Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Giants Solve Third Base Problem (/sarcasm off)
This weekend the Giants grabbed Pirates and Marlins cast-off Jose Castillo off of waivers. Castillo once hit a game-tying home run off of Armando Benitez (but hey, who hasn't?) that led to a loss that essentially derailed the Giants' 2006 season. Unfortunately, that's one of the very few bright spots in his career, as he has hit only two more dingers since and has offered very little in other areas that would keep a player in the major leagues, such as patience, speed, and defense. His career .256/.297/.380 batting line is atrocious, but if you're into silver linings, that'll fit right in with the Giants' lineup this year.
So this is hardly the most exciting pick up in the world, but if it prevents the Giants from trading a pitching prospect for Joe Crede or Brandon Inge, then it has its merits. Better to throw Castillo out there and hold your nose as he stinks up the joint for pennies than trade another Francisco Liriano for a veteran who won't make much of a difference in the standings, anyway.
Sadly, with Frandsen now likely done for the season, there's still the danger of the Giants just having Castillo settle in as a utility infielder and then still going out and trading for one of those crap third sackers. Since Rich Aurilia is likely penciled in as the regular first baseman, and given Brian Sabean's penchant for veteran acquisitions that make no sense, I don't think we Giants fans should believe for a second that we're out of the woods on this ridiculous scenario.
I guess I shouldn't sign off without at least being fair to Castillo. In his defense, he was rushed to the majors and the Pirates, the team that drafted him, are perhaps the worst organization in the world when it comes to developing young players. Last year he was also jerked around from position to position and never got consistent playing time, although the whole argument for positional switches being a hindrance to plate production has never seemed to hold much water (see Pedro Feliz, 2005).
Also, perhaps in dissing on Castillo's paltry major league production, I'm not staying true to my own bizarre free-talent obsession. As you know, I'm all about filling in roster holes with low-cost, reasonably high-upside players. At $850,000, Castillo is about as low-cost as you can get. As for the upside, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Castillo to become a good player, but if he does, it'll look like a brilliant little signing. Castillo once upon a time was showing up on Top Prospect lists, so maybe he's just a late bloomer. Maybe he's got some Jose Guillen in him. Er, the home run-hitting part, not the 'roided-up clubhouse cancer.
--Lest we forget, at the news of the Castillo signing, somewhere Justin Leone looks around and wonders what in the hell he and his .363 career minor league OBP did to piss off Sabean and co.
--...
...
Bocock!
So this is hardly the most exciting pick up in the world, but if it prevents the Giants from trading a pitching prospect for Joe Crede or Brandon Inge, then it has its merits. Better to throw Castillo out there and hold your nose as he stinks up the joint for pennies than trade another Francisco Liriano for a veteran who won't make much of a difference in the standings, anyway.
Sadly, with Frandsen now likely done for the season, there's still the danger of the Giants just having Castillo settle in as a utility infielder and then still going out and trading for one of those crap third sackers. Since Rich Aurilia is likely penciled in as the regular first baseman, and given Brian Sabean's penchant for veteran acquisitions that make no sense, I don't think we Giants fans should believe for a second that we're out of the woods on this ridiculous scenario.
I guess I shouldn't sign off without at least being fair to Castillo. In his defense, he was rushed to the majors and the Pirates, the team that drafted him, are perhaps the worst organization in the world when it comes to developing young players. Last year he was also jerked around from position to position and never got consistent playing time, although the whole argument for positional switches being a hindrance to plate production has never seemed to hold much water (see Pedro Feliz, 2005).
Also, perhaps in dissing on Castillo's paltry major league production, I'm not staying true to my own bizarre free-talent obsession. As you know, I'm all about filling in roster holes with low-cost, reasonably high-upside players. At $850,000, Castillo is about as low-cost as you can get. As for the upside, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Castillo to become a good player, but if he does, it'll look like a brilliant little signing. Castillo once upon a time was showing up on Top Prospect lists, so maybe he's just a late bloomer. Maybe he's got some Jose Guillen in him. Er, the home run-hitting part, not the 'roided-up clubhouse cancer.
--Lest we forget, at the news of the Castillo signing, somewhere Justin Leone looks around and wonders what in the hell he and his .363 career minor league OBP did to piss off Sabean and co.
--...
...
Bocock!
Labels: give leone a chance, jose castillo
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
No Lineup For Young Men
Well, it seems as though Kevin Frandsen is not guaranteed to be the club's starting shortstop in Omar Vizquel's absence. Apparently, Bruce Bochy has been so horrified by Frandsen's defense that he's looking for other options, something not too surprising for those of us who remember watching Frandsen fumble around at the position last season.
The Giants' infield situation is now a complete mess with Vizquel out, and the team is reduced to the unenviable position of gagging through a Frandsen/Eugenio Velez/Rich Aurilia dogfight at third base and shortstop. Here's a (very, very) tentative projected Opening Day lineup, updated to fit the void left by Vizquel. People with heart conditions may want to leave the room now.
LF: Roberts
RF: Winn
CF: Rowand
C: Molina
2B: Durham
SS: Aurilia
1B Ortmeier
3B: Frandsen
I'm not sure what's more disgusting: the fact that any team would be content to trot this out on Opening Day, or the fact that this actually represents an upgrade over the Giants' ideal lineup with Vizquel gone. Obviously, it's a huge defensive dropoff with Vizquel out, but in any case, if we're using movie analogies, this lineup is pure Manos: Hands of Fate territory.
If Frandsen doesn't win the third base job, or moves to second in the event that the Giants can unload Durham, it'd likely mean that either a Joe Crede trade becomes a sure thing, or Velez gets a shot. Since it's probably a bad idea to give up a good pitcher for the honor of watching Crede star in Feliz II: Electric Boogaloo, it seems best to see what Velez has to offer.
Velez opened some eyes after putting up a .318/.373/.560 line at single A in 2006, with 64 stolen bases in 80 attempts. Unfortunately, he was way older than most of the competition and was playing in the hitter-happy Sally League. He's another of these slap-happy guys who can't work a walk to save his life, and I'm sure he'd just be a nightmare at the major league level. Then again, he's young enough to possibly make good on those minor league numbers, so why the hell not at least give him a chance to exceed my Neifi-level expectations?
Of course, there's a better option sitting in front of everybody's face, and yet no one (well, almost no one) gives him a mention. Justin Leone is now batting .571 in the Spring and is practically begging for someone to notice him. I've said it before and I'll say it again: give the guy a @#&$! chance! His career OPS in the minors is .846, so he clearly has something in his bat. He's likely a better option than the unholy Frandsen/Aurila/Velez troika and if he does end up stinking he can be discarded because he isn't getting paid much. It makes no sense, I tells ya.
The Giants' infield situation is now a complete mess with Vizquel out, and the team is reduced to the unenviable position of gagging through a Frandsen/Eugenio Velez/Rich Aurilia dogfight at third base and shortstop. Here's a (very, very) tentative projected Opening Day lineup, updated to fit the void left by Vizquel. People with heart conditions may want to leave the room now.
LF: Roberts
RF: Winn
CF: Rowand
C: Molina
2B: Durham
SS: Aurilia
1B Ortmeier
3B: Frandsen
I'm not sure what's more disgusting: the fact that any team would be content to trot this out on Opening Day, or the fact that this actually represents an upgrade over the Giants' ideal lineup with Vizquel gone. Obviously, it's a huge defensive dropoff with Vizquel out, but in any case, if we're using movie analogies, this lineup is pure Manos: Hands of Fate territory.
If Frandsen doesn't win the third base job, or moves to second in the event that the Giants can unload Durham, it'd likely mean that either a Joe Crede trade becomes a sure thing, or Velez gets a shot. Since it's probably a bad idea to give up a good pitcher for the honor of watching Crede star in Feliz II: Electric Boogaloo, it seems best to see what Velez has to offer.
Velez opened some eyes after putting up a .318/.373/.560 line at single A in 2006, with 64 stolen bases in 80 attempts. Unfortunately, he was way older than most of the competition and was playing in the hitter-happy Sally League. He's another of these slap-happy guys who can't work a walk to save his life, and I'm sure he'd just be a nightmare at the major league level. Then again, he's young enough to possibly make good on those minor league numbers, so why the hell not at least give him a chance to exceed my Neifi-level expectations?
Of course, there's a better option sitting in front of everybody's face, and yet no one (well, almost no one) gives him a mention. Justin Leone is now batting .571 in the Spring and is practically begging for someone to notice him. I've said it before and I'll say it again: give the guy a @#&$! chance! His career OPS in the minors is .846, so he clearly has something in his bat. He's likely a better option than the unholy Frandsen/Aurila/Velez troika and if he does end up stinking he can be discarded because he isn't getting paid much. It makes no sense, I tells ya.
Labels: bad movie analogies, eugenio velez, give leone a chance, kevin frandsen, spring training battles
