Spring Rolling Along, Questions Still Lingering
I’ll try to avoid any sarcastic comments today and just fire straight away on 2 specific topics we’ve covered but continue to have no resolution….
1) Glass Sanchez. According to C-Stew, he’s hitting rockets in BP but still isn’t throwing and yesterday was “soft tossing the ball gingerly back to Wotus.” I have exactly zero faith in GS to pull off the impossible exacta of getting healthy/staying healthy this season. What sucks is that he could probably be useful as a pinch hitter since hitting isn’t a problem. What I think is going to happen: he comes back, plays ok for a bit and then re-injures himself diving or tumbling somewhere on the infield. Then we get Theriot and some Font for the rest of the year. Certainly not a downgrade, as I’ve suggested for a while now, but we will lose the one value that Glass still has left in him (his bat)…….
Buster is going to catch 4 innings on Tuesday. I hope everyone remembers my March 7th post. Posey is NOT going to get enough innings catching this spring and I am absolutely leery of it affecting the conditioning of his legs when the season gets underway. I haven’t read one article (except mine) that remembers the mistakes the Twins made with Mauer last season. The Giants are doing the same thing with Posey by trying to *ease him* back in and it’s going to bite them in the ass. According to C-Stew, he thinks that The VP is going to get the nod as the back up to Posey due to his defense. I don’t think C-Stew has placed adequate value on the furious love Bochy has for El Presidente. Does someone want to hazard a guess as to just how bad Hector Sanchez is at catching? Because for whatever reason his awesome hitting skills are not going to be able to make up for his deficits at catcher. He’s DHing more than he’s catching. With the great concern there should be about who our back up catcher is this season, it makes no sense to me why a major league ready bat isn’t being considered as Buster’s back up…….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Worried about the back-up catcher? That’s what they do on the BEAT. Sabean will make the right moves. Changes in personnel will hardly be etched in stone and lineups will change frequently as Bochy seems suited for that type of managing.
I bet I made coffee earlier than Willie D this morning!
Glass will be on the DL to start the season,i have no doubt of that, puttng Bingo on the team.Geez Boch just go with Sanchez to backup Posey.Freakin Stewart quote last week was.enough for me.”I can’t hit Jamie Moyer”.I’ll have to try to bunt to get on.Freankin 49 yr old Moyer and you can’t make contact?
No idea what Hector needs to work on, but like Nipper sys, confident the brass will make a sound call after thoroughly weighing the pros and cons.
He had 2 hrs yesterday, so I’m sure they are tempted to let him stay and learn on the fly.
you guys that have all this faith in Sabean to address the back up catcher problem (and it is a HUGE problem with the health of Posey being so uncertain):
Sabean had 4 months to address it last season and we got a season’s worth of El Presidente and his VP shoved down our throats. This season will be no different………
Blaming Sabean for all the injuries sustained seems a bit harsh.
Then again, it’s ST Jake. Numbers don’t mean shit.
Ain’t that the truth!
If the SF manager were not an ex catcher, Hector would not be at a disadvantage in this ST search for the backup catcher. Bochy was not a great hitter, he was a defensive guy. He likes defense behind the plate, hitting is secondary. Sanchez seemed OK defensively during callups last fall, and he raked in the Venezuelan league this offseason. http://sfgiants.scout.com/2/1133406.html If he starts in Fresno, whatever, his bat is clearly MLB ready now. It wouldn’t hurt his D skills for him to catch another 300 innings at AAA and get more throws and blocks in down there, but ex-catcher Decker isn’t the manager in Fresburg anymore. I’m sure he could work with him more, but Decker is the roving minor league hitting guy now. As far as the “VP” is concerned, his bad elbow last season didn’t cause all those passed balls, so I don’t see how it is arguable he’s a lot better than Hector with the glove. Stewie is, and his bat is not much worse than the VP’s, so I’d take Stewie if you go vet. This staff is a veteran, young, but still veteran staff. It’s not like the backup catcher must be an old vet to wet nurse a staff of young pups. Fer Kreissakes, most of these pitchers were on the staff that just won a damn WS…
Spring training is LONG, in case anyone has forgotten. NONE of the key issues: back up catcher, first base, 4th OFer, 4 and 5 starting pitchers,Fruckie, Buster etc., are even close to being settled. Trades happen in ST, injuries, guyus like HSanchez OFTEN change minds with theie performance ( and just as often win thatr spot only to give it back after they go feet up once the regular season starts ).
If Hector doesn’t open with the team, IMO it would only be to get him more innings catching in AAA, he’d be up quickly. I don’t buy the Bochy/Eli man love bit. He didn’t lknow of Eli’s alleged injury last year yet Stewart got more and more of the starts as the season wore on ( June/July Stew made 23 starts to Whitey’s 31; in August/September Whiteside got just 21 starts to Chris’ 27.
As to Hector’s defense, Fangraphs says: “Sanchez does a nice job of erasing base runners and is a solid receiver but he needs to do a better job of blocking balls and his game calling is improving.”
Of course, now Joseph has put himself in the picture as well. Not to open the season, but he could pass Hector soon.
It’s probably going to be the old “we want him playing everyday” line of reasoning with Hector. He’s what, 22?
Bottom line: It shouldn’t come down to the backup catcher needing to be the hero.
I just think that most of us don’t relish the thought that when Buster doesn’t catch, the 7/8/9 spots might have a .200 hitter as the best of the 3. At the least they should get Crawford in the 2 spot maybe and get Melky into the 7 when stuck with Stewart or Whitey…IMO
As to numbers not meaning much- they’re still used to determine who wins jobs among the bubble guys, like it or not: Blanco, Pill, Burriss, guys like that have to put up some numbers to win a spot. Burriss is probably already pushing one of the Ragin’ Cajuns toward the waiver wire…and numbers will obviously be part of the Huff/Belt equation.
Well, Some of you here have very little faith in modern medicine. First Posey is the only one who knows how he is doing. What is he telling the rehab doctors et al. plus Posey is what 23-24 years old. It is not like he is 30 and had this happen. I would think that for his Rehab Posey was doing some sort of squats with wieghts. BF you worry too much. Let the players play and see how things fall out. FSanchez, due to his age, he is more of a concern than Posey. and of course Zito is doing well in ST. That sucks right there.
Alex says he’s happy with a 3 year deal if Jed signs a 3 year deal to be his houseboy after they go to the playoffs again..
hey, I have set up some bracket-shit for different groups (work, friends, etc) and I’ve set one up for the Flap crew. Instead of input your emails to invite you I am going to post this link here. It SHOULD work but if it doesn’t please tell me. No prize, just bragging rights.
http://flapmad.mayhem.cbssports.com/e
by the way, if you input your picks and it looks like it’s worked just let me know and I’ll post it in the main thread. I’m not sure if your email will be displayed so don’t use one that you wouldn’t want posted to the group.
The link works, but it requires a “Pool Password” to join.
Not at all unlikely that Franchez will start the season on the DL. That may be the only way Burriss stays on the club, even for a short while…
ST, the thing is, the back up catcher is going to get a LOT of work this year (50 games at least). Posey is by no means full strength. And to count on him to be able to go even 4 days a week may be pushing it.
When one of your key hitters you’re relying on is a catcher, you have to have a good backup. The drop-off can’t be too severe. The Atlanta Braves are doing it the correct way. Their back-up catcher could start for a lot of teams.
Disagree zumie. The Atlanta Braves have a good situation and yes, their back-up catcher could start for a lot of teams. However, catcher, along with short stop is a weak position around the league, i.e., there is a tremendous drop off from the “tier one” catchers and short stops in MLB. Certainly, the Braves are doing quite a few things right, but so are the Giants . . . Unfortunately, we suck at back up catcher, albeit, that might change later this season (who knows). Regarding short stop, we are really screwed (on paper at least) and have to hope that Crawford is at least adequate and hopefully, better than that.
I think I counted 7 back up catchers with at least 100 AB who hit less than Stewart’s .204 last year. That’s NL only. No consolation for us but the position basically sucks.
The problem was there were very few quality C’s ..and few if any ones that fit in the G’s tight budget or were avail for a 1 yr or were willing to sign and sit behind Buster.
Hector can be ready in June- July, why sign a backup for 2 yrs 6m? Would be wonderful to have picked up Hernandez, but was he willing and at what price? They used their trade chips for OF help, not much left there for a quality c.
Unrelated to the Giants, but still baseball . . . Anyone and everyone – give me a take on Grant Balfour and Brian Fuentes, i.e., who is going to close in Oakland? I understand that Balfour has been hit hard in ST, but he was excellent last year. Fuentes is an old war horse that has seen his best days, yada, yada, yada. I need to know because an FL league I am in, Balfour is available. He is useless though, if he doesn’t close. By the by, I thought the A’s had a kid, Fautino De Los Santos, that they were high on and he had a chance to close????
Anywho, if anyone has an opinion, I’m all ears.
Well, Blanco has already made some decisions harder- and has caused them to look at Pill as not just a 1st baseman/OFer but as a backup at both 3rd and second… meaning that 2 back up infielders would go ( presuming Fruckie does open with the team, 2 of Burriss, Font, and Theriot go)..
There is a LOT to be decided yet…
BTW, I saw that Baggarly says that Villalona has had his nameplate removed from his locker…
Blade: Balfour has great stuff but he’s been extremely erratic year to year. Fuentes and Geren clashed as Geren used him inappropriately often. Neither guy is top drawer but I’d go with Fuentes, I think Balfour is better suited as a set up guy.
Yeah, I knew that Geren and Fuentas were not getting along for the reason you said, but was surprised when I read that Fuentas was still in the running for the closer position. I guess they made up. Ha. Santos is their closer of the future I understand and the future might be some time this year. Good to know about Balfour though – I think I will wait until a decision is made one way or the other before pouncing. Closers in FL are absolutely at a premium – only one position for each MLB team. Thanks Mike.
ESPN is showing Boston and Miami this Afternoon. Aaron Rowand just K’d on a slider 18″ off the plate.
I see he’s adjusted well to his new surroundings.
Watching Martin Bashir on MSNBC (sorry, not only a liberal, but a political junkie) and he just reported that Sarah Palin thought the Queen of England was the head of State (versus the Prime Minister, who is), while she was going through the preparation/vetting process as McCain’s newly selected Vice President. Damn.
The main sticking point in the movie was the vetting process. They had 5 days, and the campaign manager thought the vetters would ask policy questions, and the vetters though Steve Schmidt would. They were too far into it by the time everyone realized that she was woefully unprepared.
Unprepared? That’s like saying before she wed Charles, Princess Di wasn’t quite ready to be featured at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch.
Palin also said Paul Revere’s ride through Boston was to warn the British…
Yeah, I watched that the other day, Blade. It’s called Game Change. An HBO movie that had Jullianne Moore as Palin. Palin would go into catatonic states, not bother to prep for interviews (re katie Couric), and, at one point Steve Schmidt, McCain’s campaign manager (Woody Harrelson) has to call McCain and tell him, “there’s the very real possibility that Palin is mentally unstable.” Plus a lot of other stuff. She was in it for her own gain (duh), she didn’t know what the Fed was, or what they did, she couldn’t name a supreme court judge or cite any cases, on and on.
If true, pretty funny shit.
The pic actually painted McCain in a very good light.
“If true, pretty funny shit.” Yeah, absolutely agree . . .
Unless they had been elected, then it would have been a disaster, especially with McCain having so many health problems. God help us all – with this current crop of idiot Republicans – should one of them be elected. Yikes!
We have some posters here who think Sarah is a little too far *left* for their liking, I think I wouldn’t encourage much political talk…
Orlando Cabrera — now apparently out of baseball.
Miggy — now apparently out of baseball, into begging Beane for a job.
Rohand — on the verge of being out of baseball.
3 dudes on the Giants 25 during crunch time in mid summer last year. No wonder the team sucked tank like Mike Nelson in the old Sea Hunt show…
that was damn funny!
Didn’t BF do a poll on this? How many 2011 Giants would never play MLB again? Burrell is another one.
Those three are all players who had good careers but were among Sabean’s mistakes. To the best of my knowledge, they all did their best here, their failure is on the GM if blame must be assigned.
The few comments about Rowand seem to be hoping he does poorly. Or maybe I’m misunderstanding the comments. I would think that having him gone would be satifaction enough.
BTW, he got his first hit and RBI of the spring today. Obviously, he’ll need to step it up, but Miami seems to be giving him a serious look.
Blade, if the catcher is your 3 or 4 hitter, that’s a unique thing. It’s the only fielding position where you’re going to lose that hitter on a regular basis, in the NL. A lot of the day games after night games, especially, of course. The Braves are able to put a pretty good hitter in there when McCann sits. The Giants…..well…..
Rowand is hitting .077 this spring. The only serious look given by the Marlins will be the stern look on their faces when they tell Rowand, “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
Then again, looking at his batting stance, I’m sure he hears that a lot anyway
I’ve always wondered about that saying.
Given its caustic nature, is it given out of concern for the door, or for the ass?…
They are obviously giving him a serious look, he is of course a long shot. His BA in 13 AB is not significant either way, BTW.But once again, why in the world would anyone wish him ill now that he’s not here?
Not going to say too much about Rowand’s pluses and minuses, but similar to Twin’s sentiments, I only wish him good luck.
For the record, I always liked him and never saw him dog it. In fact, he did a good job patrolling center field (average arm). Like any baseball player – all of whom have relatively short careers – him and his agent were on their game when they scored the Giants contract. The “bad” is on the Giants for offering it to him, not him for taking it.
Again, he gave 100% and during the championship year, and without him, WE WOULD NOT HAVE WON THE DIVISION. Now before you send your criticisms my way, think about that statement for more than a nanosecond. We won the division on the last day, so it follows we needed EVERYONE’S contribution that season to get to that point, e.g., everyone from Lincecum to Whiteside and everyone in-between.
Besides, just about every time I visited the SF bay area and attended games, Rowand did something special. ‘Nuff said from me about Rowand.
No question about Rowand’s contributions in 2010. And I wasn’t wishing him ill will.
I was simply making de joke on de stance.
Ted, no one would accuse you of wishing him ill, you have too much class for that. BTW, he had a good Cf arm, his throw and Buster’s catch and tag of Ruiz in game 4 of the NLCS was one of the key plays of the series. As Steve said, he always gave it his best, if that wasn’t good enough- look to Sabean..
yes, I’ve said the same: without Rowand’s throw and Buster’s catch, the Phils might’ve been eventual World Champs.
Blade, you shoulda gone to more games… š
New thread. It’s a ,madness thread!