Two high-ranking Giants officials told Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com that the club is done shopping. As Urban notes via Twitter, the Giants' decision not to hand out more major league contracts means we shouldn't expect a Kiko Calero signing. The door appears shut on the Eric Byrnes front and Johnny Damon appears to be an unlikely fit, also.
The Marlins and Cubs are interested in Calero, one of the winter's more intriguing free agent relievers. Meanwhile, the Giants have already signed Bengie Molina, Freddy Sanchez, Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa this offseason.
Not as excited as I was hoping…but on paper we are better.
I agree, I think on paper we are better but that needs to translate on the field, and hopefully it does.. I just dont see Rowand and Renteria playing any worse than they did last year (but from what I saw last year from them, it is certainly possible).. if they can improve offensively that would be a HUGE boost to the offense.. I think if Huff and DeRosa give us a career average year (Huff: .282/.340/.472, 20 HR, 85 RBI… DeRosa: .275/.343/.424, 15 HR, 65 RBI) that will be more than enough to propel this team to a division title.. Uribe was a great sign since every great team needs a deep bench and his versatility gives us many options.. I think Velez and Torres are good bench/spot starters, especially since Velez started to develop base stealing ability towards the end of last season.. I believe a full season with Schierholtz in RF will improve his bat since he played exceptionally well when he knew he was playing regularly, and he is our best option in RF as well as at leadoff (the thought of Rowand leading off, let alone in the top half of the lineup, disgusts me).. also it isnt outta the question to get more from our starting rotation since Sanchez and Zito started to figure it out during the second part of last season.. I think Bumgarner is a better option as the number 5 starter than we had in Martinez and that other guy we tried out.. I just cant wait to see how Crawford, Pill, Kieschnick, and Neal do in ST.. hopefully a couple of those guys establish themselves and get opportunities to be on the big league roster.. all in all I am excited to see how the season plays out, but if a majority of those things happen (which isnt outta the question), we should find a lot more success in 2010.
boooo!!! this is weak even though i do agree with you that on paper we are better, but thats not saying much.
I still can’t believe LaRoche said no. Him and Calero would have been nice additions.
While Spring hopes eternal, Winter breeds insanity. This team is built to compete… with the Pads and D-Backs for 3rd place, at best.
such are my thoughts as well.
This Giants offseason: made of fail.
Was kind of hoping we snuck one more in, some bargain or something, perhaps Damon. Who knows there still time, we might land something cheap. Either way, Im ok with what is there now, I got hope. GO Giants 2010!
Damon was a bad fit anyway. We’ll be in the race and who knows what July will bring.
It’s hard to think that the giants have’nt improved that much. At the begining of the offseason it was a foregone conclusion that Molina was gone. As many negative things you can say about Bengie, he was arguably the best hitter o the team. At the midpoint of the offseason the giants 2010 season was looking pretty bleak. Their best hitter was sure to sign a multi-year deal elsewhere, Penny’s leaves, and Sabean’s point blank says…”we aint spendin’ money”
So here we are, right around the corner from pitchers and catchers…and I gotta say I’m getting excited about this team. Let just assume we have Freddy Sanchez relativley healthy most the year, it’s an upgrade over the Burris/Frandsen debakle. Huff’s offense is an upgrade over Ishi’s, and Derosa an offensive upgrade over Winn. Oh, and by the way, we get to have Molina back, and keep Uribe!
Plus, addition by subtraction:
The giants instanly improved by losing Bobby(walkoff)Howery, Merkin Valdez, and Justin Miller.
I feel the Giants improved more than anyother team in the NL west, they did it under the radar, and they were much smarter on how they spent their money….that in and of itself is an improvement…
I accidentally clicked on the “like” button. I DO NOT like this comment or any comment that says Bengie Molina was a good hitter last year. And it is certainly not arguable that Pablo Sandoval was a much, much, MUCH better hitter than Molina was.
Anyone that would argue that Bengie Molina was a better hitter than Pablo Sandoval should forevermore have his license to argue revoked.
Agreed. Pablo’s OPS and SLG were each more than 100 points higher than Molina’s. Decent-sized gap there. Heck, even Uribe and probably Rowand were better with the stick.
I say agruably because 1: a side from the Panda he had the most HR’s and Most Rbi’s on the team, and 2nd he is best clutch hitter on the team.
It’s all relative Molina being one of best hitters on the team is basically saying he’s the cream of the crap!
Bottom line, the giants should be better than they wee last year. and my comment about being smater with their money is also relative. It is a postive that Sabean didn’t over commit, or grossly over pay someone….when was the last time this has happened. …
To elaborate. We handed out $35 million worth of free agent dollars this offseason, and what did we get?
1. a marginally above average 35-year-old
2. a player who will be marginally above average only if we get very lucky (but had 85 RBI’S EVEN IN A DOWN YEAR!)
3. a decent singles hitter who was nonetheless overpaid even before he caught the injury bug
4. a utility guy who had a career year after years of being well below league average, and…
5. the slowest, most undisciplined hitter in baseball whose presence just happens to block baseball’s premier prospect at his position.
fml
Should be noted:
1. 2 yr deal
2. 1 yr deal
3. 2 yr deal
4. 1 yr deal
5. 1 yr deal, the pitching staff loves him, and will NOT be blocking Posey when he is ready.
One year deals are rarely catastrophes. Except maybe Sheets, if he breaks down; Penny too.
If Byrnes doesn’t have a major league contract by mid February, I’m guessing he’ll take a minor league contract with the Giants.
I don’t know exactly what to expect this year, part of me is very excited to watch the new players, part of me is dreading watching aging players have down offensive years, play crappy defense and getting injured.
Go Get Brynes! how much can he hurt the giants? I’d take Byrnes over Lewis all day any day!
okay bengie molina objectively is not :arguably the best hitter on the team.” or any team.
and uribe…
Between Burriss, Downs, and Frandsen last year, they had 305 AB, about half a season, batted .210, had a total of 16 RBI and 27 runs. So let’s say we double that even though it’s rare that someone has 610 AB in a season. That would give a stat line of .210/32 RBI/ 54 runs. Sanchez on average last 3 years which doesn’t include his batting title season has a stat line of .289/58 RBI/ 69 runs. So long as he stays healthy the majority of the season we have upgraded second base from last year. Uribe is his back up too and will probably play as many games at 2B this year as he did last year. The bottom line is a year of Sanchez/Uribe is better than a year of Downs/Burriss/Frandsen/Sanchez/Uribe.
For conservatism’s sake, we will compare Huff’s season last year to Ish, Garko, and Aurilia. The latter had 563 AB, practically a whole season, and had a stat line of .245/ 67 RBI/ 13 HR/ 69 runs. Huff’s stat line in a bad year last year was .241/ 85 RBI / 15 HR / 59 runs. So it seems at least we can expect the same production from huff as we got last year. Hopefully better. At if he is performing bad, I’m sure mgmt will plug in Ish who I think should be developed as our everyday first baseman with his mad glove and decent offense.
Last year Winn’s stat line was .262/ 51 RBI/ 2 HR/ 65 runs. DeRosa’s was .250/ 78 RBI/ 23 HR/ 78 RBI. So despite a lower average, his rbi, run, and hr totals were notably higher, so a definite improvement here.
Bengie should be worse offensively this year, compared to last, by all means as he is older and had sort of a career year last year. However, I really think at best Bengie will play half a season as the starter before they bring posey up. And Posey can mash. So I don’t see a real decline in that position overall for the year, as molina’s decline will be offset by posey being brought up. I really doubt Rowand or Renteria will do any worse than last year. Pablo should put up similar stats. Lastly, I dont really want to break it down, but I think we all would agree that between Schierholtz/Bowker/Ish we will have better production than Velez/Lewis/Torres.
The last major point would be to say that our defense has declined notably. Huff is terrible compared to Ish at first. DeRosa is worse than Winn. So the upgrade we made on offense will be partially offset by the downgrade at defense. But in the end, this is definitely a better team than last year. Pitching should be relatively similar to last year. So I am excited to see how the year plays out. But
Rowand
Sanchez/Uribe
Sandoval
Huff/Ish
DeRosa
Molina/Posey
Schierholtz/Bowker
Renteria/Uribe
Lincecum
Cain
Sanchez
Zito
Bumgarner
Romo
Runzler
Medders
Affeldt
Wilson
sounds pretty good to me
I disagree on one point and just to the extent of the effect and that is the decline of the defense. I’m 100% in agreement over taking a big hit with Huff at 1B instead of Ishi… there is no way to argue that. BUT i don’t see defensively DeRosa replacing Winn… DeRosa is replacing the Lewis/Velez platoon in LF and while the UZR will show you DeRosa might not have as wide a range as either of those guys, he has a much better glove and i think will be solid in LF. Shierholtz is replacing Winn, and there is only one other outfielder i have seen cover AT&T’s RF as well as Winn and thats Shierholtz. If anything his arm makes his defense slightly better.
Other than that the defense is more or less the same… a full season of a healthy Sanchez is an improvement over the platoon we had last year. A healthy Renteria should be at least the same, if not slightly better, especially with his arm. A lighter Sandoval should bring a little more range at 3B and at least give us the D we got there last year. Bengie will be more or less the same, and as you stated above, if Posey is brought up mid-season he should improve the D behind the plate if only because a Posey/Molina platoon will keep both fresher.
With that said, we played defense pretty well last year (ranked something like 6th if i remember correctly). Since the biggest hit is at 1B and some other positions will be more or less the same, if not slightly better I don’t see that much defensive decline if any at all. On top of that, if these offseason moves gets us a more consistent offense (the biggest problem we had last year) whatever hit we get on the defensive side should be more than made up for by the increased production.
Let’s also not forget the biggest change made this offseason… tossing Lansford and promoting Muellens may prove to be the best move the Giants made. Muellens has shown to be very successful with getting the best out of his players and preaches a much different approach than Lansford (for who all accounts was more concerned with mechanics than coaching an approach). If he can get through to this team to be more patient and curtail the free swinging approach we had last year, we may get closer to something that resembles a major league offense.
Why don’t the Giants just actually get a bat instead of being the kings of fringe-players?
Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, and Bengie Molina in the same offseason? Geeze Louise!
Huff is coming from the AL East one of the toughest if not the toughest pitching division in baseball. The three best pitching teams in the NL in my mind are the Giants, Phillies and Cardinals
One less team he has to face
Huff + Molina + DeRosa = $13.5 million total in 2010
Russell Branyan (guessing he can be had for $2MM) + Posey + an $11 million player = $13.5 million
Sure, that looks like a poor allocation of resources, but who were the Giants supposed to sign? Bay? Holliday?
I’ve been meaning to ask for months now dave, does the vta stand for valley transportation agency or authority?
You’re forgetting…11 million players have to want to play here…..right now, they don’t
That’s easy… Chone Figgins. But that would be assuming Branyan could be moved to LF which is a HUGE question mark. Better choice would be Nady instead of Branyan if you got Figgins, then things would look like this:
1. Figgins (3B) (S)
2. Sanchez (2B) (R)
3. Sandoval (1B) (S)
4. Nady (LF) (R)
5. Rowand (CF) (R)
6. Schierholtz (RF) (L)
7. Renteria (SS) (R)
8. Posey (C) (R)
If Posey mashes off the bat (i love puns), push him to the 5 hole and push everyone down a slot. Platoon Bowker and Ishi with Nady and Shierholtz and play who’s ever playing the best and Torres should back up Rowand. Uribe is your super utility IF and Whiteside is your backup catcher. Evene with those signing you still may have some wiggle room to either get Molina or a cheaper FA catcher until Posey is ready (ie past super two status).
I think that The giants should sign Eric Brynes because he won’t cost them anything
but the minimum of $125,000. Brynes would be the guy who can ignite this team to
The National West race. You put Eric Brynes in Right-field or Center to spell Aaron Rowland. As for bargain basement pitching, I would sign Brandon Looper to a incentive
based contract. for the bull-pen, I would sign Ex-Dodger lefthander Joe Beimel.
Giants fans. lets not start the ’10 season with such a negative mindset. Huff > Ishi. don’t even bother arguing with me here on this one. Ishi can’t hit lefties nor can he bat on the road. Did I mention his plate discipline. How many times have you seen him swing at the first pitch. Its so frustrating. You can say all you want about Huff declining. But seeing as how he’s an actual player who’s PROVEN himself already in his career with three seasons over 100 RBIs (one of which just two years ago) is not that bad. Keep in mind I’m talking about a Giants’ offensive improvement. Then you have De Rosa. De Rosa > Winn. Winn had a horrible year last year, plus with Nate now in RF we’re actually GAINING from the only thing Winn was consistent at…defense. Freddy Sanchez and/or Uribe > Burress. Burress was horrible, absolutely dreadful to watch. He could not hit any ball out of the infield. It was ground ball this ground ball that, maybe a chopper in the gaps once in awhile. Overall AA level player. I realize the irony in how I sound negative, but I speak the truth. When you’re a Giants fan you learn to empathize with other frustrated fans. But I still stand by what I say about the new year. We’re a better offense this year, and with our pitching staff still young and more experienced we’re going to be in this race.
I can’t believe the Giants don’t at least take a flyer on Byrnes. He’s supposedly healthy and would make a great 4th outfielder. Let’s face it, if he’s right, he should play and Rowand should sit. At the least he offers pop off the bench. Why not give him a deal (he just costs the minimum)? What do they have to lose? The guy has even said he wants to be a Giant. That’s much better then guys like Adam LaRoche who they offered a boatload of money to, and he turned it down because he didn’t want to play here.
I was really hoping the Giants would sign Byrnes to a one year deal. His value is way down and he would give us the home-town discount on top of that and he has the potential for a bounce-back year. Imo its a great low-risk, high-reward scenario but apparently Sabean is more interested in the high-risk, low-reward scenarios…I agree that the Giants are better on paper and I am glad to see Bengie back for two reasons…we wont have a fall off in power from the catcher position, and Bengie knows our pitching staff better than they know themselves and he has been a huge part of its success the last few seasons.
although Someone sais we have stopped signing, I wouldnt be shocked to see a very affordable bat that hasnt been signed by spring training to get signed and perhaps make the squad.
On paper we are the best team in the division, I believe the owner debacle in LA will have them get worse, Colorado I dont think can match their success of last year, and San Diego is completely inept, go figure we lost 8 in a row to them to start the season.
I believe if a healthy Dback team is there, thats who we r fighting for a playoff spot becuase there is no shot for 2 NL West teams this year
wishful thinking!!
I cant believe that Brian Sabean won’t even try to sign Johnny Damon! For the price that they can get him for, what a bargain. OBP, HITTITNG IN THE CLUTCH, EXPERIENCE, ,GOOD HITTING IN POST SEASON AND CLUBHOUSE PRESENCE. If they sign him, what a difference it would make in the lineup. It almost for sure would bring us the division tittle and possibly more!!!!!!!
cant believe we aren’t going to go after Byrnes. Based on what he’s asking and his comments about how much he wants to play where he grew up and expected playing time. Seems like a no brainer to me. He’s still solid and hits like a beast at AT&T
the Mariner’s have now signed Eric Byrnes. I am 100% in agreement with you, we could have had him at the veteran minimum of 400K. This type of non action and lack of logical decision making is exactly what drives me and 99% of all Giants fans crazy. Very disappointing Sabean, very disappointing.