have ever made the playoffs (wild card era) having scored<700 runs. The '05 Padres (684 runs) won the West (82-80 record) and the '05 Astros (693 runs) who won the wild card.

So basically a team needs to be capable of scoring over 700 runs to have any chance of making the playoffs. This team is a million miles from that point right now and I'm not sure I can see when we will ever be close with Sabean at the helm. He must go, but as +mia has so rightly pointed out, why the fuck should the owners care when they are making a tidy profit?

By: +mia

+mia — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:06:28 +0000

I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

UPDATE: And now the Giants are four games back in the loss column, after being held to 2 runs for the 24th time in their last 66 games.

So lets say that they score the league average (4.44 runs) in half of those games instead of less than 50% of the league average (2.22 runs).

In half of those games (12 games), 4 runs would have been enough to win. But that would have been cherry picking just those 12 games where the league average would have been enough to win. So as to not cherry pick, lets cut the games won to half of those, or 6 games. 25% of the total. That is 6 games out of the 24 you can move to the win column for discussion sake. That is a 6 game swing.

So instead of 76W-64L, the Giants would be at 82-58. With just league average scoring (4 runs) during half of the games instead of 2 or less.

You know. Something a Jermaine Dye or Adam Dunne or Matt Holliday or even Jason Giambi could have helped them do? Maybe add a couple of runs for 12 games out the 66, and have half of those 12 games become 4-3 wins instead of 3 to 2, 2-1, losses?

That is how little Sabean would have been required to do. So what he got was a broken down second baseman with no power and a utility platoon 1b and proclaimed “We’re In”.

Maybe the wallets of the fans you’re in. But not in any serious contention for a Pennant or World Series.

By: The Other Robert

The Other Robert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:17:09 +0000

Ironic comment of the day, from winning Padres pitcher Wade LeBlanc:

LeBlanc, who made his big league debut last year, is a different pitcher this go around.

“It’s not even close,” he said. “I was a totally different guy. Last year I tried to strike everybody out.”

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290909126