How to Fix the Bullpen….
Let’s just assume there’s nothing in the minors that will be of immediate help. And I think we’ve all had our fill of the guys currently rounding out the bullpen. I do still have hopes that Affeldt will get it together. I think he’s been struggling with the hammy all season and it’s clearly got him out of sorts, mechanically. But at some point before the trade deadline Sabes is going to have to go after some BP help. We should all be fearful of who he might secure via trade since he’s so horrible at trading. But at least we are talking about pitching, something he knows a lot about….
Sabes is probably going to go after a *holds* guy— someone like Scott Downs or Jason Frasor (and yes, I used Toronto purposely as the example since we know that’s a phone number Sabean has access to). But if it were me, I’d go a different route. I’d go after a currently closer and make him my 8th inning guy. A guy like Matt Capps would cost a lot but what kind of a stud 1-2 punch would that be in the 8th/9th? If you don’t want to pay up for Capps then go after a closer who’s not doing his job right now. I will always maintain that closing is one of the hardest jobs in all of sports. Not everyone has the make up for it. There are guys out there right now who are failing as closers and, because they are failing, won’t cost much at all. And frankly, I think these three guys are much more suited for setting up a closer than being one: 1) Octavio Dotel. Here’s a guy who’s having a rough time of it in Pittsburgh but he’s put together a career of being a very solid set up guy and he DOES still have wicked stuff. He’d be cheap and Pitt is ready to deal (also a team Sabes talks too). 2) David Aardsma. Look, last year was fluky, everyone thought so. And he’s blowing saves now as many sabermetric fans thought he would. I think he’d be better off as a set up guy. Seattle will deal him soon enough. 3) Chad Qualls. THis guy is NOT a closer and he’s totally f-ed in the head right now. BUt go back and look at his recent career numbers, he’s a control pitcher (wouldn’t it be nice to see one of our set up guys come in and NOT walk the hitter) and he literally could be a scrap heap pick up from the WW in a matter of days….
Again, you can’t look at what these guys are doing NOW or you’d never want them. But if you believe they are miscast in their current roles AND you believe a change of scenery would do them good, then it’s a great move for Sabean to make. It would be bold, it would nail down the last 2+ innings of our BP. And I want to say Sabean has a history of doing this: In the big 1997 trade for ALvarez/Darwin/Hernandez I BELIEVE Hernandez had been closing for the White Sox but he was used as the 8th inning guy when we got him. THAT is the type of move Sabean should make to fix the bullpen. We can argue about who it should be, maybe the 3 guys I listed aren’t *the guys* to go after. But if it were me I’d do something bold like go after a closer instead of a *holds* guy……
And if all this doesn’t tickle your fancy we could always pick up the newly designated for assignment (which he refused and is now a FA) *Jack Trashner*! as bullpen savior. 🙂
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Panda gets the day off.
RF Torres
2B F Sanchez
LF Huff
3B Uribe
DH Burrell
1B Posey
SS Renteria
CF Rowand
C Whiteside
I like the Dotel idea best, Flav. He’d be perfect for the 8th. And for all the other reasons you mentioned; price, Sabean’s history with Pittsburgh, still has the goods. Count me in.
Tough one, Flav…you might be right. Qualls was set up guy to Lidge when he was in Houston, wasn’t he? Btw that and AZ, tough places to pitch well consistently. I think Dotel sucks no matter what; too wild, and when he has to come in he gets raked.
Remember too, we have Romo, Mota, and Casilla already, so LHP is where we are thinnest…lefty set up guys bounce around forerver. I bet they’d like to send Runzler down to get more work, but can’t with Affeldt health and lack of effectiveness.
There also happens to be a team near here with a bunch of set up relievers that is sinkng like a rock in there own division…and that’s what makes Geren’s lack of a move the other day vs. Cubs so stupid. What is the point of limiting the amount of innings of Bailey? He’s your best guy in the entire pen, only gets so many save opps anyway since these clowns are 5-13 in June. September ain’t gonna fucking matter anyway, but pissing away games nowf by taking the guy out after two thirds of an inning is fucking stupid. Unless the real reason to not overwork the guy is to trade him later, something I wouldn’t put past Beane. Just hope it’s not to LA.
Oooh, that last line scared me of my own post. The Rox and Dodgers pens both suck too, and Street is still out. Monasterios just went on the DL, Padilla came back and got raked, Torre will shred the pen arms. Corpas got smoked yesterday for an HR and 3 ER too, and the Rox gave up 3 runs out of an 8-4 lead in the 9th, and Brewers had bases loaded before Betancourt got final out.
So whomever makes the best move here to help limit the suckitude of the set up guys goes a long way to ultimate success. Good topic, Flav.
Qualls has a WHIP of 2.27. That’s Room…Room…Room? Not exactly sure what Room that is, but it’s a few doors down from Room 222 for sure.
Where did the following all come from: Carlos Gonzalez, Andre Ethier, Dan Haren, Huston Street, plus our old nemesis Scott Hairston? Just an amazing coincidence all these guys wind up in the NL West? Nice to see Matt Holliday fuck them up, esp. vs. Sheets yesterday.
Fuckwad Beane didn’t want to pay Holliday to stay, but spent instead $10 mill on Sheets (or $5 mill per W) and another $5mill on Coco puffs, who is still hurt in the middle of fucking June. And the guy he got after he flipped the kid from STL, who was too big to be his 3B prospect, is stinking up the minors. Everyone loves Taylor, but the guy isn’t hitting very well at Sacto, in the hitters league PCL.
Brad Ziegler
Happy Father’s Day! Or as Mets announcer Ralph Kiner once said, “It’s Father’s Day today at Shea, so to all you fathers out there, Happy Birthday.”
Pretty good idea, Flav. I seem to remember the Giants also getting Jose Mesa in ’98 to set up for Nen. My choice out of those three would be Aardsma. Is he available? I just saw a story that the M’s haven’t been getting him enough work. With all those blown saves, you would think they’ve seen enough of him closing games.
We get one more shot at this DH thing. 3 runs in 5 games with the extra hitter. Maybe they should just let Dirrrrrrrrty hit.
Ah the DH, so wonderful, so American league!
The most interesting man in the world would never approve of the DH. Case closed.
Why the hell wasn’t Buster running? Didn’t he learn from Huff’s mistake the other day?
Jesus H. Christ, Jesus! Fine his dumb ass.
1) Evan Meek Pittsburgh
2)Tyler Clippard Washington
3) Luke Gregerson San Diego
4)Matt Thornton Chicago Whitesoxs
5)Matt Guerrier Minnesota
Rowand is such a POS.
I’m sure BFE is somewhere typing that he at least “avoided the DP.”
Jesus. Lots of early swinging strikes against Marcum. Better hope we run into run today.
Fucking A when it rains it pours.POS check swing 2 RBI’s
Bases loaded without a hit, and now that.
Two walks and an error. You can almost say they “deserved” that bloop hit against them.
This is getting fucking ugly. Dirty can’t find the plate. Thank Christ Zito and Cain saved the pen. They’re gonna work OT today.
Maybe it’s not the best idea to have Uribe playing third when Sanchez starts.
Wow…yellow tie with a blue dress shirt was kind of cliche, but I don’t know what to say about Fleming and his pink tie.
Flemming said, “even a double play gets a run home.” Like we should be resigned to that w/ Rowand at the plate.
Unbelievable. And of course Rowand fucking complies. Buzz-killing bastard.
Sad to say, I’ll take it since Eli also struck out.
I haven’t even peeked at the Splash today yet, last I saw Yogi and Xoot were renewing their friendship… funny, one of Rowand’s better ABs in weeks and he still hits into the DP…
With Sanchez already outta the game, Bochy coulda PH Bengie in that spot.
Was a very weak AB from Whitey.
In the spirit of taking a positive out of a bad situation, what better time to waive Eli than after this game? It’s simply a wasted spot and he’s “stealing” time from Buster.
Yeah the 2 umpire’s in the stands were already showing 2 fingers for 2 outs before Rowand hit.Those guys have actually been pretty funny.
I’ve been laughing at/with those two umps behind the plate as well.
Nice to know the Institute still gives holiday passes.
Those umps have been getting a little too much action on their called third strikes from the Giants.
Biggest AB of young Buster’s career coming up.
Yada yada yada, great AB, good approach.,.. take a seat, Jesus.. fuck that. Terrible AB..
He’s performed greater miracles, that’s for sure. Strike three looked like an Arnold Palmer follow through swing.
Franchez!
Wow that’s away to increase your RISP Huge HR for Freddy!!
hell yes. That exorcised some Canadian demons….
kinda surprised he got thrown such a hittable pitch. That tailing away change up would seem to have been a better choice…..
How the hell did that all just happen? Rowand goes oppo for a double; Torres saves Whitey’s ass and then the little runt hits the damn pole for a 3-run jobber.
Must be those mutton chops.
The DP Rowand hit into was, as I said then, one of his best ABs in awhile. Bautista came up big, as well…
classic shit-Fred defense on that one. The plays I’ve seen him make, or try to make this series, only serves to remind me of how lucky we are to have Torres playing every day……
Did Sanchez get hurt?
FRED LEWIS!! he giveth, he taketh away.
That’s the kinda shit that doesn’t show up on the UZR, but ends up costing runs.
JB, no, just very, very wild.
Thanks Mac
Actually, it does show up on UZR. Don’t attempt to trash a stat when you don’t know what you’re talking about. UZR is actually the only defensive metric that does take everything into account. That’s why all 21st century baseball people rely on it.
For instance, UZR/150 actually DOES acknowledge how well Huff has performed in LF this year ( 55.9!!!!!! He has played sio littlle that the number is inflated but it does reflect his excellence THUS FAR) and it does reflect that Fred has been poor this year in LF ( minus 24.7)…
everything you want to know about UZR:
http://tinyurl.com/ykjg2cx
Sorry Twin, but the Prez had another great AB, after a few sucky ones, and raked that ball. Where in the world would Benjie ever wind up with a triple? Like it or not, Whiteside has more HRs than Benjie in over a 100 less ABs. If Posey takes over behind the plate, Benjie’s gotta go.
Look, if you want to take the very limited amount of success Whiteside has had in one partial year and use that to trash Bengie, you’re not the poster I thought you were. Molina is nearing the end but it is sacrilege to discuss Bengie and “Whitey” in the same sentence…
Nice outing by Mota today. Getting the win today would be huge.
Clank!
How the hell does Fred do that?
Fred Lewis got to the ball in his zone on both plays. One he let bounce over his head and the other he flat out dropped. What does the UZR say for that, Mikey?
Fred has never been a good defender, period.
Nice one for Mota, for sure, but I’d give POTG to Bautista. He came in when this could easily have been a blow out the other way…
Fred’s UZR is VERY reflective of how he’s played this year in LF. As you can see. Case closed on UZR…
As I said ,Cal, he’s been terrible THIS year and it’s reflected in the UZR. Move on, sonny.
Pat the Bat!
“What does it stand for?: Ultimate Zone Rating. Devised by baseball statistician Mitchel Lichtman, it’s based on Zone Rating, a defensive stat kept by STATS, Inc. that measures a fielder’s success at getting to balls determined to be in his “zone” of the playing field.”
so what about when Fred gets to the ball in his zone, should have made the play and then lets the ball bounce over his head. It probably doesn’t happen on grass, but a players awareness comes into play here. This is my problem with UZR. It isn’t fucking cookie cutter every play. It is IMPOSSIBLE to normalize every single player, stadium, play, etc with a formula.
You used the UZR religiously last year to defend Fred as an above average fielder. Good job there, sonny.
I just think Benjie is about done. Another year here is not going to happen. So if Posey is going to C 5 days a week, Prez can hang. I thought for sure the guy would be hitting .178 by now, but he’s not. I know the SPs love Benjie, esp Lincecum, but why leave Posey at 1B so much, esp. now that Rent is back?
And Burrell and Huff have to play, too.
Wait, I don’t think it’s an official HR unless it goes off Fred’s glove first, then over the wall.
And what intentionally dense fuckwads forget and I’ve pointed out for them repeatedly, is how low the bar is for left fielders. Fred HAS been traditionally better than average there, but UZR is based on the AVERAGE for the position. Torres rates so well because it’s like having Willie Mays play left, comparatively speaking…
Fred was better than average last year, he’s not this year. Simple, fuckwad.
Bury their asses!
Whast’s hilarious about Cal and UZR is that it fucking proves it’s value by reflecting Fred’s ineptness this year, yet he thinks the opposite is true. Really really poor, Cal.
Guys who let can o corn flyballs clank off their gloves can’t be considered average at any position in my oppinion. I guess my bar is set too high.
To use your word: Fred was inept last year and inept this year. Many, many people have felt this way since last year. Last year he was a good fielder, now he’s a bad fielder. What do you wanna bet next year’s UZR says he’s a bad fielder?
Cal, just say “I don’t understand statistics” and we’ll be fine here.
My final word before Twinfan goes all God on me and sends me to Room B like the power hungry dickhead he is:
Fred Lewis isn’t a good defender, has never been a good defender and never will be a good defender, no matter what the UZR says.
Have at it douchebag.
Posey obviously is scuffling at the plate. The one time today he was credited with the H/E was a roll over on a low and away pitch that 3B threw away. Couple bad ABs, couldn’t connect with either the fastball or the breaking ball, with RISP.
So my question is…..what do you do with him? Does he play 1B or C more often? Does he play everyday or 4-5 games a week? Do you care more about his offense or his D/learning the PS? In other words, if his slump continues, do you still run him out there?
Nice to see SF chew up somebody else’s pen while theirs throws shut down innings.
Twin, just say “I’m a fucking asshole and I actually am wrong sometimes” and we’ll be fine here.
Ok, you’re a fucking asshole.
The pen has been outstanding today. Flav has consistently reverse jinxed players on this blog. First it was the hitters, now the bullpen pitchers. Come on Flav, next post needs to be solely dedicated to how Sabean and Co. Have never landed the 25 year old 5 tool outfielder that plays for free.
So by your own logic you don’t understand statistics? Brilliant.
Anyway, you’re not saying *I’M* wrong, fuckwad. You’re saying that UZR is wrong. Cal “The Earth is Flat” Stimfuck…
Alright, Jeremy, 1-2-3.
So much for that shit.
The previous was joke, shitferbrains. Look, you want to challenge an accepted defensive metric, fine. It just proves your stupidity. You really ARE saying, simplly, that you are a dumb shit and happy to be so. Don’t let the factrs obfuscate a good prejudice. Welcome to GringoFuck’s room.
As was mine, making you a shitferbrians as well. All I’m saying is the UZR isn’t perfect which is backed by the FACT that they adjust it EVERY FUCKING YEAR.
so what did you just do? Reverse the reverse jinx?
Never seems to fail that when the blog wails against a particular player (Rowand, Wellemeyer, Franchez, Whitey, etc.), or in this case an entire unit of the bullpen, they respond with a great effort. Affeldt aside. Shit. He’s still lost.