When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

09.12.2007
Good Things

In last night’s woozy post I outlined two of the sharper moves the Giants Nobelhatbraintrust has made this year: moving Correia to the starting rotation and giving Dan Ortmeier on-the-job training as a first baseman. Neither move will have Brian Sabean et al nominated for the 2007 Nobel Prize in Sports Management, but each decision was a modest flash of creative thinking, a baseball trait many Giants fans say is only found on the right side of the Bay Bridge these days.

So what other moves, macro or micro, get a gold star this year?

* By a length and a half, the best decision of the year was trading Matt Morris for Raj Davis and the ex-PTBNL Spanky McFarland. As we’ve documented, and as the Pirates proved by firing the man on the receiving end just a month after the trade, this coup was more a matter of someone else’s mental midgetry. But hey. We’ll take it. And every time Raj Davis does this, we’ll smile.

* Sticking with Brad Hennessey as the closer. Hennessey was the Macgyver-ish bubble-gum solution to the giant crack in the village dam known as Armando Benitez. Not only has the bubble gum held up decently, it has given the Giants time to clear up the murky water behind the dam and develop a new, improved bubble gum made of advanced polymers extracted from the shells of tiny translucent beetles. If you have your own extended bullpen metaphor, please mail it to

El Lefty Malo
attn: Extended Bullpen Metaphor Contest
Mail stop A-321
22 Plaza Izquierda
Tegucigalpa, Honduras   

Winners will be notified by, hmm, how about never?

* Handling Tim Lincecum. The team isn’t eager to fast-track young players, but Lincecum made it impossible to keep him on the farm any longer. After five starts in Fresno this spring, he was obviously ready. When he hit a bad patch in June, no one panicked or suggested a demotion. He’s been solid and occasionally spectacular since, and now that he’s pushing toward 200 innings for the year, the Giants are being extra-cautious about his workload. So far, a job well done.

* Bengie Molina. The contract — 3 years, $18 M — was excessive. But the Giants had just learned Mike Matheny would retire because of concussions. Like the Omar Vizquel contract, it was an over-reach to provide some stability. Molina doesn’t get on base very much, and when he does he’s painfully slow, but at least this year he has made his hits count. Using the rough guide of OPS, he’s as good offensively as Kenji Jojima, better than Pudge Rodriguez, and not far behind Brian McCann and John Buck, two of the more promising young catchers. On defense he’s thrown out 29% of basestealers, not great, but better than several other respected defenders. On the downside, Molina has the second-most passed balls in the big leagues.

Molina might prove my rosy assessment wrong by breaking down horribly in ‘08/’09, but so far the $6 M a year for a solid B-grade catcher when there was little in the pipeline seems like a great move. If you’re cynical, you could say the Giants panicked into a lucky move. You? Cynical? Nah.

What other moves, strategies or decisions this year deserve praise?  
Also on the Network:



[September 12, 2007 6:28 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Boof said

Number 1 on the list, by far, is showing that asshat Buttmando Blownitez the door. Should've happened a lot sooner so he could just do his job somewhere else.

[September 12, 2007 6:49 PM]  |  link  |  reply
gdog said

Praise:

1) Signing Klesko. He provided good value for the money and freed up money to waste elsewhere...

2) Cutting ties with Niekro and Ellison. And not having Torcato start the year on the team. Just because a guy gets three hits in his first spring training game against a lefty from the Mexican League with the initials A.L. doesn't mean he's ready for the majors.

Not much else.

[September 12, 2007 7:24 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Did Torcato really start spring training with the Giants this year? I didn't even notice.

[September 12, 2007 8:40 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Anonymous said

1. Letting Wilson work out his issues in Fresno and gradually working him in in September. He still looks a little shaky in the ninth inning but he’s getting there.
2. Getting some additional mileage out of Russ Ortiz for pennies on the dollar.
3. The handling of the bullpen in general
4. Saying all the right things about Zito’s struggles


Can we include future?

1. Not re-signing Bonds
2. Re-signing Vizquel for one year at 3. Trading Lowry for a young position player

[September 12, 2007 10:16 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Frank said

While many posters were willing to take a bag of balls for several guys on the roster, Benitez, Morris, and Sweeney returned actual useful pieces

[September 13, 2007 12:55 AM]  |  link  |  reply
gdog said

TT was in Seattle's camp this spring.

Torcato has a career 799 spring training OPS, but just a 739 minor-league OPS.

Anyways, he got his $975k signing bonus, plus a few hundred k in major- and minor-league salary. We'll never have to worry about him.

[September 13, 2007 12:57 AM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive said

FYI, we still have Niekro (though maybe not for long, he's a 6th year free agent after this year); probably gdog meant Lindenberg.

Lots of good points all around. I would add that I like the draft overall - the only one where I would really question is chosing Bumgarner when Heyward was available, but if Bumgarner does make the majors in a quick timetable, as Sabean said he would, then I think I would be quibbling, particularly since Noonan was such a good pick, and Jackson and Culberson has done OK thus far.

I would also say collectively bringing up the young outfielders like Lewis, Schierholtz, and Ortmeier, instead of trading for someone's failed prospect and seeing if he can produce. That's like throwing jell-o on the wall, which sometimes net you a Cust or Carlos Pena (or even Shawn Estes), but usually gives you what he was: a failed prospect. As far as a strategy goes, that's just grasping at straws if that is a key way of getting talent; it's fine when you need a pick-me-up when you are winning, but not so much when you are losing and rebuilding.

Lastly, I would include the moving of Misch back to the pitching rotation, at least for a while. Sanchez we knew he would always go back eventually, but Misch looked like he was on track to join the majors in 2008 as a reliever, perhaps even as a setup guy, he was that good. But if he can strike out guys with great control as a reliever, he should be pretty good as a starter as well, which was his position until a season or two ago (memory fuzzy), when he wasn't as good, he really busted out with his peripherals when he was a reliever, then continued to do well as a starter when he was given that opportunity for us. I was hoping he would get a chance to be a starter still in a 6 man rotation during that long stretch, but no such luck.

But I have to assume they feel pretty comfortable with him in either role, whereas Correia they needed to see him do more starts, and once he did them well, no use to swap him out when Wilson and then Walker did so well in the setup spots.

[September 13, 2007 2:21 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Sayhey said

I just want to say I always face South so the Dodger fans can't sneak up on me. Which also means the right side of the Bay Bridge includes San Francisco. The heck with those nuts in Oakland! After all they signed Mike Piazza, right?

[September 13, 2007 11:20 AM]  |  link  |  reply
BawLa said

I really like the Sweeney for Denker trade as well.

And Nate Schierholtz. We finally gave the kid a chance and he has been nothing but a breath of fresh air. Despite his shoddy defense, I think we really have a #2 or #3 guy.

I know many people will disagree, but for our "rebuild" next year, I would like to see Davis, Lewis and Schierholtz as our top 3.

OGC - I was just looking at splits the other day, and I noticed that Niekro is pretty good against lefties: .356/.396/.556 (AAA)
I will probably get crucified for saying this, but considering that Ortmeier is much better versus righties: .295/.323/.508 (MLB), maybe we have a 1B platoon for next year? Niekro is pretty good defensively, and together they would cost about $1M.

[September 13, 2007 2:48 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Boof said

There is an interesting writeup on MLBtraderumors.com about the 2008 Giants.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/09/needs-and-lux-3.html

Doesn't paint a very rosy picture.

[September 13, 2007 3:15 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Reasonable assessment. Losing Bonds and not adding impact bats will definitely make this the worst O in the league, if not the majors. The key to the offseason is Lowry. He's at an odd point, not just stats-wise but health-wise, making it hard to gauge his trade value. Trade him now, or let him prove his health in the spring? That's an important question.

[September 13, 2007 3:41 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

By "trade him now," I meant "trade him over the winter."

[September 13, 2007 5:01 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Evan said

It's hard to imagine anyone trading for a pitcher who ended the season shut down with arm problems. I think they'll have to hold on to him till March. With a couple of decent spring training performances, he'll probably be tradeable again.

[September 13, 2007 8:57 PM]  |  link  |  reply
green apron monkey said

I'm pleased with most of our in season moves.

Myself, I think the most obvious good move to make over the winter is to move Dave Roberts. Not because Roberts is a bad player but because so many other guys on the roster would use his spot more cheaply or more effectively.

Getting rid of Roberts could get Davis or Lewis in, or Schierholtz (moving Winn back to center).

I kinda like the idea of the Neikmeier platoon.