The Giants Add Another Horse With Morse
In an earlier poll, 75.61% of you said that Sabean would nOt trade for a new left fielder. I should have added the choice of signing one as a free agent. I’m pleased with the Michael Morse signing. He’s cheap. Big. Powerful. Brittle. He will be the everyday starting left fielder as long as he’s healthy. Blanco will get a start here and there but the time you’ll see Blanco (or Perez) most often is 8th inning onward when he comes in to take over for Morse and his putrid defense.
Besides defense, his health is the obvious concern. In a perfect world I’d like to see Morse play first base with Belt in left field. Morse is probably less worse at first and Belt would be an obvious upgrade to him in left field. The other main reason I’d put Morse at 1st: less likely of getting injured. It’s almost going to be a given that this dude pulls a hammy or jams a knee on an earthquake-causing dive. Less chance of him hurting himself over at the 1-bag.
And if you’re still not on board with the Morse signing ask yourself this: would you rather have Morse for a year at 5 mil or Rajai Davis for 2 years at 10? Sabean did a good job on this but with the (L)astros being the competition for his services you have to wonder at least a little if we’ve found fools gold.
We’ll see.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I love the Michael Morse signing! Totally agree he is going to break down at some point, but lets throw him in LF and ride the wave as long as we can. I give Sabean an “A” for his offseason moves.
WilleD: Please give me your take on the Kings picking up Derrick Williams and Rudy Gay. I loved both deals myself.
Hey SanDawg . . . Nice seeing you post. Apologize for putting my two cents in regarding Derrick Williams and Rudy Gay (since you asked WillieD). Only interested because I play in nightly pay tournaments and a pro league (where I have Gay on my team). Gay’s contract was an anchor around Toronto’s neck, thus the main reason they got rid of him. Nevertheless, he can play ball and he will fill the stat sheet nightly, but his FG percentage is garbage. Career low this season at .388 . . . Ugh. If you are playing 8 or 9 category FL leagues, that will eventually hurt you, albeit, as I said it’s mitigated by his outstanding play in other stat categories. However, I digress – the reason I like this move is that Vasquez is also gone, i.e., this means that Thomas is the full time PG now and despite what you might have heard here (some Flappers don’t like him), this kid is a star. Cousins is coming into his own and he actually is a more “plus” player with Thomas at the guard position, then with Vasquez on the court (check the stats – it’s a fact). Williams also has an opportunity to play, as he was totally lost in the Minn. back log of forwards. However, Williams will no longer start at small forward now that Rudy Gay is ready to go for the Kings, but could easily replace Jason Thompson as the starting power forward. See his stat line on the 9th – he scored a career-high 31 points in his start at small forward to go with five boards, five steals and three 3-pointers in 35 minutes. Dude can play ball if given an opportunity.
Gay is a scorer, guy who generally will keep shooting til he gets his. Clutch guy with range tho, I’ve seen him beat Dubs with game enders. Gives Kings another legit threat/place to go in crunch time. Vasquez never impressed me much, and Salmons is close to useless. Bigs they got might be serviceable when Cousins gets in foul trouble/thrown out. Depth is a big issue for them, imo.
I liked Williams, but I liked Paterson too so see who works out better. Like most young guys he has to figure how best to contribute to his team and fit in. Kings have other guys who can score, so defending rebounding taking care of the ball become paramount.
You coaching?
Something else I think Sacto is hoping for is the *respect factor* from refs. NBA refs protect the stars by giving them FTs, but you know they all hate cousins. Maybe Gay will get to the line more, something I wish Dubs did a lot more. Steph Curry doesn’t get those calls yet like Kobe and the other established stars do.
He is also a good low post option when Cousins is out at high post. Dubs do this with Barnes, who backs down smaller defenders and scores on them inside. When Cousins is inside it means there is one less defender that would be able to double him by leaving Gay open when he is ball side. Just my take on how to use him.
Funny, but Nellie used to love to do this vs. Steve Nash, esp with Baron davis. He’d iso Davis down low, post him up on Nash and use his big butt to shoot turn around Js and fade aways right over him with ease. Nash hated it too.
Michael Morse come on down?
Just keep him away from Affeldt.
LOL! Aff needs to be wrapped in bubblewrap! But then he’d probably develop an allergic reaction to the bubblewrap! LOL
As I said yesterday morn, I love the signing. Believe it or not, Morse has better FP stats at either position than Belt.
1B = Belt – .993. Morse – .994.
LF = Belt – .944. * Morse – .996.
* Belt has all of 36 starts in the OF. 35 in LF and one in RF, so the sample size is small. But I do hope Bochy mixes it up enough to see if Belt is a vialbe candidate to play more LF than 1B.
The point you make that I believe has some validity and I agree with is I think there is less chance for Morse to get hurt at 1B.
Also, not sure how many watched the almost 6 minute YouTube video of Morse that I posted on yesterday’s thread, but the dude had some pretty good picks at 1B.
And I definitely like Morse for 1 @5 than R. Davis for 2 @10.
Will be interesting to see if he can stay healthy. He has over 500 ABs only once in his nine years (2011), and over 400 in only one year (2012).
those low AB totals weren’t always because he was injured. he was a late bloomer, he didn’t always have a starting gig. He’s got over 3000 plate appearances in the minors.
I saw those picks. They looked good. Maybe he could play first against some tough lefties that might give Belt some problems. I am generally never one to substitute defense for offense, but if we can keep him healthy and his glove isn’t too bad in left it could work. The guy is huge and has Hunter (distance) power. I do find that exciting. It isn’t much money and we didn’t have to give up prospects to get him. I think this could turn out really well.
I think I said I wanted Morse back when the poll was being taken (around that time anyway), so I’m good with the pickup. I think I read somewhere that Morse was trying for 7 to 8 mil, if that was true, getting him at 5 ain’t so bad. Don’t we already have a Rajai Davis type with Blanco?
Since TF isn’t posting, I’ll do a proxy Vungo apology.
Way back before the fancy stats took over, it was a commonplace that you couldn’t judge an IFer by the number of errors he makes because of this thing called range. Tony Kubek said so. OFers are of course no different, except it’s just rarer and a lot uglier to drop a fly ball than it is to boot a grounder or throw one in the dirt. Torres probably made about 5 really bad looking plays last year. Morse may not flagrantly embarrass himself that many times next year, but the BABIP in the LF area will go up. Over a similar number of innings played, that latter fact will probably be more damaging to the Giants’ runs allowed total than Torres’ fuck ups were.
so would you support my idea (that will never happen) of moving Morse to 1-base and Belt to LF?
You’re right, the weakens 2 positions argument doesn’t seem to hold anymore, and it would make Belt a more valuable commodity. I doubt that Bochy wants to create a “project” like this in the spring, though.
I also like that it would be Morse who sits when Buster rests his out of shape ass at !B. 🙂
Assuming Morse doesn’t crater I would think this will lead to Posey getting more true off days without being in at 1b.
You know, I can see that happening if it becomes necessary. Of course only time will tell.
Not good with the Morse to First and Belt to LF notion. Here, the weakening of both positions could be true ~ at least at 1B. Belt is an elite defender at the sack ~ fields his position well, picks are nearly nonpareil and his throws are attributable to a starting pitcher (which we all know he was in early college days). Morse is righthanded ~ automatically downgrading by a notch at First. Not saying BB9 shouldn’t get some reps in the OF and that Morse should never play 1B, but a major switch would downgrade infield cohesiveness and at best would be a kiss your sister in the OF.
Tight defense is a winning formula.
Dirt, good point on Posey getting pure days off. Morse in the lineup, as i noted yesterday, takes a bunch of pressure off Buster having to produce heavily at cleanup. Hector needs the outings, anyway and though a dropoff from Posey, is always a threat, thus no serious downgrade. Rather than see Hector batting fourth, or Morse (think strikeouts) Bochy might as well move everyone up a notch and run out Pence in cleanup and Hector batting 7th.
Well, Morse is the choice, but I agree with BF, how long will he last without getting hurt out there? ATT is not an easy OF to defend, even LF. Why does Sabes grab these transient pick-ups that often seem to have significant foibles — particularly history of injury? Cheap, that’s why. Who’s the back up if this Beast goes down for any length of time after running over a pebble under the Chevron sign or something? Blanco obviously, but then with nobody at AAA, is Sabes studying the waiver sheets again for the next Franceour to backup or platoon with Blanco? I guess you can’t have infinite backups, but seriously, I’d like for once to get a significant fill-in player that’s not old or with an injury risk history. Hopefully this dude does not turn into Francoeur or Nady redux…
Giants (Sabes) made a significant commitment to Lincecum, Pence, Lopez, Vogy, etc., to double down on the 2012 World Series Champions. Consequently, there wasn’t much money left over to fill other needs. However, he was able to accomplish just about everything with these real financial constraints. I haven’t taken a poll, but in lieu of the new signings (Hudson and Morse) and retention of the existing roster – I doubt there is more than 10% of Flappers, who would criticize Sabean for the outstanding job he has done this off season . . .
A couple of questions for you snarkk: Are you satisfied with this off season? If not, where else would you increase the already $145 million dollar approximate payroll? Who specifically would you have Sabean sign or trade for? If the latter scenario, who would you give up?
In my mind, you can’t have it both ways. I think Sabean has done an excellent job in signing two new players, who can really help and reward our team. Both are low risk due to their contracts. He also has brought back most of the “parts” from the 2012 World Series team. Just my take, but it’s up to the players now.
Blade, I don’t give a shit about the budget. It’s a false constraint. The Giants are a very rich franchise, but act like they aren’t. Next year the national TV dough for each team goes up to $52 million from $25 million this year. Giants could spend $170 million, who cares — they sell out the season. No, I’m not satisfied yet with this offseason. The Giants starting pitching will be nowhere near the 2010-2012 domination levels, and there’s no guarantee it will even be 0.5 better in ERA than last year, even with Huddy, who is also an unknown with his ankle. Instead of Voggy, they should get Arroyo. If it takes a 3 year deal for $35 million, then do it — he wants to come here. For LF, I’d have taken Byrd for 2 years at $16 million — he showed a very good bounce back last season, and wasn’t injured, so he has recent history of success. I don’t like his age, but there’s no injury there, and he’s not a butcher in the OF. I’d take that over this Morse guy. He’s high risk with the recent injuries, was a disaster last year, and was declining already in 2012. Not a good trend. Might he come back and be a big winner for low money? Maybe, but it seems a hope the more I read about the guy. I consider a guy that is a high risk for bad performance, even with a low contract, to not be “low risk”, unless you mean that from a business perspective. Because with this club, a position guy that craters has no backup worth much on the bench. That’s “high risk” from a baseball perspective. The overall problem that drives this search for spare parts every year is the Giants terrible position player supply in the farm system. Until that improves, picking up “value” spare parts from the up and down yearly FA markets will continue…
We did have a young, could-be-long-term not-recently-injured leftfielder. His name was Melky. I don’t condone what he did but we have had a hole ever since. I think that this is the long term route we need to take. Someone who can hit line drives, hit for average, find the huge gaps at AT&T and have the speedy to take advantage of them. Melky had great speed, a good arm, great defense, and the ability to hit for average and then he was suspended for PEDs. Sabean had his player. Now he has to find another one. This doesn’t mean I won’t support Morse in leftfield. I will. I will hope that his opposite field power can defeat rightfield and Triples Alley. I will hope that his defense in Left will not hurt us too much and that he will remain healthy for the entire season. I always hope for the success of our players but I do think that line drive, gap power with speed is the future route to success.
Giants opening day annual payroll for 2013 was 6th ($140,264,334) behind Detroit Tigers at 5th ($148,414,500). Giants are the 6th largest TV market. So how much more should they be spending? By the by, $165.4 million would make them number 3.
I guess my point is if the existing pitching is not going to perform to 2012 standards (as you imply) and we sign Arroyo instead of Vogy, how does that improve our chances to compete with the Dodgers? Also, when do the players take responsibility in this “equation” of you having Sabes spending boat loads of cash?
Well, I’m taking a nap while you figure out how much more Sabes should be spending on pitchers like Arroyo, Santana, and Jimenez.
I can already see I’ll be paying at least $24.99 for the Crab Sandwich at the Phone Park with you as the CFO.
😉
That’s (your post) MONEY…LMAO…
Arroyo has no injury history, throws strikes, and his stats as a flyball guy will improve within the friendly cavernous confines of ATT. We disagree on Voggy, so I won’t go again into why I don’t want him. I will ask the general question here of all Flappers: why should any of us give a shit about the Giants budget? Is this billionaire ownership running this ship out to make a big profit off of the fans, or to continue to field playoff teams? The Giants are going to raise beer and crab sandwich prices regardless of whether the payroll is $145 million or $170 million. An extra $30 million in payroll divided by 3 million+ butts in the seats is $10 per seat per year, whether that comes from a higher ticket price or a combination of that and higher concessions. BFD. Since they booted Bow Tie, I’ve got no time for budget tears from the Giants billionaire owners club, including chairman Charles Johnson, worth over $4 billion by his lonesome. The Giants are busy developing a billion dollar multi-use project down the street. An extra $12 million a year for Arroyo or two years of Byrd at $16 million is chump change to these guys. Lighten the partnership draws and get some big club position players and a farm system that are of quality commensurate with this humongous fan support…
I agree with you on the question of payroll. The Giants adhere to arbitrary payroll numbers as if they are a small market team. As a fan it is really annoying. Especially with the prices at the yard. I had season tickets last year and didn’t renew. Partly due to cost of attending a game. Also because the group I was in didn’t want to improve our seats which was my goal in joining them last year. Regardless, I will still go to a handful of games next year.
That said, I am okay with Sabean’s moves this off season. If I were to grade it I would give him a B-. Mainly because, while I was initially down with the Morse signing, the more I think about the more I am reminded of DeRosa. The one thing Sabean did well was keep the deals short.
Going forward the club anticipates a stable of young arms to start arriving in the next 1-2 years or so. Those are controllable players with affordable prices. I would think they could have opened the bank a bit and spent a little money and landed someone like Choo who would give the team a top shelf outfield across the board and would be with the club beyond Pence and Pagan.
The team stated a LOOOONG time ago, that FAs with qualifying offers (Choo, Ellsbury, etc.) would NOT be considered, as the team did not want to sacrifice their first round pick. That is a decision that was made by the Giants brain trust (Sabean, Evans, Tidrow, etc.) and I am not going to question their logic or decision, there.
I will agree that the “budget” is a bit perplexing. I don’t know the details on the ballpark financing, but I believe they refinanced the mortgage on the park to but the land around AT&T for their long-range plans of building out the area around McCovey Cove (new Anchor Brewery, etc.).
Who knows why the purse strings are the way they are, especially when the Giants principal owner (Charles Johnson) is THE SINGLE RICHEST man in baseball…and yes, that includes all the fuckwads who own the Bums.
So, while I would have liked to seen them sign Arroyo, etc., I am overall satisfied with the direction of the team this year.
Fucking work is blocking my abilty to edit…my last post should say “buy” the land around…
I’m satisfied they have spent $170m. Coukd have been more if they hadn’t been proactive.
Before this latest round of signings (Cano etc) they were 3rd behind the Dodgers and Angels in Guaranteed money owed. Not the hallmark of a small mkt budget. A small MKT team would have traded Cain Tim, Pence Lopez and kept Posey yr to yr.
Chi, I know they said they wouldn’t be signing someone that costs a draft pick. If I had forgotten I am sure your numerous posts stating as such would have reminded me. I’m just giving my opinion. Another way to look at it is if they got someone like Choo locked up that first round pick has less meaning to them. The way the Giants have developed arms without higher round picks you could argue that it doesn’t matter much anyway. Especially if they continue to whiff on position players as the lack of depth showed last year. Maybe they have someone on their radar already and think that pick is the golden ticket. Who knows?
Salty, You’ve got a point there. Maybe I should have said mid-market. I do appreciate the approach of doing everything they can to keep home grown players. I think it inspires real fan loyalty when they can root for the same players for at least a little while.
I have been on record numerous times saying I wanted Arroyo over Vogey. I am not sure that I want him for three years, though. Two and an option would have been preferred. At three…I would stick with Vogelsong for a year and see how Crick and some of the other young arms progress.
And I am down with the move with Morse…said it before and will say it again. I grade Sabean’s off-season moves as pretty damned good. If not an “A” then I certainly give him a B+.
Also, while I said I could see logic in Flavor’s Belt to LF and Morse to 1B (as a means to minimize the chance of injury to Morse)…it is not going to happen. Bobby Evans and Bochy have both been on record saying that Morse will be the everyday starter in LF as long as he is healthy, with Blanco (and Perez?) as defensive replacements late in games (esp. games in which the Giants lead).
Stacked the way it is now, if they stay healthy and get solid performance, I think they can compete for the NL West pennant.
I didn’t want Vogey back either. However, I was on board AFTER they signed Hudson. I seriously thought they would make a run for De Aza, but that didn’t pan out. I’m down with Morse and hopefully, the only unknown quantity, “Woo Hoo” Perez is Gold this season. I think he is a hidden gem and if Morse goes down, I want him out there full time, not Blanco.
there is a lot of assumptions that belt is going to hit the ground running this year. if i remember correctly, he has a good spring, then starts very slow, eventually hitting his stride in august and getting everyone all het up about the next year. so just plopping him in the 3 hole and expecting it all to work out may be a reach. a productive fa . . . (oops), i mean panda, and a morse that hits more to his 2012 could offset that but neither of those is a given either.
Giants payroll trends for the past 10 years. Projected this year to be around 145 mil, but Bobby Evans said the other day there is latitude to bump it even higher, if needed:
2013: $136,908,777
2012: $131,355,298
2011: $118,198,333
2010: $ 96,277,833
2009: $ 82,616,450
2008: $ 76,594,500
2007: $ 90,219,056
2006: $ 90,056,419
2005: $ 90,199,500
2004: $ 82,019,166
It’s needed
Does that include the 7m for Zito? 😉
Not positive Salt, but when they talk payroll commitment, I am assuming that it covers Zito and other payroll obligations.
OK, I had a nice nap . . . Nice insightful post Salty:
“I’m satisfied they have spent $170m. Coukd have been more if they hadn’t been proactive.
Before this latest round of signings (Cano etc) they were 3rd behind the Dodgers and Angels in Guaranteed money owed. Not the hallmark of a small mkt budget. A small MKT team would have traded Cain Tim, Pence Lopez and kept Posey yr to yr.”
What say you snarrk? By the by, only the Art Dealers and Yankmees are above the $200 million mark. Here are the top 10:
TOP TEAM PAYROLLS
RANK TEAM OPENING DAY CURRENT AVG SALARY MEDIAN
1 Yankees $ 228,835,490 $ 228,835,490 $ – $ 7,151,109 $ 2,425,000
2 Dodgers $ 216,597,577 $ 216,597,577 $ – $ 7,468,882 $ 5,250,000
3 Phillies $ 165,385,714 $ 165,385,714 $ – $ 6,125,397 $ 1,350,000
4 Red Sox $ 150,655,500 $ 150,655,500 $ – $ 5,021,850 $ 3,600,000
5 Tigers $ 148,414,500 $ 148,414,500 $ – $ 5,708,250 $ 3,500,000
6 Giants $ 140,264,334 $ 140,264,334 $ – $ 5,009,441 $ 1,650,000
7 Angels $ 127,896,250 $ 127,896,250 $ – $ 4,736,898 $ 3,500,000
8 White Sox $ 119,073,277 $ 119,073,277 $ – $ 4,410,121 $ 2,075,000
9 Blue Jays $ 117,527,800 $ 117,527,800 $ – $ 3,791,219 $ 2,600,000
10 Nationals $ 116,056,769 $ 116,056,769 $ – $ 4,298,399 $ 2,337,500
Like I said, blade, I pretty much don’t want to hear the budget lament from the Giants anymore. The fans are doing their part, buying seats, Panda hats, fake rings, shirts, everything. They can’t put any more butts in the seats, the team owns 30% of CSNBA, yada yada. So, with their payroll at $140M (with $7M of that dead money for Zito, I assume, so it’s really $133M effective payroll) they’re in the upper echelon of spending — and they should be. Chi says the team has a position that it won’t negotiate with qualified FAs that will cost a first round pick. Why? Because they’ve recently gotten great pitching with first round picks and Buster the past few years — that means that they can NEVER give up a first rounder pick to secure a FA that really helps the team for 4 or 5 years? That’s a man made rule, not from the heavens. I don’t understand that thinking, I disagree with it, it leads to reactionary management, not pro-active. First round picks don’t hit all the time. If I need a kick ass position player, I’d gladly give up a first round pick to get a top guy that for sure could help for half a decade. This organization has Rolls Royce financials and shops at JC Penneys…
“Chi says the team has a position that it won’t negotiate with qualified FAs that will cost a first rounder pick.”
That isn’t entirely true every season, as there is nuance to that rule. I am not going to explain it to you, but here is the rule as it applies to 2014 free agents . . . http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/jonathan-mayo-all-qualifying-offers-declined-2014-draft-order-clearer?ymd=20131111&content_id=63845866&vkey=news_mlb
This is what Sabes said about Giant ownership, “Sabean felt compelled to thank the franchise’s hierarchy for granting him spending flexibility.”I feel very fortunate that ownership was so proactive,” Sabean said. “I don’t remember many teams spending like we did before players hit free agency.”
Also, you keep saying the cupboards are bare in the Giants Minor league system. That’s BS too. Read this article: http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article/sf/san-francisco-giants-tie-bow-on-winter-meetings-with-michael-morse-acquisition?ymd=20131212&content_id=64627284&vkey=news_sf
blade, blade. That article is just noise from Sabes. He’s “thanking” the billionaire ownership for spending? That’s a good one. Was he blowing Charles Johnson while he said that? Thank the FANS for spending THEIR coin. All those pitchers he listed are just names. Until they actually do something at the big club, or are used to exchange for real MLB players that can play NOW, they’re ghosts. Until they actually do something like Belt and Buster, the farm system deserves the dog do ratings it’s been getting…
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1780807-ranking-the-sf-giants-top-10-prospects-after-the-2013-minor-league-season (Giants system “devoid” of an impact bat). Bleacher Report 8/2013 — SF Ranked 27th (Giants have “completely neglected” their lack of position prospects in the system; nobody in the MLB top 50 prospects). http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1723741-re-ranking-all-30-mlb-farm-systems-post-trade-deadline
I’m a little bummed we didn’t sign Uribe— dude could have been a great safety valve if Panda goes down or gets fat again or for Scoots if he breaks down again. We must have burned that bridge with him, I haven’t heard a peep about the Giants interest in him
Me too. I always liked Uribe. Both of them. Juan seems to be a good clubhouse guy and the team wins everywhere he goes. He brings that swagger a team needs.
I’d spend some coin for him — 1 year $5 million. Why not? Short deal, fits in with JC Penney shopping, is “low risk”, as blade likes to say… 😉
i don’t get the fascination. he wasn’t much good for two years then had a great contract year. went to the bums and did the same thing. so you sign him and he’ll stink until he cycles up for the contract year.
BF’s rhyme of “horse” and “Morse,” reminded me of the “Mr. Ed” theme song.
And then it got me thinking of ’60s sit-coms in general. Nowadays, the tendency is just to have sit-coms about friends and/or family hanging out, like in “Cheers,” “Friends,” “Seinfeld,” “Big Bang Theory,” “Malcom In the Middle,” “Rosanne,” “Modern Family,” “The Middle,” etc., and to rely on funny dialog and character interaction.
In the ’60s, it was much more about “big concept” sit-coms with far-fetched premises:
A man has a talking horse.
A guy is married to a witch.
Some hillbillies discover oil, get rich, and move to California.
A nun can fly.
Frankenstein has a family.
An astronaut discovers a genie.
7 people are shipwrecked on an island.
There’s exceptions, but overall a general trend there.
The sitcoms nowadays that drive me nuts are those with pre-teen kids in them that talk like adults and crack wise-ass one-liners right and left. Idiotic. Now, then; 7 castaways on a desert island where the other 6 always allow the one doofus among them to idiotically sabotage every single one of their escape attempts — that’s good stuff right there. Especially where one of ’em is Mary Ann…
I can see that point about kids in sit-coms. Part of the problem is that children, in general, are not very good actors. There are some exceptions, but overall it’s true, I think. It’s just a product of being young. Acting at the highest levels is very difficult, and particularly difficult for young people.
Agree. Bring back the Beav and Eddie Haskell, especially Eddie. I knew plenty of kids like this. 🙂
“Good morning, Mrs. Cleaeeeeever”…
I always liked the Greatest American Hero.
As a kid, I liked the “Partridge Family” a lot. A family as a band was a pretty cool thing, to me. Yeah, they were a LAME band, but still, it was kinda cool.
haha,yeah I watched that one too. Sometimes when I see reruns of shows from the 70s I just think how we never see this type of stuff on TV anymore. Barney Miller was another one I liked and of course WKRP.
I may as well insert a Get off my lawn!!! here
Wait a second, I thought the patriach was Dracula?
Ah, good point! No disrespect meant to Grandpa Munster! 🙂
That is excellent insight, Zumie. Although the dialogue in today’s sit-coms is probably less realistic than those ’60’s scenarios. Nobody I know talks or lives like these people.
Yeah, very true. It makes some of the shows nowadays unwatchable, for me. I think that trend started with “Cheers.” I never was completely sold on “Cheers.” I do like “Frazier” a lot, though.
I will be expecting Giants to make some noise at the deadline. Between prospects and cash in reserve, they could be big players for a prime addition. That was the difference in 10 &12.
Nobody asked, but here’s some of Zumiee’s favorite TV comedies of all time:
Dick Van Dyke Show
MASH
Andy Griffith Show
I Love Lucy
All In The Family
Frazier
Seinfeld
The Larry Sanders Show
Will And Grace
Big Bang Theory
Veep
If we want to include cartoons:
Simpsons
Family Guy
American Dad
Futurama
Yeah,. I’ll go with DVDyke show, no one before or since has worn Capri pants like Laura Petrie did. Laura Petrie and Mary Ann. I wouldn’t mind being on a desert island with those two (as they were THEN). MTMoore has apparently turned into a bit of a rightwinger nut now, so that kind of spoils it for me…
I knew Bachmann reminded me of someone from the ’60s.
Who can forget Leo Durocher as a guest star on the Munsters?
I remember that! And I remember Don Drysdale guest starring on the Brady Bunch once. I didn’t really know who Drysdale was at that time, but even as a kid I could tell his acting skills were HORRIBLE.
Apparently people had really cool house parties in New Rochelle, in the early ’60s:
Nice capri pants!
How did Colonel Hogan end up in Dick’s house in New Rochelle?…
Nazi clemency or early release good behavior program?
If Klink and Shultz are in the kitchen making cookies with apple schnapps, it’s all good…
Laura Petrie as the 1st reggae star. I think the real question is how did Col Hogan’s dick end up in Laura Petrie’s capri pants?
That’s what I call a successful reconnaissance mission…
Riggins called Justice O’Connor “Sandy baby”. Charles Johnson is worth $4 billion. Can Flappers call him “Chuck”? …
Ruh roh . . .
SHit. I’ll try later. THis is a pic of all Morse’s HRs last year. 2 went to LF. A few to center, most were to RF.
Don’t rain on the Morse parade, Chuck. Sabes has already thanked our gracious ownership!…
Bum wrist it makes sense he couldn’t turn on the ball, no?
I cite actual writers from legit baseball websites and snarkk cites the esteemed Mike Rosenbaum of Bleacher Report. Umm . . . Who? 😉
blade, come on dude. You know ALL the ranking sites stomp on the Giants farm system. And, some writers say Morse is a good deal, but risky, other’s say he’s a reach. Most everybody here could probably write for Bleacher Report if they put their mind to it, heck probably Yahoo, too and all the rest of these new online sports sites. Hell, BF could already, and so could you…
I guess I see how bad it is for the Sherpa Luge team and am so grateful for being a Giants fan. 😉
Blade, your knowledge of all this fantasy bullshit should be put to good use. Start a fantasy blog with some funky angle, get the web traffic up, and sell it in a few years. Whoever started B/R sold it for $200M to Turner Broadcasting after only 3 or 4 years online. I don’t know if it even made money when it got sold…
the bar has gotten pretty low for quality online journalism. Ah, I remember the good ‘ol days when it was just me and some of my most esteemed colleagues. Time flies, eh? 🙂 🙂 🙂
You’re the best Flavor. Unfrickingbelievable the amount of time you put in. NO ONE HERE COULD DO THE JOB YOU DO DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
thanks. But it’s not work I do it for fun and to get away from the shit in my life. But I appreciate your capitalized props, lol
by the way Blade, you never told me how you did with that Fantasy football team a couple weeks back. hit money?
No, but your assistance was invaluable. I really didn’t have a clue about NFL players (as you and other FL players know – you have to know the recent history of players or you’ll do a face plant). I did well, but out of the money.
I’m playing 2 tournaments this evening in NBA and hoping to get my 7th and 8th wins (in the money). Still waiting for the nirvana numero uno placing though. Impressed that you did that in football.
It’s way early, and more deals are to be made, but what are you guys thinking about the NL West 2014 at the 40,000 foot level? I’m thinking it will be a 4 team race. Everybody but the Rocks will have a legit shot at the division title, with LA favored because of pitching, but no shoo-in by any stretch…
I’m impressed with what San Diego is doing. They could have at least nine starters fighting for five spots in the rotation this spring: Andrew Cashner, Johnson, Tyson Ross, Kennedy, Eric Stults, Robbie Erlin, Cory Luebke, Joe Wieland and Burch Smith. Casey Kelly will start throwing in January as part of a closely monitored program and could join the mix at some point during the season. They also scored a much-needed left-handed hitter in outfielder Seth Smith from the A’s.
Conversely, I think the Snakes got taken in that 3 way deal involving Trumbo. Chicago made out with Eaton and the Angels did well to get Skaggs and Santiago. No idea what the Snakes were thinking. First off, Trumbo is going to be a disaster in left. Forget about 1st, with Goldie there. Likewise, 3rd base is taken as well.
Rockies did upgrade their bullpen and similar to the Giants with Morse, did well in getting Anderson, who has a lot of upside despite the injury risk. However, they totally fucked up on the trade involving Fowler. Same deal with Morneau – put a fork in him, he’s done.
The Art Dealers will be the team to beat for obvious reasons. Much has to go right for the Giants to overtake them.
I think the Snakes are going to severely implode. Maybe not next year, but soon. Their moves are random and numerous. People forget they traded Sherzer for Edwin jackson (and Kennedy). And Adam Eaton is good. Mark those words. I’m drafting him in all leagues, late, next year (assuming he’s healthy). And the Kennedy trade was just dumb.
Yeah, Eaton (as described by the White Sox GM) is a “dirtbag” player, meaning this guy will do whatever it takes to win. Biggest concern is injury due to him going all out 24/7. In my opinion, he eats Ellsbury and Garner’s lunch. Easily.
“To get on base at all costs,” said Eaton when asked about his leadoff mindset. “I don’t care if I get hit in the head, hit in the ankle. See 10 or 12 pitches, as many as I need to get on base.
“I could be [down] 0-2 and chop a ball over the third baseman. I know the guys we have behind us, Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn, Gordon Beckham, I’m one pitch away from scoring.”
This is a guy you would go to war with.
How much has Eaton done in the majors? Not a whole lot. I think the book is still out on him. I am not sold he is a sure thing. ..
Too bad you guys are not on retainer advising Sabes…
Not my final predictions, but this is what I see: 1. Giants (I’m biased, so shoot me); 2. Art Dealers; 3. Friars; 4. Arizona; and 5. Sherpas.
In a perfect world, we would find a taker for Scutaro and Affeldt (three way deal with Scutaro to Yanks Affeldt to the Mariners and Giants get Ackley sounds good to me) and take that $12 mill and the $5 mill going to Morse and have $17 mill sitting on a table across from Choo.
I think Choo was the only free agent that would have elevated the Giants to make them a competitive team next year. Morse fills a hole but I dont see this team as anything other than a middling team. If they can stay in the hunt, maybe a mid-season trade can elevate them to a more competitive team.
Watching Morse with the Nats, he will be a fan favorite at ATT and I think his defense in left will not be any worse than when Burrell roamed left. I think Belt’s gold glove caliber at first makes a bigger difference than maybe Morse’s slightly below average left.
Potential lineup?
1) Pagan
2) Scutaro
3) Panda
4) Posey
5) Morse
6) Pence
7) Belt
8) Crawford
Very heavy rightie lineup in the middle of the order, but what do you do have Belt move up and then have Morse or Pence hitting 7th?
WHY bat Panda third? Though a very dangerous hitter, he is not that reliable to produce on a fairly consistent level. Same goes for Morse. Though a thumper, Morse is prone to striking out. Belt finished the season batting right where he belongs, third. His OBP will always be at or near the top on the squad. He’s a line-drive slash hitter with plenty of doubles to prove it but yet sufficient clout to keep pitchers honest. Pence has grown into a good Enforcer, batting fifth. Pando goes six and Morse seven. That makes for the kinda lineup which can mount rallies and then devastate as power bats keep piling up.
What we see with the more natural LU are four OBP guys, followed by three thumpers and a shortstop. Not much off-time for the opposing pitcher till they get to his rival.
“How much has Eaton done in the majors? Not a whole lot. I think the book is still out on him. I am not sold he is a sure thing.”
GH, he is a good runner and solid defender, Eaton was an offensive force during his first three seasons in the minors, and many scouts believe he can still be a productive offensive player in the big leagues. Not only does Eaton have the leadoff hitter on-base potential — with an astounding .450 career OBP over 345 Minor League games — but he has the mentality to match (as I indicated earlier). This is what he said in regard to the upcoming season and what happened last year when he was injured”
“It would be great if I could hang my hat around a .300 average, 100 runs scored and an OBP around .400 [for ’14]. I think it’s definitely doable.”
“Last year I was too focused on struggling and trying to get back in a groove,” added Eaton, who hit .252 with a .314 OBP at the big league level in ’13, after coming back from a sprained ligament in his left elbow that included a setback during his rehab process. “I’m excited to bring energy to the team, whatever they need me to do.”
Just my take, but dollars to donuts, he plays a major part in turning that White Sox franchise around. As Flavor indicated, the dude is a secret in Fantasy League and you would be wise to have him on your radar in any FL draft you’re a part of.
You made my point Blade, the book is still out on him:)
I would not have traded him if I was Kevin Towers. But I was just trying to be snarky that we cant out him into the hall of fame yet.
I dont think it was our league, but I did draft Eaton in another league and had to eventually drop him.
Dont get me started on fantasy football. In my California homie league, I sat Luck and I would have won if I had not. Other league my opponent had KC’s defense playing against the worst organization in football with the f’n Redskins. That was the deciding factor. Still alive in my Yahoo money league…
I also thought Gary Brown was a lock…
True. I still think the White Sox got over on the Snakes (as did the Angels) in this 3 way trade.
I’ve explained like 20 times why Gary Brown was never a lock
Flav, I have not been up of late on the Flap and have not seen your commentary on gary brown. Please pass that on again…
I’m aghast I left “Scrubs” off my TV comedy list.
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Bad news: Schilling will be getting more air time, not less.
I don’t get it. But then again, I don’t get Joe Buck either.
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All the pundits will be picking the Dodgers to win the NL West in 2014, but I don’t think they will all be picking the Dodgers to get to the World Series. The Dodgers have a bunch of guys that remain question marks regarding winning under the biggest pressure.
And Flav, I am up to 126th place in the free agent contest! Am I leading the Flapper Nation?
I’m at 3, batting .094 so yeah I think you are winning considering you and I are the only ones playing. Keep it up I’m rooting for you! Someone has to ride the Flap Flap high during your victory romp. You do have the Flap Flag, right? This could get embarrassing for you…
GH–Eaton hasn’t done shit in the majors. The entire goal of fantasy sports is speculation. From that point, I have like 5 things he can do for you next year. And maybe I’ll be wrong, so be it. But I don’t spend a single shit second on what someone has DONE. I care about what I think they’re gonna do……
I’m going to skip breakfast tomorrow. The weight is weighing me down.
Get Smart . . .
All in the Family
My Favorite Martain
Cone of Silence. One of the greatest TV running gags of all time…
Speaking of baseball players as actors, a few weeks ago I bought a copy of “The Wonderful Country,” a pretty cool, somewhat obscure late 50s western. Satchel Paige plays a Buffalo Soldier and acquits himself reasonably well. Mitchum is the star. The director, Robert Parrish, also made a really terrific noir called “Cry Danger,” which you can still stream free on either Netflix or Amazon Prime. You won’t be sorry if you do.