When The Wheels Come Off A Trade
Last night was a good time to lament the Beltran trade. Me? I haven’t sweated that for a second. You have to give up something to get something and Sabean went for it at the break in 2011, that’s all you can ask for in a GM. He couldn’t have known that Beltran would save his best hitting for after they got eliminated (or close to getting eliminated, that’s what I remember about his time here). He also couldn’t have known that he was kind of a bitch, too, as the Cheating Scandal showed.
Wheeler is one of the rare starting pitching prospects who pan out. It’s cool to see him still bringin’ it after all these years. Of course I wish he had stayed a Giant but at the time the trade made sense–risk/reward that just didn’t pan out.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
I was excited about the Beltran trade at the time, thought Carlos was gonna make a difference in our 2011 playoff run but turns out that trade amounted to no more than a bag of magic beans (sans magic). I don’t blame Sabean either for making the trade, he was taking a shot and that’s his job. However, I still despise Beltran for mailing it in after the trade he didn’t want to be here and didn’t care about the team or fans. He’s clearly a self-centered jackass. Maybe he was upset because his new Giants teammates didn’t sign up for his trashcan drum solos? Apparently, Carlos found his audience in the Astros dugout.
I am happy for Wheeler though…
https://fansided.com/2022/04/03/carlos-beltran-astros-sign-stealing-scandal/
Seemed like a good idea at the time, but Beltran was either already hurt or he immediately got hurt when he got here.
But, yeah, he was a tool. Didn’t give one shit about the team.
anyone heard from Stix as things wind down here? Hope he can survive another winter in Frostbite Falls.
Meanwhile, supposed to be in 80s locally, SD too.
Really interested to see how pitching staffs hold up with limited off days for 2 Champ series.
scourge of all basketball imo isn’t just 3 point shooting, it’s James Harden. My god what a selfish style of play: i’m gonna dribble the ball btw my legs for as long as I want before I shoot or maybe pass the ball off to a teammate, or not.
And of course “I’ll get mine” whether teams wins or gets blown out.
Maybe fantasy players know this, but where did the Phillies get all this pitching from?
Looking at B/R, of the 6 teams that got into NL playoffs, they had highest runs against and team ERA. 3 other teams that didn’t make it, Brewers Marlins and Giants (!) had lower ERA.
? How to explain post season success of the Fightins?
Haven’t heard from Stix since Aug 28th.
It’s hard to overemphasize just how terrible the Giants’ offense was in 2011. Sabean’s mistake was in thinking that one player could turn it around. As it was, on September 2, the Giants were only 5 games out. Beltran played extremely well for them down the stretch. If his hot streak had happened right when he arrived instead of towards the end of the season, it would not have changed anything, only the timing of the illogical complaints and expectations about the impact of his performance . The idea that Beltran personally let down the team has been completely off base ever since Twin started barking about how the big dog didn’t bark or hunt or whatever the metaphor was. It was the rest of the roster that doomed the Giants, the pitching excepted.
I was looking at the final standings from 2011, yeah, the offense was even worse than I remember. Giants scored 570 runs — dead last in the 16-team NL (Astros hadn’t yet moved to the AL), and only the Mariners (556) were worse in all of MLB. The pitching was still damn good — 578 runs allowed, only the Phillies (529) were better in the NL. The great unknown is how the season would have played out if not for Posey’s horrific injury.
Even though I still believe Beltran tanked it when he first came over, he still was an upgrade over Rowand and Nate the Great (surprised to see Beltran had a .920 OPS with us).
I also agree that you can’t blame Sabes for making the trade and taking a shot at defending our crown.
So glad Bill Neukom finally released the effing Gamer at end of August. Might have cost him his job, and ultimately replaced as CEO by Baer. yuck
Great pic of Neukom in Bucket, iirc with Chi and the 2010 trophy.
12 years ago to the day. And if you look up above in this thread, that’s Clayton’s dad who kicked today of…..
Not only was that a great story, but the comments on that thread were a nice walk down 1st championship memory lane.
Cause and effect is such an interesting thing. If the Giants didn’t trade Wheeler, maybe they somehow don’t win the championships in ’12 and ’14. Maybe the Giants wouldn’t have signed Vogey or something like that.
The butterfly effect
Agree with James and Loco – Beltran, was slow out of the gate so to speak when he arrived, but during his time with the Giants, he did very well overall. Unfortunately, the GMen were out of it by the time he really got going.
Ah, Flav that was a great thread (Ted ewisco delmar PK dirt kevin) and cool story about your friend and son getting ball from Cody Ross.
Never liked Molina much myself. Always seemed to be whining or upset about something. When Posey came up end of May 2010, Molina and the Prez were catching and Posey was playing 1b. Molina at time was hitting .250 with OPS around .640. He had to go and it still took a month before he was traded to Rangers, while Posey just exploded on scene.
They waited to let Posey’s FA clock run one more season.
Benjie was good with the pitchers, but he DID whine and complain a lot — willieD is spot on ’bout that…
well you are right about pitchers–Lincecum loved working with him as I recall.
And remember there was weird vibe about Tim and Posey not getting on and others catching when he pitched, at least during reg season.
Another 5 run comeback inning for Padres.
Hand threw 15 pitches and didn’t get anyone out in relief of Nola.
Pads laying it on the Phillies. 5 runs in the 5th so far.
That clip you posted of the bat gang blew my mind yesterday. THAT was the scene that freaked me out when I was a kid and I had forgotten about it. Makes me want to watch that movie again
That was such a great movie. Low budget and all. Watched it again with my son a couple years ago.
Dusty sounds like Louis Armstrong…
Wheeler is pretty good now and the last couple of seasons.
But, he didn’t do squat and was hurt a lot for half or more of his career so far.
Had he done that while still a Giant, they might have traded him later anyway…
Or just let him walk like the Mets did.
Screw those F/A Shortstop signings this rookie SS Jeremy Peña for the Stros is something special at 23? Any way for a deal? Doubt it..Other teams can develop players so much faster for the show then the Giants can, always frustrating as we wait 2 more years? for Lucky Luciano to get up?
Great story re C Ross! I looked at the posts including mine. Names from the past. Me wishing Panda played more:) I guess Renteria did alright after all!!!!