Nothing is likely to happen at all. Sabean is not likely to sign anybody worth a shit.
UPDATE: Seems like the realities of the free agent market may actually force Sabean make the right decision:
…. the Nationals’ signing of Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year, $6 million deal to be a backup might have helped drive the market higher for catchers, perhaps making it tougher to find short-term quality.
“The Pudge signing is not going to help our situation,” general manager Brian Sabean said.
Asked if the contract surprised him, Sabean said, “Yes – how he’s going to be used against the money. I don’t think he’s going to be catching 100 games.”
Sabean remains adamant about not signing a catcher for two years, and he said he has no intention of pursuing Molina again: “That ship has sailed. That’s not going to be a fallback position for us.” While manager Bruce Bochy spoke publicly about his fondness for two other free-agent catchers, Miguel Olivo, who played for Bochy in San Diego, and Yorvit Torrealba, Sabean said he’s willing to “revisit Posey.”
Likewise, if the Giants don’t find a suitable No. 5 starter for one year to replace Brad Penny, now a Cardinal, Bumgarner could round out the rotation.
“If it ends up being Bumgarner as the fifth starter, he’s one of the best alternatives in all of baseball,” Sabean said. “If Posey ends up being the catcher, he’s the minor-league player of the year. We have some alternatives that other people don’t have in place right now. … You have to feel good about that.”
So, even though he is too stubborn, or ill-informed, Sabean still might end up doing the best thing for the team anyway, which is nothing. There is nobody in this season’s free agent pool who is really worth it, even if you love Holliday or Bay, they’re gonna be uber-expensive, and both have some holes in their games (mostly age-related). Posey and Bumgardner are the team’s two best options for those slots, young, inexpensive, with tons of upside. Also mentioned in the piece was the rethinking on Uribe. Good. Sign him for a year or two at $2 million per or something like that, and plug him in as the fill-in for the old and injury-prone Sanchez and Renteria.
I still think the team whiffed on Penny, but who knows, maybe his month here was an illusion. He’s still essentially a league-average pitcher. Bumgardner has to be able to match Penny’s production:
30 starts 173 innings 191 hits 94 earned runs 109 strikeouts 51 walks 4.88 ERA
I mean, if Bumgarder can’t do that, he’s not worth very much anyway, and we might as well find out now.
We all know that Posey can’t be worse than rally-killer.
You’re showing Penny’s combined RedSox/Giants numbers.
His SF Line was 6 starts, and except for the Dodger abomination in LA giving up 7 runs in 2.2 innings he was dominant in the stretch run and along with Lincecum, prevented the Giants from being eliminated a lot sooner than they were…which in turn put a ton of asses in Payphone Park during September
RESULT IP H R ER HR BB SO GB FB PIT BF W-L ERA
Totals 41.2 31 13 12 5 9 20 71 60 568 161 4-1 2.59
The Giants paid Randy Johnson 8 million dollars to take his kids on vacation for almost half the of last season. They will pay Ed Renteria 9 million to be a sundial this season. The jackass who traded his no. 2 pitching prospect for a guy on the DL rent a 2b, just signed same old player for 12 million to get injured, show no range, make an above average number of outs, and show no speed and no arm.
They will pay Barry Zito $20 million fucking dollars to tweet, wear his hat crooked, play air guitar, and get boat-raced in 15 of his 33 projected starts. Yet they couldn’t find $9 million for Penny when he proved he was over his injury and could once again dominate in the NL?
And is anybody willing to bet there house that he wont absolutely thrive for the Cardinals? While Sabean can’t make up his mind who his starting catcher is going to be or who his 5 th starter is going to be?
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/cardinals-are-penny-wise/
Penny’s velocity increased over the course of the season – it seems like good evidence to me he really was a better pitcher for the Giants than the Red Sox. A 4.35 FIP is a good sign that Penny is a solid starter, and if he gives you 150-200 innings at that level, that’s a valuable player.
As for John….are you feeling ok? I sensed some…optimism in your update? A concession that Holliday may not be worth it (I still think the Giants need to sign him)?
Yeah, I’m fine.
I’m not willing to give too much credence to such a small sample size. Sure, he looked great as a Giant. But one month just does not make that much difference to me.
Anyway, Sabean had already decided that Penny was a rental, and once he makes up his mind, he forges onward, regardless of any bothersome evidence that he might be wrong. Look at Sanchez. It hardly matters to Sabean that the player he coveted four or five years ago is a shadow of his former self. He still sees that Sanchez, the guy that led the league in batting average. He thinks he’s signing that guy, not the old, broken down Freddie Sanchez that is alive today. In fact, that may be best way to think about what’s going on with Sabean after all…..
I’m gonna go front page with this rant…..
I know you don’t put much credence in Penny’s late season run. I do. I think the combination of his getting healthy, getting motivated and pitching in favorable conditions all combined to reestablish himself as a very good pitcher.
And I’m thinking that the $7.5 million to 9.0 million the Cards are going to pay him to be their number 3 is money well risked.
Only time will tell at this point. I am willing to wager a big fat jelly donut on it too!
You get it now – Torrealba could not fit into the Giants until he was a seasoned vet, like Benito, Matheny, Molina, and all the other aging catchers this organization needs to support its young pitching staff. I wouldn’t doubt Sabean will try to trade Posey and sign Kendall. Posey is clearly too young for this team. Come back in 15 years.
I am holding my breath until all the 35+ year old free agents are signed. Those are the only ones Sabean is likely to go after.
want another reason that bochy shoulda been fired? its in the above story
“While manager Bruce Bochy spoke publicly about his fondness for two other free-agent catchers, Miguel Olivo, who played for Bochy in San Diego, and Yorvit Torrealba, Sabean said he’s willing to “revisit Posey.”
bochy not only doesnt want to take a chance with posey, but he thinks the org has a chance to pickup torri
now after how the org and sabean treated him…why the fuck would torri want to return here? the fact that bochy has absolutely no clue about this is amazing…doesnt he talk to sabean everyday?
the giants wouldnt allow torri to start and went out of their way to get fa catchers…but now that torri is a vet and an fa, he is indeed capable of starting for this squad
what a joke the giants are
At least the Yankees are busy making moves that make them better, right? What a steal for Granderson. What is Arizona thinking? I guess that helps the Giants…
As Robert posted above, and I am paraphrasing here what Red Sox Mgr Francona said about the Yankees. “They have money and smart people who know how to spend it”
Field of More of the Same
According to John Shea in today’s Splash Giant’s GM Brian Sabean said the payroll target is the low $90 million range.
That target number would just cover the expected increases arising from arbitration. That is not a payroll target that encompasses the signing of any new talent. As John so succinctly put it: Nothing is likely to happen at all. Sabean is not likely to sign anybody worth a shit.
When asked about the World Champion Yankees on Monday, Red Sox manager Terry Francona said,
“They have a couple of things that make life difficult for us: They have a lot of money and they have smart people running what they are doing.”
This remark stung because the Giants don’t have a lot of money (that they’re willing to part with) and they don’t have smart people running what they are doing (assuming they are trying to run a winning baseball franchise.)
In defense of the Giants, the free agent market this year is singularly unattractive. Next year free agents will be more plentiful and of a higher quality. Here, for comparison purposes, is a list of just some of the 2011 potential free agents (mostly outfielders):
Pat Burrell TB 838
Eric Byrnes ARI 763
Frank Catalanotto MIL 804
Carl Crawford TB 772
Coco Crisp KC 738
Michael Cuddyer MIN * 801
David DeJesus KC * 782
Adam Dunn WAS 903
Jermaine Dye CWS 826
Jody Gerut MIL 765
Jose Guillen KC 764
Brad Hawpe COL * 875
Geoff Jenkins PHI 834
Austin Kearns WAS 780
Jason Kubel MIN * 813
Magglio Ordonez DET * 884
Marcus Thames DET 797
Jayson Werth PHI 827
The numbers are lifetime OPS. The * denotes club option.
It looks like the Giants have decided to coast through 2010 without making any major deals.
They may be looking forward even further into the future when they can get out from under some of the debilitating contracts Sabean has arranged. Sometimes I wonder whether the ownership group isn’t using Sabean and Bochy as sacrificial goats, leaving them in the public eye to take the heat during the next two to three years. Their contract’s length correspond closely with Zito’s and the retirement of the stadium debt.
This idea haunts me.
Understatement
Coasting through to 2012 at least. That is when Sabean’s contract is up, along with Bochy. I realize that folks like to be optimistic in the offseason, but this is simply ridiculous and really nothing more than blatant revenue skimming.
The salient points, until they are addressed, are going to be hammered home and home again. Even the KNBR jack-asses are beginning to acknowledge that Sabean and the Giants are pathetic on offense. Have been pathetic offensively and will continue to offend.
I don’t know how many ways Sabean has to say it before even the most delusional of Giants fans realizes that this is their Giants.
One of the worst offenses in baseball for several years.
Almost 3 million tickets per year.
Revenues of close to $200 Million. Payroll of $90 Million
The same guy who made a mess of this team is being counted upon to clean it up. By doing the exact same things he has done before?
Who the fuck is kidding whom?
Another of the Selig era travesties. He has cultivated owners such as himself, who are convinced the teams they ride roughshod over, are their personal chattel, and not a public stewardship, for which they were given an anti-trust exemption so many decades ago.
Have you seen a picture of him lately? The only thing he is likely to be signing is a bar tab