Free Agent Pitcher Insanity
After watching Zimmerman ink 110 mil and Cueto reject 120 mil I am reminded of why I don’t want the Giants to sign any free agent pitchers. I get it, it’s not my money. All I care about is performance and we never see pitchers who sign 100 mil+ deals work out. They leave the best years of their careers on the back of their baseball cards. Every. Single. Time.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
If you go to a game, some of the payment of a contract comes from your pocket. So really, it is your money.
Still, I wanted them to get Zimmerman.
The amount of years on a contract used to bother me more than the dollars. Now, I figure teams realize that they may only get 2 or 3 years from a guy that they give a 5 year contract to but it isn’t that big a deal for them. I’m guessing (most) team owners view the length of a contract like a home mortgage and it’s just payments stretched out over time.
Totally. Agree. And it’s not just pitchers. Most of these hefty contracts are backward, not forward, looking. The Tampa Bay Rays used to be the notable exception, might still be: lock guys up very early in their career; a hedge against rising salaries. Has it worked?
About 3/4 done reading “The Sportswriter,” by Richard Ford, which has very little to do with sports or sportswriting and a lot to do with the American male.
It is what it is. The long-term contracts are not going away any time soon, IMO. So, look for the one that you believe will provide the most value over the course of the contract.
I am with the clown and had hoped that Zimmerman was in the mix for our Giants.
Of the remaining, I think Greinke, even with his age, could be the best value, as I think he has the most likelyhood to be able to reinvent himself after he loses velocity on his FB, etc. He has such an arsenal of pitches he can throw for strikes and has shown damned good command throughout much of his body of work, that I think he could be effective for quite some time.
I still think Leake would be a good pick-up, too. Probably not a popular pick with much of Flap Universe, but I still think the guy is a solid pitcher who could slot well in the 3 hole in the rotation.
And I still would like to see them get a LFer with some pop.
They don’t need much, so question is will they be brave enough to spend the coin.
Hope all ya all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Highlight of my four days off…my Sooners throwing the Bedlam Beatdown on the Okie State Pokes.
I’m a little less certain about this in present day terms, esp for the Ace types.
The Greinke deal LA had (3 more years at $71 mil) would probably have been fine if he hadn’t opted out. Paying him for more years and $$$ than that going forward is tougher decision.
Cueto might take similar deal with a better team than AZ in less friendlier hitters yard. He’s legit ace and now does have himself a ring.
Scherzer and Opie have been fine at front ends of their contracts, tho neither have been able to deliver playoff success for their teams.
I think the real issue would be not overpaying for the lesser lights—Samardz, Kennedy, Iwakuma, Chen, etc. If you can find value at the next tier and get decent return on someone to throw 200 innings most clubs would be happy. On the other hand if Leake were to demand $75 mil for 5 yrs and isn’t any better or more durable than last year then fanbase would be pissed.
Kershaw’s big contract is working out okay for the Dodgers, but I agree that most of these guys don’t live up to the huge money. Rejecting $120M is unbelievable. Who does Cueto think he is?
I’ve read the Dodgers have Jose Quintana on their radar for Puig. In my opinion, he is the most underrated starter in baseball. Per ESPN, he has been worth 12.9 WAR over the past three seasons, hitting 200 innings each season. After giving up 23 home runs in 2013, he has allowed just 26 the past two seasons combined. Considering he also is signed through 2020 (including two team options), I think the Giants should make a run for him too . . .
I get it that Free Agent pitchers are going to get paid. However, I’ve said consistently, fuck all of them , except for the sure thing . . . Yep, that’s right – there are no sure things. So again, fuck them. Anything over $75 million a year for a pitcher is insane in my opinion. Anything over 3 years is too (unless the MOFO is Clayton fucking Kershaw).
I’m down with a trade similar to the one I described above (where a player is controllable for a few years) or what Sabes usually does – make a deal at the trade deadline for the stretch run.
Steve – I agree with you in principal on the over three years, but the reality of it is that there are plenty of teams out there that will throw big coin at these guys for five year deals. If you locked-in and said no deals over three years, you would be holding an empty bag when it is all said and done, and put your team at a competitive disadvantage.
Regardless of how much of a badass your GM is at the draft, you will always need to supplant your team with a FA on occasion…especially if you are serious about competing for a world series title.
Recent Giant history begs to differ, but the model going forward for the Giants front office will be very interesting.
This team has too many questions in the rotation to simply go a couple of the middle-of-the-road types to fix their rotation. The bitch is, middle of the road now is the 5/$80+ mill that Smoreskdfa and Leakey Mike are looking for.
Chi, yes, it is an option that should be explored. However, I think this off-season, the top free agent pitchers don’t excite me at all, especially Greinke, who in my opinion has too much mileage on that arm. It’s also my opinion that the SOB is not going anywhere . . . I hope another club (including the Giants) drive up the price and the Dodgers double down. I see buyer’s remorse written all over the club who signs his ass.
My point is this . . . Don’t follow everyone else, i.e., get creative and explore a trade with an under the radar player such as Quintana, who I suggested. Also, give one of our prospects a real chance in Spring training to make the club. Couple that with a mid-level pitcher free agent like Leake, but only if the MOFO is realistic. If he wants to go for the brass ring, let some other dumb fuck club back up the armored truck into his home.
I saw your suggestion re: Quintana. He is a decent pitcher, but IMO, not elite. He is an innings-eater, but he is not an elite pitcher. Perhaps adding him and a Mile Leake would shore-up the rotation. And I do agree that you need to “kick all the tires,” that meaning you look at the available free agents, and also the possibility of a trade. Good point.
This is an Insider ESPN column which I would love to be able to read. Crux of the column is that Greinke would be a BAD fit for the Giants . . . If anyone has access to Insider and can cut and paste it here, that would be great.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/14254307/the-san-francisco-giants-pass-zack-greinke-mlb
6:36 to play, Dubs down by 3, but Steph Curry returns and immediately hits a 3. Six interesting minutes to go.
Only saw last Q but that was epic finish.
Green and Curry get it done, plenty of help.
Road trip without Barnes will be challenge.
Is it true that song was about Prince Charles marrying the 19 yr old Diana? I don’t know. I do know that Steely Dan took its name from Wm. Burroughs’s great novel Naked Lunch, wherein Steely Dan was a dyke’s favorite dildo.
Probably not, since the Gaucho album with this song came out in ’80 and the Charles-Di wedding was in ’81.
Bonds as Miami’s hitting coach would piss me off a bit. Come on Giants, keep the HR King at home.
Every year he is away he seems more into getting back into the game.
There is absolutely no reason he could not help Giants hitters, at any level.
It’s past time for Baer to pull his head out of the sand (or somewhere else) and acknowledge Bond’s contribution to the franchise and throw it back in the face of all those sanctimonious idiots like Killion that refuse to vote for him. If McGwire can get a job as hitting or bench coach, Bonds is a no brainer.
It’s about time these guys were punished for their ineptitude. Not too surprising seeing how the game went though.
http://www.ninersnation.com/2015/12/1/9826778/pete-morelli-officiating-crew-pulled-from-week-13-game-due-to-49ers
The officiating (if you can call it that) in the NFL has become so bad, that it is damned near unwatchable for me. The Niner game was a prime example. Not only the bullshit calls, but the non calls, especially near the end of the game when AZ got away with a delay of game call. Play clock was winding down and Palmer was beside himself trying to get his C to snap the ball. The play clock CLEARLY hit zeros BEFORE the ball was snapped. No call and Palmer delivers a strike deep into Niner territory to set-up the game winning TD. Fuck the NFL. I would watch college football any day over the NFL, mainly due to the fucked-up officiating.
Two things need to happen:
1) Permanent full-time refs who know the NFL rules inside-out.
2) When instances like the Niner game happens, the refs need to be held accountable and fined/suspended. (We have had this same conversation re: MLB umps and their fucked-up calls and bullshit strike zones.)
I agree about Bonds. Not saying they need to fire BamBam, but shit, find a position for Bonds.
new thread
Yeah, time for the Giants to kick in that 10-year personal services agreement they have with Bonds. I know a couple of years ago he gave Crawford an exercise for hitting Leftys, that didn’t seem to hurt Craw any at the plate.