June 24th, 2009
In professional sports drafts, nobody really wants to make the safe pick. Usually, teams should take whomever they think is the best player. Sometimes, though, that is also the safe pick. If Stephen Curry is there for the Warriors at #7, they should take him.
The only argument I hear against Curry in these parts, is that he is too similar of a player to Monta Ellis. That’s a dumb argument to make against a draft prospect because we don’t know if Ellis is going to be here for the long term. Why should we hold Ellis in such high regard and think he’s here for the long haul when he has been upset with the organization before? With or without Curry, Ellis could, at any point, demand a trade and force his way to another organization. Then, not selecting Curry, could really look stupid. Ellis is also a type of “special needs” player. I say this because he’s not a point guard, will never play on a winning team as a point guard, yet he thinks he’s a point guard. The best case for Ellis to play on a winning team is to be a shooting guard, playing next to a big point guard… like Baron Davis. This way, the defensively deficient Ellis can guard point guards, while someone like Davis can guard the twos. Big point guards like Davis, however, are extremely hard to find.
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Categories: Golden State Warriors |
Tags: A's, Baron Davis, Brandon Morrow, Brian Sabean, Buster Posey, Cal, Dave Stewart, DeMar DeRozan, Don Nelson, Giants, Jahvid Best, Jordan Hill, Jose Canseco, Kevin Frandsen, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Downs, Matt Holliday, Monta Ellis, Pablo Sandoval, Richard Jefferson, Sharks, Stephen Curry, Tim Alderson, Tim Lincecum, Vernon Davis, Warriors | No Comments
June 22nd, 2009
Sorry, I haven’t posted anything since Thursday. I got lazy. Maybe if I had the energy of those losers starting the wave in the upper deck yesterday, I wouldn’t have waited four days. Speaking of which, if you’re at a baseball game, are older than 16, and you’re trying to start a wave, you are pathetic. And, you’re not a Giants fan. Don’t even bother showing up again. We don’t need your short attention spans at our games. Sometimes, I miss the 15,000-20,000 die-hards that loyally showed up to the ‘Stick.
The Giants ten-game trip that starts tonight in Oakland is one of three lengthy (10 or more games) road trips remaining on their schedule. It might be the toughest road trip of the year because they’ll face two above-.500 teams (Brewers and Cardinals), plus the aces of those teams, Yovani Gallardo and Chris Carpenter. Considering Jonathan Sanchez will likely be starting twice, and the A’s will be looking for revenge, it doesn’t make things any easier. It could be a very pivotal trip for the Giants bullpen that has performed much better at home than on the road as you can tell by the numbers below.
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RELIEVER
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HOME ERA
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ROAD ERA
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WILSON
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2.14
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4.63
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AFFELDT
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1.29
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2.03
|
|
ROMO
|
4.15
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0.00
|
|
VALDEZ
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1.59
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5.59
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MEDDERS
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1.76
|
4.20
|
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HOWRY
|
5.79
|
3.00
|
|
MILLER
|
1.93
|
2.81
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Only Sergio Romo and Bobby Howry have posted higher ERA’s at home, and Romo obviously has a very small sample size. Valdez’s splits are particularly glaring, although he wasn’t helped by that Washington disaster three weeks ago when the Nationals scored six runs in the eighth inning in the opening game of the last ten-game road trip.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Barry Zito, Bob Bradley. Aaron Rowand, Bobby Howry, Brandon Medders, Brian Wilson, Bruce Bochy, Chris Guarnero, Dallas Braden, Giants, Jeremy Affeldt, Jonathan Sanchez, Jordan Hill, Justin Miller, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Frandsen, Lance Armstrong, Larry Riley, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Downs, Merkin Valdez, Nnamdi Asomugha, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Randy Winn, Rich Aurilia, Ryane Clowe, Sergio Romo, Sharks, Tim Alderson, Trevor Cahill, Warriors | No Comments
June 17th, 2009
One of the reasons Clint Hurdle was fired in Colorado was because he couldn’t stick to an everyday lineup. He was constantly moving guys around in the order and in the field. He almost ruined big-time prospect Ian Stewart because of the constant position and lineup changes. And Hurdle played approximately 137 players at second base, including Stewart, over the last season plus. Jim Tracy, meanwhile, has stuck with Clint Barmes, and Barmes and the team have played better since. I’m not saying that is the key to the Rockies improved play, because they were a very underachieving team as a whole. It just helps to have some kind of stability.
I bring it up because Bruce Bochy is on his way to playing about 87 guys at second base this year. Here’s hoping that Kevin Frandsen (sorry, no faith in Matt Downs) is called up on Monday, when he’s eligible, and that Bochy throws him out there everyday until the end of July… at least. Then, the Giants will have a better idea of what to do when the trade deadline hits. Like a lot of fans, I was hoping Frandsen would win the job out of spring training. I was then pleasantly surprised for a moment when Burriss started hitting okay (with zero power). With the 0-for-27 slump, Burriss also hasn’t even been that good defensively, which means a change had to be made. Frandsen obviously doesn’t embarrass himself defensively since the team is willing to play him at shortstop.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Adam Kennedy, Alex Smith, Anthony Randolph, Brad Ziegler, Cal, Damon Huard, Emmanuel Burriss, Giants, J.T. O'Sullivan, Jonathan Sanchez, Kevin Frandsen, Matt Cain, Matt Downs, Matt Holliday, Mike Norris, Mike Singletary, Pablo Sandoval, Sammy Sosa, San Jose State, Sean O'Sullivan, Sharks, Shaun Hill, Stanford, Stephen Curry, Warriors | No Comments
