A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball

What a waste of an incredible performance by Cobb. I think it’s clear that Doval isn’t closer material. He might not even be *Penske material.

Will Clark day. No i’m not going (going on Aug 2nd tho). This # retirement should have happened years ago.

However if you asked me to post a single image of what baseball means to me it would probably be a picture like this…

Finally found a team we can beat. Sweet. I read Loo’s comment last night and couldn’t believe it. Joc is about to go oh-fer July. Zero bombs.

I will ask this again: is there a single hitter on this team who’s at bats you look forward to?

So who goes at the trade deadline? Rodon, Pederson, Yaz and maybe Doval? I wonder if Z will try to package LaStella’s terrible contract into any deal he makes. Buckle up boys, this could happen fast and furious.

Either that or Z sits on his hands when he finds out he’s got no takers for those guys.

I still can’t get over that kicked bat by Rodon. Like, what did he think was going to happen? He was in a dugout with people in it. Is he a complete idiot?

Nothing left to do now except hope Z finds some buyers for some of our guys. I personally don’t see it other than maybe Yaz to the Red Sox, possibly Rodon somewhere. Nothing is going to bring much back. All we’ll really get is the satisfaction of saying goodbye to guys we’re sick and tired of looking at every day.

Honestly don’t have it in me to even think about the Giants much less write anything about them. Enjoy this cool pic from back in the day.

I’m disgusted with this team, their manager and the GM. So it’s probably best to just let Stix take this one today….

Carstie Clausen	4:28 AM (1 hour ago)
to me

Flav:  Couldn’t sleep, so here’s my take.  -Stix

        How Low Can they Go?

 Getting swept by the LaBumbos in a four-gamer hadn’t happened in over two decades.  THAT was an abortion.  Complete collapse.  Plenty of blame to go around:  Atrocious defense. Flailing offense.  BBIP from somewhere in the twilight zone. RISP even worse. Team spirit flatlined.

 Couple days ago the MLB site featured a photo of a couple of the Dodgers stars gleaming and gloating.  Message of the picture?  “Ain’t we great?”  My take was $$$$$.  The Googenheimers are willing to shell out the Shekels like picking up Mookie Betts from a hapless Boston organization (shades of one George Herman Ruth getting sold off by the Boston owner back in the early 20’s because he needed money to fund an opera).  Then the free-agent acquisition of Freddy Freeman who had starred for Atlanta.  Meanwhile, the Johnson consortium has Zaidi up to his elbows sifting and sorting through the garbage, dumpster-diving on steroids.  Baseball’s #1 problem is systemic.  Ownership.  Half or more of them simply do not care.  Giants are front and center in that category.  “Money doesn’t talk, it swears”…Dylan.

Looked like Zaidi, Harris, the scouts and evaluators were building up a credible farm system.  Well yeah.  Richmond, Everett and San Jose are fielding winning teams and with a fair amount of genuine prospects.  But when it comes to Sacramento…Ramos and Hjelle. Previous upper management sure got them some doozies.  Logan Webb and Austin Slater look to be the only diamonds in a heap of coal.  Maybe Duval.  Bart even showing signs of life.

 Helluva season last year.  Led by the brilliant Buster, the Bore Core played out its last hurrah with those up from nowhere 107 wins.  Right now my pre-season projection of a 78-82  win-loss projection looked as airy faerie as this year’s supposition.  Team spirit is flatlining.  Longoria looks like toast and both the infield Brandons are looking somewhat similar to that other “Brandon” in the District of Corruption.  No there, there, quoting Gertrude Stein.  As for that city’s once vaunted team, now their superstar is up for grabs to the highest bidder.  They want a ton and then some…like Harrison, Luciano and +++.

 Fuggidaboudit.

 A certain #1 curmudgeon here on the Flap would have loudly grumbled “stoopid”.  That silly notion must have him spinning like a whirligig from six feet under.

 So where do we go from here?  Start with our could have had been Dusty Rhodes from the ’54 champs, Darin Ruf.  Some contender could sure the hell use an absolutely primo pinch-hitter and occasional DH and even a rare performance on the field.  It could require a three team deal if SF is seeking a high-quality reliever.  But I think he might just fetch an intriguing second-tier low minors prospect, at least a good contact hitter and defender.

 YaZmaTazz:  Would Boston like to run out the red carpet for a piece of family nostalgia for a competent right-fielder?  Unless the original Evil Empire quickly picks up Benintendi, the Sox might like to sock it to them by bringing home the grandson.  Nostalgia still has street-cred in baseball…particularly if the guy has a decent track-record.

 There are a lot of Post-Season contenders out there.  Surely one of them lusts for a proven product, even if an upcoming free-agent.   Rodon could bring in a haul, let’s say a AA starter with considerable promise, plus maybe a high-A reliever who has some chops. If Zaidi and Harris are good bazaar bargainers, maybe they could do even better, should there be a team which has a “win now” philosophy and figures they can  spare the cash before F.A. status kicks in.

 Would Atlanta experience a considerable eJoculation to get their storied Post-Season slugger back?  There would be an offer, perhaps one SF couldn’t refuse.

 Yeah, it’s re-build time.  Gather up some replacements.  Bring in a few of the kids from off the farm.  R.J. Dabovich looks to be one helluva reliever.  Doing just fine in Richmond after starring in Eugene.  He’s young, but could be ready to at least get his feet wet by exposure to The Show.  A few quality appearances and he could turn into a fixture.  Our bullpen has turned into shit.  But that shit is well dried.  Maybe needs a spark.

 Now as for management on the field.  We sure could use a Casey Stengel, who committed a lot of magic from bursts of intuition.  Or John J. McGraw, much more of a Giants heritage than Stengel.  Seems like almost all the Flappers are getting pretty leerry of Kap on the head.  Too much mix and match on the basis of L-R stats.  I’m sure both Pederson and Belt are seething about the disrespect.  Would appear that juggled lineups and a mishmash of relief roles has got the whole squad in a tailspin.  Giants should have won at least one of those four in LaLaLand.  Some of that flailing and failing on the field could be resultant from a vibe of uncertainty.  Ballplayers are conservative types when it comes to roles and positioning in the lineup.  This season there’s been waaay too much of that.

 My expectation is walking papers handed out by October…if not sooner, should upper management be well attuned to the attitudes of not only the guys on the team, but also to the fan-base.

Bordom oozes from this team. There isn’t a single player I look forward to at bat. Not one. All the false excitement about Bart last week was funny to me. People want this guy to be competent so badly. Since his home run last Fri where Krukow declared this guy fixed he’s 2-15. Next.

The Dodgers are beating us with almost condescending ease.

Last night was exhibit A of why we need to fleece Al Avila of his best bullpen arms. Give them whatever he wants it doesn’t matter. Everything Avila wants turns to shit.

What a waste of a nice offensive game from us.

Del Mar opens today.

RIght outta the gate we get LA. We line up our stud Rodon. It’s odd they are starting White. I mean, they could have juggled their rotation for this series. It’s almost disrespectful to the rivalry to start this dude in Game 1.

Del Mar starts tomorrow, gents. Oh my. Wish i could be there. No better place in the entire world than opening day Del Mar in July…..

I didn’t see the final inning but i don’t think a single steal was attempted last night. Am I right? In a meaningless game why wouldn’t you at least try to jazz up a very boring game with some steal attempts? It was fun to see those pitchers throwing 100+ but otherwise that game was lame-o. Even the pick off by Kershaw, he literally lobbed it over there and everyone was like “Wow what a move!”. LOL. He lobbed it like a tee ball coach.

The Trevino mic’d up inning was the highlight for me.

Big Papi and his obnoxious “look at me” act was the lamest.

Anyone care about the all star game tonight? If it weren’t for the dozen or so draftkings teams I put together I can’t imagine caring about it. When I was a kid it was everything. Guys I’d pretty much only seen on baseball cards not only came to life on my tv but they were PLAYING eachother! I was rivited, glued to the screen.

Now, just like everything else in the world, all these players are completely overexposed. My interest in seeing guys I see all the time play a game tonight is…..low.

Was rooting for J-Rod last night. He had a much tougher path to the finals than Soto who cruised. I think the HR Derby should be at night. It was hard to track where the balls were going with natural day time light.

What are we on pace for? Like 80 something wins? After watching him for 3 years I think the obvious flaw in Farhan’s game is that he gets too cute with his moves. Not everything has to be a goddamn dumpster dive. And when I look at this team I just see a boatload of slow DH’s. Can’t win with this team or that approach. Hopefully he breaks out of this mindset a little in the off season and makes a move that’s at least one standard deviation away from the garbage can.

I am consumed with my coffee and Sunday at St. Andrews. Therefore, it’s Stix time. Settle in, you’re gonna be here a while….

Carstie Clausen	Jul 16, 2022, 9:01 PM (8 hours ago)
to me

Flav:  A few takes from this mini-streak.

                                                                                                        The Big News

  Maybe he’s channeling his inner Buster, but it is looking more and more that Joey Bart is finally stepping into his own shoes.  He’s finally getting himself grounded, both as a hitter (in baby steps so far) and as a catcher.  He managed Leone to throw his heat and a subsequent special K.  That in the books ,he promptly threw a bullet to Longo who tagged out Davis who “misunderestimated” Bart’s arm.  After that one-two D.P. Joey had a look of total confidence as he and Dominic performed a man-embrace, celebrating a winning combo.

  Maybe Casali’s trip to the Injured List was somewhat of a blessing in disguise.  Perhaps Bart had come to realize that, yes, Posey’s superlative inner management of the team added up to some big shoes to fit into.  Again, it would appear that Bart is in the process of winning his spurs, to really mix a metaphor with those spikes and “tools of ignorance”.  Donning his shin-guards after Friday night’s dinger, our catcher silently sent a message. Giants have desperately needed some pep pills as the season seemed to be getting away from them, what with all the floundering and flailing.  When your catcher…cue Buster once again…begins to run the pitchers and solidifies the infield, the team develops a sound foundation.

 Singles are important too and now that Joey has shown that he can power some taters, his learning process can ramp it up a notch or two  by going the other way on balls he cannot successfully pull.  Sometimes opposite field doubles can be the sweetest surprise a couple of baserunners can receive.  Consistently hitting MLB pitching has been a long learning-curve for Bart.  Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if when he’s stepping up to the dish with bat in hand, he’ll be striding rather than just meekly stepping.  Keep an eye on his movements.  In baseball, like all sports, self-confidence is a winner.

 YazMaTaaz:  That walkoff salami Friday night put a charge into the team and into the growingly bored and frustrated fan-base.  Tonight’s magic was a bit difference.  Most of us felt that lightning could never strike twice under identical circumstances.  Well, it sure didn’t.  But the magic still happened.  Gustave’s balk while facing Yaz with three bags full brought in a winner.  As the most keenly calibrated of all major sports, baseball also has this air of magical momentum and serendipitous  surprises. 

Vegas odds-makers could never have projected that almost anticlimactic finishing touch on the scoreboard.

 Villar went 0 for 0 tonight, albeit while drawing three walks.  Whether its his batting eye or some form of luck or maybe hocus-pocus, Villar has been drawing walks like the squeaks of a mouse draws cats.  Check out his stats as a Giant.  His OBP is waaay up in the high .300’s while he “sports” a B.A. in the 220’s.  Interestingly, his hits include three X.B.’s, a double, a triple and a homer.  I like him.  Think he’s gonna stick. Versatile. That fits Zaidi’s pattern perfectly.  A little early to be sure yet, but he may well become a fixture.  Kapler keeps putting him on the lineup card.

 Cobb outmatched his mound opponent tonight just like Burnes slightly overmatched Rodon.  He was extremely economical in his pitch count.  Efficient.  One unearned run.  With both the Alexes of the rotation apparently coming around after a few rougher outings, things are looking up for the starters.  Also a positive that Rodon opted not to go through the travel and hoopla of the All-Star extravaganza.  He’s been quite the opposite of Cobb’s performance tonight, as his pitch-count mounts and mounts.  Though those strikeouts keep on keeping on, he ends up throwing a mass of pitches and is pretty challenged to go seven.  Webb:  After a sputtering start compared with last year’s pure magic, he’s getting back into his jut-jawed mastery.

 Junis is back.  Kapler will likely work him in a bit gradually.  Maybe he goes long relief or more likely a three or four inning starter.  A solid five man rotation provides a solid base for post-Break baseball.

Looking to be the strength of the team early on in the season, the bullpen has become an unmitigated mess.  McGee is kaput.  Gone.  Rogers may be on the brink of riding off into the sunset on Silver.  Then there’s the injuries and almost always, the inconsistencies.  Even more needful than a Brandon Drury trade (not a bad idea at all) are a couple of reliable relievers, one as the Fireman and the other in set-up/closer roles.

 The oft derided farm system contains a potential gem pitching now for Richmond after a very nice run for Eugene.  Last time I checked his stats in those two upper-middle leagues they looked promising.  ERA of 2.78.  Eighteen hits over 27.2 I.P., one whole home run, seven bases on balls as against 38 special K’s, a BAA of .176 and a WHIP at a scintillating 0.90.  What’s not to like.? Expect him wearing orange and black no later than September.  Name of the exciting relief prospect is R.J. Dabovich.  Nothing quite so comforting as a quality homegrown bulley.

 Will the Giants win the Sunday matchup and take the series, or end up going 2-2 against a closely matched opponent?  Remember “Big Mo”?  Momentum.  A Sunday banquet and I’ll go out on a limb and predict that the team has finally begun once again to feel it’s oats and will be a buyer rather than a seller over the next 2+ weeks.

One of the problems with being addicted to The Open—you miss games like last night’s. When you go to bed at 8pm for a couple quick cat nap hours there is a price to pay. I had to watch that glorious ending on mlb.com.

What a game.

I wish Kuip still had to voice to make those calls but he just doesn’t anymore. A grand ending like that, he would have used his most booming of voices. That’s ok at least he’s alive.

Tough loss. It’s 2am and I’ve been watching The Open for the last hour. Better get the thread in now. This is easily my favorite major. There’s something methodically hypnotic about watching a ball bound down a hard, brown fairway—this is a place where luck and strategy form the perfect partnership.

Scheffler just banged in a 15 foot birdie.

Anyway, it’s the best.

Sorry for the late thread. I got up at 2am to watch The Open and I needed a nap.
Anyway, that’s how we did it back in the Championship years. Fun to get a whiff of that again.

I was hanging in there till LLovera Boy took the stage. That band got tired in the 80s

At least Cobb made it through 6 for the second game in a row.

That’s something I guess.

It’s been a while since he guest-posted.

Carstie Clausen	Sun, Jul 10, 11:56 PM (4 hours ago)
to Flavor

Flav:  It’s been a confounding and confusing several weeks as the Giants prospects have seemed to be on the edge of going down the Big Swirly.  So here’s my present take.

  Shit or get off the pot.  That is the question.  With the apparent collapse of the bullpen, the offense and the defense, all adding up to a seeming crumbling of team morale; the question of whether the Giants should be sellers instead of buyers during the great garage sale looming with the trade deadline fast approaching.  A sell-off of valuable pieces for a combination of replacement parts and quality prospects appeared to be in the works right up to this series in San Diego.  Today’s 12-0 humbling of the Padres, featuring a complete game gem by Carlos Rodon and a full-on 17 hit attack by a virtual exclusion of the “Bore Corps/Sore Core” ,is giving me second thoughts.  After those first two defeats by the Padres, a sell-off appeared to be the only logical approach. Now, just maybe, it’s time for re-consideration.

 Positives:  Though we ultimately lost Webb’s sterling performance to yet another bullpen breakdown and shaky defense, as well as Machado’s three-run opener against a non-rotation starter; game three featured an excellent start by Wood and then today’s Ace performance by Rodon, whom several suspect once again reached his peak to enhance his trade value and a huge salary resurrection.  Cobb’s latest start was a major improvement over his post D.L. re-entry efforts.  Jacob Junis looks to return in a matter of days. So all of a sudden, the Rotation solidifies.  Also, soon to possibly begin earning his 6M salary, Boyd looks to return in a short while.  So just maybe, the Giants have them a reliable rotation.

 Second positive was the first explosion  in many a week of base-hits, including Wilmer’s pair and Thairo’s blast, from just about right across the lineup.  Villar may not be the flash in the pan which so many of the dumpster-dive acquisitions proved to be.  He simply was a much overlooked 11th round choice of the Giants, who no longer could be kept quiet down on the farm.  Hell, even Bart got a piece of the action.  Yaz did his thing and Gonzales keeps upping that batting average, continuing to prove that Zaidi’s pickups include a genuine gem here and there.  Slater is solid.  He sports the second highest OBP right after Pederson.  Another much overlooked development of the team’s evaluation, scouting and farm system.  Wynns has a surname that simply begs for some surprise clutch delivery before the season concludes.  A walkoff RBI would make for a nice headline:  “Wynns it for the Giants”.

 Maybe team morale has finally gotten past that extreme case of the heebie-jeebies.  Just maybe, but hope does spring eternal even though half the season is in the books and the All-Star game is upon us next week.  With an uptick in team spirit, it may be in the books of the future that those deadly defensive lapses will quieten down.  Wait and see, I guess.

 Needs:  The big one is fairly simple.  Bullpen.  McGee has been dropped like a hot potato and Littell is back to Sac-town.  Fortunately for the Giants, there is a virtual host of decent to really good relievers who will be on the market over the next three weeks. Generally speaking the price should not be prohibitive.  High-end prospects are almost never sacrificed for bullpen help…even for late-inning effectives.  Some of the “going nowhere” teams, such as Detroit and Cincinnati sport some pretty good late-inning specialists.  MLB Trade-Rumors just posted a listing of no fewer than 50 possible trade availabilities.  Close to half of them are relievers.  Giants need two reliable relievers…plain and simple.  Maybe even three.

 Could be that the “Bore Core” vets will not have to carry a heavy load.  Occasional starts and pinch-hitting roles may suffice for Belt, Crawford and Longoria.  Ruf’s value is mainly as a pinch-hitter and occasionally as an outfielder.  Perhaps if some team with even a slightly above average first-baseman, maybe now likely to be replaced by a hot rookie, could be had for the price of a second-line prospect and a throw-in, a guy who would also be good to go for next season, could be added to two or three bullies.  It might be a tall order to pick up an overlooked spark plug.  What I’d like to see in an added hitter would be a high OBP guy who hits a lot of doubles.  The team is weak in that category.  Guy could hit sixth, right after the Enforcer.  Today’s RISP record looked decent for a change.  Gotta keep that line a-going.

 Kapler needs to get his shit together when it comes to that over-analyzed, data-driven right-left pinch-hitting situational mania.  Addition by Zaidi/Harris of two or three quality relievers could relieve the manager of incipient hemorrhoids or something similar. He needs to study up on Casey Stengel when it comes to managing by the seat of his pants, as well as intuition.  Maybe he has that capacity, maybe he doesn’t .  If not, “hit the road, Jack” if he keeps on over-managing.

 Splitting the series with the Dagos tells me that with a few adjustments, this team is capable of getting it’s act together and at least become a spoiler come the Post-Season.

You know, with Rondon and Webb we really do stand a chance to make the post season. Disco is gone (thankfully) and Wood still needs to recapture what he once had. And goddammit Cobb really does have great stuff. I had counted on Matt Boyd to help this year and I’m not giving up on him yet and Junis is serviceable if he can get healthy.

I dunno, I woke up unusually positive today.

Could our starting pitching get us to the post season?

Tired of the Giants.

Let’s talk coolest Niners. You guys got my Niner love going last night with the Rathman talk. Without question the coolest Niner I ever met was Tom Rathman. He was a fixture at the Bay Meadows clubhouse in the off season back in the day. Totally approachable, just one of the guys, he loves horse racing. Bobby Bonds was there all the time too but he spent most of his time on the porch smoking cigs. And he’d never talk to anyone when he was inside. But Rathman? Just an awesome dude.

Speaking of football I read an article the other day, I can’t find it now I think it was in the Chronicle, that said flag football is inevitable. All football will be flag some day except pro and I didn’t really understand how that would work. Like you’d play flag growing up and through college then all of a sudden go to tackle in the pros? Didn’t make sense.

Well another horrendous ending. At least we were competitive this game though in a rather boring way. My main man Luke made the trek down for the game.

San Dawg had 4 tickets to the game but had to ditch them as he has to go to a wedding up here this weekend….

Luke said the stadium is quite handsome in person.

Keeping in mind the competition and the obvious unfillable holes we have on our team that was a nice comeback win on the road. Pride and energy were both on display.

Lots of trade ideas gonna get proposed between now and the deadline. If they give up, it’s gonna look like Loo’s Smith/Andujar pick ups. GH wants Josh Bell but that’s only if we go for it and pay through the nose–an unlikely move.

I do trust Zaidi in situations like this. He’s got an eye for talent and if he wants to wheel and deal at the deadline I’m all for that. As was the convern when it happened, when you re-sign oldies like Craw and Belt with no one behind them in the system you’re going to need to find their replacements via trade and free agency. Z, go do your thing.

How stupid were we last year? Just a bunch of giggling dunderheads agreeing with everything Farhan and Kap did. “I don’t get it but these guys are geniuses man! Everything they touch turns to gold! Bat paths! Woo Hoo!”

Reality has hit hard this season. It turns out you can’t just plug a bunch of shitty castoffs into your line up and win games. Huh, who knew?

Honestly, in a way I’m glad this happened. Hopefully Z hasn’t gotten so big for his britches that he can’t admit there isn’t just one single way to build a winning team. I’m worried though that he’s so stuck in “A’s Mode” that he can’t do it any other way. And ownership probably loves it. Spend no money every year, that’s great for them.

Anyway, this is who we thought they’d be last year.

Travis, you’re a year too late….

It’s interesting to hear Kap and then Rodon go public with their calls for more energy and a different attitude form the team. In the “old days” that would never get said. We’d just hear about how these guys are pros, they’ve been here before, never get too high or too low, etc…There is some truth to that in baseball. It’s 162 games, you don’t need to blow your entire load every game.

But I do think there is too much “trust the process” with this team. They won 107 last year. That’s great. We knew then they weren’t really a 107 win team and I don’t think anyone thought they’d win close to that this year. But now everyone just seems to be looking around waiting for something to happen. Belt/Crawford/Longo….those guys are NEVER going to be the guys to shake up a team with their energy or an attitude change. It’s not who they are.

So…..who’s going to do it?

July 4th is my favorite day of the year. Not because I’m overly patriotic. I am to a point but I hate approximately 40% of the people who live here so it’s not really about the flag flying though I do love those colors on this particular day….

But really, it’s just an awesome day. Sun. BBQ. Community. Baseball. Hell, Joey Chestnut. I love all of it. Katie and I are going to a town picnic today, I hope you guys do something that makes it a great day.

Kokonuts and I play wordle together and text eachother our results daily and I was lamenting how random the words have been lately and the convo turned to our Giants.

Just a quick new thread to give you guys the opportunity to kick around how terrible this team is. Have at it.

The White Sox are one of those low-key AL times I alway kinda liked growing up. Chet Lemon. Lamarr Hoyt. Great names. Didn’t they have Rusty Kuntz too?

Of course they inexplicably re-hired the terrible Tony LaRussa making them currently and completely hateable.

Anyway, Chicago is predictably playing underwhelming baseball with the usually drunken LaRussa at the helm. Countering that, we are playing terrible baseball.

No idea where this series goes…..