Stuck On Top Of The Hump
Colorado has done a very nice job of building an A+ bullpen. It will be interesting to see if these guys can keep it going this year with all the wear and tear on the body and the arm they have to deal with way up there…..
I’m trying not to be down on Pierce Johnson. He’s given up no hits in 11 of his 18 outings this year. He’s really only had 1 horrible game. Bottom line is that we didn’t get enough hits, bombs or singles, last night…..
Lame weekend coming up. Pimlico track likely to be screwed up with water. I still like Good Magic but won’t be surprised if this is an easy win for Justify. And then we have to deal with the idiotic Royal Wedding on Sat, too. All those people just need to go away.
On Sunday, Dubs rolling at Oracle. Three more at AT&T and I don’t feel good about any of these games.
At least we have our ace going tonight…..
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
eh Rox didn’t do that much damage vs. Smardz and got nothing after 2nd inning, bunt couple walks. Giants held them scoreless for a full 9. Even Arenado didn’t hurt us, good thing.
13 more Ks and Cutch had rough night. He sure takes a lot of pitches.
TEN bombs for Belt and last few at ATT. Pence iirc had 27 when he was going good which I think is most non bonds in quite a while. Love to see Belt top that.
Love to hear more about Sandawg Park.
Fucking Melanoma hit rehabbing Williamson (concussion) with a pitch during a simulated game. I never thought I would say this – I hope the $500k player makes it back before the $62 million dollar man (who I wish would go away).
My hope is Melancon can regain the health and strength to be able to do what he has done in the past, which is to play baseball at a very high level. To be deprived of that isn’t something I would wish on anyone.
He’s gone through a long and strenuous medical procedure and I hope he can get back to doing what he likes to do, and help the team compete and win.
The thing is, right now Muscle Head is pitching well, so where does Melancon slot in? Maybe an eighth inning guy to start, or does Bochy throw him right in as closer?
The Rockies just give the Giants problems these days. It used to only be in Denver, but now it’s in S.F. too.
A lot of Yankee fans calling sports talk radio with idiotic trade proposals for Bumgarner. As the king of idiotic trade proposals I would know. Twin usually thought I undervalued our guys in the deals I concocted…
“Idiotic” as in favorable to us or the Yankees? Any examples Loo?
I haven’t been listening to this, but it’s safe to say idiotic as in favorable to the Yanks. Probably along the lines of Bum for Ellsbury.
As usual they just want to steal him. Trying to dump guys like Hicks, Betances, Kahnle, Ellsbury (!) (by paying off much of his deal) and solid OF prospect Frazier. Various combinations…
It seems like trades proposals with the Mets are Loo’s specialty. I think he’s had deals on the table for Conforto, Flores, Lagares, and I believe even DeGrom in the past.
Yeah, I’ve had a lot of those. I usually try to be fair and borderline realistic.
I don’t think I ever went after Conforto…
After I began following Fritz Peterson on his highly entertaining Facebook page last June (sadly, he had complications with his medications, and his nearly photographic memory disappeared overnight), I started following a Yankees blog, Pinstripe Alley.
I swear to God, the same cast of dimwits post on every sports blog. It’s interesting, the lead writer was adamantly opposed to trading any of their prospects to help the Yankees win as he believed it was a rebuilding year.
The contrasts in the parks makes the Yankees a good trading partner. Bumgarner and Belt would help them more than us, their right handed hitting prospects (some of whom were traded for pitching) would have worked here.
BUT, it’s a good thing I wasn’t able to pull off the Nunez, Belt, Bumgarner trade for Fraizer (the OF), Torres, and Chance Adams.
A couple final touches on SanDawg Park:
-The Coke bottle and giant glove disappear. (Cheesy stuff IMO)
-A Barry Bonds statue is erected asap right there in Willie Mays Plaza.
-A spot is reserved for the Lincecum statue to be placed 5 years after he retires.
Jeff Kent deserves every accolade that Orlando Cepeda got both as a Giant and for his career…
And I loved Cepeda – my aunt sewed his name on the back of an undershirt for me with letters she cut out of cloth. Sounds like a story from the 1800’s. I literally cried when they traded him…
That is awesome. That trade was before my time, but I know my older brother took it very hard as well.
I could have sworn you cooked up a deal for Conforto a couple of years ago when he was really struggling and may have even been sent down. The thought was we could have got him on the cheap.
Could be. Maybe the year he was red hot and went into a deep funk after facing Bumgarner in NY…
Musclehead seems to be getting his S together more as closer. Melancon should not be given that slot just because he’s rehabbed enough to now be hitting his own teammates in batting practice. This dude has proved almost nothing as a Giant, his contract alone is no reason to vault him ahead into Musclehead’s spot. Is there an over/under on how many games Melancon will stay up before he goes back on the DL?…
Belt keeps up his play and he’s got an All Star appointment…
Hey wtf is going on with these umpires, do they have a personal vendetta with the Giants?
1st it eddings with his lame ass excuse of just wanting the game to end so he rings up Belt on a obvious ball 4 to end the game the other night.
Then this clown last night ejects Crawford for leaving his bat at home plate,wtf every team has these dudes called “BAT BOYS” that do that, fucking umps are getting out of control with their pompous attitudes!!
Kind of glad I missed most of last night’s game. I hit the rack early at 3-0 (4:30 wake-up for a 6 AM spin class). Sounds like the Giants got jobbed again by the home plate ump. I call again for at least a test of a robo-ump to call balls and strikes. This shit is getting ridiculous…
Don’t have a good feeling about the rest of this series, but hope I am wrong.
Plus last night is Smardj pitched well, and went reasonably deep after struggling in the first two frames.
Loo – any specifics on the hypothetical trades of Bum to the YankMees?
Tough loss last night but good results from Samardzija. To me he seems like a guy that will really benefit from Bumgarner returning and taking some pressure off. If he could handle the spotlight he’d of been a quarterback. Its nice to see Strickland growing into the roll but I have doubts about him as the season goes on.The potential of adding Melancon is a good problem to have.
SanDawg Park sounds like a fun place. Hopefully there’s none of that camouflage jersey bs.
Yankees have one of he best farm systems in baseball. My idea may be sacrilegious to Giants baseball fans (as well as the do nothing, but “reload” Giants Front Office), but I would trade Madbum for 4 prospects (2 high tier and 2 2nd tier), along the lines of what Buster Olney proposed a few weeks ago:
“The left-hander would become the most coveted trade target in baseball — maybe one of the most sought-after summer market pieces in baseball history — if the Giants ever auctioned him off, and he would probably glean at least two high-end prospects for an organization thin on minor-league talent. “Maybe two top-tier guys and two second-tier guys,” said an evaluator. “I mean, if any team traded for Bumgarner, it would be [a move] to win the World Series.”
http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/post/_/id/18460/olney-giants-should-consider-a-bumgarner-blockbuster
I don’t think Bumgarner would deal well with a place like NYC. Also don’t want the Giants to trade him.
I don’t think Bum’s afraid of anything, but he should be a Giant for life…
I don’t mean he’d be afraid of something in NYC. More like his red ass act will escalate and he’ll have an aneurysm or something.
I wonder how he handles traffic.
You can’t drive anywhere here anymore…
I would trade Bum in a heartbeat, as long as the return was high. Now is the time to trade him before his arm heads south. Giants are going nowhere in the next several years in terms of competition for another title, so load up on good young talent that is so desperately needed…
The only problem is Cashman seems to have a hypnotic effect on other GMs in that he’s able to acquire exactly what he wants without ever giving up any of his top prospects. It’s astonishing how generous other teams are when it comes to dealing with the Yanks.
I know the team needs an infusion of young talent, but I do not want to see it happen via a Bumgarner trade.
Also, he has a limited mo-trade clause with eight teams (I have been unable to find which eight teams).
I agree with Loo, Bum should be a Giant for life.
Chi, per the article, he has zero no trade clauses in his contract.
I would be behind almost any trade of Bumgarner. His perceived value is always going to be worth more than his actual value.
Like the article says, Bum is under contract thru 2019. They could trade him for prospects, then they could bring him back when he’s a FA. Leverage his high value now…
I could give 2 shits about him being traded to the Big Apple . . . However, I’m down with him going anywhere versus us giving him a Cain (or worse) like contract. That’s just imbecilic to me, especially in lieu of all the other bullshit contracts we have on the books. Couple the aforementioned with us realistically not having a chance to compete for a title for the next several years (see snarkk’s post above – which I agree with).
Madbum will want to be paid. It’s delusional to think otherwise. Frankly, we can’t afford him anymore.
Frankly he’s worth way more to a team competing for a title, so SF should “monetize” that value now into high talent prospects they don’t have…
yes
I love Bum as much as the next guy, but the days of a player staying with one team his entire career are all but gone. At some point, the Giants have to look at retooling and he’s by far their biggest bargaining chip. Until the organization gets its head out of its ass and starts drafting and signing top flight prospects, deals should be considered, imo.
As much as I want to see Bum remain a Giant, IF they did trade him, I would want the two TOP prospects mentioned (preferably a pitcher and an OFer), and the two other 2nd-tier prospects mentioned, too.
Well out, Chi…
Well put…
Romo to start for Rays vs. Angels on Saturday. Interesting approach by Rays manager.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/2018/05/18/rays-have-another-new-different-pitching-plan-starting-sergio-romo-vs-angels/
Interesting, but what if Romo gets rocked out of the gate? The starter comes in immediately and pitches in the stretch from the get go?…
Sergio Romo, hands down the best Giants reliever ever. When he left the team, he had the second best WHIP of any pitcher in MLB history, with more than 450 IPs and the BEST K/BB ratio.
It’s gone up a bit, but in Melancon’s excellent best season for the Pirates, his WHIP was the same as Romo’s career average.
Let that be a lesson to the young men reading this, unless you’re tall and burly, don’t grow a scraggly, unkempt beard.
A shrewd negotiator could squeeze some huge value out of Bumgarner’s supreme status as a post season pitcher. He’s the one guy you’d want going if you’re trying to win a WS. Whether or not the Giants possess such a negotiator is debatable. If we’re talking Boobie Evans, then I say no. Sabes, maybe.
The right guy might land a franchise-altering haul of top-flight prospects.
LJ, I’ll preface this comment by grudgingly admitting that the Giants have out performed any and all expectations I had for the team this season (although the season is only about 1/4 complete). So, this is my comment – the Giants obviously have staff that can do this deal, e.g., Sabes and Evans put together this team and previous teams. Equally important, they’ve shown their negotiating mettle by signing Bumgarner to that ridiculous contract, which regardless of whether we trade him, will continue to pay dividends all the way through 2019 at a paltry $12 million per season.
So yeah, they do have a negotiator. In fact, I would put them up against the moron in DC any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. 🙂
Bumgarner signed that contract six days after they extended Cain’s.
While it’s usually a bad idea to pay big bucks for free agent pitchers, it never hurts to take care of your own.
I hope trading Bumgarner won’t make sense in a month or so.
Here’s the trades I’d like to see:
Cueto for Stratton
Panik for Gomez
Hanson for Jackson
Mac for Gorkys
Dereck Rodriguez for Derek Holland
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) suggested on Friday that having “too many entrances and too many exits” at schools may have worsened the effects of a deadly mass shooting at a Santa Fe, Texas high school.
Hmm . . . Eh, governor – I guess guns had nothing to do with it?
Not to mention the possibility of mental illness. In almost all of these mass shootings, mental illness is the crux of the issue.
If it was one of my kids that was shot and killed by theirs A hole, fuck his mental illness
Fuck that four eyed fuck Dan Patrick. This shooting happened in the same county I live in about 20 minutes south of me. Is it going to take a mass shooting at an NRA convention to get these ignorant, small dicked fucks to make some changes? And don’t get me started on these ass wipes and their “you’re in our thoughts and prayers” rhetoric.
Sincerely sorry about this happening in your community Joe. Also, I agree with everything you wrote, especially the last sentence.
you know things are bad when the headline says: “Worst Mass School Shooting since February”
what was Steph thinking to sign off on this?
Come on now, the design team spent a whole ten minutes coming up with that shoe design.
Money
I wouldn’t even shovel snow in those…
i know. It’s insane
Arroyo batting 8th tonight for the Rays.
Looks like Duffy’s having a nice bounce back year – on paper anyway…
i mean, he’s playing I guess that counts for something. But he’s just a guy. Just a guy. That’s all I ever thought he was. And I want more from my 3rd baseman than what he brings with the bat….
1. Gorkys Hernandez (R) LF
2. Andrew McCutchen (R) RF
3. Buster Posey (R) 1B
4. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
5. Nick Hundley (R) C
6. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
7. Austin Jackson (R) CF
8. Kelby Tomlinson (R) 2B
9. Derek Holland (S) P
uninspiring but whatever, till we get Willy back we gonna need our ace Holland to keep games close.
The men in soot already down 2-0 in NY. Goldy looking helpless against DeGrom who looks awesome.
Ron Darling just re-affirmed that these are the ugliest road uniforms in baseball and wondered who could possibly have thought otherwise…
Three sub-.200 hitters in the AZ lineup tonight, and Goldy’s barely above .200.
That gives the medical staff a 50/50 shot at treating the correct knee…
lqtm…
Everyone but actionless Ironman get hurt. This must mean Belt is about to hit the 60 day DL.
it’s insane. All our best players have gotten hurt this year. And the old, shitty ones, who actually do play, just sail onward without so much as a scratch….
Cutch looked like he could use a 10 day DL vacation last night.
I think the Pittsburgh experience might’ve drained him…
he’s gonna be ok this year, shell of his former self. At least we only have him for a year. A great guy to have on the team, tho
Seems like so many guys go straight downhill at 30. Used to be your prime years were ages 28-32.
I think the players miss greenies desperately. I had a boss who used to dispense them to the staff during busy times. They were awesome…
And I don’t get that, Loo. Hell, these guys have the best training, diet, everything at their disposal, and wear down at an earlier age. Pussies.
Guys collectively weren’t as good, so the bar was lower. And they were playing for less and therefore had to work harder for it.
Crawford getting thrown out because he didn’t pick up his bat needs to get looked at by MLB. That was total fucking complete bullshit. As he said, “we literally have a guy who is supposed to pick up the bat.” And he gets thrown out for it. Unreal, unacceptable….
It’s probably one of those unwritten rules. On a called third strike it must be considered showing up the ump if you leave the bat there – unless it’s the 3rd out (was it?)
It seems (to me) like more batters than ever are getting broken bones from being hit by pitches. It has to be because there are more pitchers than ever throwing mid-90s heat.
agreed.
meanwhile, Friday afternoon at Pimlico….
“egged on for a bit…”
Darwin Award…
I read Olney’s piece few weeks and dismissed it as nonsense, Still do.
First, I believe it likely Giants/Bum can work out decent agreement in non-Cain or Zito terms that will mutually benefit everyone
.
Second, the proposed return is NOT happening. No one will give up top 2 prospects and a pitcher. Show me where this has happened recently.
This is especially true of Yanks–they just acquired Stanton to whom they owe $$$$$$$$$$$$$. They would demand SF takes some salary chump vet off their hands, last thing Giants need.
Third, I refuse to watch them be the White Sox and I think the owners know fans here will do the same. ChiSox have ton of prospects and are f-ing awful. They will lose 100+ this year and how many beyond is anyone’s guess.
No thanks. I can watch minor league ball in San Jose. Giants have enough money in the bank, with further development of property already planned, to go completely different route to rebuild/reload.
Good post, WillieD. I wasntimg saying it WOULD happen, but to me, to trade Bum, it would have to be a significant haul (top OF and pitching prospect). But I do NOT want it to happen. I want to see Bum a Giant for life.
remember that night vividly. Also the bomb he hit in Detroit.
Best line I heard was, “He’d give you the shirt off his back. and call a press conference to tell everyone.”
Looked up the Chris Sale deal Dec. 2016 He was 27 same age as Bum and had already 4 seasons of 5+ WAR ball behind him with White Sox. In other words minus post season stuff, much better than what Bum has done.
the return: One current ML player, IF Y Moncada, one SP in first year of AAA (5th year of minors with ERA around 5.00 for current team) and 2 guys at A+ ball. One decent player, one maybe,2 stiffs long ways away.
Do this for Bum, the guys will go down in infamy like Charlie Williams
I agree. You’re not gonna get a big return on Bum. I also don’t think it will take 200 mil to sign him.
Biggest mistake was Giants not tearing up his deal or extending him years ago as a few of us on here begged them to do.
So true. Shoulda done it at the 2014 parade…
Absolutely should have done it earlier.
Funny thing is that the Giants probably got the better of that deal. Williams wasn’t much but he did last quite a while on some awful Giant teams. Mays was mostly done by the time the Mets got him and actually became a source of some controversy when he forced WS hero Agee to the bench…
Stoneham got the Mets owner to guarantee May’s got paid top dollar too right? this was the bigger issue iirc.
I think he got some kind of 10 year personal services contract from Mrs. Payson who adored Willie…
the Bum trade is based on him coming back and being a stud AND us falling out of the race, something I don’t see happening. But it could. And if it did, world series fervor would take over and GM’s would lose their minds. The allure of what Bum could do for them in the post season would up the bid substantially.
Now, I don’t think we are falling out of the WC race and Bum succeeding will have a lot to do with that. So it’s incompatible that we will see us fall out of the race and Bum soar with a bunch of stud outings.
But I do think he would bring a big haul to a desperate contender at the break this year.
Krukow is wearing the ’14 championship ring tonight. Sweet-looking ring.
As I said back then, the 2014 ring should’ve been a likeness of Bumgarner’s head made out of diamonds…
More GG stuff from Crawford…
Damn! Nice play by Craw. Dude makes it look so easy…
Gorkster!
Gorkys gotta be using the stuff – can you blame him?
Hard to f-ing believe. both of Gork’s bombs this week have been crushed.
Yeah, nothing suspicious about Gorkys’ power increase this season.
We know Gorky’s secret, Zum…
lulz!
Nice!!! Not sure I’d go on that, but . ,.
18 to 56 is an increase in home runs. Was that Brady Andersin? 2? ot so much. If he ends up with 17, well it means he’s playing too much, but that would be something.
How about Kirby Puckett going from 4 to 31 from 1985 – 1986?
Rich Aurelia’s 37 HRs in 2001.
lqtm
well 0 all last season in 300 ABs. 2 this week, 3 total in little over quarter of season.
Weird enough, he had 20 doubles last year. This year none and no triples either, only bombs for XBHs.
Where did Rox SP learn that hesitation move, Japan?
Where the fuck did that miss?
Jeeebus. Heading to 60 pitches in 3 innings.
Helluva play by Arenado…
Wow, Arenado got him by a mile…
astonishing throw. But I think Krukow’s overdoing the praise for the “athleticism” of these athletes. It’s his new “arm slot.”
Professional athletes are athletic? Who knew?
Bartolo Colon?
Professional athletes athletic? Not according to John Kruk. Oh, but he was a ballplayer and not an athlete….
Holy shit…Holland getting a knock…
McSuckin’
If that’s Mac he’s got 2 broken legs and a broken arm.
Guy reminds me of Golds on AZ tho. Just a very talented guy that would be worth paying to see, if he wasn’t killing your team.
Holland is dancing with danger
A year from now Cutch is back on the Pirates at $2 million for the year, so he can waive good-by slowly. So far, the Giants could have saved $14 million or whatever it is on him, and played Slater or Duggar instead. They would not have had worse offensive production — with better defense…
Not to mention Pence.
Phhtttt…
Just as Kruk says he’s hitting .167 . . .
Is it just me, or does it seem that every time the Giants announcers go talking about an opponent hitter, the guy hits a fucking HR…
Flailing at the change up so he throws a cripple fastball in the spank-me zone.
Royal wedding tomorrow; Henry VIII is marrying Catherine of Aragon.
I dated a Catherine from Aragon.
Henry proposed marriage before meeting her. When he finally met her, he said many unkind things about her looks to various people.
Here she is with a monkey for some reason.
She didn’t have a monkey.
Monkey’s are not to be messed with.
She had a monkey paw around her neck….
And a three-footed monkey…
Snap, crackle, pop goes the bullpen.
Someone mentioned doing an over/under on Melancon. I’m going for the under no matter what the number is.
How about an over/under on the length of the scar on his elbow?
I’ll set the line at 5.5 inches.
I’m actually pulling hard for the guy. I 100% supported the signing and he seems like a solid dude.
It was me, zum.
I’m going for the under, too.
He’s solid, except last year he apparently pissed off some of the other guys in the Pen, but that was hushed up…
6 feet under. He’ll never pitch again.
I’m going way over. I’ll say it’s at least 8 inches.
Holland is prolly going 120. Or not. Moronta has waddled to the mound.
I hope the medico that put that 8 inch zipper on Melancon’s arm is not the same guy that cut open Lowry’s forearm when the problem was the thoracic nerve bundle on his left, pitching side being squeezed between his first rib and collarbone…
Big fan of the Rockies version of Amy G. BIg fan.
It’s a more glam look. She’s wearing more make-up.
Wow. We may not get a hit the rest of the night.
The stocking cap look is working for me too.
Every time I see that photo it shocks me.
Snarrk, that bullpen deal with Melancon was Fake News.
I don’t care what Chris Sale’s WAR is or was, what is his post season resume compared to Bum’s? A big, fat zero, that’s what. At the age of 22 Bumgarner was beating the Rangers on the game’s biggest stage, game 4 of the World Series. 8 innings, at Texas, after a loss. Ice water. He’s only gotten better since then.
Bum’s value lies in his ability to perform his best when it matters the most, more than Kershaw, more than Scherzer. People remember what he’s done in the WS in his career and that’s what they’d be paying for. It got Panda Sandoval $95M and he’s worth about two of Bumgarner’s sweaty jockstraps.
Exactly what makes anyone think Bumgarner wouldn’t return a couple of top flight prospects?
Even more impressive: Bum was a 20 year old vs. Texas.
Looks like we’ll have to split the difference, zum. Born 8/1/89, the game was 10/31/10, so he was 21.
Ah, I’ve been remembering that wrong for years. 🙂
Arenado with his obligatory damage to the Giants.
What the heck was Bochy thinking this inning?
I dunno. Holland was getting hammered and looking spent before that blast that brought in run #4…
I don’t think its totally fair, but unless you throw 95+, I don’t think GM’s view you as an elite pitcher.
And those great Bum performances were 4 years, a separated shoulder, and a broken finger ago.
How many games has he won since then? Feels like about 20.
It’s the mystique, that’s what would be for sale.
Good point. I still worry if a generous buyer could be found though.
Bum’s career stats, Dog and don’t forget the 2016 WC game:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bumgama01.shtml
Crazy numbers. 4-1 K/BB…amazing ERA and WHIP over nine years. And yes, the playoff ass-kickings get lost in the stats…
Shoulda won yesterday. Gonna lose tonight. Strat has to last at least 6. Got to get one of these games.