Bruce Bochy is a genius

GIANTS 10 - DODGERS 2

The Genius at work

Yes, Bruce Bochy is a genius.

As hard as those words were to type, I had to type them.  there is no other way to describe his decision to put Edgar Renteria in the leadoff hole.

Admit it, you probably had the same reaction as every other Giants fan when you saw that ol' Sleepy had Renteria leading off tonight.  As a matter of fact, I was so sure Bochy lost his mind when I saw it that  I tweeted: "Wow, Rent batting leadoff! I hope Sanchez has another no-no in him tonight."  Well Rent proved me wrong by going 4 for 5 and being a table-setter just like a leadoff man should.


Speaking of Jonathan Sanchez....


He absolutely dominated the Dodgers tonight.  The first inning looked pretty scary as Juan Uribe appeared determined to throw the game away again when he air-mailed Ryan Theriot's bunt attempt in the first inning.  This allowed Rafael Furcal to score and sent Theriot to 2nd.  The Dodgers had one run already in and a runner on second with no outs.


The old Jonathan Sanchez would have gone on to fall apart and allow 4 or 5 runs.  But this is Dirty Sanchez we are talking about here.


And Dirty he was.


Sanchez settled down to strike out 12 Dodgers and walk exactly zero.  I will say that another way, Jonathan Sanchez walked ZERO batters in 7 innings!  Five days after walking 7 batters in 5 innings the lanky lefty walked 0.  Striking out 12 batters, a career high for Sanchez, while walking 0 is a feat that has only happened 12 times in Giants history. (Tim Lincecum has done it 3 times!)  So Sanchez has another page in the Gigantes long history books.


And you guys wanted to trade him for that Adam Dunn guy.  


I can't end the article without mentioning the offense.  They finally joined the party today.   After scoring a grand total of 9 runs in their last 5 games, the offense busted out for 10 runs in one game!  Did I mention it was against the Dodgers?


Aubrey Huff continued his MVP push by getting the scoring started with a 4 run homerun off Dodgers starter Ted Lilly.  Meanwhile, back at the batcave, Buster Posey followed him with a solo shot and the Giants were suddenly up 5-1 effectively deciding the game.   But the Giants would pour on 5 more runs and getting a homerun from another guy I'm sure Giants fans weren't too excited to see in the lineup tonight: Jose Guillen.  Guillen went 3 for 3 by the way,  (you genius Boch!)


Tonight the Brewers, who have lost 10 of their last 15 games, come rolling into town.  They have hopefully given up on the season as their record would indicate.  This would be great since the Padres are playing the Cardinals and Tony Larussa and Albert Pujols would never let their team throw in the towel no matter how many games back they are.  


Randy Wolf Vs. Madison Bumgarner tonight.  Stay hot Madbum!

Giants literally throw the game away

Is it possible to hate the team that you love?

I guess it is because I hate the Giants right now.  After doing all that they could to give the game away to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, the Giants found a way to give a game to the Colorado Rockies.

Not every Giant was trying to give the game away.  Jonathan Sanchez threw 8 innings of shutout ball, I'm not counting the run in the 9th as earned even though the official scorer did, walked Dexter Fowler to lead off the 9th and was replaced by Brian Wilson.

Let's analyze this right here.  Johnny No-No had thrown 108 pitches and, after getting ahead 0-2 to Fowler, he suddenly lost his command throwing 4 wide ones.  Bochy was absolutely right in pulling Sanchez at this point and bringing in Wilson.  Sure Wilson threw 30 pitches yesterday but Wilson was good for an inning tonight.

Wilson got Carlos Gonzalez to line out to Cody Ross....At least, that's what everyone thought.  Ross played Gonzalez's liner into a triple and to make matters worse, Freddy Sanchez sent the relay throw into the Giants' dugout allowing Gonzalez to score.

Game over.

I have 2 complaints about this game.

First:

Why wasn't Nate Schierholtz manning rightfield?  The only reason, that I can see, that he is even on the roster is as a late inning defensive replacement.  Isn't that what you want in a late inning game?  Boch, in his infinite wisdom, put Travis Ishikawa in at first base as a defensive replacement, which was absolutely the right move. Why not put in Nate?  He would have thrown the ball all the way to third on the fly and we probably would be watching extra innings right now.

Second:

The Giants bats.  It doesn't matter who they throw out there, how many runs they scored against the Reds, or how many runs they scored against the D-backs yesterday.  This team has a tendency to just go in a top to bottom funk when it comes to hitting and it happens a LOT.  Especially when Sanchez is on the mound and pitching well, look at the two 1-0 losses to the Padres that he took earlier this year.  I'm not saying that they need to score 10 runs every night, I am just saying they need to score more than 1 or 2 runs a lot more.

The game recap on SFGiants.com is titled:  Chance to gain ground slips by Giants.  This is actually incorrect because the Giants have had 5 chances in a row to gain ground on the Padres and they are just 1-4 in those games.

Do these Giants really want to play in the postseason?

Following up on yesterday's post about the 2009 Giants and the 2010 team.   It looks as if the 2010 Giants are trying to keep their record identical to last year's squad.  Both teams own 72-60 records after 132 games.  good thing is the 2009 Giants won game 133!

Down on the farm:

Brandon Belt 4-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

See you on Wednesday Mr. Belt.  you can take that seat right next to Nate Schierholtz on the bench.

Giants lose to Padres again. It's getting ridiculous

PADRES 3 - GIANTS 2

The Giants lost to the Padres for the 8th time in 9 games.  If the Giants had managed to win 3 of the 8 games they lost, which is less than half by the way, the Giants would be sitting in first place right now.   But no, the Giants can't even win a game against the Padres pitcher, Clayton Richard, who has been struggling in his last few starts.

Jonathan "Mr Guarantee" Sanchez pretty much lost the game by way of his horrible bunting in the second inning.  With runners on 1st and 2nd and nobody out, Sanchez bunted right back to the pitcher which enabled the Padres to throw out Juan Uribe at third base.  This is like the 8th time that Sanchez has been unable to execute a bunt properly this season.  I think 7 of those came against the Padres.

The Giants must win these next two games against the Padres.  If they don't they will be 5.5 games back.  They still play the Pads 7 more times after but if they can't win these next two games then I have no reason to believe that they can win any of the other 7 games they will play against them.

Oh and don't think that Bruce Bochy didn't have his hand in this debacle.  For some unexplained reason, Aaron Rowand was in the starting lineup again.  Not only did Rowand get picked off of second base in the 2nd inning, he struck out to end the game with the tying run on first base.  Rowand should be nowhere near the starting lineup at ever again this season.  If the Giants want to win this thing they can't keep trotting out the closest thing to an automatic out that the Giants have.  I am actually glad that the Giants got Guillen now if it means that Rowand will get even less playing time.

The other bonehead Bochy decision?  Batting the slumping Freddy Sanchez second.  In the 40 games since Sanchez was last at a .300 average, Sanchez is batting .223 with a horrendous OBP of .289.

Pablo Sandoval has been having his own struggles this season but he has been coming on in August.  Even if you go back 40 games with Pablo he is batting over 40 points better than Sanchez .265 to .223.  During the month of August, even with the 0 for 3 last night, Pablo is batting .326.  this would make him the perfect guy to bat in the 2 hole.

Bochy is a fan of saying that he likes to "Play the hot hand" yet for some reason the "hot hand" was hitting 6th and the stone cold hand was hitting 2nd.  A lineup that makes more sense, now that Guillen is in SF, looks more like this:

Torres, Sandoval, Posey, Burrell, Huff, Guillen, Uribe, Sanchez

Oh and the Padres even broke the Giants' Orange Friday mojo by handing them their first loss in the Orange unis.

Giants finally pull the trigger on Jose Guillen

The San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals surprised nobody and were finally able to pull off the deal that had been in the rumor mill for about a month now.  The only thing surprising about this deal is the fact that the Royals threw in so much money and that we didn't give up Brandon belt to get him.  At least I'm hoping we didn't!  (The Royals will be getting a Player To Be Named Later and usually this means that the Giants gave them a list of names they could pick from and I would be SHOCKED if Belt's name was on there.  It probably wasn't because he would probably already be on his way to Kansas City right now if he was.

This is another solid, if unspectacular deal for Brian Sabean this season.  Guillen is in a contract year, has good power, and has just gained 15.5 games in the standings.  He is in a position where he can succeed. I know everybody is worried about his defense and about his low average over the last month or so but the defense hasn't hurt the Giants so far when it comes to Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff and the average can be thrown out the window because Guillen suddenly has some motivation.

Think about it.  Guillen is a guy who is labeled as a complainer and a malcontent.  He throws tantrums, criticizes his teammates, and is just a negative presence altogether.  These kinds of guys need a reason to get motivated.  he has been sitting in K.C. waiting for the day that they traded him away.  Now, he is on a contender and he will be close to the lead on Sportscenter almost every night.  He will be able to put up numbers to pad his next contract, which hopefully will not be coming from the Giants.

I am a little concerned that Bochy has already anointed him the everyday Right Fielder, but Boch also said that Burrel would be coming off the bench and he is in the lineup every day.  Maybe Bochy means the opposite of what he says!  ( really if you look back at a lot of Bochy's quotes it's true!)

Anyway, Guillen is not Adam Dunn But he is the best that the Giants are going to be able to do without giving up Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and Brandon Belt.

Oh and the way I envision the lineup with Guillen and the resurgent Panda:

Torres, Sandoval, Posey, Burrell, Huff, Uribe, Guillen, Sanchez

Giants dodge a bullet and Bochy is the whipping boy

GIANTS 3 - BRAVES 2

The Giants looked destined for a 2-1 loss last night.  Then a couple of errors, a couple of walks, and a sacrifice fly later, the Giants were 3-2 winners in extra innings.  They had 4 hits all night and all of the scoring was done on an RBI groundout, a throwing error, and a sacrifice fly.

You might say the Giants were lucky.  Brian Wilson said:  "I don't feel fortunate, we won the game because we played the fundamentals of baseball and we lasted a little longer than they did. We're going to play like the stud ballclub we are."


I agree with Brian.


The Braves struck out 10 times last night against Barry Zito, who continued his excellent season on the mound, and 15 times total against the Giants pitchers.  The Giants were outhit 4 to 6, but six hits isn't all that much better than 4 until you realize that the extra two hits from the Braves were homeruns.  (By the way, all of the Braves runs in this series have scored via the longball)  The Giants drew 8 walks to the Braves 2.

The reason all of this is important is because, after a 90 minute rain delayed start to the game, the Braves spent a lot more time in the field when they got to the crucial 9th inning.  Because they had been putting the ball in play all night long rather than striking out, they had been putting pressure on the defense all night to make plays.  That pressure finally got to the Braves when it mattered most and the Giants, like the good stud ballclub they are, took advantage of it.

It seems like Bruce Bochy has come under more fire than ever before this week.  Lefty Malo was all over him, so was the Bleacher report, hell there even is a fire Bruce Bochy facebook page!  I have my problems with the guy like why is Juan Uribe still batting 5th instead of Pat Burrell?  But really, would the Giants be any better than 63-47 with any other manager at the helm?

We will never know.

Link of the day:

Saturday August 14th is Bruce Bochy Bobblehead day at AT&T park.  It makes me wonder how in touch with reality the Giants marketing department is.  I mean seriously, do they really think that kids will be begging their parents to take them to the ballpark so they can get a bobblehead of THE MANAGER?  Also, do they think that the fans actually like Bochy?

I don't know the answer to either of those questions but I have provided you with photographic proof that there is indeed a Bruce Bochy Bobblehead out there.

Oh and last but not least:

The game recap from the San Jose Mercury News  reports that the Giants did indeed put in a waiver claim on Adam Dunn.  They were blocked by a team with a worse record.  Who do you think that team was?  Well if you said the Dodgers then you would be correct.

I hate those guys.

It's finally a rivalry!

GIANTS 7 - DODGERS 5

About the only thing that went wrong for the Giants was Tim Lincecum giving up 5 runs.

They even got a boost in the ninth from Bruce Bochy!

Bochy proved that he doesn't always sleep in the dugout.  At least he wasn't last night when Donny Baseball decided to turn back towards the mound after starting on his way back to the dugout.  A surprisingly alert Bochy, the guy's nickname is SLEEPY after all, notified the umpire of Mattingly's blunder and made him remove Closer Jonathan Broxton from the game!

Now this kind of rule technicality usually seems kinda cheap to me but since it didn't happen against the Giants and it happened against the Dodgers to boot I am OK with it!

The Giants site has replays from both the Giants and Dodgers telecasts and the Hall of Famers Jon Miller and Vin Scully both knew immediately what happened.  You gotta give credit to the umps having seen it.

Mattingly was in there as the Dodgers manage after Joe Torre, Clayton Kershaw, and a bench coach were all ejected earlier in the game after the home plate umpire determined that Kershaw hit Aaron Rowand on the first pitch of the 7th inning in retaliation for Lincecum catching Kemp's jersey in the 5th and a brushback pitch from Denny Bautista in the 6th.

The best development of all was the fact that the Giants offense was able to overcome the shaky outing by Lincecum and come from a 5-1 deficit making this the first series victory over the Dodgers this season after San Francisco had rolled over and played dead against the Dodgers all season long.

Link of the day:

In the kind of thing that only happens in baseball, Lefty O'Doul's left arm was returned.  Apparently at Lefty O'Doul's restaurant and tavern they used to have a mannequin of old Lefty that stood in the entrance greeting the patrons as they came in to enjoy a few adult beverages.  Then one day three years ago a couple of drunks made off with Lefty's left arm.

Well that arm has made it's way around,  You absolutely have to view the slideshow to believe it!, the drunks took pictures of Lefty's arm in various places around what appears to be Iowa or somewhere else in the midwest, the package did have a return address in Des Moines and it appears that Lefty's limb took part in RAGBRAI , and they finally the arm home along with a bunch of pictures of Lefty's arm enjoying the sights.

I may have to stop by Lefty O'Doul's next time I am in San Francisco to see the arm and more of it's pictures.

Maybe the return pf Lefty's limb can be the spark of a World Series title!

Youth is served. Finally.

GIANTS 6 - NATIONALS 2

The Buster Posey show continued today.  Madison Bumgarner ran his scoreless innings streak to 15, and Travis Ishikawa was the only Giants with multiple hits to go along with his 3 RBIs.

The kids are starting to take this team over.

Going into the break I believe that Bruce Bochy has found his best lineup.  When Torres returns, and that should be the first game right after the break, Bochy should throw out the lineup of Torres, Sanchez, Huff, Posey, Ishikawa, Uribe, Sandoval, and Shierholtz.  If he throws that lineup out day in and day out, and resists the temptation to tinker, the offense should be OK.

The young guys have pretty much gone out and taken over this team.  Specifically Posey, Ishikawa, and Bumgarner.  They have been the biggest contributors, along with Aubrey Huff, to the Giants offense on this roadtrip.

Buster Posey has easily become the offensive leader of this team.  He carried the team on his shoulders during the roadtrip having gone 20-40 with 6 HRs and 15 RBIs.  Ishikawa has been a nice compliment to Posey while having hit in eight of his last nine games with a .429 average (12-for-28) during that stretch, which includes one homer and 11 RBIs.


Now one would think that any major league manager would go with what has been his most productive ineup of the season coming out of the break.  But this is Bruce Bochy who looks for any way to get struggling vets like Aaron Rowand, Bengie Molina (before he was traded), and Edgar Renteria.  


I do have to give him some credit for actually working Nate Schierholtz into the lineup the last two days.  nate repaid that faith by hitting a double and driving in a run in yesterday's game.


Link of the day.


Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury news reports that Giants management had a sitdown with Pablo Sandoval after yesterday's game.  Nobody has expected Pablo to struggle as much as he has this season and we are all waiting for him to turn it around.  


The key to remember with Pablo is that he is 23 years old and he is still contributing defensively.  I don't think the Giants have anybody that they could replace him with if they wanted to.  Baggarly also points out that Pablo is one good season away from millions of dollars as he is currently making just over the league minimum.

At least they scored 3 runs

ROCKIES 7 - GIANTS 3

About 2 weeks ago, this team was looking promising.  They were scoring runs, pitching well, and winning games.

Then they went to Toronto.

The Giants haven't won a series since they played the Orioles back on June 14-16.  Since that time they are 3 - 10 and they have now lost 3 in a row.  The offense scored 3 runs for the first time in 6 games but the pitching staff gave up 7 runs.

The result was another loss.

The only real positive from this game is that the Giants future was on display and performed well.  Buster Posey was the only Giant to get more than one hit, including his second homer, and Madison Bumgarner threw 7 decent innings.  They seemed to be the only 2 Giants who decided to show up to play.

More fallout from the Molina trade.

The PTBNL turns out to be minor league pitcher Michael Main.  He is a mid level pitcher who has had a few issues recently but throws hard and possibly projects to the bullpen.  It really makes this a good deal for the Giants.  It was actually a good deal for both teams since that Rangers had almost zero production from their catchers and the Giants lineup couldn't afford the non-production from Molina.

Molina was a good Giant.  Up until this season, he was solid offensively and really shaped and molded our excellent staff.  He will be missed.

What is wrong with the pitchers?

A lot of what is wrong with the starters can be boiled down to a slump.

I think a lot of what ails them is actually related to the offensive struggles.

You always hear baseball pitchers say that it's not necessarily pitch count that matters but how many high stress pitches a pitcher throws.  Usually high stress pitches come from situations where the game is close and every pitch the pitcher makes can lose the game so a pitcher has got to be almost perfect with each pitch.

Almost every pitch a Giants starter has thrown can classify as a high stress pitch.

The Giants staff is usually pitching with one or two runs of support and each pitch they throw has the potential to lose the game for them.  They are constantly under pressure to be perfect or lose.  The Giants haven't even scored more than 3 runs since June 25th so there hasn't been one instance where a pitcher has had a 2 or 3 run lead since at least then.

With all the stress on the staff, slumps like this are inevitable.  They are inevitable anyway, but when the offense can't score enough runs to pick up Barry Zito who battles and battles and only gives up 2 runs, it is disastrous for a team and that starter.

The bottom line is the Giants need more offense.

The only rumor on the search for more offense is that the Giants want Jonathan Sanchez and Thomas Neal for Prince Fielder.  The Giants are balking at that deal and I can understand why.  Who are they going to replace Sanchez in the rotation with?  If they can figure out the answer to that question then I am all for the deal.  right now the Giants can't afford to replace anybody in the starting rotation.   Although a little offensive firepower makes the starters all look a little better.  They also probably don't want to part with Neal.

Nate watch, Bowker watch, and prospect watch:
Nate got a start and went 1 for 4.  Hopefully with some regular playing time he can start to hit with some authority.  John Bowker went 0 for 2 for Fresno and lowered his average to a paltry .323.  Lastly Brandon Belt the San Jose Giants first baseman was promoted to AA Richmond.  Belt was batting a respectable .383 with 10 homeruns for San Jose so hopefully he can continue that success in Richmond.

It's starting to get ugly

DODGERS 4 - GIANTS 2

When I started writing this blog I thought I would try to keep a positive outlook on this team.  I thought that I would not be one of the guys who was constantly second guessing Bochy, screaming for Sabean's head, or talking about how horrible the offense is.

While I still hold out hope that this season can be salvaged, it is becoming increasingly harder to keep up that hope.

Tonight's loss to the Dodgers brings the Giants' season record against the Padres and Dodgers to a whopping 2-11.  We are only 8-16 against the NL west.  They have lost 4 in a row, they are 1-4 on the current homestand, have lost 8 of their last 11, and they have dropped their last 4 series in a row.

They have scored 32 runs in their last 10 games and 19 of those runs came in 3 games!  9 of them came in one game!  That's a 3.2 run per game average over the last 10 games.  If you take away the 3 games in which they scored the 19 runs (one of which they lost), well in those 7 games they have scored a grand total of 11 runs.  Which works out to an average of 1.6 runs per game.

Earlier this season I told Eric over at Fire-Sabean.com that I wasn't ready to jump on that bandwagon yet.

But I'm getting ready to.

Before the game today, on Twitter I said that I would buy one of his Fire Sabean T-shirts if the Dodgers swept the Giants.

I didn't say this just because I wanted to buy one of his shirts.  I said it because I can't believe the way the management has handled this season.  While I understand that it is Bruce Bochy who fills out the lineup card every night, it is ultimately Brian Sabean who is responsible for the moves his manager makes.

If guys like John Bowker, Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa, Buster Posey, and Madison Bumgarner had been playing every day then things may be different.  We wouldn't have to close our eyes every time Rowand Strikes out or Molina grounds into a DP.  We would also have a guy on our team that has some legitamite power in Bowker (So do Huff and Uribe but Bowker has the potential to outperform them.)

I don't want to buy one of those shirts because it will mean that the Giants have been swept.  But I may just get one because it's starting to reflect how I feel.

Giants dominance of Astros ends for a game

Astros 6 - Giants 3

It's one of those things that had to happen sometime.  The Giants finally lost to the Astros after 10 consecutive wins against them.  Barry Zito also lost to the Astros for the first time this season after having gone 2-0 and having given up only 3 earned runs to them in 13 innings this season.

The loss could just be that law of averages catching up to them.  It could also point to something bigger. 

After a streak of 12 games in which they scored 3 runs or more in every game, the Giants have now endured a stretch where they scored 3 runs or less in 5 of their last 7 games.  The offense that appeared to be clicking now seems to be struggling once again.  The Giants did manage 4 extra base hits a night after they didn't have any.  They did miss a ton of scoring opportunities which seems to be the story of this team this season.

Andrew Baggerly of the San Jose Mercury news had some interesting insights to Posey and Molina.

On Posey he said that Buster's wrist has been bothering him.  Buster said that it's been something that has bothered him all season.  Bochy insisted that there was nothing to read into Posey's absence and that he would catch against Joe Martinez on Saturday. 

"Sometimes it's good to get a couple days," Bochy said. "He's just getting a little break right now."

I find that statement strange since Bochy is the same guy who kept insisting earlier this season that Pablo Sandoval didn't need a day off because he was 23 years old and should be able to handle playing every day.  Posey, who is also 23, however gets what amounts to 3 days off in a row after Monday's off day. 

Bochy knows these guys better than I do so it's tough to say what it was that led to the way that they were each handled but it does seem strange.

On Molina, Baggerley said that he was getting the same feeling of frustration from Giants management that he was getting right before Aaron Rowand's banishment to the bench. There was also some talk of an elbow injury with him, which could explain a lot of his problems throwing out baserunners this season although he did throw one out last night, I would not be surprised one bit to see Bengie spend an extended period of time on the bench.

Some good news is that Edgar Renteria is batting .333 since he has returned to the lineup.   It's only been 9 ABs but he has been hitting at a .326 clip all season besides his multiple trips to the DL.  How he fits into an already overcrowded infield is a nice problem to have.  But given that Bochy is trying to achieve a "sense of oneness." I think he will get his share of ABs.

Nate watch:
Nate popped out with runners on first and second base in the 8th inning.  At this point, Nate must stand in the on deck circle before each at-bat and think that it doesn't matter what he does because he won't start the next day.  Burrell, who wasn't supposed to start every day has and he started out OK but he is now 4 for his last 19 which works out to a whopping .235 average.  One of those 4 hits was a HR though.

It's not easy being B.S.

Brian Sabean that is.

The Giants general manager has his share of haters in the Bay Area.  Just peruse the comments section on SFGiants.com and you will see a number of comments at any given time that do anything but support him.  There is even a website dedicated to getting him fired.

Sabean (B.S. from here on in), along with Giants manager Bruce Bochy, is a polarizing figure among Giants fans.  He made a huge splash in his first weeks as GM of the Giants in 1996 by trading one of the Giants most popular players at the time, Matt Williams, to the Cleveland Indians for a bunch of nobodies headlined by a journeyman second baseman named Jeff Kent.  The move was extremely unpopular at the time with many of the Giants fans at the time wanting Sabean to turn in his resignation papers back then.  One guy went so far as to say "They have traded a rock for three bushels of stubble. In two years, I would be surprised if the Giants still have one of the three" Well I wonder how surprised Mr. Gaetjens from Berkeley was when that Journeyman second baseman became a future hall of famer.

Since that trade Sabean has brought some memorable players to the Giants via trade or free agency: J.T. Snow, Benito Santiago, Ellis Burks, Robb Nen, Moises Alou, Jason Schmidt, Brian Johnson (even if it was for only one Homerun), Andres Galarraga, David Bell, Kenny Lofton, Benito Santiago, Bill Mueller, Randy Winn, Bengie Molina, and Freddy Sanchez.  He has made his share of blunders as well: Marvin Benard, Matt Morris, Shea Hillenbrand, Dave Roberts, Edgar Renteria, Armando Benietez, Aaron Rowand, and the biggest mistake of all Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser for A.J Pierzynski.

After that trade, Joe Nathan's subsequent transformation into an all-star closer, Francisco Liriano's 10-1 start to his career, and the complete disaster that Pierzynski was in San Francisco.  B.S.'s status as one of the best GMs in all of baseball took a massive hit. (at least among the San Francisco fanbase).  It no longer mattered that he was right.  It didn't matter that he got Jason Schmidt for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong, that he pulled Benito Santiago, Andres Galarraga, Ellis Burks, and Reggie Sanders off the scrap heap to become major contributors to this team.  Now, Sabean was known for that trade and that trade only.

The Nathan - Pierzynski trade, since those are the only two that after the passing of 7 years even matter, was the beginning of the end of the love affair with Sabean.  Follow that up with BALCO, Bonds retirement, and the implementation of a rebuilding period and Giants fans have become impatient.  Throw 50 years of no World championships on top of all that and the fans want blood.

B.S. has slowly started to win the fans back, though many of them will stick knives in their eyes before they admit it, through great drafting, a farm system ranked 3rd in all of baseball by Baseball America, and a couple of free agents that were pulled off the scrap pile yet again. 

Yes B.S. is the guy who oversaw the drafting of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and all of the other guys who are making the Giants fans look towards the future.  He is also the guy who OKd the free agent signings of a young Pablo Sandoval, Jonathan Sanchez, Juan Uribe, and Aubrey Huff.  He is the architect of a team had a winning record last season and is on track for another one this season.

B.S. does have a chance for redemption.  He could go for the jugular and get a guy like Paul Konerko.  A move like that makes so much sense it's disgusting.  Not many Giants fans can really argue against a trade like that, though they will. 

But this is where it turns out that it is not easy being B.S.

Two weeks ago the White Sox GM, Kenny Williams said that the White Sox were open for business.  At the time it looked as if that meant they would be sellers at the trade deadline since they were 9.5 games out of first place.  But then a funny thing happened.  They caught fire.  They went on to win 10 of their next 12 games and are currently only 5.5 games games out of first place.  This would seem to indicate that they would be buyers at the deadline.  They could fall back in the standings again but certainly none of their big names are going anywhere right now.

The rest of the guys out there are either hitting with ridiculously low averages, have seen a huge dip in their power numbers over the last few years, or are hurt.  So there is no gaurantee that there is even a big bat out there that they could get.  Any move that B.S. could make right now, apart from a Konerko deal, would be a huge risk.  Gambling with the prospects that the Giants have been meticulously accruing is not something many would advocate and B.S., rightfully so I might add, seems to be loathe to do.

It doesn't get any easier for B.S. after this season either.  Next year will likely be that last that the fab 4 of Lincecum, Cain, Zito, and Sanchez will stay together.  Lincecum doesn't have a contract after next season and could easily carry an asking price of $20 million per year at that point, they will still be paying Zito $19 million, and Cain's contract jumps from $7 million to $15 million.  If you add to that whatever Dirty Sanchez gets in arbitration after this season and what Madbum could possibly command as a super two if he's half as good as we think he will be and the Giants could realistically be paying close to $100 million to the starting rotation in 2012.  Their ENTIRE PAYROLL for this season is $96 million.  Oh, did I mention that Aaron Rowand will still be earning $12 million tin 2012?  (At least it will be the final year of his contract)

It doesn't get any easier to be B.S.

The Giants have to win this year or next year in order to have a realistic shot with their rotation because there is no way that they can take on that kind of payroll.  You can't even say that, other than the contract of Zito, the money being paid to the starters is a B.S. mistake since they would all have earned their money as Giants.  it's a tough job being GM of the Giants. 

After looking at what he has to deal with I think that B.S. is really dealing with the reality of baseball the best way that he can.

A last note on Zito.


I didn't include Zito as one of B.S.'s bonehead deals and I didn't put him in there as a good deal on purpose.  After a disastrous start to his Giants career, Zito seems to have found the form that got him the monster contract he has.  If he continues the way he is going right now through the remaining years of his contract it will turn out to be a good deal for the Giants performance wise.  Since he had a pretty good track record before his struggles it is not unrealistic to think he could keep it up.

It has already been a good deal for them financially because of all the Barry Zito T-shirts, bobbleheads, and posters etc. they have sold since his arrival and will continue to sell especially after his resurgence.  So the jury is basically still out on whether or not this was a good deal.

A tough loss

Blue Jays 3 - Giants 2

There are going to be tough losses over any 162 game season.  Even the best teams are going to lose at least 50 games in a season.  Most teams are going to lose more.  What makes Thursday's loss to the Blue Jays so tough is that the way that they were unable to score runs off of a mediocre pitcher is the same issue that plagues them a lot of times even when they are winning.

Barry Zito pitched well enough to win today.  It's not often that you give up 4 hits in a complete game and still lose.  It's beginning to be a cliche to say that a Giants pitcher is a tough luck pitcher.  It seems like it will just suffice to say that they are a Giants pitcher.  But Zito has managed to go 7-3 and his resurgence has been one of the better stories of the season.

I am liking Aubrey Huff more and more.  He hit a long fly ball in the 6th and took a moment to look at it while coming out of the box and made it only to second when a lot of people thought he might have made it to 3rd if he ran a little harder.  To his credit he addressed it, didn't make any excuses, and took responsibility for it saying:

"I hit it with all I had, it just didn't go," Huff said. "And a veteran guy like myself, can I get the three if I don't hotdog it a little bit? I don't know. It would have been bang-bang, probably close. I could have given myself a better read on the ball.


"But it's unacceptable. I've got to bust out of the box there. That slight hesitation might have cost me getting to third, but then again even if I'm busting out of the box, I'm not sure if I can get to third. I didn't want to make the first out at third. You've got to go hard. I take responsibility."

Fred Lewis is apparently glad to be out of San Francisco when asked about the trade to Toronto earlier this season he said: “Anything that’s dead should be buried” He also said he would be playing the same anywhere even San Francisco. 

I'm not so sure about that. 

The Fred Lewis is one of the things that makes me irritated with the Giants fan base.  last season the fans were screaming for this guy to be traded for a pack of bubble gum and called Bochy a moron for running him out there every day.  Well this spring they got their wish and Lewis was traded for the MLB equivalent of a pack of gum ($75,000) and has played pretty well.  Now they are saying that the Giants management mismanaged him and it is their fault that Lewis isn't doing what he is now doing in SF.

I believe one of the reasons Fred was playing so poorly was because of the fan reaction towards him.  No matter what they say the players do read the papers and the forums.  The hatred for the kid was so intense it had to have an effect on him.  The change of scenery to Toronto absolutely was needed for him and the Giants fans would do good to remember that next time they want a player traded for so little.  Remember we wanted Jonathan Sanchez gone too.

Nate watch:
Nothing.  Bochy managed to get both Rowand and Molina and they collectively went 0 for 6.

A disappointing night

Orioles 4 - Giants 1

Not a lot went right for the Giants tonight.

They faced a pitcher making his second start of his career and were only able to muster 3 lousy hits off him.  They weren't able to get a single hit off the Oriole relievers since Arrietta left them so confounded.  The Giants performance prompted Orioles closer David Hernandez to tell the media: "No offense to the Giants, but they don't have the Yankee firepower," Hernandez said. "I think that enabled him to go out there and pretty much pitch his game. He definitely has the quality stuff to do that." when asked about Arrietta's performance. 

Spot starter Joe Martinez pitched OK.  He just happened to be pitching on the wrong night.  If he had pitched on any of the last 5 nights and had the exact same numbers, he would have received a W for his efforts.  The giants got exactly what they wanted from Martinez tonight.  They wanted a starter to pitch relatively deep into the game and to keep it close.  In fact, if it wasn't for a few bad breaks, Martinez should have walked away with a W.

The only offensive positive was the fact that Pablo Sandoval hit his 6th homerun of the season.  It appears Pablo is heating up as that was 2nd homerun in the last 4 games.  I know a lot has been made of Pablo's struggles but consider this:  Last season, through June 1, Pablo was hitting .301 with 3 HRs.  This season, he was hitting .286 with 4 homers.  He was only hittng 15 points higher coming in to June lst year than he is this year.  In June, he hit .394 with eight HRs!  Now he hasn't quite matched that production so far this June, but he's showing signs of heating up and his track record shows that he hits in the summer months.

Bruce Bochy never ceases to amaze me.  The San Jose Mercury News reports that Bochy didn't want Posey catching Martinez tonight because:  “if it’s going good, you don’t’ fix it.” Added Bochy: “You keep playing your hand if it’s a good one. We want to keep things pretty much the same, and hopefully we’ll keep scoring some runs.” 

I'm not sure how putting Molina in the lineup, after a game in which the Giants scored 10 runs for the first time in forever, can tell us that:   A. Bengie Molina is a "hot hand" or B. Molina contributed at all to the offensive outburst last night. Now Whiteside was 0 for 1 but he did score 2 of the 10 runs last night.  Although I guess Bochy has been preaching the "hot hand" all season long he's not gonna stop now.

On the farm:

Look at this kid: 

Does he strike you as someone who as a guy who is hitting a Bondsian .394 with 8 homeruns and a .509 OBP? 

No? 

Well he is.

Who is he?  Well that's Brandon Belt.  He is currently the first baseman of the San Jose Giants who just captured the California League North 1st half division title.   He was the Giants 5th round pick last season and is hitting better than even Buster Posey did in San Jose.

In more encouraging future San Francisco Giants news Madison Bumgarner won his seventh consecutive decision.  After limiting Portland to 2 runs in 6 innings.  John Bowker hit another homerun and Tyler Graham collected 2 hits to raise his average to .407.  Edgar Renteria, in his rehab assignment, went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs. 

Nate watch:

Nate rotted on the bench some more tonight.  Travis Ishikawa was going to pinch hit for Mota and then Aaron Rowand pinch hit for Ishikawa and wound up getting HBP.

Posey, Burrell are each making some noise.

Maybe this kid is the savior?

Buster Posey had 3 more hits today against Ian Kennedy who, in case you forgot, held the Giants to 3 hits over 8 innings 11 days ago.  Two of those were doubles so he actually improved over last night in the power department.  But he only drove in 1 run and his average dropped from .750 to .667.  I guess this kid will never make it.

Obviously I'm joking.  It sure is nice to see someone actually making some things happen for the Giants.  Over the last few weeks leading up to this homestand it seemed that every player on the Giants was just kind of taking things as they came. Nobody went out there and took control of things, well except maybe Andres Torres who I keep expecting to turn into Eugenio Velez any day now.  Posey is doing that.  What a story this kid could be if he really does stick with the big club and reignites this offense.  This club has always been lacking the big hit.  Not necessarily a homerun but something as simple as a 2 out RBI of which Buster had another today.  I'm trying to not get too excited in case this kid comes back to earth but nothing he has done at any level he has played at indicates that he will.  Tomorrow is his biggest test yet against Mr. Ubaldo Jimenez who is trying to replace the Freak as the Cy Young award winner in the NL.

In other news, Pat Burrell went 2 for 5 with a HR and 2 RBI for the Fresno Grizzlies today.  This means one of two things: 1. Brian Sabean is right about the quality of pitchers in the PCL or 2. Pat the Bat is getting ready for a comeback story with his hometown team.  I find it highly unlikely that Burrell is going to lead the Giants to the playoffs by single-handedly transforming the Giants into a feared offense.  Playing at AT&T usually lowers the power numbers of anyone not named Bonds but more troubling is his career .253 average.  The last thing this team needs is another .250 hitter who will be just another easy out while the Giants are getting one hit by some middle of the rotation guy. 

Now I'm not saying that Burrell wasn't a safe gamble in case he can magically find his stroke.  I just wonder what guy with potential gets the shaft once this guy gets called up to the big club.  Mr. Schierholtz and Mr. Ishikawa I'm looking at you!  I don't believe that Bochy will let this guy come off the bench.  I believe he will start.  What proof do I have?  Look at all the ABs Aaron Rowand gets.  His career numbers are just like Pat Burrell's with less power and a better glove.  Although, to be fair, Rowand never batted .209 or .221 in a season in which he was given 400 plus ABs.

I'm also starting what I'm going to call the Nate watch.  It's where I will break down the contributions that Nate Schierholtz makes for the team whether he hits or not.  It's called the Nate watch instead of the Schierholtz watch cuz I don't want to type Schierholtz over and over!

Today Nate went 0 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout.  Not much to write home about offensively but he has been hurt and hasn't been allowed to play consistently since he has been declared healthy.  Nate was however responsible for the two most crucial plays of the game.  In the top of the 7th with the game tied 2-2 Adam Laroche drew a walk and Gerardo Parra hit a one-out single to right.  Nate got the ball in to Freddy Sanchez who gunned down Laroche at 3rd.  The next batter, Chris Snyder, singled to left which would have scored Laroche had he still been on 3rd.  In the 9th inning Kelly Johnson singled to right .  This time it was Ryan Roberts who got thrown out at third.  The next batter, Justin Upton hit a double that scored Johnson.  Which would have also scored Roberts and made the score 7-4 at that point.  Since the Giants only scored 6 runs today I would have to say that Mr. Nate was the difference in the game today. 

That's something that none of the coverage I saw of the game even gave more than a passing mention to.  The most I saw was "Almost lost in the valiant comeback were the solid defensive efforts of right fielder Nate Schierholtz (two outfield assists) and Sanchez who, in the sixth inning, threw out Arizona's Kelly Johnson after Johnson tried to stretch a ball that ricocheted off first baseman Buster Posey into a double."  Even when they did mention it Sanchez's play got more credit than Nate!

Do you really think that John Bowker, or Andres Torres, or even Pat Burrell makes those 2 plays?