Dominated
It’s hard not to appreciate what the A’s are doing this year. They sometimes list 3 catchers in the starting line up—and I’d take any of the 3 over just about any hitter in our line up. If they don’t play all 3 in the same line up they platoon them. Platooning your catcher position is a brilliant plan. You always get the right match up, you keep their legs fresh and you don’t have to pay them anything.
As I look over at our 167 million dollar man who takes days off all the time I can’t help but wonder what our team would look like had Sabean taken Bean’s approach to filling the catcher position…..
But whatever, the A’s are a much better team than we are. Problem is, most teams are. Now we get to find out a new level of embarrassment with the D-backs coming to town.
Anyone feel confident about taking this series? Can I get some of what you’re smoking?
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
We’re still 3-3 in our last 6. That’s not so bad.
and we’ve go auto-win Timmy going today. The last couple of years he’s been auto-loss Timmy. Now he’s our best chance for a win. What the hell is going on?
Thank GOD or fate that the A’s play in the American League.
Wouldn’t take it to the bank, but I think our boys have a chance to take the series. Would be a big boost going into the break.
And I agree about the A’s having a solid club. I mentioned at the beginning of the A’s series that I am not one of the locals who hates the A’s. When they are not playing the Giants, I will root for them over most teams, but I really do not follow them. And I do admire the way the team is composed…they play a solid brand of baseball. Someone here talked recently about the A’s playing over their heads this year. That may be (similar to what the Giants did for the first two months), but make no doubt about it, the A’s have a solid club who I think can match up with anyone on any given day. And as a fan, isn’t that what you want…for your team to have a chance to win and win regularly? The test will be to see if the A’s can make any noise in the playoffs, as they have had little success there the past few years.
And I still believe our Giants are better than what they have shown in the last month-plus. Get Scoots up today and see what he can contribute, and get Pagan back, hopefully by the end of July (that is the last estimate I heard). If they can get Pagan back at the top of the order regularly, and Scoots can start here and there, and come off the bench to PH, I still think they can challenge for the West pennant.
they need Pagan back a little earlier, in my opinion. Gregor Blanco cannot continue to play. He’s totally worthless at the plate and you can’t have a leadoff hitter who is totally worthless at the plate.
He’s not leading off anymore, but still, he now ‘anchors’ the bottom of the lineup which is completely dog shit. 3 auto outs.
It’s like giving away 3 innings a game.
yeah, I realized that after I wrote it. But just having him anywhere in the LU is completely devastating to production
As I’ve said before, I rip on Blanco, but it’s not really his fault. It’s Sabes’ fault for having to put a AAAA player into a starting role. The same thing happened last year, Sabes did nothing to upgrade in case Pagan went down again…
We all know Blanco sucks at the plate, but he is probably one of the better defensive OFers the Giants have. Someone has to play CF until pagan returns, and with Perez being optioned to Fresno, options are limited. It is either Blanco or Colvin. Of Colvin’s approximately 200 big leauge starts, he has started 48 in CF. So, you either sacrifice a bit of D and play him, or suck it up and play Blanco until Pagan returns.
I say a Giants sweep. It’s time. Way past time, actually. But I still think if the team is counting on Scutaro to be the *savior*, that’s just stupid. Sabean needs to do something in the next few weeks at least to shore up the bench and maybe even another *blockbuster* at the deadline. Hudson even said as much after the game last night, the team is too weak to survive any starter being down for too long. I’m trusting Sabes will do something. And yes, Craig, I actually did find some nice smoke in Sonoma (but I don’t have it here back east) 🙂
Hey boys just got my son tickets for the Nets Monday day game on August 4:) Paulie, you going that weekend right? Let me know if you are at the Monday game. I got a good stub hub deal for a section behind the plate.
I can finally break out my Cain jersey I got after the last championship….
Lebron back to the Cavs…
Our long national nightmare is over…
Scutari could be an emotional boost. But, he was a defensive liability last year. He can’t be any better now, likely worse…
I wont say this is a must-win series, but will be huge going into the break with a series win. and would be a moral victory if we could go back in first over the Dodgers.
Was just thinking about Starlin Castro and maybe instead of short, he could be a solution for second. What does the group think is the conventional wisdom for what it would take to land him and do we have those prospects? I would trade our #1 pick this year and another one of the top starters in our system and maybe the catcher we have Susac.
Commenting on Flavor’s point about platooning catchers, one thing the Giants have to worry about and the A’s don’t is filling the seats. Giants fans want to see Buster, Timmy and Panda in Giants uniforms and that helps drive the gate. The A’s fans even when they are playing well typically don’t show up in mass numbers, so they don’t care about names, but this may be the year they draw for the remainder of the season.
But if I were to bet and I am a betting man:), I would give the edge to the Angels over the A’s if they meet in the playoffs, especially if they add an arm to their rotation. Can Smardjdongalingdong and the rest of the staff keep Trout, Pujols and Josh Hamilton down for an entire playoff series???? I say no…
Sabean’s number is blocked over at Cubs HQ.
Can’t trade picks for players under the CBA…
is our #1 guy this draft not signed yet.?
I think they signed Beede earlier this week.
GH – Giants inked their top pick (pitcher out of Vanderbilt) for 2.6 mil about three days ago.
Lebron back to the Cavs…
Our long national nightmare is over…
Unfortunately, any trade the giants do now is from extreme weakness…
Agree Snarkk,,
Best Sabean can do is trade Willie Mays for Charlie Williams again.
Getting Starlin as a long-term answer at 2b is not a bad outcome even if the trade is coming form a weak position now. Crawford is probably going to remain a more reliable glove at short, but less important at second. Castro has been banging some dingers this year and would be an interesting #3 hitter ahead of Posey or Morse…now if Theo has an issue with Sabean, what can be done then?
Really Flav… “As I look over at our 167 million dollar man who takes days off all the time I can’t help but wonder what our team would look like had Sabean taken Bean’s approach to filling the catcher position…..”
You wouldn’t be looking at 2 WS flags…that’s for sure
I take the flags any day over any other question….
I did not realize Castro has signed an extension..very reasonable IMO…leaves about $16 mill for 2015 if payroll remains steady to resign Panda and giving them some flexibility for Morse and/or Romo. Plus the outer years are very healthy for Giants in future contract years. 2016 just $95.5 mill would be committed for salary with Starlin included for just $7.8 mill.
Castro, Starlin ss 3.150 Wasserman Media 7 yr/$60M (13-19)+20 cl opt $5,857,143
2015 – $6.857 mill
2016 – $7.857 mill
2017 – $9.857 mill
2018 – $10.857 mill
2019 – $11.857 mill
I’m not convinced Morse should return…
Unless we had an immediate upgrade for left, I cant see us not bringing Morse back. We are very thin with OF prospects and unless we go after Nelson Cruz, not much looks available on the free agent market…
I agree with GH…options are limited. Certainly no one in the minors who will fill the bill next year. If Morse is inked, I would hope it is for no longer than 2 years, max.
What exactly is your beef with Morse, snarkk? I realize he isn’t the greatest defender out there, but he is hitting .275, .326, .493, .820 with 14 bombs and 46 RBIs. That is a big piece of this years team’s production.
I am not huge on him, but truly the options are limited, and he appears to like playing here. With his and Hunter’s bromance, maybe the Giants can get a hometown discount on a year or two contract.
It was reported in the past 24 hours that the Giants are kicking the tires on Zobrist of the Rays. Giants sent “special assignment” scout Pat the Bat Burrell to Tampa to check it all out, and the Rays have been scouting Richmond. Details here:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/san-francisco-giants
Until his visits actually result in us getting a player he scouts, I will firmly believe that Pat the Bat’s scouting trips are 100% all about the strip joints and hookers
But it also says that the Rays are believed to have scouted San Francisco’s Double-A affiliate extensively. I know those scouts aren’t getting laid in Richmond, well I guess they could but why? Nope, they are there to do some trading. I say give them what they want and take Price too.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Some names from the current AA roster for what it’s worth:
Pitchers
Ty Blach
Clayton Blackburn
Jose Casilla
Kyle Crick
Derek Law
Adalberto Mejia
Position Players
Angel Villalona
I’d like to kick the next person that uses the expression “kicking the tires”…
Lol
Sounds personal, Loo. An old term we used in the Air Force right before launching a jet “kick the tires and light the fires.” Kicking the tires was all of your pre-flight stuff that had to happen…basically doing your due diligence.
Don’t hold your breath re: me not using the term again….
Perhaps other teams will consider kicking Sabean’s tires, but he’ll have to patch and inflate them first.
Agree, Bozo, wouldn’t it be sweet to hear an announcement very soon that Price and Zobrist are comin’ on over? Honestly, I have no idea what it would take to get those two, and even less of an idea of who’s in Richmond that might interest the Rays, but I don’t really even care. Not too many untouchables on the G’s at the moment except maybe MadBum and Pence….
And maybe Belt.
Yes, Belt as well.
The problem we face in the OF (with limited options and little on the farm) also applies to Panda. Granted, no one wants to see 6/$120 for him, but really, with him gone, we are weaker by far.
Sabes has some shit to do these next few weeks. The early talk was if Panda wasn’t signed by the all star break, he’d walk. Don’t know if that’s changed, but if that’s the case, then he’ll trade him.
According to the story in CSNBA (I believe) the other day, Sabean said that no one on the club was untouchable.
He’s lying.
So does Timmy pitch to Goldy tonight or walk him every time?
In a discussion over a brew last night, a friend had the perfect solution for Goldy. Drill him, first pitch. So he gets “a single” and Timmy uses only one pitch.
I love it. How many times do you think he gets to drill him before Goldy turns Timmy into kinneling? lqtm
At least buzz him and give him something to think about…
I’m guessing the second time Goldy gets drilled, he looks to break Timmy in half.
Better have the Beast playing first if Timmy’s going to do any drilling.
Lincecum strike me a guy who’s probably had to stick up for himself more than once. I wouldn’t be too worried.
All this talk about this year. Who ever mentioned that Sabes should have done something about CF/leadoff is right. WTF was Sabes thinking last year. When the season ended did he just go off to the Bahamas till February?? Hell everybody and their mother knew the Giants needed help at that position. As far as 2nd goes, everyone here who thinks Scuts is going to be the spark that ignites this offense, well like Flav said I want whatever you are snorting, smoking, injecting or drinking to believe that. If anything with his bad back there will be fewer DP’s turned. which results in more runs scored by the oppossing team. Maybe, probably, for sure.
Obviously they felt that either Perez or Blanco could spell Pagan, if required. I sure didn’t see it as a huge warning flag (needing another option at CF). It only became apparent once Blanco proved he cannot get it done as a starter for prolonged periods. I sure don’t recall a lot of discussion about CF being an issue at the end of last year.
We all know that the team will probably take a hit defensively with Scoots in there, but if he can provide some spark with his stick, then that is all good. I see him platooning with whoever is left after he is activated (hoping that is Panik). Short man out is probably Hicks.
Yeah, no idea what Kevin is talking about regarding Pagan. Everyone knew after he came back late last season, he proved that he was “Pagan” again. Same deal with Blanco, Perez, or fill in the blanks . . . They were there to “spell” Pagan, Pence and Morse. No way, no how was the plan to start them. This Sabes bashing is hilarious.
His fist year here he played in 154 games last year 71, this year 63. That does not raise flags?
Sabean himself said on KNBR in the offseason he got caught flatfooted with no plan B for backup starters when Pagan went down. So, basically he got Morse, and kept the same “backup starters” he had before, namely Blanco and Perez. Colvin was an afterthought ad in Spring Training. He already knew Blanco couldn’t be a starter in case something happened, because he saw Blanco crater last year as a starter. The league is full of bench guys better than Blanco at the plate…
Reading Flav’s intro, wouldn’t you know it, Posey’s not starting:
Pence RF
Belt 1B
Sandoval 3B
Morse LF
Sanchez C
Colvin CF
Panik 2B
Crawford SS
Lincecum RHP
Well, you would be sitting Belt to play Posey, as Hector catches Timmy. What the hell, ya have him off the bench.
Also, I had mentioned earlier about Colvin as a possibility for CF, and there ya go.
As somebody said today or yesterday, every day the 6,7,8 spots are almost automatic outs every time up, regardless of who’s penciled in there…
The roster basically sucks. Too much dead weight.
There are half a dozen guys they could DFA today and no one would pick up…
Pence’s measly 33 RBI’s is also a killer. It’s not his fault. He belongs in an RBI spot in the lineup.
They never gave Crawford or Colvin a chance up top in the batting order.
Good point Loo. I would like to see Crawford at the top spot, with Pence moving to 3rd or 4th.
Yeah, it tells you about the depth of the team when Pence is your absolute best lead-off candidate. I too think they should give Craw or Colvin a look at the leadoff. WTF, can’t be any worse than Blanco.
Christ. We go over this stuff backwards forwards and sideways. I said a few weeks ago, before Crawfish’s big slide, that he should bat 1st with Panik 2. Crawfish was making contact at the time though.
We are WAY past the point where the PLAYERS have to start playing. At least it’ll shut us up . . .
Trumbo coming back from DL tonight–gonna make Timmy’s trip through the line up a little tougher. Really interested to see how he pitches against this team tonight….
A good outing gets him on the all star team after the late scratches are announced…
I’d just walk Goldschmidt every time. What’s his BA against, .600 or something. v. Timmy? I think we see a trend, so stop pitching to him…
Or do as I suggested earlier. Just drill him every time, first pitch. Saves pitch count for Timmy and best Goldschmidt gets is a “single.”
Wheeler hits an RBI double for the Mets. There’s another hitter the Giants let get away.
“All this talk about this year. Who ever mentioned that Sabes should have done something about CF/leadoff is right. WTF was Sabes thinking last year. When the season ended did he just go off to the Bahamas till February?? Hell everybody and their mother knew the Giants needed help at that position.”
and
“His fist year here he played in 154 games last year 71, this year 63. That does not raise flags?”
So Kevin, you ignored Chi’s point, along with mine . . . I will ask it one more time – You were the lone voice of reason at the end of last season, essentially saying Pagan was going to be injured this season?
The 2012 weren’t prepared to lose the All-World Melky, but guys stepped up and got it done.
“2012 Giants”
True, Loo. Very good point. But what is being discussed is should acquiring a CFer in the off season have been at, or near the top, of Sabean’s off-season to-do list. I think not.
In conclusion: The locals are screwed this season unless Sabean makes some moves.
For what it’s worth dept — Opening Day 2000 Giants lineup at Florida vs. tonight’s LU. The 2000 team went on to win 97 games and the division, NL rank was #3 in runs (925), #2 in SLG (.472) and #2 (.834) in OPS. No stat by Baseball Reference on the 2000 team’s PEDs ranking…
Benard Pence
Meuller Belt
Bonds Sandoval
Kent Morse
Snow Sanchez
Burks Colvin
Aurilia Panik
Estalella Crawford
Livan Timmy
And probably pretty typical for most ML teams that year. Everyone was juicing…
I have yahoo for email, and last few days they’ve had links to csn philly for Phillies reporters takes on what theys could get and from whom for Cliff Lee with idea Phils throw in good chunk of his salary. Today team was Yanks, who definitely are looking for big time SP with Tanaka going down. They just added McCarthy from AZ, and obviously need more help than that in rotation.
While the reporter mentioned Betances (unlikely I’d say) he did talk about Yanks prospects: an OF they drafted last year, a C and a stud P…none of whom are yet above Double A.
My feeling is, what if Cain were made available to Yanks? Could you get them to throw in Ichiro/Robertson plus a couple prospects? What if you added in Romo? Could SF somehow get their hands on Gardner?
I will say this about Beane–he totally outdid Sabes in picking up Gentry in offseason, as he knew that his version of Pagan in Crisp gets hurt a lot. And he’s missed a bunch of time this year too. Imagine having Gentry on Giants to play CF or anywhere else in OF, lead off and steal bases.
Heard Scoots interviewed on Comcast tonight (and watched him take the most ginger of batting practice swings)— doesn’t sound like this is anything more than a total flier. He’s giving it a go because he’s a gamer and, frankly, what else does he have to do? But it sounds like he’s a shell of himself.
I’ll give him this: he’s got more heart than Glass Sanchez.
But what he can contribute? Sounds like very little…….
Mmm worth checking out I’d say. 6 inning2-3 ABs every other day or so, see how he holds up.
Damn site better than what you get out of Hicks. I think Scut is one of those guys that is smart enough hitter he could play when he’s 50.
Sounds like he is much appreciated in clubhouse (esp among IF), so breath of fresh air would help everyone else a bit too. Let Boch decide how much he can contribute.
Abso-fucking-lutely. Even if he gives it a go and can’t do much, I tip my cap to the man for giving it his most. And Scoots will always have a place in my heart in regards to 2012. I will forever have the vision of him, standing in the pouring rain in our house, arms raised as he recorded the final out against the DeadBirds. He may surprise us. He may not. Regardless, I’ll appreciate him either way.
Tmw is a day game too, so Posey would likely sit one of either Friday/Sat out. This way he should play both day games Sat and Sun. Need some more middle order pop from him too. That bugged me about A’s series–their catchers lit SF up with the long ball. Not much response from Giants end.
Posey of course is something else to think about–if you move him anywhere to another position you need a lot better C prospect than Hector.
pretty solid 1st inning and that second strike to Goldy was sick
And there we go!
Problem I have with Craw and Panik at top of the order is that they just aren’t near as good a hitters as what is in front of them—Pence Belt Sandoval Posey Morse. If Pagan were around he’d be ahead of them too. Your best guys have to get more ABs. Not negotiable.
I realize neither Pence nor Belt are classic 1-2 guys, but Pence has great OB and Belt as LH would have 1b side open with Pence OB. Both have enough pop to be instant offense.
Panik might be able to grow into 2nd spot. Craw might not ever be that good a hitter. Both are there for their IF defense, turning DPs and saving runs.
when he dreamed of groupies, I don’t think Brian Dozier dreamed of this:
I feel bad for the barber.
Yeah, tough gig.
it looks like he just quickly finished the job at the bottom– probably ran for cover or threw up or something
Holy Snarkk, a safety squeeze!
yeah, thing of beauty too. Good AB from Panik, lot of credit for taking those two curves.
Morse starting to heat up.
I didn’t realize Morse had that many doubles. He really looks like he labors on the base paths…
One of the many reasons Buster ain’t getting traded. #2 in sales of major league jerseys.
#1 reason: nobody is going to take on that salary and have him sit out so many games a year.
#1 reason: full no-trade protection. But, what about Florida? Buster might like that and the owner is fucking nuts, hmm…
that owner sheds salary, he doesn’t take it on. No matter the many reasons, Buster is a immovable object forever…….
He had 610 plate appearances in ’12, and 595 plate appearances in ’13. And 335 plate appearances so far this season. For a player whose primary position is catcher, that’s very good.
I understand the frustration that Buster isn’t playing at his ’12 MVP level, but he’s still very productive.
Immovable object? There is a joke in there but I’ll shut up.
he’s getting paid to produce at an MVP level. And when he isn’t playing catcher that means Hector the Replacement Catcher is playing catcher. This was my point when I talked about how the A’s are handling the catcher position this year. What they are doing is brilliant. It makes what the Giants are doing with catcher look totally outdated and lame. And yet totally lamely expensive…….
To zumiee (8:34 post) – very good points. Few fail to realize this. As someone mentioned elsewhere on this thread, without him, the chances are drastically reduced of them winning the WS in 2010 or 2012.
Yup, good one, two combo.
Timmy doing it with the bat.
Stop the gloomy bitchin’ and speculation. Timmy’s reestablishing himself as a leader in the rotation, the Giants are winning 5-0, and the Dodgers are losing 4-1. We might even be in first at the ASG break. (Last year and the pennant-winning year before that, the team limped impotently and crawled to the break.) And there’s a silver lining: the break is late this year, much later in the schedule than usual, it seems. We’ve played 92 games. Way more than half. And Marco Scutaro is coming back, prepared to do his Mark DeRosa impersonation.
I like it when a doomer emeritus is leading the Pink Cloud Parade.
Pink Cloud Parade…classic. That one definitely had me lqtm…
I agree, Pawlie (stop the gloom and doom). I have been saying since this nose dive was recognized as a nose dive that this team has shown they can play damned good ball. They may not be as good as the team who had the best record in baseball a little more than a month ago, but they’re a hell of a lot better than the club who has limped outta June. And you make good points about the past teams and some of the struggles they had. Still a lot of ball to play.
Good job Timmy. Started getting a little shaky from the stretch, but finished it off.
You have to go back 20 games to see the last game where we scored 5 runs (June 21). Couple that with Timmy pitching an outstanding game over his nemesis, the Snakes – In my mind, this is the most important game of the season thus far. I think this is a turning point . . .
Whoops. Actually, we scored 5 runs against the A’s. Carry on . . . lqtm
agreed on the importance of this game. And this whole series is a big deal going into the AS break…..
Yeah, that was sort of my point except for the fuck up on the last time we scored 5 runs. I am typing on my laptop and I could have sworn the score was 6 runs, so if we do end up scoring 6 runs, then I would be correct about the June 21st date. Regardless, this game is a turning point, if for nothing else, I think Tim has cleared a significant hurdle. By the by, EVERY fantasy league site said AVOID Timmy starting tonight. Glad he showed them all.
A’s a wee bit miffed at home-plate ump’s called strike 3 to end their game.
Timmy is the new Ace?…
Yes. A new paradigm every night. lqtm.
The old ace is the new ace…the more things change, the more they stay the same…
Reading the blog, I missed a friggin’ safety squeeze? That better be on MLB video highlights!….
Ballgame!
Now the trick is winning a non-Timmy start.
Nice to be on the other side of a shutout. Ha.
No shit, Steve. Fuck, there was one point where the Giants had been shut out in four of eight games.
8 of the last 18 games have been a shutout: 3 for the Giants, 5 for the opponent.
Ballgame, bedtime.
Bedtime for Bozo . . . I think I saw that movie. ‘Nite John! 🙂
Squeeze? Get the fuck outta here! Just saw your comment, snarkk. I JUST got home…we went out with some friends for dinner and listened to some live music. Nice to come in and see 2 outs and 5 zip Gigantes in the 9th. Will have to go look at the box and try to figure out who did what, etc. Nice start to the final series before the break.
Timmy now 9-5 with a 3.66 ERA. Compared to the past two seasons, that’s pretty dang good.
Keep it up — has he figured something out?…
I think so. This was a very significant game in my mind, both for him and the Giants.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss . . .
Tim Tim has rediscovered his mojo. Got to get some good feelings before the break. Vogie has been doing pretty well lately, so the starters are pulling themselves slowly out of the morass.
And the Dogs are down 6-3 . . .
Shit, Byrnsie is on MLB network now? Nails on a chalkboard.
Listen to Byrnes = lose more brain cells than drinking Makers Mark.
Guess which one I’d rather do…
Yup. TIme for a little Bullet.
So, was it two or three fingers?
Um, those guys out there remind you of anyone?
Contributions up and down the LU and nice D. Everyone except Hector had a hit run scored or a rbi. Pablo with 3 of them, including HR to RF and double to LF. And Hector did gun down Goldschmidt (neutralized tonite) for a CS. And of course Lincecum helped himself with the bat big time.
Put Posey in with that group and it is not bad LU. Get enough decent pitching SF can win torture games.
Scuts winning pct of 1.000.
Dogs lose. Back to tied. Let’s roll . . .
Actually, G-men are up one percentage point (one game better in the loss column than the bumbinos). Fuck yeah!
Nice to hear from Baggs that Bochy had the team do outfield, infield and pitcher fielding practice today before the game. I’m digging that…
Timmeh speaks…
http://www.csnbayarea.com/giants/rewind-lincecum-finds-consistency-continues-maturation
Timmeh highlights.
Notice his left landing foot on the windup is landing much more true in line with the plate, not way off to the left of the mound, as he has done in the recent past…
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_07_11_atlmlb_chnmlb_1#gid=2014_07_11_arimlb_sfnmlb_1&mode=video
Thx Snarkk. Great to see Pablo using whole field and a line drive rbi from Crawford. Glad you got to see the squeeze highlight too. It was nice baserunning by Panik who had good game in the field too and Tim put ball in perfect spot. He’s been a better hitter this year to go along with focus on how to get batters out with what he has; note those low pitch innings in addition to the Ks.
Nice to see him (and everyone) enjoying the game too and getting to point where he can laugh about falling over the bag at 1b. He had big grin after Morse made the nice running grab of the bloop too. I bet they had to listen to Morse bragging about his wheels.