The Giants are 37-28 and .5 a game back of the Dodgers and Padres for the NL West and Wild Card leads. They are playing pretty god ball right now, in fact they are playing better ball than anybody in the National League right now except for the Mets.
The Giants have the pitching to get them into the playoffs and possibly pretty deep. Their offense is OK as it is currently constructed but they have one glaring hole. A big time power hitter in the middle of their lineup.
I don't mean a Pat Burrell who through his career has been lucky to post an average above .260 and has struggled in recent seasons. I don't mean Aubrey Huff who, while hitting a couple balls into McCovey cove, has only hit 34 homers in his best season and that was 7 years ago. Nor Juan Uribe who had a career high of 23 way back in 2004.
No the Giants need a guy who can hit a lot of homers and drive in a bunch of runs. There is a guy who should be available out there since his GM has already said his team is open for business and should be the only guy, besides maybe a bullpen arm, that the Giants should be targeting.
That guy is Paul Konerko.
Konerko is that prototypical power hitter. He averages 32 homeruns a season, He hits for a decent average .278 over his career, and he is consistently healthy averaging 581 PA a season over his career. These are all things that make him easily the best option out there.
There are some obstacles to getting Konerko to SF however.
1. He has a not trade clause.
2. He is owed approximately $7 million the rest of this season.
3. The White Sox are going to want some pretty good prospects in return.
The Giants are probably going to negotiate some kind of contract extension with Konerko to waive his no trade clause. Which would be good for the Giants because in order for them to give up some of the prospects they will probably have to give up to get him they would want to get more than 2 months out of him. $7 million over the rest of this season probably isn't too much money for a team willing to throw millions of dollars at guys like Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, and Mark DeRosa to not even get on the field.
After that is the toughest part. Do the Giants have the prospects to pull the deal off? Can they pull the deal off and keep Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez?
I think they do.
The Giants farm system is loaded with prospects. One of the top organizations in all of baseball. It is particularly full of young arms which the White Sox will be looking for in any kind of trade. Let's take a look.
Starting in San Jose with the Giants single A affiliate which has won a record 6 straight California league first half championships:
The top prospect here has to be Brandon Belt. Brandon was taken in the 5th round last season and has done nothing but hit since joining San Jose. He is hitting .393 with 8 homeruns and 57 RBIs. He is only 22 so his power numbers should increase as he gets older. Next would be 2B Jose Flores .353 average. and OF Juan Perez .324, 7HR, 36 RBI
Pitching Wise San Jose has: Craig Wescott 5-0, 1.55, and Justin Fitzgerald 5-0, 3.00
AA Richmond has: OF Thomas Neal .280, 4 HR, 31 RBI, RHP Daryl Maday 8-2, 2.02RHP David Mixon 7-3 3.08
AA Augusta has: 1B Luke Anders .293 8HRs, Christopher Dominguez .264, 10 HRs, 43 RBIs, LF Nick Liles .298 13 SBs, and RHP Jorge Bucardo 6-2 1.57
AAA Fresno has: OF Tyler Graham .407 14SBs, OF John Bowker .400 5hrs in just 12 games, 2B Eugenio Velez .345 17 SBs, 1B Brett Pill .303 9 HRs 43 RBIs, Joe Borchard .287 7 HRs, RHP Eric Hacker 8-3 3.91, RHP Joe Martinez, who is now up with the Giants, 5-2 5.07, Steve Edlefsen 5-0 1.54
So as you can see, the Giants have a bunch of prospects and they can land a guy like Konerko while keeping their best prospects. Actually, if they can sign Konerko to a 3 year extension before a trade can be worked out, it may actually be worth it to trade a guy like Bumgarner for Konerko. I know it wouldn't be a very popular move, but given the availability of proven Power hitters these days it just may take a super prospect like Bumgarner to land Konerko.
Showing posts with label Chicago White Sox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago White Sox. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
UUUURIBE!!!!!!!!!
GIANTS 6 - REDS 5
The Uribe family has cemented their spot in Giants history.
Jose Uribe was a slick-fielding light-hitting Shortstop who spent 9 seasons with the Giants from 1985 through 1993 turning double plays with Robbie Thompson for their world series team in 1989 and was one of the most popular players on that Giants team. Jose's nephew, Juan Uribe, was signed as a utility player last season and was expected to be a "super-utility" guy who could fill in anywhere and spot start every so often as needed. Well that translated to 398 ABs in which he put up a .289 average and 16 HRs. This season he has been the Giants best run producer. He is on pace for 107 RBIs, he's got a .280 average, and he's already belted a team leading 8 HRs. He looks funny, plays ugly, but he is one of the more popular players on the team and he mans the SS slot, 3B slot, LF slot and will probably even pitch if you needed him to. Yes, the Uribes will be remembered by Giants fans for a long time.
Speaking of Juan Uribe, he had 4 RBIs in tonight's 6-5 victory over the Reds. Barry Zito pitched OK considering the Reds are the league's top run scoring team. He deserves to get the win for his bat as he opened the scoring in the game by blistering a 2 run single to left field. Zito left the game trailing but the Giants were able to bail him out on the second of Uribe's 2 run singles.
There are a lot of positives to take away from this game. Freddy Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 11 games, Buster Posey didn't look "lost" behind the plate, Juan Uribe's previously mentioned 4 RBIs, The Giants outscored the leagues highest scoring team, The team hit .500 with RISP by going 5 for 10, their bullpen shut the Reds out, and oh that Posey kid happened to get a hit for the 9th time in his first ten games. Two hits, as a matter of fact.
Down on the Farm:
Madison Bumgarner started tonight for Fresno so there is no way he will be pitching for the Giants on Thursday. He got the win despite struggling through 6 1/3 innings and giving up 5 runs. 3 of those runs came on a homer. John Bowker was 2 for 4 again and Mark DeRosa was not in the lineup. I wasn't able to find any info on how his wrist is doing, but at this point, it seems that the 3 for 4 day the other day may have just been a fluke.
Nate watch:
Nate pinch hit in the 8th and struck out. He stayed in for the 9th and had no chances. It was a good thing that he came in and moved Torres to left because Torres made a grab that Pat Burrell would never make in a million years to rob Ramon Hernandez of extra bases. Aaron Rowand Raised his average to .225 and left 3 men on base tonight.
Notes:
The Giants selected Cal State Fullerton's Gary Brown with the 24th selection in the first round of the draft. Baseball America said: "Gary Brown was hurt down the stretch and wasn't a consensus first-rounder. Some teams doubted his bat and feel for hitting. But he was 14th on BA's Top 200 with top-of-the-line speed and excellent defensive ability in center field, and Brown should be able to move quickly to San Francisco. He gives the Giants another position player prospect, an area the Giants have thrived in since John Barr took over as scouting director." A more detailed scouting report can be seen here.
Also, MLB Traderumors and Buster Olney are reporting that the Chicago White Sox are ready to deal. There are a bunch of intruiging guys on their roster but by far and away the best guy on their team is Paul Konerko. the Giants can trade anything in their system except Posey, Madbum, Sandoval, and any Starter (well they can take Wellemeyer, please!) They are loaded with quality arms and Konerko can play first while Posey catches and Huff plays in left.
Last, even though it's not really giants related there was a pretty good story on Jim Joyce that anybody who has followed the Armando Galarraga blown perfect game story at all HAS to read.
The Uribe family has cemented their spot in Giants history.
Jose Uribe was a slick-fielding light-hitting Shortstop who spent 9 seasons with the Giants from 1985 through 1993 turning double plays with Robbie Thompson for their world series team in 1989 and was one of the most popular players on that Giants team. Jose's nephew, Juan Uribe, was signed as a utility player last season and was expected to be a "super-utility" guy who could fill in anywhere and spot start every so often as needed. Well that translated to 398 ABs in which he put up a .289 average and 16 HRs. This season he has been the Giants best run producer. He is on pace for 107 RBIs, he's got a .280 average, and he's already belted a team leading 8 HRs. He looks funny, plays ugly, but he is one of the more popular players on the team and he mans the SS slot, 3B slot, LF slot and will probably even pitch if you needed him to. Yes, the Uribes will be remembered by Giants fans for a long time.
Speaking of Juan Uribe, he had 4 RBIs in tonight's 6-5 victory over the Reds. Barry Zito pitched OK considering the Reds are the league's top run scoring team. He deserves to get the win for his bat as he opened the scoring in the game by blistering a 2 run single to left field. Zito left the game trailing but the Giants were able to bail him out on the second of Uribe's 2 run singles.
There are a lot of positives to take away from this game. Freddy Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 11 games, Buster Posey didn't look "lost" behind the plate, Juan Uribe's previously mentioned 4 RBIs, The Giants outscored the leagues highest scoring team, The team hit .500 with RISP by going 5 for 10, their bullpen shut the Reds out, and oh that Posey kid happened to get a hit for the 9th time in his first ten games. Two hits, as a matter of fact.
Down on the Farm:
Madison Bumgarner started tonight for Fresno so there is no way he will be pitching for the Giants on Thursday. He got the win despite struggling through 6 1/3 innings and giving up 5 runs. 3 of those runs came on a homer. John Bowker was 2 for 4 again and Mark DeRosa was not in the lineup. I wasn't able to find any info on how his wrist is doing, but at this point, it seems that the 3 for 4 day the other day may have just been a fluke.
Nate watch:
Nate pinch hit in the 8th and struck out. He stayed in for the 9th and had no chances. It was a good thing that he came in and moved Torres to left because Torres made a grab that Pat Burrell would never make in a million years to rob Ramon Hernandez of extra bases. Aaron Rowand Raised his average to .225 and left 3 men on base tonight.
Notes:
The Giants selected Cal State Fullerton's Gary Brown with the 24th selection in the first round of the draft. Baseball America said: "Gary Brown was hurt down the stretch and wasn't a consensus first-rounder. Some teams doubted his bat and feel for hitting. But he was 14th on BA's Top 200 with top-of-the-line speed and excellent defensive ability in center field, and Brown should be able to move quickly to San Francisco. He gives the Giants another position player prospect, an area the Giants have thrived in since John Barr took over as scouting director." A more detailed scouting report can be seen here.
Also, MLB Traderumors and Buster Olney are reporting that the Chicago White Sox are ready to deal. There are a bunch of intruiging guys on their roster but by far and away the best guy on their team is Paul Konerko. the Giants can trade anything in their system except Posey, Madbum, Sandoval, and any Starter (well they can take Wellemeyer, please!) They are loaded with quality arms and Konerko can play first while Posey catches and Huff plays in left.
Last, even though it's not really giants related there was a pretty good story on Jim Joyce that anybody who has followed the Armando Galarraga blown perfect game story at all HAS to read.
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