August 3rd, 2009
While I stand by my argument that the Giants gave up too much for Freddy Sanchez, and should have used Tim Alderson as trade bait for a hitter with more pop, my entire support is thrown his way now that he’s a Giant. Yesterday, Mike Krukow made mention of how Sanchez told him that he enjoys hitting in the NL West parks because of their enormous outfields. It certainly makes sense for a line-drive hitter, such as Sanchez.
Brian Sabean should have told us this when he made the trade, instead of reminding us that Sanchez was a “professional hitter”. When you keep telling us that Sanchez is a “professional hitter”, all you’re doing is reminding us that most of our team is filled with “unprofessional hitters”. (Even if it’s true, we don’t need to be reminded.) If Sabean had told me that Sanchez owns the Dodgers and Rockies, I still wouldn’t have agreed with the price tag, but I would have definitely felt a little better about the deal.
When you look into the numbers, Sanchez is very comfortable against the Giants competition in the NL West, with the exception of the Padres. (Of course, he fits right in since the Giants can’t win in San Diego anyway.)
| OPPONENT |
AVERAGE |
OPS |
|
BALLPARK |
AVERAGE |
OPS |
| LAD |
.342 |
.827 |
|
Dodger |
.333 |
.787 |
| COL |
.373 |
.948 |
|
Coors |
.403 |
1.028 |
| ARZ |
.327 |
.829 |
|
Chase |
.327 |
.826 |
| SD |
.234 |
.575 |
|
PETCO |
.250 |
.628 |
As for the Giants, he was a career .340, .841 OPS hitter against, and the ballpark talk wasn’t just talk. Sanchez loves AT&T to the tune of a .378 batting average and .929 OPS. It’s those fantastic OPS numbers against NL West opposition that are very encouraging. WCB did say that this trade could look good if Sanchez posts an OPS over .800 in these final couple of months.
Considering that 34 of the final 57 games (59.6%) are against NL West opponents, that .800+ OPS for Sanchez suddenly seems very possible. With all of the heavy intra-division scheduling during the regular season (44.4%), maybe Sanchez’s numbers could actually improve slightly on his Pittsburgh stats. One things for sure: If he beats up on L.A. and Colorado this season, he’ll fit in very quickly.
Now about that defense:
I’m going to give Sanchez the benefit of the doubt on his defense because his metrics (tied for fifth-best among all second basemen) are so solid. However, Giants fans that saw him yesterday and the three games the Giants played in Pittsburgh have seen some very shaky fielding from Sanchez.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Alex Smith, Brian Sabean, Cal, Darren McFadden, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Earthquakes, Eugenio Velez, Freddy Sanchez, Giants, Greg Ellis, Javon Walker, Joe Martinez, Kevin Pucetas, Khalif Barnes, Marion Bartoli, Marvel Smith, Michael Crabtree, Mike Krukow, Mike Singletary, Patrick Willis, Raiders, Rajai Davis, Tim Alderson, Tim Lincecum, Tom Cable, Vin Mazzaro | No Comments
July 31st, 2009
I’m as excited as anyone else when it comes to Michael Crabtree’s potential, and the chance that he becomes an elite NFL receiver. However, when you consider his agent, Eugene Parker, and his ridiculous demands that Crabtree should be paid like a top three pick, the Niners should wait this out.
There shouldn’t be much of a sense of urgency on the team’s part because this is the deepest receiving corps the 49ers have had in several years. With Isaac Bruce and Josh Morgan expected to be the starters, plus capable starters such as Brandon Jones, Arnaz Battle, and Jason Hill all waiting in the wings, Crabtree is more of a luxury than a need in 2009. Sure, Crabtree has the highest upside of any 49er receiver and still has potential for a big-time rookie season (such as the player he’s been most often compared to, Anquan Boldin), but it’s very unlikely for a receiver to blow anyone’s socks off in their initial season. (Did I just use the phrase, “blow anyone’s socks off”? I think I’m the first person under the age of 70 to use that phrase.) It’s even more unlikely since he has such a long ways to go on the depth chart.
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Categories: San Francisco 49ers |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Brad Penny, Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy, Cal, Charlie Manuel, Darrius Heyward-Bey, David Ortiz, Devean George, Eugene Parker, Freddy Sanchez, Giants, Jeff Tedford, Jonathan Sanchez, Kevin Frandsen, Marco Belinelli, Michael Crabtree, Mike Nolan, Mike Singletary, Nnamdi Asomugha, Orlando Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Stanford, Tim Alderson, Vernon Davis, Warriors, Willie McCovey | No Comments
July 24th, 2009
My disdain for Lew Wolff, because of his desire to get out of Oakland, has been well-documented on this site. Many probably wonder why I’m making such a big deal out of something considering the A’s, if they go to San Jose, won’t be moving very far away. My issue is that the A’s have historically been a huge part of Oakland’s community. As Rickey Henderson is enshrined in the Hall, I think of the great impact he had on that community, particularly African-Americans. You almost never see a community produce the local team’s greatest player, but that’s the case in Oakland. The greatest Athletic is clearly Rickey Henderson. If you don’t think that made a big deal to fans going to games in the 80’s and early 90’s, then you weren’t paying attention. Sadly, there haven’t been many good African-American players playing for this team in the past decade plus. That, along with Lew Wolff’s greed and the team playing in the worst stadium in the league, explains the dwindling A’s attendance numbers.
Much has been made about the lack of African-Americans in baseball, but the East Bay has been an exception to the rule in this country. Some of the biggest African-American names in baseball are the East Bay’s own Jimmy Rollins, C.C. Sabathia, and, despite his struggles, Dontrelle Willis. These players, and other local products, undoubtedly were impacted by Henderson and other outstanding black A’s players from the 80’s and early 90’s. In fact, in an article by ESPN’s Tim Keown a couple of years ago, Sabathia spoke of this very impact:
The reason I wanted to play baseball was the A’s. They had Dave Parker, Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson, Dave Stewart—guys I could look up to. Right now, the A’s have Milton Bradley, and that’s about it. I don’t think I’d be playing baseball. I think it would probably be football, because that’s what I see.
I’m sure Rickey Henderson, while at Oakland Tech, was just as impacted by the championship teams of the early 70’s, and African-Americans such as Vida Blue, Reggie Jackson, and Billy North. Maybe Sabathia and Henderson would have liked those same great A’s teams the same if they played in San Jose, but I doubt it. Part of the appeal for many East Bay African-Americans to go to A’s games in the past, outside of the cultural familiarity, was the team being in their backyard, BART made the games even more accessible, and the games are very affordable.
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Categories: Oakland A's |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Adam Dunn, Adam Kennedy, Alan Johnson, Alex Smith, Barry Zito, Billy North, Brett Anderson, C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Watson, Conor Gillaspie, Dave Henderson, Dave Stewart, Don Nelson, Dontrelle Willis, Giants, Jimmy Rollins, Jonathan Sanchez, Justin Duchscherer, Kevin Pucetas, Lew Wolff, Madison Bumgarner, Mark Cuban, Raiders, Rajai Davis, Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson, San Jose State, Sharks, Stanford, Thomas Neal, Tim Alderson, Vida Blue, Vin Mazzaro, Warriors | 1 Comment
July 10th, 2009
I haven’t said much about Pablo Sandoval not be selected for the All-Star game because this “last man vote” was great publicity for him (not that he wants it). Most of the baseball world was finally taking notice of what Giants fans have been watching all season: A portly but athletic, versatile, fun-loving, smart, high-effort guy who is a breath of fresh air because he plays the game the right way.
Despite the newfound publicity, it won’t be a big deal nationally if Sandoval doesn’t make the All-Star game as an injury replacement. While his numbers dwarf many other players on the team, it’s an East Coast media-driven country. Down the road, however, when Sandoval is getting the same type of respect as Albert Pujols (and he will, as we’ve made clear before), this slight will look moronic. Sandoval is going to consistently be one of the top five players in baseball in the next five years, while playing in a pitcher’s park. Historians will look back at his first full season and wonder why he wasn’t playing with baseball’s best in mid-July.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Bill Neukom, Buster Posey, Charlie Manuel, Freddy Sanchez, Giants, Ian Kinsler, JaMarcus Russell, Jason Giambi, Jesse English, John Bowker, Kent Huskins, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Rickey Henderson, Rob Blake, Scott Hairston, Sharks, Stephen Curry, Steve McNair, Tim Alderson, Tim Lincecum, Warren Sapp | No Comments
July 9th, 2009
If it happens, I’ll lead the parade, but I’m not going to start rejoicing yet. Chris Cohan is likely going to be stingy as hell, and will probably wait until he receives a bid over market value, which may take awhile. Plus, it also takes some time, after a price is agreed upon, for the sale to go final.
On to the Thursday links:
The sale won’t be at a discount, as Marcus Thompson writes. He also blogs about it here.
Tim Kawakami says that Cohan knows its time to go… and TK blogged about it in Talking Points.
The new owner needs to hire savvy basketball experts, writes Cam Inman.
This could be Christmas in July, writes Monte Poole.
Warriors fans don’t know black or white, but they know bad, as Ray Ratto notes.
And, by the way, Stephen Curry signed his first Warrior contract.
As for the reduced salary cap, Rusty Simmons and Kawakami address the effect on the Warriors.
Giants
A John Bowker callup may be coming soon.
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Categories: Golden State Warriors, Oakland A's, San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Andrew Bailey, Angel Villalona, Buster Posey, Chris Cohan, Claude Lemieux, David Duval, Freddy Sanchez, Giants, John Bowker, Kurt Suzuki, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Holliday, Max Zhang, Pablo Sandoval, Ray Wersching, Ryan Sadowski, Shane Victorino, Sharks, Stephen Curry, Tim Alderson, Tim Wakefield, Warriors | No Comments
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.
|
RELIEVER
|
HOME ERA
|
ROAD ERA
|
|
WILSON
|
2.14
|
4.63
|
|
AFFELDT
|
1.29
|
2.03
|
|
ROMO
|
4.15
|
0.00
|
|
VALDEZ
|
1.59
|
5.59
|
|
MEDDERS
|
1.76
|
4.20
|
|
HOWRY
|
5.79
|
3.00
|
|
MILLER
|
1.93
|
2.81
|
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 10th, 2009
As mentioned yesterday, the Giants almost had to take a pitcher because there were so many good ones, and such few hitters, on the board for that 6th overall spot. I don’t think that Brian Sabean, John Barr, and company drafted Zack Wheeler because they have premeditated intentions to trade one of their top pitching prospects. However, down the road, likely in the offseason, this does clear up an opportunity for the Giants to deal one of their pitching phenoms for some offense.
The phenom who is most likely to go is Tim Alderson. Madison Bumgarner has reached untouchable status, Barry Zito’s contract is untradeable, Jonathan Sanchez is tradeable but won’t fetch mush other than a rent-a-player (if that), there would be a riot if Tim Lincecum were dealt, and Matt Cain could also go, but likely won’t considering his contract is so affordable, and he’s now having his best season (although some would say this offseason would be a perfect time to deal Cain because his value will never be higher). Alderson is the most likely to go during the offseason because, if his solid season continues at Connecticut (27 innings, 2.00 ERA, 1 BB, 24 K’s) he will likely crack Baseball America’s Top 20, and maybe even Top 10, prospects for 2010. (He was a #45 on BA’s list coming into 2009.) Nobody ever trades away Top 20 prospects, but the Giants pitching surplus could put someone on the market that other teams around baseball could be salivating over.
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Categories: San Francisco Giants |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Aaron Cunningham, Barry Zito, Brandon Jones, Brett Favre, Brian Sabean, Cal, Cam Weaver, Chris Wondolowski, Craig Clark, Dick Tidrow, Drew Storen, Earthquakes, Florentino Perez, Giants, Grant Green, Henry Sosa, Jahvid Best, JaMarcus Russell, Jeff Garcia, Juan Uribe, Kenny Diekroeger, Kevin Frandsen, Kevin Johnson, Kevin Pucetas, Madison Bumgarner, Marvin Jones, Matt Cain, Nick Garcia, Nnamdi Asomugha, Pablo Sandoval, Raiders, Randy Bennett, Randy Winn, Sharks, Shaun Hill, Stanford, Tim Alderson, Tim Floyd, Tim Lincecum, Travis Moen, Zack Wheeler | No Comments
May 21st, 2009
If the Niners sign Dre Bly and actually give him a significant role, they might as well give up on the season. He sucks that bad. For a team that is hoping for a postseason berth, where one win or loss could make a difference between making the playoffs or missing it, Bly honestly could be that difference.
I have quite a few friends who are Bronco fans, and they all told me about how great the Broncos cornerbacks were after they acquired Bly from Detroit, and I was quick to point out that he was completely overrated and gives up a lot of big plays. A few years later, and after countless huge passing plays by the opposition, they couldn’t wait to run him out of town. He’s a risk-taker who, more often than not, winds up on the wrong side of those risks. While the Niners have a better defense than Denver, they do have one of the same problems when it comes to a lack of a consistent pass rush. Bly was burned repeatedly last year, and I don’t think that would change with a Niners team that has trouble getting to the quarterback.
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Categories: San Francisco 49ers |
Tags: 49ers, Aaron Rowand, Barry Zito, Brandon Crawford, Brett Anderson, Chris McAllister, Derrick Burgess, Dre Bly, JaMarcus Russell, Jerry Rice, Josh Morgan, Kevin Correia, Matt Cain, Michael Vick, Mike McKenzie, Mike Singletary, Nick Montana, Pacman Jones, Pat Misch, Patrick Surtain, Raiders, Randy Winn, Ryan Sweeney, Scot McCloughan, Scott Hairston, Sergio Romo, Tarell Brown, Tim Alderson, Tim Lincecum, Tom Cable, Vernon Davis, Vince McMahon | No Comments
May 12th, 2009
I don’t think anyone could possibly run an organization worse than Chris Cohan has operated the Warriors. He always seems to one-up his terrible moves. Bad moves aren’t surprising anymore, but they’re still frustrating. Yesterday’s announcement that Larry Riley would be the general manager was just another in a series of terrible moves. Cohan has managed to make bad hire after bad hire, with each move somehow being worse than the one that preceded it. He’s placed Robert Rowell, a man who seemingly knows very little about basketball, in charge of the organization, and Rowell has managed to give Stephen Jackson an extension that NOBODY in the league would have granted. Rowell apparently also thinks Don Nelson is some kind of a basketball wizard. The same Nelson who has left his previous three organizations on sour notes. As for Riley, he isn’t basketball smart, but he’s smart enough to know that if he’s friends with Nellie, he can get the GM job that isn’t possible anywhere else.
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Categories: Golden State Warriors |
Tags: 49ers, A's, Adam Dunn, Andre Ward, Art Howe, Brian Wilson, Casey Blake, Chris Cohan, Chris Mullin, Don Nelson, Giants, JaMarcus Russell, Jesus Guzman, Jim Skaalen, Larry Riley, Madison Bumgarner, Mark Cuban, Mike Singletary, Randy Johnson, Sergio Romo, Sharks, Tim Alderson, Warriors | No Comments
