On the Road Again, I Can’t Wait to Get on the Road Again
Super weirdo roadie coming up against the Mets, the Brewers and then the Royals. They better not sleep on the Mets who outscored them 100-85 in July (so far), We never play well in Milwaukee. Or maybe that was Zito never pitched well there. I can’t remember. And then we have to go play a decent KC team where we are forced to use the DH. With our 10 cent bench that should be a cute match up, right?
But the glorious key to all of this is that all 10 of these games will be played AWAY from AT&T. I’m tired of hearing about how impossible it is to score runs at AT&T. The opposition scored 30 runs over this last hommie stand. And our pitching wasn’t terrible. You can score runs in San Francisco if 37.5% of your starting position players play in Fresno and not San Francisco.
A’s just traded Cespedes for Lester and Gomes. Wow! Action packed day for at least one team in the Bay Area….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Wow, the A’s are loading up while we sit on our hands. Good for us.
PS. I hate early meetings.
Bonifacio = Uggla 2?
I think Bonifacio’s gm would play very well at AT&T. Lots of doubles and triples. And he could play multiple positions and his speed in the OF would be welcomed. It’s time for Morse to sit. If he’s not hitting home runs what good is he? He’s nothing but a liability otherwise…….
And Sabean didn’t even think of offering Morse to the Bosox?
Beane’s putting all chips into the pot!
He’s one aggressive GM, unlike Sabes who’s sits on in hands to keep em warm. That A’s “Arm Race” now is crazy scary good… Lester, Shardzappo,Gray,Kazmir,Chavez.
Oh bullshit, Kat. Come on…IF Sabean had any chips, he would be in the fucking game. Sure, he owns part of that (shitty farm system), but he isn’t making deals because he doesn’t want to…it’s just that he came to a gun fight with a knife (any maybe a derringer in his boot).
Yeah the A’s are going balls to the wall. I thought anything would be good to try to shake things up, and that got us Uggles.
But Morse is a problem that isn’t going away. He’s doing nothing offensively and he’s a liability on defense. Even if they bring in Bonifacio, he’d take Blanco’s spot.
Winning Uggla just was not a possibility. Looks like that little experiment is over. Colvin back to the Fresnobus. Something’s brewing. A good Belt of something satisfying looks immanent. Step one.
BF, the starters were pretty terrible over the home stand.
The batters still have to hit the ball. They hit it, we don’t
They hit it because our pitching wasn’t up to snuff…that is part of the problem. And yes, our guys have to get some hits and produce some runs.
Well why aren’t we hitting the ball? Because Vance fucking Worley is a great star? Please….
The starting pitching continues to be sub par, as it has been most of the season. Sabean got very lucky with the bullpen. Yes, they need to score more runs, and the park is not an excuse for the very poor numbers the offense has been putting up. I also expect that to change over the last 2 months.
Pretty expensive rental to give up on Cespedes. Bad news for Giants fans is LA could still get him next year.
There was a weird story about Cespedes backing off from playing CF (down Crisp and Gentry)for the A’s a day ago, and he refused to talk about it. Word came from Reddick that Cespy told him he didn’t want to play there. If they can keep the guy after contract runs out next year, great deal for Red Sox.
Note this also comes a day after Hammel lost again–0-4 and a 9.53 ERA for Oaktown. Beane still needs a 2b (like a lot of teams) and his offense takes a dive with Gomes in there. We’ll see.
Bonifacio…hits a lot like Blanco. Yes he runs better, but for all the grief Blanco gets here I just don’t get how anyone can be enthused about this guy. This reminds me of signing Michael Tucker, not Kenny Lofton Reggie Sanders Ellis Burks.
Leadoff is not a problem, it’s what’s hitting behind. Bonifacio does not get on base well for a leadoff, anywhere. Hopefully Bochy’s talk with Craw helps him get it together in 2 spot and Posey Morse Sando Belt behind them can do more damage. And if Pagan does return soon, Bonifacio would be useless fluff. No way you bench Morse and .800 OPS for someone 200 pts less.
Awesome post…we’re playing from the same sheet of music.
Sabean, Bill Hayes and a bag of peanuts for Beane?
Price for Boneyface is the problem. He would be an upgrade even as a bench guy. But probably not worth what Epstein is trying to extract.
Willie, like last year, this season appears to be hinging on Pagan and his health. Even getting Belt back isn’t going to be enough, as Pence is still batting in the wrong place.
All Bonifacio buys us is a lead off guy. Well, hell. Go for it.
No single player makes the difference between a 76 and 90 win season, especially a modest talent like Pagan.
A lead off guy who SUCKS BALLS at getting on base. Hope Sabes doesn’t waste the time, effort or money on him.
I mean it’s not like we’re going to trade Pablo and Peavy for Byrd and Hamels.
Well, bonifacio talk is a waste of time, we won’t get him
Fwiw, in 65 PA, Boney has hit.275 @ williemays pk
Unless we get magically healthy right quick, this’ll be another bad penny year.
I didn’t catch Evans on the radio but here’s the highlights from the merc. Interesting comment on Sandoval.
http://tinyurl.com/mu9ewq5
MLBTR reporting the Giants are in the mix for Alex Rios. This makes sense to me as Sabean always seems to get these guys that he’s been linked to in the past. It’s actually sort of funny when you go back and look at his acquisitions whether they be FA or trades he telegraphs his moves.
The highlight of the season might have been turning a DP on a walk yesterday.
Right. Dumb was the guy wandering off 2nd on his stroll to 3rd. But why did the guy on 3rd leave?
He (Sanchez) left because Snyder was then running toward 3rd base after Machi threw to second. Sanchez could have stayed put at 3rd and hung Snyder out to dry—and that would have been the smart thing to do looking back, but he took off for home trying to avoid anyone being tagged out. Obviously, that decision blew up on him. Nice play by Craw to tag out Snyder and then quickly throw to get Sanchez. Though, I think Craw was initially sleeping when Snyder wandered right in front of him.
Lackey to the Cards. Who the hell is left to pitch for the Red Sox?
Stolen from Twitter: With Cespedes, Red Sox now have a better arm in the outfield than on the mound.
lqtm
Beane’s biggest advantage over Sabean is quite simple to me: he has 5-6 guys playing over their heads and outperforming what they have done in the past. This would include Moss, Norris, Crisp, Donaldson, Vogt and Jaso. 3 of those guys have OPS over .900, and Vogt is hitting .350. Combine those guys with A’s pitching, winning formula.
Contrast that with Sabes, where no one among position players is playing over his head. Pence is having fine season, and scoring runs and getting hits—in other words, everything you ask out of lead off guy. None of the rest, Pablo Posey Belt Craw et al are doing anything special at the plate. Pagan has been out for extended period, and Morse went into extended power slump.
As for deals, look at how this worked out: Beane re-acquires Sam Fuld (a guy I’d have taken a shot at for Giants) for Milone. Now, Beane had Fuld but DFA’d him and sent down Milone when he made the deal for Samardz and Hammel, while keeping Daric Barton (??) on 40 man. Twins picked up Fuld on waivers and then dealt him back to Beane for Milone, basically for free. Would have thought Beane could get a lot better hitter than that for decent SP. And it looks like Twins schooled him, since Fuld will be expendable once Crisp and Gentry return to roster.
For all his deals, he still hasn’t beaten Detroit yet, unlike Sabean’s team.
No offense to any who have commented, but I am so sick of hearing about Billy Beane. He is having a fine year, but he is the Fucking A’s GM, and this is a Giant blog. If you want to beat off over Beane, maybe go find an A’s blog. Again…nothing at anyone in particular…I am just sick of hearing about Beane and the A’s.
Orange and Black FOREVER! GO GIANTS!
Agreed. Continuous deification of this guy and his ZERO rings is disgusting.
Had Sabes dumped Romo and acquired Jim Johnson as his replacement for $10 freaking mil and then had to DFA the guy, fans and bloggers would have crucified him and fed his ass to seagulls in McCovey cove.
Agree with both you and Chi. Newsflash . . . Giants are still 8 games over .500. ‘Nuff said . . .
Blade to the rescue. Nice to get a sanity check from some of you guys (WillieD and Blade). Thanks, brothers.
That’s a humdinger of an A’s trade. Dear Red Sox fans who told me you’d be repeating: ahem. Ain’t happening. We’ve been there. On other matters, I was listening to Colin Cowherd this morning, and he was spot on about a bunch of things, including ESPN’s tendency to be blind to anything west of Chicago. He really raked them over the coals on their east coast bias. And the two-game suspension of Ray Rice is ludicrous. Period.
I am out for a while…no Giants baseball today (will watch the wires to see if they pull the trigger on anyting), but I am being a cranky old fuck…will stop back by to check out the BBOTD perhaps…she is right in my wheel house…
Later Flappers…make it an awesome day.
Seeing the Red Sox as sellers this time of year is pleasing to me.
My favorite Sellers were Phil & Goldie…
I do remember Goldie Sellers, Chiefs DB…#20 maybe? Chiefs of those days had awesome secondary, exciting team from varying backgrounds, big time programs and small trad black ones.
Peter?
Yer thinking of Silvers . . .
Phil was a basketball legend at Rutgers a long time ago…
. . .and Goldie Silvers was a stripper?
Well, Flavor’s blog and if he wants to talk Beane, it ought to be his f- prerogative. BB happens to be the “story” right now. Almost makes the A’s watchable. With the mute on, of course.
Hey, most anyone (as long as it is civil) can talk about anything the fuck they want. I was just expressing my opinion that I am fucking tired of hearing about the A’s. I could give a fuck about them or the rest of the Junior Circuit. Again, just my opinion…
Getting Lester could affect other decisions…like the need to get Price. See if the mariners go all in.
Surprised Anaheim hasn’t jumped in at all.
Well for me, I hate the A’s as much as I do the Dodgers. Just can’t stand them. Started in the 70”s with those stupid mustaches. When the Dodgers and the A’s played in the WS I couldn’t watch do to the fact one of them was going to win a ring. So who cares about Oakland. If Beane was so good how come he can’t get a stadium built? Even in the Giants bad years they got more press than the A’s. All because when you ask someone have they been to an A’s game they say where the hell is Oakland? As far as the Giants go…it is just like the Woodstock saying. “What a long strange trip it’s been”
Kev – let me set you straight. That (What a long strange trip it’s been) is not from Woodstock. It is from the greatest touring band of all time…The Grateful Dead.
ha ha, thanks Chi.
The Red Sox are kind of blowing things up and re-booting. They looked highly questionable doing that in the second half of 2012, but of course, they ended up looking like geniuses (or extremely lucky) winning the World Series in ’13. It bugs me that they gave Gonzalez, Crawford, and Beckett to the Dodgers, but the Red Sox removed all criticism when they won it all in ’13.
I’ve said it before, and it’s stating the obvious, but the depth of the Dodger bench vs. the Giants bench is ridiculous. Last night the Dodgers could bat a back-up infielder who’s hitting .300, in the 10th inning. Turner gets a hit, and ends up scoring the winning run.
Their two back-up outfielders would be starters right now for the Giants.
For the Giants, for the first time this season, I’m singing the old Michael Murphy hit song:
“They ran calling Wild Card….
They ran calling Wild Card….
They ran calling Wiiiilllld Caaaarrrrd…..”
Good call, Zumiee with the Michael Martin Murphy reference. Another artist I cut my teeth on in “high” school.
Well, I’m heading to Berkeley today; we’re going to be seeing Tift Merritt perform at the Freight and Salvage tonight. We’re also going to walk around the area and check out the sights and favorite bookstores.
You going to the Iris Dement show?
Cleveland traded Cabera,
SD traded Deforna? Whatever
Giants still zzzzzzzzz
AK, reading between the lines of Evans comments, expect they will do little to nothing and wait for any fallen fruit later.
Looks that way Salty, more smoke and mirrors technique from Sabean and F.O.
For those of you complaining about the Beane talk. This is a *baseball* blog and Beane made some pretty significant *baseball* moves today. It’s not like we can discuss the merits of Dan Uggla and Gregor Blanco 24/7 at the Flap…..
Especially considering that Sabean did nothing, which is what I expected him to do. Our team sucks while 5 or 6 other teams improved themselves dramatically today……
I totally get it Craig…I was just getting really tired of seeing many here mentally beating off to Beaner and the Fucking A’s. That’s why I decided to bail for a few hours…I have no interest in that minutiae…
Yes, it does sound like nothing’s going to happen today and they’re counting on post-deadline action. But a few slightly weird quotes from Evans justifying the lack of action: “There are no assurances to what Scutaro will be able to do”….. um… kinda think that train left the station, Bobby. And… “We’ve got internal options” for outfield… Really? Who, and why haven’t they been brought up before now? And… “Our preference isn’t to do anything to weaken this offense.” Well, certainly glad to hear that…. 🙂 I don’t know; A’s showing urgency to win now. Dodgers haven’t done anything yet…. Cards getting involved… Sabean has definitely not (yet) called this a bad penny year and given up, but there also doesn’t seem to be any urgency on management’s part. If no moves are made today, how will ya’ll feel about that? For me, it’ll make me think they’re just hoping the team reverts back to its winning ways of the first couple months of the season. Pagan and Belt back, Morse suddenly refinds his stroke, I guess that’s possible……
I heard the interview live and it was just him spinning words around. The only thing time he made sense was when he said they weren’t going to trade Pablo and watch the offense get worse. And really, how could you trade Pablo and watch the offense get better? So he had a point there.
The Giants don’t have anybody to trade…sad that they let the farm system get to this point.
Well, at least Sabean managed to hang on to all his prospects.
Sad that you’ve resorted to your redundant trolling act here after getting zapped at the Splash 500 times. I highly recommend focusing on your aspirations of becoming a third-rate travel writer–I’m sure the world can’t wait to read about your taste in Argentinian gaucho pants.
Baggerly is calling today a “net win” for the Giants because the Dodgers didn’t get any of the players traded today. That is such a lame attempt at spinning today a “net win”. We have massive holes, fuck whether or not the Dodgers got better or stayed the same today. They’re already better than us. We needed an outfielder a second baseman and a legit major league bat off the bench. I would have taken 1 of those. We got none and if Sabean can’t cobble together an offer to acquire even ONE of those needs then he needs to fire himself for putting together such a pathetic fucking farm system……..
It’s as if him and the whole organization just don’t give a fuck. I’ve been getting that impression lately from the whole team. “Who cares, we’ve already won 2 championships recently, let’s just exploit our beautiful ballpark and loyal fan base and milk what we’ve got until we actually have to build a team again.” I’m sure that’s not really the case but it sure as hell feels that way. In other words, the Giants just aren’t a hungry team right now.
Russell and Bonifacio to the Braves
Example of failing at your job: the Braves traded a little class A catcher to the Cubs for Bonifacio and Russell. I was never a huge Boney guy but I would prefer him over what we’re trotting out there now (Blanco, Uggla, etc…). Sabean didn’t have a class A catcher to toss at the Cubs? Really? Cause he said he was in on Boney talks and if he deemed a class A 2nd round pick catcher too rich for his blood then he might be getting too old for this job. Dead serious…….
I hadn’t seen the details of the deal . . .
Swell . . . The Cubs get next to nothing for Danny Bonaduce and we sit idly on our hands.
The Yanks get Prado for a minor league utility guy. I know AZ is in our league and all, but I would have preferred Prado over Bonifacio and again, the Yanks got him for very little.
The Tigers getting Price make the Rays sellers…
exactly. This is another great example. Sabean cried about not wanting to do any “bad trades” which I translated into he didn’t want to “pay market value” but if this is the shit the Yanks and the Braves gave up then I believe Sabean to be totally out of touch with reality in terms of what these players cost to acquire…….
I definitely think there were a lot of panic moves today. And all we make are Panik moves. (Couldn’t resist.) The Red Sox were smart in the LONG run; will be better next year. Sheeesh, you’d think we could’ve at least gotten Prado or Bonifacio. Someone.
I guaran-fuckingteeeeeeeee you Sabean puts a claim in on Brian Roberts.
I got the La-fuckin-sorda fucking refer-fuckin-ence.
Let’s be clear, though: those bashing Sabean have to be the first to praise him if he wins WS with this team, give or take. Or even makes playoffs, at this point. Just saying. Fair is fair. Big if’s, I concede.
absolutely.
I’m already mentally preparing for the underwhelming and “barely-better-than-Uggla” B-Rob pick up. It’s coming…..
A Mets fan friend of mine in North Dakota proposed Daniel Murphy for Crick and Beede. I said, sure. But one of them, not both. Anyway, that’s just talk.
Correct me if wrong, but I am fairly certain we got Cody Ross well AFTER the July nonwaiver deadline.
yup…August 22.
it was. And that is precisely the move Sabes is gonna make to get Brian Roberts. Look, Ross was a once in a lifetime pick up. He only got to play because Sabes original acquisition (Guzman) crapped out. I was hoping for something a little more than blind luck “lightning in a bottle” bullshit and we didn’t even get that today, lol
Well, he hit Pat the Bat that year as well. Pure flotsam.
Who would dare?
Disappointed we didn’t get some help today. I was very much hoping for that rumored Rios deal, because something needs to be done about the black hole that is Morse in LF. Maybe the team will get better when/if Belt/Pagan return, but that’s a big if and that’s assuming everyone else stays healthy, which seems a long shot this season. As for the Prado deal: Any thought that teams within the division don’t trade. the Yanks and Red Sox, of all teams, made a deal today.
first since ’97
As I believe Chuck alluded earlier…almost any OFer is going to bump Blanco to the bench…not Morse.
Goodbye UGGLA! Enjoy your retirement. All else is gravy……
Dr. Andrews confirms only ‘loose bodies’ in Cain’s elbow. No TJ needed.
Loose bodies. That was all I was searching for in my 20s.
Really, Charlie? I was always looking for tight bodies, that were uninbititied (loose). Insert gay-ass smily face. (Grin)
Comparing what Sox got for Lester vs what TB got for Price? The Sox got better players for Lackey than the Rays got for Price.
We needed a 2nd baseman in the WORST way. Of course we have other holes, but Maybe Pagan returns to form, Maybe Morse returns to form, maybe Belt starts hitting, maybe Posey and Panda too, but there is no MAYBE at 2nd. We have tried them all. Frustrating
That’s for sure. 2B wouldn’t be such a worry if all the others were Marvel Action Hero Figures. It’d be like the Orioles keeping Mark Belanger at SS. Or something. It’s all compounded because ALL the hitting is as fragile as a spider walking on a broken web on eggshells.
Mangle many metaphors much?
Didn’t the Giants inquire about Brian Giles or Omar Vizquel?
No, they thought they’d give Stubs Metzger another try . . .
Did the Padres get anything special for Denorfia?
a shitty outfielder and a shitty pitcher. Again, if he doesn’t have that to send for a guy like Denorfia, we’re fucked. Word is that Padres wanted Escobar so Sabes said no and sent him to Boston.
Not too motivated to hop that 7 train this weekend…
I would love to know if Sabean had any offers for Sandoval.
I’d like to know what Adam Duvall could have fetched. We clearly don’t consider him a prospect if Ishifuckingkawa is going to bump his ass back to Fresno.
Whaaaaaatttttt….no Bonifacio????
Just got home from a long day and catching up on the flurry of trades. I did not really hear about Lester till I left work. Wow. I dont know if I would have given up Cespedes. Will be funny if they get into the playoffs and they lose because of offense.
Yeah what happened to the rumored high cost for boney? This catching prospect looks like another Monell. Weird.
new thread. Venting there is encouraged…….