Monday, May 31, 2010
Buster'd Stuff
Here's the scenario. Take the generally anemic Giant offense and pit them against a pitcher with ten wins and an ERA you'd need the Hubble Space Telescope to find, and see what shakes loose. Yeah, that was bound to go well. Couple that with the fact that the team's 5'10'' superstud still can't find the strike zone, and it was probably a foregone conclusion that today's Memorial Day game was going to be a stinker.
This afternoon's loss can't take away from the success of the weekend, though, as the Giants swept the DBacks, concluding the broomsmanship with an exciting comeback win on Sunday. Right in the middle of the carnage, of course, was uberprospect Buster Posey, who made his 2010 debut and rapped out six hits over the weekend. Yes, I'm very happy to admit that I delayed some of my weekend plans just to see his first two at-bats.
So Posey enlivened our hearts and did a beautiful job of making the Giants front office look like a bunch of asses. A better debut I can't immediately think of (all right, you got me). Posey's immediate success means the Giants can't stick him on the bench any time soon; Mays Field would be burned to the ground. The major question is: where does Posey fit once Edgar Renteria and Mark Derosa come back?
The Giants still have a massive Bengie-crush, even as he falls back to sub-.300 OBP Earth, so he's probably not going to be traded. You can't bench Aubrey Huff or Juan Uribe at this point (am I late in realizing how sad it is that these guys are the Giants best hitters?). If Renteria continues to hit anything like he has been once he comes off the DL, he has to play. Derosa is another power source and there's no way he's going to be this bad once he returns. Andres Torres can't be benched because he's ten kinds of awesome and I'll bomb Brian Sabean's office with C4-loaded carrier pigeons if anything happens to him. Nate Schierholtz provides defensive brilliance and a competent enough bat.
I guess what I'm saying here is that the elephant in the room is Aaron Rowand. In case of roster crunch, bench Rowand. After his obligatory hot two weeks, he's now basically a second pitcher in the lineup and needs to go. However, money talks and bullshit...well, doesn't walk and puts up a .263 OBP, but you get it. Rowand's contract prevents him from being shipped off anywhere, so we're stuck watching him swing at sliders five feet off the plate for the foreseeable future.
The who is going to get screwed here is most likely Schierholtz. Huff looks competent in left field now, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that given a larger sample size he'll be a liability. Once again, though, his bat has to be in the lineup, so the Giants are probably forced to just plug their nose and hope he doesn't sink to Glenallen Hill levels. When Derosa comes back...ah who the hell knows? Every infielder is hitting better than he is, so he'll probably just turn into a supersub who spells one player each night. Whatever the case, any solution that gives us more Buster Posey, sign me up for.
This afternoon's loss can't take away from the success of the weekend, though, as the Giants swept the DBacks, concluding the broomsmanship with an exciting comeback win on Sunday. Right in the middle of the carnage, of course, was uberprospect Buster Posey, who made his 2010 debut and rapped out six hits over the weekend. Yes, I'm very happy to admit that I delayed some of my weekend plans just to see his first two at-bats.
So Posey enlivened our hearts and did a beautiful job of making the Giants front office look like a bunch of asses. A better debut I can't immediately think of (all right, you got me). Posey's immediate success means the Giants can't stick him on the bench any time soon; Mays Field would be burned to the ground. The major question is: where does Posey fit once Edgar Renteria and Mark Derosa come back?
The Giants still have a massive Bengie-crush, even as he falls back to sub-.300 OBP Earth, so he's probably not going to be traded. You can't bench Aubrey Huff or Juan Uribe at this point (am I late in realizing how sad it is that these guys are the Giants best hitters?). If Renteria continues to hit anything like he has been once he comes off the DL, he has to play. Derosa is another power source and there's no way he's going to be this bad once he returns. Andres Torres can't be benched because he's ten kinds of awesome and I'll bomb Brian Sabean's office with C4-loaded carrier pigeons if anything happens to him. Nate Schierholtz provides defensive brilliance and a competent enough bat.
I guess what I'm saying here is that the elephant in the room is Aaron Rowand. In case of roster crunch, bench Rowand. After his obligatory hot two weeks, he's now basically a second pitcher in the lineup and needs to go. However, money talks and bullshit...well, doesn't walk and puts up a .263 OBP, but you get it. Rowand's contract prevents him from being shipped off anywhere, so we're stuck watching him swing at sliders five feet off the plate for the foreseeable future.
The who is going to get screwed here is most likely Schierholtz. Huff looks competent in left field now, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that given a larger sample size he'll be a liability. Once again, though, his bat has to be in the lineup, so the Giants are probably forced to just plug their nose and hope he doesn't sink to Glenallen Hill levels. When Derosa comes back...ah who the hell knows? Every infielder is hitting better than he is, so he'll probably just turn into a supersub who spells one player each night. Whatever the case, any solution that gives us more Buster Posey, sign me up for.
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The pathetic bit is that the brain trust claimed he wasn't ready to be a Major League catcher so they sent him down to learn. (Apparently last year was spent in the student commons trying to get 'lucky' instead of hitting the books...)
Then, a week or two before the call-up, they stuff him at first base because they knew he was coming up and weren't going to do anything with Molina/Whiteside. How long ago did DeRosa 'strain' his wrist?
They'll spin it like crazy, but Sabean looks like an ass no matter what.
Then, a week or two before the call-up, they stuff him at first base because they knew he was coming up and weren't going to do anything with Molina/Whiteside. How long ago did DeRosa 'strain' his wrist?
They'll spin it like crazy, but Sabean looks like an ass no matter what.
# posted by 
: 11:37 PM
: 11:37 PM
Yeah, seriously, could the Giants have handled Posey any more horribly? I'm just glad he's in the lineup, but if two years from now he stills ends up eligible for Super Two status, this is just a total debacle.
Even if he doesn't, the long term still isn't very good. I can't remember where (might've been OBM or MCC), but somebody suggested that he's better off being a first baseman anyway. At least for health and productivity.
But they still have no real solution at catcher, and as I understand it, it would make the second catching prospect they converted in the last three or five years. Plus, the silliness of signing Huff (no matter how well he plays) means there is no place for practically anybody on the roster they currently have.
They have so many 'options' that they actually have nowhere to go. And of all things, DeRosa is the wild card in all this (unless they bench Rowand, then he'd just be a mere inconvenience). If he does, in fact, make it back this year there is no room for all the guys they do have.
If that happens, it'll be time to start taking bets on who will be the next Fred Lewis.
(And not for nothing, but I still think Cain's extension makes him the most likely to be traded for a 'bat'. If not this year, then the next. There are simply too many long term holes to fill that cannot be plugged by aging free agents. Not when there are plenty of aging players already under contract. I imagine Vlad Guerrero would be appropriate for some reason...)
But they still have no real solution at catcher, and as I understand it, it would make the second catching prospect they converted in the last three or five years. Plus, the silliness of signing Huff (no matter how well he plays) means there is no place for practically anybody on the roster they currently have.
They have so many 'options' that they actually have nowhere to go. And of all things, DeRosa is the wild card in all this (unless they bench Rowand, then he'd just be a mere inconvenience). If he does, in fact, make it back this year there is no room for all the guys they do have.
If that happens, it'll be time to start taking bets on who will be the next Fred Lewis.
(And not for nothing, but I still think Cain's extension makes him the most likely to be traded for a 'bat'. If not this year, then the next. There are simply too many long term holes to fill that cannot be plugged by aging free agents. Not when there are plenty of aging players already under contract. I imagine Vlad Guerrero would be appropriate for some reason...)
# posted by : 4:14 PM
: 4:14 PM
With Torres and Sanchez hitting as well as they are the offense of the Giants is starting to look promising. They need to let Posey catch. Molina is horrific at the plate right now.
If Posey is catching, Huff at 1B, Burrell in LF, and Torres and Sanchez setting the table the Giants offense looks okay.
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If Posey is catching, Huff at 1B, Burrell in LF, and Torres and Sanchez setting the table the Giants offense looks okay.
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