Speaking of Scandinavia, I'm off for Sweden tomorrow. If you did not know, Sweden actually has a "pro" baseball league. I guess I should scout some games there. Maybe we can get an unknown power hitter from Sweden who can crush balls over that crazy 404 ft. mark at Mays Field. Ironically, 404 is the error code in the web server land as "Not Found". Home runs over the 404 mark? Not found.

I don't agree on the right center field fence. That should be left alone. The "triples alley" is a great feature of the ballpark.

However, they could move the fence in gradually from left to left center about 10 feet and that would make a huge difference.

>I'm off for Sweden tomorrow. I guess I should scout some games there.

If you do, I'm happy to post your reports (and photos, if you take them).

Hey Lefty,

I disagree completely with your proposal. Changing the ballpark in order to sign one additional free agent every two or three years is a mistake. The park is fine.

If the Giants want more power hitters, they should adapt to the changing environment and start drafting them. Management's strategy of concentrating on pitching and then trading or signing hitters worked ten years back. Now, the trade/FA market has changed. Instead of changing the ballpark in response, the Giants should change their approach.

Don't bring 'em in. Our pitching is better than the others. Let's win with pitching and defense. Let's sign Ichiro, more speed and D and win more 3-2 games. (Remember Money Ball when our buddy Al Rosen fucked up in Houston?).

the park aint the problem, my friend.

Those are pretty restrained changes, Lefty; I'll give you credit for that. But I don't see the point. Develop a power hitter once a decade or so. Cleverly pick a few (like Alou or Klesko) out of the free agent bargain bin. Trade for a young power hitter, using the artificially deflated ERA's of your pitchers (Morris has a 2.79 ERA at home this year; Lowry 2.61) as bait. Beyond that... pitching and defense. It can be done.

Hell, where would we be this year if Roberts, Aurilia, Vizquel, Linden, Frandsen, and Sweeney were just mediocre instead of brutal?

>where would we be this year if Roberts, Aurilia, Vizquel, Linden, Frandsen, and Sweeney were just mediocre instead of brutal?

7.5 games back? :-)

OK, I concede the point, though I maintain that post-Bonds, I think we're in for a shock how hard it'll be to get a 30+ HR guy to play home games at Mays Field. As for developing power hitters, sure, easier said than done. There's no one within five years of the bigs, and in the meantime, you have to fill the gaps with trades or free agents.

I won't be suprised if they move the right-center fence in just ever so slightly this winter.

In re: Mays Field:

No, no, no, a thousand times no. If not for our yard, Petco, Dodger Stadium and one or two others around the league, it would be Arena Baseball!!! already. Thank heavens for small favors.

In re: Ishikawa, he got demoted. His last line was from the high-A Cal League, not the triple-A PCL. And if anything, I want more of him: he was a high-dollar (if late-round) signing that went wrong, but them's the breaks. They can't all be David Wright.

The solution: stop drafting names like Emmanuel Burris (shortstop, 774 OPS in the Sallie League at age 22), and start drafting Adrian Cardenas (taken four picks after, shortstop in the Sallie League, 772 OPS -- at age 19).

I'm not saying Cardenas is going to play in the majors, but I am saying he has some upside.

>Ishikawa, he got demoted

I think it's a rehab assignment, and in a week or so he'll be in Fresnoville.

Actually, Pants' comment is very profound. In May (before the collapse), with Bonds hitting 190, and only Winn and Molina hitting really well, and Feliz and Klesko hitting OK, they were scoring about 4.4 runs per game. I think, like Pants, if these fuckers'd just hit at or near their career averages, we'd be scoring over 5 runs a game, which would likely put us in 1st place. In June, these guys (except for Bonds) are hitting in the 220s + or -

7.5? Yeah, maybe, dammit.

Our park may discourage some 30+ home run guys from coming here as free agents; that doesn't seem unreasonable to me. But there are just so few of those available. At the end of this year, there will be one free agent who you can pencil in for 30 home runs: Andruw Jones, who actually isn't on pace to hit 30 at the moment. Beyond that, there's A-Rod if he opts out, and Torii Hunter if you're optimistic. Counting on free agency for all your power is a tricky operation regardless of your park's dimensions.

It's a 1-in-500 shot that we'd get the right offer and that the guy would pan out, but I'm still praying that a Matt Morris trade will bring in the Next Great Giants Slugger.

Great blog! Just wanted to tell you, when you write new blogs posts, go over to BeTheRef.com and post a link to your story, and hopefully get a few extra readers. Have a wonderful weekend!

I couldn't agree more about changing the team building strategy and drafting some guys who can hit for power. I love that it's a great yard for triples and that shouldn't change.

Lefty, I like your blog and generally agree with you, but your idea to bring in the fences is incredibly short-sighted and reaks of a bloody band-aid.

I think the message will be made over the course of the remaining season that rebuilding, not reloading, is necessary. The Giants have a leg up in that, 1-5, they have potentially one of the best staffs in the majors, and 4 of those are under control through 2010. The bullpen is in decent shape, and the minor league system has some decent to good arms making their way through.

With the pitching staff in good shape, this team is not THAT far away. But looking for quick fixes. Moving in the fences would compromise the team's greatest strength and really, is that worth making a bunch of below average hitters (power-wise) average? No. Would having Soriano or Lee INSTEAD of Bonds make this team better? Not only no, but we also don't have the long-term committment to either player. And along those lines, taking away whatever home field advantage the park should provide our pitching staff really isn't worth attracting Torri Hunter, Andruw Jones, or anyone else in the 08 market.

Bottomline, replacing Bonds and Feliz with another big bat isn't going to help. The problem is that the top of the order can't get on base for shit, and even when they do the team is remarkably poor with RISP. The team should NOT focus whatever limited financial resources they have not on moving in fences and adding seats to spend even more money on overpaying a decent power hitter who will be surrounded by the same crap. They should spend those resources at the deadline by moving Durham and Morris off the 08 payroll in return for some decent prospects, and in the offseason by fortifying the bullpen to make the pitching staff bulletproof from top to bottom and doing whatever it takes to free up the team's self-imposed cap in 09 by ditching Roberts and Winn.

Remember, the Giants made the playoffs in 3 out of this stadium's first 4 years. The stadium isn't the problem. Having a bunch of hitters who don't fight pitchers and last deep into the count, and who can't get runners home from third with 1 out, is the problem. A shift to emphasize acquiring tough-minded hitters who battle counts and produce in clutch situations will do a helluva lot more for the team than continuing with the current philosophy and moving the fences in.

Cyrus - you made some great points. I don't think bringing in the fences will improve our crappy roster THAT much. It might help to attract some power hitters to come play for us, but as you point out, it compromises the advatage our pitchers have. And we shouldn't ever take that for granted.

As you pointed out, the FA market is going to be pretty thin in terms of quality/cost of power hitters. That is why I think for us, the best bet is to temporarily build a team that hits for average, and uses its speed to put pressure on the other teams. 5-6 of the hitters should be able to steal bases and similarly, that speed will help on defense.

We might have to go real young, and develop some talent. But if we play it right, we will be able to build a new team in a couple years that has power. Until then, we should disassemble this mess and go for speed and average.

With all of the great young arms we have in our minor system, that makes some of the guys at the big level expendable. Where in the past, Sabean would trade our pitching talent for a bat to help right now, this time it should be different. We should try to get prospective hitters instead of established ones.

Morris, Correia, Hennessey, and Kline all have value of some sort. Durham, Feliz, Vizquel, Roberts, Aurilia, Sweeney, and Winn should also be actively shopped before their contracts expire. I say get what you can and let the youth movement begin.

Lefty, you need a shortcut icon. That blank page crap is killing my bookmark toolbar. >_>

Back to, uh... relevant matters, the park dimensions don't need to be changed. The park is fine the way it is, quirky and ultra-pitcher-friendly as it may be. If Mays Field truly does scare away top power hitters, then it's also attractive to top pitchers. Barring the unexpected, the Giants won't exactly need to sign a big name pitcher for awhile, but the park's dimensions may, to some extent, help keep pitchers happy here (though not nearly as much as winning would).

Also, for what it's worth, three of the past five World Series champions played their home games in, you guessed it, pitcher's parks. Those teams didn't do it by attracting top hitters via free agency (Pudge to Florida being an exception). They built the cores of their lineups from within and with good trades. If the Giants take the same route, they may find themselves bidding for a championship soon, too.

You have a great blog.

I have added your blog to my blogroll on both my baseball
blogs http://www.sanfranciscogiants1.info and http://www.oaklandathletics1.info
Can you return the favor and add them to your blogroll? Thanks.

-Paul

Blapsheme.

I'm usually right on board with ol' Lefty Malo, but this is a rotten idea.

Moving the fences in is for pansies.

And, if it was indeed the ballpark that kept Lee off the Giants then I say, thank God for the ballpark.

In four years time, when Lee is 35 years old and pushing 300lbs, we're going to be delighted the Giants didn't saddle themselves with that six year, $100 million contract for a bloated one dimensional power hitter who can barely move.

>Lefty, you need a shortcut icon. That blank page crap is killing my bookmark toolbar.

I have no idea what this means. Zheetos, email me and explain what you're talking about.

"In four years time, when Lee is 35 years old and pushing 300lbs, we're going to be delighted the Giants didn't saddle themselves with that six year, $100 million contract for a bloated one dimensional power hitter who can barely move."

Yeah, instead we are saddled with a 7 year, $126 million contract of a pitcher who can't get batters out consistently. Think I'd rather have the power hitter.

>>Yeah, instead we are saddled with a 7 year, $126 million contract of a pitcher who can't get batters out consistently.

I am pretty sure moving the fences in is not going to improve that situation.