The Rich Spend More Money
This Freeman news is …..irritating. Even though we knew he was going there, I dunno, I’m just tired of them doing this.
On the flip side, we got….Matt Boyd. uh huh. Well, I guess he’ll match up well with Freeman….once he recovers from TJ surgery.
I trust Zaidi but I’m grading his post lockout moves downward. Like C+. I like who we got but he has a boatload of dough, he doesn’t need to fiddle around with 6 million dollar 1 year signings—that’s A’s bullshit.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
enjoy….
Carstie Clausen
Wed, Mar 16, 7:36 PM (10 hours ago)
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Hey Craig: Been awhile. Zaidi must be under certain financial constraints. So he strategizes and balances equations. Pederson was affordable at $6M on a one-year make good or hit the road contract. Simple enough. It’s both a goad and a stimulus. The Palo Alto boy will do all he can to make good in front of the folks and all. He turns 30 on April 21st. That one is kinduva make or break age. So Joc will be one massively motivated athlete. He may get a bit of special, personalized coaching and I’m sure his neighbor, Brandon Crawford will buddy up nicely. Get him all comfy about being part of a team which set a record last season of winning 107 games with a patched-together “who are they”—with barely a superstar in sight. The Zaidi way.
Though he’s slowed down over the past couple years, except for his homer heroics for Los Bravos, to very well earn him a ring. Do you hear the bell ringing for more heroics—particularly in front of a home base audience? Tell me the fans won’t go bonkers when the LHB dumps one into McCovey Cove. He had two or three very good years with the LaBumbos and at 30 in six weeks, he can hardly be washed-up. Hell! He’s likely to be the most motivated guy on the team—even surpassing Zaidi’s big splash in twenty seconds flat, nailing down an extremely talented L.H. starter who should readily replace Gausman, even if he runs a bit short in the I.P. category. Giants’ bullpen is deep. Best in MLB last year. So yes, Rodon will be big time motivated too. Another may be Wade LaMonte Jr. So for a typically Zaidi $6M outlay, he’s got him a guy with visions of another ring for which finger? Hey, sure he’s a prototypical dumb Joc, but he is quite capable of banging out 30 dingers even while playing maybe only 2/3 to 3/4ths of the innings. Fine. That will motivate speedster and occasional bopper, Slater.
Maybe or maybe not SF will latch onto the much desired RHB for the D.H. role. My thought is that the team will be pretty comfortable watching Ruf in that role. He could well be among the upper half of D.H.s in MLB…always a threat at the plate. With that need filled one way or t’other, the OF looks to be Pederson in left, Wade in center and Yazmataz in RF. At present, there happen to be at least one too many O.F.ers, so look to a trade/new home for Duggar (my guess).
Second base may be somewhat of a question mark. Perhaps LaStella will get over his injuries and contribute as he has been capable when healthy. No problem if that pans out. I’m still fascinated with an inter-divisional trade for Ketel Marte of the Diamondbacks. No doubt Arizona could use an outfielder with some chops as a strong reserve—along with a couple of younger starters, one of whom has had a tiddle of success at the MLB level. The other one would give them vertical visions of a feller name of Johnson, though he’s a towering soft-thrower. Works in progress? Sure. But the Snakes would get three low-cost options, to make up for an on-field loss and save a pile of $$$ in the process. LaStella has the versatility to play most anywhere in the infield with some level of competence. Nice to have such a guy on the bench, to consistently give breaks to prolific players who are now well into their thirties. Hell! On a weekly basis he could easily end up starting four or five games. Well rested veterans are the best kind.
With a one-two punch at the top of the rotation who should match up with the aces of any other team, the Giants then turn to Disco, who is an excellent #3, sometimes turning in an ace-level performance. Wood looks exceptional for a number four, and who the hell has a high-octane #5.? So we’ll see if Cobb is up to his last name (even if the Georgia Peach was not a pitcher) and does a good job . It might not hurt for Zaidi to pull the trigger on a veteran #6. Could those two recent pickups fill that bill? Apparently Z is gambling on that 50-50 proposition…at least as his scouts, player-development people and pitching coaches see it.
Catcher slot could be a tad iffy. There’s a third one new to Sac-town, but I’m still uncertain about Bart. Take it a couple months or so into the season and expectations are not met, we might see some temptations dangled in front of the people at Wrigley. Contreras, if obtained for not too high a cost, could be a good bridge to Bailey, if he’s the primary backup plan. A Bailey-Bridge. The GI’s used them a lot back in WWII.
Everybody’s probably wondering why I haven’t made my way back to the Flap. Well, I do admit to very frequently lurking once the ownership lockdown finally got dissolved. Currently in the process of finalizing printing/publishing arrangements for a limited edition of 500 copies of “The Cosmographic States of America”. Will be getting some full-color reproductions of the fifty all-color pages—some of them anyway and if memory serves, there will be three of California. Maybe three of you guys will get those—perhaps yourself, Xoot and that kindly feller up thar in those goldfields. Thinking you’re gonna like them. One little advance teaser: The background color for the nine letters is from my recall of that golden-toned mass of real estate once Cali’s green season has done and gone. Another teaser: Bursting past the McLuhan barrier of totally linear type, offset allows me to have done the California “island” in a diagonal shape which vaguely replicates its geographical outline. So that project has absorbed a deal of my time.
Project #2: Wizard Willow World, has had me carving during many evenings through the Manysnowta winter. It’s thawing now and Spring has finally arrived in the Great Northwoods. That means, I’ll spend a lot of time away from this little Gonvick apartment where I’ve dwelled since Halloween and back at the homestead where building a new kitchen will be a prime focus—that and get the gardens producing again. It looks as if a food crisis is looming and I’m looking forward to some good organic produce. (Project #3)
Will do my damndest to get back to the Flap by the Opener. Hopefully, this stoopid war will be over by then and that there are no more tricks up the Covid sleeve. Baseball means normalcy and it would be nice for a change.
Freeman is the ideal fit for the Flodgers but think his power will steadily decline and be more of a slap hitter but it is his leadership that will have the most impact. We don’t spend on big time hitting but they just spent $5 mill for Boyd to be another lefty starter which would be fine but he may not be back until the summer post-surgery. Not sure that makes sense of they are unwilling to spend on a Suzuki.
And I am with you on the grading unless they spring for Castellanos. But said early in the off-season once Posey announced his retirement that I could see Farhan not do much with the lineup and make this an assessment year with Bart Ramos and others while Crawford and Belt play on it their Giants careers.
My other post did not go through. Freeman perfect Flodger but declining power making him more of a slap hitter but his leadership will have the biggest impact. But FARHAN just signed Boyd for $5 mill which is fine but he won’t be back post-surgery till the summer. So great potential end of season rotation with no hitting…
Giants lose out on Suzuki, sign Joc instead while Dogs add Freeman to lineup.
yuck
rooting for Pederson is like having to cheer on Hershiser back in 98.
Agree. Always had trouble getting behind ex-dodgers coming over.
Esp an ass-clown like Pederson.
Was Suzuki this year’s Bryce Harper? It seems to me that Zaidi gets all locked and loaded for one big $ guy and if that doesn’t happen, it’s the plan B aisle.
Maybe Ramos will have a breakout year.
A Bailey-Bridge. The GI’s used them a lot back in WWII. Love it.
Looks like we are the underdogs once again. I have already forgotten who they are but we are projected to win 75 games this year. I would take the over.
Forgot the ” ” on Stix’s coment.
I’m hoping for somewhere in the middle. Twin’s 88 sounds about right.
I think it’s too early to predict the future while Zaidi and his people are still working on the roster. The Giants are adding players; the a’s are subtracting them. The reds, btw, are down there with Oakland in the pennyball sweepstakes. KGriffey Jr. is their 6th highest paid player right now.
Or so my redsfan friend tells me.
The pitching looks to be solid. That goes a long way. If Longo and Belt can stay on the field . . .
and Bobby Bo is still on the Mets payroll.
Yeah, that is fucking crazy. That’s even worse than the Zito contract.
Boras must of used extra lube on Farhan signing Boyd.Good chance he doesn’t even see the field in 2022.
Except for Webb, I’m actually worried about this staff,I hope the medical staff is in line for a raise.
I’m convinced F/H gets no help from ownership to make a big splash,( it’s always been lip service) so the Brebbia asile will continue. The best we might get for some RH power bat now will be maybe be Tommy Pham on another make good change of scenery yada yada contract..
Pederson is a better offensive version of The Dick, with about the same below par defensive skills. Looks like no established RH big bat is coming, this may be the year of judgment for the OF “prospects” we’ve been waiting for…
when you walk outside of Golden Gate Fields, you see this. How can this track survive on this level of real estate?
Not easy to develop along the bayfront. Ask the A’s. And Berkeley and Albany are not exactly developer friendly towns. Ask UCB, I guess. Cesar Chavez park, out by the Berkeley Marina, is right next door and has an even more enjoyable version of this view. Beautiful place to visit midweek on a calm sunny day.,
Questions that probably nagged Zaidi: how much more productive would any of the available RH hitters be than Ruf and Wilmer? How much better defensively? I’m a little surprised that Suzuki wasn’t more of a target, but if he puts up an 850 OPS, that wouldn’t mean a seismic increase in runs scored over what Duggar/Slater or Yaz produced last year. All three are pretty good defensively.
Nice to see GeorgiaSt hanging tough with Gonzaga only down 35-33 at the half and out rebounding them too with a small team.,
I’m not into the Joc signing. And I get it that ultimately we’re rooting for the laundry; but man, he was an annoying Dodger, with that crap-eating grin, and over-celebrating after hitting an HR that made a 7-1 game a 7-2 game.
He hit 18 HRs last season and somehow managed to end up with a -0.1 WAR. He’s just not all that good of a player.
Compared to Dick?
Look, I don’t think the move warrants even this level of discourse. He’s yet another platooney special. BFD.
things Giants fans say that make me cringe:
Z can do no wrong and I trust anything he does.
giants coaching staff is the best and can fix anything that goes wrong.
What I read so often (everywhere not just here) sounds like fans are still basking over last year. Well, they won Division by barest of margins, season ended on very sour note because they couldn’t beat LA when it mattered, which the Braves did, and then ATL won the World Series.
So imo SF will have to be better and do more, by adding to what they already have, especially being significantly weaker at C and relying on 3 aging regulars surrounded by nothing but part time position players.
This does not apply to either LA or ATL, who have legit superstar regulars not aged 35 and up.
So far what they’ve done is add yet another part time player and multiple pitchers with questionable health history. Boyd is still recovering from elbow surgery. As Flav said, seems like C+ missed opportunity off season.
i remember reading this from a couple weeks ago and thinking “ya, come on, this doesn’t mean what you think it means…” Zero chance Rodgers didn’t know about all of this. Will be interesting to see what he does now
Davante Adams signs a 5 year 142 million contract with the Raiders for 1st rd pick and other high picks..
Green Bay just wouldn’t give him the Rodgers rate.,
Love how just after Rodgers gets back on board they screw him again losing Adams!
Jersey guy Jim Spanarkel doing UK-St. Peter’s (NJ) game. He and Ian Eagle do great job; listened to them do Michigan game earlier. St. Peter’s coached by Jersey guy Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall star.
They seem ok. But apart from Tshiebwe KY’s playing a terrible game, so I’m not objective.
clutch O board helped get them lead back. OT wow.
All beef hooked! as they say in Ireland.
Wow. Unreal. They throw the contents of The Dunes at you, you take it. No looking back.
Only in March Madness can a cheerleader save the day.
After the ball 🏀 landed on the backside of the rim support in The Indiana /St Mary’s game
they first tried to jump, no chance, they tried the handle of the floor mop, nope, brought out a Bobby Knight folding chair which the ref tried with the pole, nope👎
then this Indiana cheerleader had an idea, just lift me up on the shoulders of my spotter and bang she knocked the ball out as the crowd and announcers went wild! They even went over to talk to them both while the game was still going on! It was definitely a one shining moment for those 2 and a highlight reel moment..
Pretty cool.
Jersey guys (15 seed) up 1 with minute left. Chalk not having good day, as NM St. just knocked off UConn.
Kentucky guards just awful. missed FTs and turnovers on entry passes in OT. Tshiebwe is POY, but not getting much help.
KY, except of course for Tshiebwe, looks exhausted in OT. Terrible game. They’re supposed to be peaking but they’ve tanked.
TyTy nails big 3. Great ballgame.
Not enough. Wow Big Blue nation no happy.
High expectations, passionate fan base to deal with in Kentucky. Not easy to build cohesion with one/done groups and Calipari has admitted as much. Harder given all the guys who come/go in transfer portal.
Calipari hasn’t been all one and done for a while. My two surviving uncles are passionate KY fans. One hates Calipari and supported Trump. The other supports Calipari and hated Trump. I’m sure they’re both devastated right now.
He does have few new players though, as transfers.
Tshiebwe came from West Va and was ineligible last year.
Toppin came from rhode Island and is in second season
Wheeler transferred in from Georgia, in his first season
Washington is freshman
Mintz played for UK last year but previously 4 yrs at Creighton
Grady transferred in this season after 4 years at Davidson
Brooks is in his 3rd season for Cats
So he has vets, just not too many guys who have played together much before this season.
a mix of new players coming out of HS and returning players is just varied, just not necessarily as experienced. I’ve never coached a basketball team, but isn’t a mix of new players and returning players the old-school standard?
#15 Saint Peters beats #2 Kentucky 85-79
Just love March Madness upsets!!
In these cases IMO it’s not really as much an upset, as the seedings were just way off…
Hey why not some more OT ?
USF Dons&MurraySt Racers knotted up at 73-73
Clutch 3 by Bouyea tied it up and the Dons D was tremendous as Racers couldn’t even get off a shot to win it with 7 seconds left..