Delmon Young signed with the Phillies today on a one-year, $750,000 contract that includes performance bonuses that could make the contract worth up to $3.5 million.

Whew. Deep breath, everybody.

Young was mentioned infrequently as a player the Giants could target, and on the surface one can see why. He plays outfield (“plays”), he crushes lefties, he seems to fit the Pat Burrell model of gargantuan dude who hits dingers. But there are several reasons why Young wouldn’t have made sense for the Giants. One is that he can’t play defense at all. He fails the eye test, the stats test, the sniff test, you name it. He’s a DH only at this point, which makes the Phillies’ assertion that he will play right field all the more hilarious. Mark your calendars for May 6th, folks. That’s the day that the Phillies will come to San Francisco for the first time in 2013, presumably with Delmon Young in RF. Remember what Vlad Guerrero looked like in right in the 2010 World Series? You ain’t seen nothing yet. » Continue reading “Giants: Dodging The Delmon Young Bullet”

January is a slow baseball month. Last January, the Giants signed Brian Burres, Todd Linden, Wilmin Rodriguez, and Gregor Blanco. Obviously the Blanco signing turned out to be pretty important in regards to how the season went, but the point is that the major signings are over. Sorry folks, the Giants aren’t trading for Justin Upton or Giancarlo Stanton and they are going to sign Michael Bourn. The time for major roster moves has come and gone.

As I laid out in a series of posts last week, the Giants have up to three roster spots still available. There’s a spot in the bullpen, a spot for a sixth infielder, and a fifth outfielder available. Let’s run down the candidates for each spot. » Continue reading “Those Last Roster Spots”

(Flickr/Linsey)

Madison Bumgarner made his first start against the Mets in the second game of a doubleheader tonight. And it was a good one. The Giants completed the doubleheader sweep with a score of 6-1.

For the second time today, the Giants came out swinging in the first inning. CF Gregor Blanco led off with a single, followed by a towering Pandamode HR from Pablo Sandoval for two runs. Nate Schierholtz continued his day’s hot streak with a triple*, followed by a sac fly from Hector Sanchez for another run.

*Nate would finish the game 3 for 5, and 6 for 10 for the day.

Of note, Sandoval extended his season-starting hit streak to 16, tying Willie Mays’ team record set in 1960. The Panda also has the longest current hit streak in the majors.

The Giants scored another 2 runs in the 4th inning, when Blanco’s fly ball to LF went into Jason Bay’s glove, but then right back out as Bay fell over, scoring Brett Pill and Emmanuel Burriss. When I was an assistant coach for my girls t-ball teams, I always told the kids that when the ball goes in the glove, you close the glove. Or, as we put it: “When the fish goes in the mouth, the croc snaps its jaws shut.” AND THAT’S WHY YOU DO THAT, JASON BAY. » Continue reading “Post-Game Recap: Giants Sweep the Doubleheader”

(Thomas Hawk/flickr)

The official Giants twitter tweeted some disabled list updates today:

#SFGiants place Eric Surkamp, Dan Runzler and Freddy Sanchez all on DL, retroactive to 3/26. Ryan Vogelsong placed on DL, retro to 3/27

Alex Pavlovic reports that Mike Fontenot has been placed on release waivers:

The Giants placed Mike Fontenot on release waivers Friday, just before his contract was about to become fully guaranteed. The move saves the Giants about $787,000 and all but locks up a roster spot for fellow LSU grad and middle infielder Ryan Theriot.

I can just hear it now: “Starting at second base, Emmanuel Burriss!”

Oh, how great this season will be.

(Photo: {photonista} Rachel Hamrick/flickr)

(Thomas Hawk/flickr)

Andrew Baggarly reports that Buster Posey is considered to be ready to get behind the plate:

Buster Posey caught a spring-high seven innings on Monday, and when he returned to the dugout, manager Bruce Bochy had one question for him.

“How do you feel about catching tomorrow?”

Posey said he was up for it. That’s exactly what Bochy wanted to hear, since Tim Lincecum will be on the mound against the Los Angeles Angels — and the Giants’ projected opening-day battery still hasn’t teamed together this spring.

This is also what every Giants fan wants to hear at this point.

Now please take the bubble wrap for precautionary measures.

But then there’s the broken.

» Continue reading “Woody’s News Roundup Mar 27, 2012: More Giants Injuries”

As tweeted by Jayson Stark this morning:

Giants telling teams today they’re shopping Ryan Theriot & Mike Fontenot. Possible fit for Braves & Phillies.

And followed up with a tweet from Alex Pavlovic:

Giants have 6 days until Theriot, Font contracts are fully guaranteed. If they’re shopping them, looks like Burriss will be opening day 2B.

There are so many things wrong with this, I don’t know where to start.

Okay, well, first of all, here’s a mind-numbing number, as tweeted by Julian Levine of Giants Nirvana:

Emmanuell Burriss has a 44 OPS+ in 127 games since 2009.

(If you’re not familiar with OPS+, read Megan Wells’ entry about it on Around the Horn.)

So. A 44 OPS+ in 127 games. Remember that 100 is league average. And any number that creates a huge gap between itself and 100 is generally ugly.

But let’s focus on career numbers that are much more positive, shall we?

» Continue reading “Emmanuel Burriss: Opening Day 2B. Or, Don’t Do This To Us, Giants.”

I was cruising around Facebook one night — just like most college students these days, it seems — and I came across a post by Dante Geoffrey on Seed Spitters regarding Tim Lincecum and his contract.

My first thought was, “Well, why is this even relevant right now?”

So I looked through the post. And I saw this:

And then, this, from Jon Heyman at CBSSports.com:

–Tim Lincecum doesn’t look like he’s going to be a quick sign. The Giants offered Lincecum at least $100 million over five years a couple months back, but word is, they are at least $75 million apart, with Lincecum looking for a deal of seven or eight years;

Oh. Fudge.

First of all, Jon Heyman’s analysis is not something that should be taken seriously. Ever.

I mean, there’s his ridiculous comments about A.J. Burnett, as documented by Spreadin’ the News. Which just goes to show how, outside of news being reported, he’s not really a credible analyst.

» Continue reading “No Need To Panic — It’s Tim, Not Joe”

(Thomas Hawk/flickr)

Hank Schulman wrote:

Second baseman Freddy Sanchez is the first to acknowledge he will not know how his surgically repaired right shoulder will feel when he makes a long throw to first on a double play or dives for a grounder.

Based on how he feels now, though, Sanchez is optimistic that he will be in the Opening Day lineup.

Stay healthy, Freddy. Please stay healthy.

No one wants to deal with any more injuries.

Woody commands you to stay healthy.

And Alex Pavlovic wrote:

Brian Wilson threw today and looked good. But Sergio Romo didn’t need to see Wilson’s session to know the closer will be ready for Opening Day.

Okay, good. Now you stay healthy, too. No more injuries. You hear that? No injuries.

As we get closer to the start of the 2012 San Francisco Giants spring training, I am soaking up as much news as possible. Andrew Baggarly provides some juicy tidbits in his Oakland Tribune article, “San Francisco Giants at a glance” (February 14, 2012).

Baggarly believes Aubry Huff is the player whose starting job is most in jeopardy. Fan-favorite Brandon Belt will be competing with him for first base. Baggarly points out in another column that Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy doesn’t sound convinced that Belt has what it takes. If Belt doesn’t make the roster, he will start the season with the Fresno Grizzlies, San Francisco’s AAA affiliate. For baseball fans living in Fresno, the setting of the Giants roster is a psychologically complicated issue. Of course the town wants former Grizzlies to succeed. Yet, we also want them to come back for visits.

Second-baseman Freddy Sanchez is expected to start the season on the disabled list (shoulder). Baggarly says the across-the-body throws are key to Sanchez’s readiness yet he has not started that routine.

The Giants signed Travis Blackley, a left-handed pitcher, from Melbourne, Australia. Blackley most recently played for the Melbourne Aces who lost the Australian Baseball League’s title series this past Sunday. Blackley has experience in the majors including a stint with the Giants. He is expected to start the year with the Grizzlies — yet another reason to go to the ballpark in downtown Fresno.

Rest in peace, Gary Carter.

I read Josh Cembellin’s Bleacher Report story (2/07/12) on the ideal 2012 opening day roster for the San Francisco Giants. Chebellin argued for center-fielder Angel Pagan in the leadoff spot and . . . second-baseman Freddy Sanchez in the number two spot. Hearing Sanchez’s name made me realize how little press he gets, which is surprising considering his popularity in San Francisco.

Perhaps news of Sanchez gets lost in the frenzy around Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain’s contract talks, and Busty Posey’s progress and prognosis. I hate to see Freddy get lost.

In 2011, the year he got hurt, Freddy hit .289 in 60 games. During the Giants 2010 season, Sanchez hit .292 and many of those were clutch hits that will never be forgotten.

The second-baseman broke his labrum in June 2011 while reaching back for a ball and falling hard on his shoulder. He attempted to rehab it, but in the end went with season-ending surgery.

Now Freddy is back in camp. Sanchez is said to be making progress on his surgically repaired-shoulder. He recently played two months of catch, which was to be followed by throwing to the bases.

Chebellim speaks very highly of Sanchez’s leadership abilities, which are no doubt supported by the charisma and energy he displayed on “Lopez Tonight” (11/4/10) shortly after the Giants beat the Texas Rangers to win the World Series. Freddy gave the host a signed bat and they spoke on various topics. At the end of the segment, Lopez and Sanchez downed a shot of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey. Freddy’s displays of sense of humor make me feel hopeful about the clubhouse chemistry.