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 brett pill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brett pill. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
4 in a row!
It sure has been a while since the Giants have blown someone out like this. Now I know it's the last place Orioles and we are supposed to do this but it still feels good. Besides, a good team beats the bad teams. If we lost to the Orioles tonight then our status as a good team would be in serious jeopardy. But, a convincing win, a four game winning streak, and multiple offensive successes have a way of keeping you in the conversation. Good game all around by the Giants.
Pat Burrell is looking more and more like a steal every day. Now, I really don;t think he's going to continue to hit .375 but he does add some power to this team which all of the sudden looks a lot more powerful than it did a few weeks ago with Huff, Burrell, and Uribe in the lineup and hitting with power. I do expect Burrell to go into somewhat of a cold spell at some point considering he is a career .254 hitter. But until then, let's hope it's not at a crucial time.
Andres Torres is the find of the year for the Giants. By now everyone knows his story. Didn't play baseball til he was 19, bounced around the minors, and has been one of the top players for the Giants this season after playing in his first full season last year at age 32. I just can't shake the feeling that we have been down this same road with Marvin Benard. (take a look at what the guy who sponsors his page says for a laugh) But, like with Benard, let's just ride this out as long as we can and hope the Giants don't reward this guy with some outrageous contract that will kill the team for years to come.
On The Farm:
Grizzlies win again on the strength of a John Bowker 3-run homer.This guy drives me crazy. If he even hit half as well as he hits in Fresno he still would be up with the club. I guess Sabean was right when he said the pitchers in AAA are no good. Tyler Graham, Brock Bond, and Brett Pill kept rolling, can you believe this Graham guy is still hitting over .400? although he has ZERO HRs, each of them chipping in with hits of their own.
I still say we have enough prospects to acquire Paul Konerko and keep Madbum, Posey, Lincecum, and Cain. However the Sox have been playing decent ball this week so maybe they are rethinking their "open for business" status.
Nate came in in the 8th and lined out to the second baseman who threw the ball away while trying to double off Uribe. After the Giants scored 10 runs I can't bitch about Nate not playing.
Almost forgot about DeRosa. Watch this video: Dishin with DeRosa and draw your own conclusions.
Fan of the night:
photo courtesy of: fire-sabean.com
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Brian Wilson - shutting the door
GIANTS 5 - A'S 4
Despite what some in Giants nation seem to think, Brian Wilson is one of the better closers in all of baseball. It isn't always pretty, but he gets the job done. This season, he is 17 for 19 in save situations. Only Rafael Soriano, 16 for 16, and Mariano Rivera, 15 of 16, have less blown saves out of those who have 15 or more save opportunities. Add to that his 2.28 ERA, 39 Ks in 27.2 innings, and the fact that he is 2-0 on the season and you are talking about some pretty impressive stats.
Yesterday's game only solidified his status as an elite closer. BWeez came in with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 8th inning with the score 5-4...
Now let's stop right there for a few seconds. In order to appreciate exactly how tough this save situation is you need to look a little closer at the scenario. There is ZERO margin for error here. There are a ton of ways you can score from third base without a hit, especially with the bases loaded and less than two outs. A sacrifice fly, an error, a fielder's choice, a walk, a hit batter, a passed ball, a balk, catcher's interference, A suicide squeeze, and more. Not to mention the fact that almost any kind of hit not only ties the game but probably puts the Giants a minimum of 1 run down, oh and don't forget the fact that they have 2 chances to get that run home! After that, you still have to come back out and hold the lead in the 9th!
Wilson rose to the occasion. He struck out Adam Rosales and got Rajai Davis to ground to Juan Uribe to get out of the jam. The 9th inning did show some of why Giants fans are so afraid to see Wilson out there. After he got Daric Barton to fly out, Mark Ellis singled, Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out, and Jack Cust walked. All that did was just create a little bit of drama as Wilson got Landon Powell to ground out to Juan Uribe to end the game.
Wilson's high-wire act saved Barry Zito's team leading 7th victory (who would have thought we would be saying that this season?). Zito had a quality start, only allowing 2 runs on 2 solo HRs. He gave up a total of 6 hits and two walks.
You have probably heard by now that,after this win, Zito has defeated each of the 30 teams in baseball at least once. You have also probably heard that this is his first win against his former team. But you may not have known that Zito's career record is an amazing 108-6 when he gets 4 runs of support or more. It's even more mind boggling when you realize that his overall career record is 139-108. That means in 102 of his decisions he has received 3 runs or less of run support. You just can't help but wonder what his career numbers would be like if he wasn't on some of the offensively challenged teams that he has been on. (although during his first few seasons as a Giant he would have needed 6 or 7 runs of support to win a few of the games he pitched.)
The other good news from yesterday's game is that Pablo Sandoval hit his first homerun in over a month. But the story is a little more encouraging than just that. Pablo says he told Andres Torres, before the AB, that he was just going to look for a pitch and then hit it out. You can tell from the replays he was a little too excited to have hit a homerun that gave the Giants a 4 run lead in the 6th inning. The other good thing about the homerun is that it was an opposite field shot. Which when Pablo is right, he shows that opposite field power. Hopefully that homerun means he is on the verge of being right again.
The Big right hander, Matt Cain, is going today. That makes a sweep seem very attainable. It's going to be fun to see if he can keep this amazing run of starts going.
On the farm:
TACOMA 11 - FRESNO 10
Brett Pill had his first professional 5 for 5 day and hit his 8th HR of the season. He also had 3 RBIs. Brock Bond continued his streak of getting on base with a hit, Jesus Guzman was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. His average is now up to .298 after he had been down in the low .200s earlier in the season. Not a lot of positives on the pitching side with starter Matt Kinney giving up 8 ERs in 4.2 IP. Waldis Joaquin took the loss while giving up 2 ERs in 1 IP.
SAN JOSE 12 - BAKERSFIELD 9
Brandon Belt was 1 for 1 with 3 runs scored because he walked 4 times. Juan Perez went 2 for 5 to raise his average to .325. Charlie Culberson was 2 for 4 with a triple, he hit his 9th Homer of the season, and had 6 RBIs. Wendell Fairley was 5 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Nate watch:
Nate got an AB in the 8th and flew out to right. Burrell and Huff each contributed and, so far, have looked OK in the outfield. The only way Nate gets a start is if Bochy decides to rest Bengie and have Posey start at catcher. That, or if someone gets hurt. Even then, there is no guarantee that Nate starts in the OF.
Despite what some in Giants nation seem to think, Brian Wilson is one of the better closers in all of baseball. It isn't always pretty, but he gets the job done. This season, he is 17 for 19 in save situations. Only Rafael Soriano, 16 for 16, and Mariano Rivera, 15 of 16, have less blown saves out of those who have 15 or more save opportunities. Add to that his 2.28 ERA, 39 Ks in 27.2 innings, and the fact that he is 2-0 on the season and you are talking about some pretty impressive stats.
Yesterday's game only solidified his status as an elite closer. BWeez came in with the bases loaded and 1 out in the 8th inning with the score 5-4...
Now let's stop right there for a few seconds. In order to appreciate exactly how tough this save situation is you need to look a little closer at the scenario. There is ZERO margin for error here. There are a ton of ways you can score from third base without a hit, especially with the bases loaded and less than two outs. A sacrifice fly, an error, a fielder's choice, a walk, a hit batter, a passed ball, a balk, catcher's interference, A suicide squeeze, and more. Not to mention the fact that almost any kind of hit not only ties the game but probably puts the Giants a minimum of 1 run down, oh and don't forget the fact that they have 2 chances to get that run home! After that, you still have to come back out and hold the lead in the 9th!
Wilson rose to the occasion. He struck out Adam Rosales and got Rajai Davis to ground to Juan Uribe to get out of the jam. The 9th inning did show some of why Giants fans are so afraid to see Wilson out there. After he got Daric Barton to fly out, Mark Ellis singled, Kevin Kouzmanoff struck out, and Jack Cust walked. All that did was just create a little bit of drama as Wilson got Landon Powell to ground out to Juan Uribe to end the game.
Wilson's high-wire act saved Barry Zito's team leading 7th victory (who would have thought we would be saying that this season?). Zito had a quality start, only allowing 2 runs on 2 solo HRs. He gave up a total of 6 hits and two walks.
You have probably heard by now that,after this win, Zito has defeated each of the 30 teams in baseball at least once. You have also probably heard that this is his first win against his former team. But you may not have known that Zito's career record is an amazing 108-6 when he gets 4 runs of support or more. It's even more mind boggling when you realize that his overall career record is 139-108. That means in 102 of his decisions he has received 3 runs or less of run support. You just can't help but wonder what his career numbers would be like if he wasn't on some of the offensively challenged teams that he has been on. (although during his first few seasons as a Giant he would have needed 6 or 7 runs of support to win a few of the games he pitched.)
The other good news from yesterday's game is that Pablo Sandoval hit his first homerun in over a month. But the story is a little more encouraging than just that. Pablo says he told Andres Torres, before the AB, that he was just going to look for a pitch and then hit it out. You can tell from the replays he was a little too excited to have hit a homerun that gave the Giants a 4 run lead in the 6th inning. The other good thing about the homerun is that it was an opposite field shot. Which when Pablo is right, he shows that opposite field power. Hopefully that homerun means he is on the verge of being right again.
The Big right hander, Matt Cain, is going today. That makes a sweep seem very attainable. It's going to be fun to see if he can keep this amazing run of starts going.
On the farm:
TACOMA 11 - FRESNO 10
Brett Pill had his first professional 5 for 5 day and hit his 8th HR of the season. He also had 3 RBIs. Brock Bond continued his streak of getting on base with a hit, Jesus Guzman was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. His average is now up to .298 after he had been down in the low .200s earlier in the season. Not a lot of positives on the pitching side with starter Matt Kinney giving up 8 ERs in 4.2 IP. Waldis Joaquin took the loss while giving up 2 ERs in 1 IP.
SAN JOSE 12 - BAKERSFIELD 9
Brandon Belt was 1 for 1 with 3 runs scored because he walked 4 times. Juan Perez went 2 for 5 to raise his average to .325. Charlie Culberson was 2 for 4 with a triple, he hit his 9th Homer of the season, and had 6 RBIs. Wendell Fairley was 5 for 5 with 2 runs scored.
Nate watch:
Nate got an AB in the 8th and flew out to right. Burrell and Huff each contributed and, so far, have looked OK in the outfield. The only way Nate gets a start is if Bochy decides to rest Bengie and have Posey start at catcher. That, or if someone gets hurt. Even then, there is no guarantee that Nate starts in the OF.
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