A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

With news that the Giants are now in with the “10 year/Three Hundo” crowd the question now becomes, what else does Harper want?

The Pros:

great city

historical team

packed house

The Cons:

We suck

His stats will take a hit

Personally I think the “stats taking a hit” con is going to doom us since we know how much his numbers mean to him. At least it’s giving us something to talk about during an otherwise record-boring off season…..

If this is true than the SF beat writers like Henry Schulman were FOS (shocker) when they floated the idea of the Giants offering nothing but short term deals.

If this is true than somehow, impossibly, the Giants are still in on this fucking prima donna and are considering and possibly even offering him 300 million dollars. Otherwise, why would the Giants go to Vegas?

Still, it seems they are obviously up against it. I want this to just be over, I’m tired of hearing about Bryce Harper. He’s a tool. A tool I’d take on my team but a tool nevertheless…..

……news you won’t be getting from other places on the internet. I’ve been gone for several days and haven’t checked mlbtraderumors.com till this morning. This is what I read:

This is just amazing. Giants fans are so starved for action some are continuing to hold on to a fantasy. Only because Harper still hasn’t signed with The Phillies. I would guess Zaidi hasn’t had a Harper thought since that meeting in Las Vegas. Giants fans thinking that Zaidi is spending his day writing and submitting new offers to Boras are living in a dream world.

CAM MAYBIN IS YOUR NEW OUTFIELDER! PABLO SANDOVAL IS OUT WITH A TWEAKED SIDE MUSCLE! THIS IS YOUR REALITY!!!!! NOT BRYCE FUCKING HARPER!!!!!!!!!

I’m guessing that in August mlbtraderumors will still be writing about how Zaidi is designing and submitting trade packages to the Phillies to acquire Harper…..

Funniest thing of the year would be if the Phillies just pulled out of this Harper stuff.

This is a good one, I don’t have a guess….yet

Baseball Reference can make me so nutty. I would not have gotten this one in a million years.
What player did the Giants sign as a FA twice and trade for once – all within a 5 year period?

Checking in on the game, midway through we are down 7-0. I’m not watching. Anyone see how it got this bad so fast?

Yes, I turn 51 today. Old man. It’s snowing outside right now…

I probably shouldn’t hold out much hope that Zaidi gives me a birthday present today. He did say he’s done with his roster filler moves and that now he’s focusing on “improving our front line roster.” Whatever that means. Seriously, what does that mean?

You guys have a great day.

With the Bruce Bochy era now officially on the clock I thought it would be a good idea to re-post this gem from Letters to The Green at The San Francisco Chronicle (2006):

At least the headline was clever. After that? I was wrong about Bruce Bochy…

I’m out for a couple of days, I’ll change the thread if something crazy happens. Otherwise, Big Flavor is on hiatus for a bit……

How’s a strike sound to everyone? A little mid season baseball stoppage to slow down your Summer? The CBA doesn’t end until December 1, 2021 but with so many free agents still unsigned, and with so many players now calling bullshit on the owners, I’m wondering if we could see Armageddon on the diamond this season.

Could it actually happen?

If those numbers are accurate it looks like Boras might have squeezed the Phillies for an additional 10 million, courtesy of the fake interest the Harper camp and Giants were showing each other.

In retrospect the writing was on the wall. Zaidi has been signing a boatload of shitty outfielders to minor league deals over the last 7 days. He knew what was up. I hope the Giants didn’t actually offer him anything. Did we hold on to even a shred of dignity in this phony chase?

Ok, I am sticking to my earlier promise and not giving a shit about this…

Supposedly, Harper is signing somewhere today. I’m not falling for the hype until I see a signature. I fell for the Stanton hype and it’s just not worth it to wonder “what if” until *what* has *happened*.

If he doesn’t sign with the Giants our back up plan of Gentry/Parra/Solarte should be enough to make up for his lost production…..

…..if you take everything they do in 2019 and compare it to his first two weeks of the season….

…but you get Gerardo Parra and now are looking at Yangervis Solarte, it feels like another nail in this Winter coffin. Solarte would make sense, he can play all over the place, has a little pop—he might improve a bit coming back to the NL. I’d sign off on that pick up.

Anyone sick enough to watch the Rising Stars tonight? I actually like that game better than the All Star game. It’s fun to see all those youngsters out there ballin’. The All Star game is just a bunch of dudes flopping their cocks on the floor for a hoops style cock-off for the ages .

We have entered the dead zone of my sports world. No baseball. No NBA. No NFL. I actually checked to see if AAF fantasy was available at DK. It is not.

Did you see where Kaep got an offer to play in the AAF but he wanted 20 million? In a league where every player makes the same amount ($70K) this fucking guy wanted 20 mil. I support Kaep and his cause but I haven’t thought he’s wanted to play football for a few years now and that was the telltale sign right there…

Zumiee had a great line last night that really drove home one of the problems with the Giants over the last few years:

He said, “This whole Giants organization is like Mick in the Rocky movie needing to help Rocky get back the eye of the tiger.”

And he’s right. Everyone loves to point to how *professional* the Giants players are. How there is a “Giants Way.” That worked during the *salad days* but for the last few years “The Giants Way” has been nothing more than players striving in vain to live above the smell of their own shit.

Now, getting back *the eye of the tiger* certainly isn’t going to fix this team. Most of these fellas are past their prime and even recapturing that *eye* ain’t gonna do shit. But a return of that attitude would be nice to see and maybe something the future new guys can build on…..

You wanted Harper? Well, you got Parra. Another weak hitting lefty who might as well be nicknamed The White Shark Season 2.

I mean, is Parra really better than the kids we were planning on running out there? Eh, maybe.

Is he gonna block anyone? Eh, maybe.

Basically we probably just need to lock down into hibernation for a few years. The only way out of the wilderness is *that’away* >>>>>>>>

Pitchers and catchers report today. Man, this used to be a day circled on the calendar, right? Now, it’s just a day.

On KNBR this morning they were debating who are starting 5 will be. After Bumgarner it got very difficult for the hosts to assign #’s.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, the team is assembling in Arizona right now….

So now it comes out that the Giants are only interested in Harper if it’s a short term deal. See? Total waste of time. This was just done as a PR stunt for the fans and probably the players, too. Harper ain’t signing no 2 year deal.

This guy cares about 2 things: 1) a monster deal (otherwise you don’t hire Boras) and 2) climbing the HR ladder (something that he won’t do at Oracle unless they move the fences in. This dude ain’t no Bonds).

So Baer gets to keep waving the phony pom poms and Zaidi gets to keep saying “I’m still in a meet and greet mode.” Utter horseshit and the fans continue to get played like rookies…

I’ve gone back and forth on this Harper thing and I’ve decided 2 things: 1) I’m fine with us not getting him. This could be a huge bullet dodged. 2) I really want the Giants to sign Bryce Harper.

Here why we should get him:

1. We need to stop worrying about their money. True, they have some bad deals on the books. But they are under the luxury tax and what was the point of getting under it if they aren’t going to spend going forward? They can sign Harper and still be under the tax.
2. He’s only 26. This is critical. We are still obviously in re-build mode. You can build around Harper. Even if Zaidi doesn’t start *Muncying* the roster in ways that don’t take effect till 2020 or 2021, Harper will still be in his prime. If he was 28/29 I would be against signing him.
3. I’m not sure I can watch this boring ass team this year as they are currently constructed. Harper alone won’t make us much better than a .500 team and that’s if nobody gets injured. But he will at least make the team watchable. Who knows how many years any of us have left?
4. He fills an obvious hole on a team with many of them. Diggity said it best in our text exchange yesterday:

So, my arms are stretched wide open. Zaidi, make it so….

And if it doesn’t become so, that’s ok too…..

By the way, the title is a spin off of the “Bring Me Roger Stone” documentary on netflix. I encourage anyone to watch that if you want a more layered insight into Trump, his campaign and his mindset….

And now, for something completely different. If you like to laugh out loud take 2 minutes out of your Sunday morning and watch this.

Not only will there be rain today but it sounds like “high winds” too. Man, Baer must be shaking in his boots about this shit show he’s about to host. Who is going to be on the main stage? The Core? Lol. Can’t wait to see what those guys have to say. Maybe he’s setting up a side stage for the *Where are they now?” group. Law and Andreoli could be featured there. Lqtm.

I have kicked around the idea of going just because I am fascinated with Zaidi’s inertia and want to see if my fellow Giants fans are still doing their “happy clam” presentation or if they are waking up and realizing it’s time to revolt. We’ll see, right now I’m leaning towards not going.

Still, a ballpark hot dog sounds pretty good….

Update: We have Flap representation at Fanfest! San Dawg’s son Matty is there. He and his buddies were having a drink at Momo’s, heard it was going on and just wandered over:

Still absolutely nothing happening. Usually when I write that something big goes down. It really is outrageous that Zaidi did nothing this off season. Zilch. Squat. And despite being hamstrung by the idiocy of the last regime he still could have done SOMETHING. Fanfest is tomorrow. Can you imagine going to that thing? How are they possibly going to jazz up the fans with the current crap slated to open Spring Training?

Zaidi puts the *off* in off season.

Man, you have 2 very different Fanfests looming. The first one is the team fake-celebrating the worst team in the National League and trying to sell the fans on *the core* and a couple of never-was prospects in the outfield. Or, they roll out Bryce Harper. There really is no in between. Most Giants fans are like sheep and will be fine with either. But this is without question going to be either the lamest fanfest since the days my dad wandered around with a few hundred other people or one of the most jacked up parties AT&T has had in years.

10% we get Harper? Is that too high or too low?

__________________

Angry Rant Tiger Fan falling on hard times:

Our good friend Daniel is getting ready for his Playing Pepper series and, as usual, has given me plenty of advance notice on the questions. Here’s a look at them if you want to chime in before I send him my responses:

Congrats to Brady and the Pats. I have given him a ton of shit, he shook it all off and was still able to focus up and win another SB. He’s a born winner. A true champion. Now, I’m not going to talk about him till next NFL season. I leave you with this.

Paul in Asia had trouble uploading this so here it is:

“Smash Brady” sounds better than “Super Bowl” right? I’m writing SB12 on my shoes before the game today…..

I entered 35 teams at draftkings and then just quietly closed my laptop. Enough.

The good news is that I have a lot of Pats on those teams, some even including Brady so I will be able to watch this game and root for players, not a particular team. Hopefully it’s gonna be a “someone scores, I win” kind of day….

And for 2 teams I don’t like very much, that’ll have to do…..

The only question I have that will remain unanswered: which player(s) got caught up in the Hotlanta lifestyle, blew off curfew and are gonna ass-out today? It’s gotta be more than you can count on one hand, right?

I’m seeing an o/u of 56 and a line of NE -2 maybe 2 and half depending where you look. I’m taking the under because I think both these teams are going to try to run the ball and maybe that bleeds the clock off a little more than usual. Plus, the defenses are ok. If a conservative game plan is in the offing, for either team, this game is going under 56….

The point spread? Easy one. I’m taking the Rams and the +125 money line. As usual, I am putting the call out to SMASH BRADY EARLY. Put him on his ass.

Hey, if that happens, I’ll feel like a winner and the rest will be playing with house money….