Comments on: …. Be afraid

By: +mia

+mia — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:53:25 +0000

I respectfully disagree with you about his being an experienced catcher behind the plate. He may have been experienced, but he is now so woefully out of shape, he cannot move, and cost pitchers strikes time after time by having to move his glove outside the knees instead of his big fat carcass, thereby costing Giants pitchers critical strikes.

By: B

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:31:37 +0000

“The problem is that Sabean and his front office *seem* to care about all the wrong stats, instead of using modern, proven methods to determine which players are actually an upgrade for the team.”

Using those stats, Molina is below average even for a C.

By: Josh

Josh — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:34:27 +0000

“The guy played his heart out and deserves better credit.”

To be fair to Molina, if he was surrounded by good hitters, and could be batted 7th or 8th in the lineup, I’d be able to overlook his league average production (as a catcher) and be happy that there was an experienced catcher behind the plate calling pitches for the Giants staff. I respect Molina, and how much he loves playing the game, but he’s not a cleanup hitter. Hitting 80 RBIs in the cleanup spot isn’t a feat, it’s terrible. The problem is that Sabean and his front office *seem* to care about all the wrong stats, instead of using modern, proven methods to determine which players are actually an upgrade for the team.

Without the fantastic season that appeared out of nowhere for one Pablo Sandoval, the Giants may not have even sniffed the playoffs this year. He was the only fielder who truly deserves any credit for the Giants unexpected success this year.

By: John Perricone

John Perricone — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:35:50 +0000

Lane,

With all due respect, fans like you are the reason Sabean hasn’t been fired. Fans like you, who look at the most superficial stats, and pay no attention to the details that winning teams seek to exploit. Regards Molina, he made 400 outs this season, in just 530 plate appearances. He walked 13 times, and grounded into 14 double plays. He created 59 runs, or 4.14 runs per 27 outs, which is to say, he was a perfect representation of the league-worst offense of the SF Giants as an offensive player. The fact that he hit 20 home runs and drove in 80 runs is simply due to the fact that ha batted cleanup all season long, even though he was among the least productive everyday players in baseball.

By: LANE

LANE — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:52:16 +0000

You always tend to overstate things. A penchant for melodramatics makes good copy but not necessary accurate or fair.

My two cents: Benji Molina is amongst the top 4 catchers in baseball–both the AL and the NL. He is 4th in HRs and 5th in RBIs. For a guy who playing for 50% of Rowand’s salary and 75% of Renteria’s this is not the “league average catcher” you describe. The guy played his heart out and deserves better credit.

By: Roger Strukhoff

Roger Strukhoff — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:51:08 +0000

I hate Velez at second, he’s so shitty there it affects his hitting. Put him in left and we’re good. I’m hoping Freddy will be OK–remember, I’m a Giants fan, so hope always triumphs experience here. My cat could have taken one look at Renteria BEFORE signing him and seen he was fat and didn’t give a rat’s ass; why can’t professional baseball people see this? And agreed, chemistry my ass! Microsoft was run by a couple of the most disagreeable pricks you’d ever not want to meet, and had buildings chock full of junior pricks and assistant pricks. If you are actually nice and try to get along there, you’re a feichling and won’t last long. Yet, somehow Microsoft managed to succeed a little. Same in sports–I agree with the guy who referenced the 2002 Giants and 70s A’s and Yankees. And how about that WWII coalition of Ike, Monty, and Stalin? Old Ike also had to deal with the monstrously egotistic Patton and Macarthur, as well as the incredibly arrogant Marshall and Roosevelt back home. Somehow, he muddled through and managed the team to victory. Chemistry? Chemistry? You’re talkin’ about chemistry? Chemistry?

By: Uncle Joe Mccarthy

Uncle Joe Mccarthy — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 06:23:50 +0000

you all know what this means

renteria stays

and sabean overspends to keep sanchez here

either cain or the good sanchez are packaged for a trade…that will turn out badly

oh…and as it is not the giants way to fire anyone…sabean and bochy complete their new 3 year contracts

shoot…timmy is happy with bochy, cuz he lets him look like a refugee from a grunge concert…ya…that will get us to the ws for sure

By: +mia

+mia — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:36:07 +0000

No. I don’t think your thoughts were based on wishful thinking at all. You got my attention with the construct and I still believe your logic was and is correct. Any more than mine would have been if he had indeed behaved as you reasoned, and not with my eventual outcome.

For all we know, he may have very well gone in the direction you predicted, and changed his mind in the last few days for reasons we will never know.

One of the beautiful things about the human being is the ability to change. He can change next year.

And then we will both be right

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:08:12 +0000

CLUSTER FUCK

I was wrong. I was convinced that Neukom would not extend a new contract to Sabean.
I constructed arguments supporting this belief and they have proved to be based on wishful thinking.
I am frustrated, I am disappointed, and I am sick at heart.

By: +mia

+mia — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:58:19 +0000

Robert made some really good points (which are still valid) its just that Neukom did not play to his strengths. That is not uncommon for a guy out of his element, and clearly he is. He is not a baseball guy. He is a tech world mouthpiece. Brilliant, accomplished and recognized.

But this is baseball. Being smart or accomplished or brilliant in other fields, while being an asset is not enough to prevail against the richest of the rich and the best of the best.

Like most competitve sports. All things being equal in terms of speed, mobility, you always take the big guy over the little guy.

In MLB, the big guys are in LA, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, with Dallas under Nolan Ryan charging hard.

These teams are run by smart, baseball guys. Classic case is New York

The Steinbrenners are baseball men, father and son. The Wilpons are stocks and bonds guys. Need I say more?