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

06.02.2008
On The Corner

Jose_castillo_250Of all the sticky personnel moves between now and April 1, 2009, the Giants seem to have miles to go to figure out third base.

The outfield is fairly settled: Lewis in left, Rowand in center, and Schierholtz in right. Winn could stay as a fourth outfielder, platooning with Schierholtz or Lewis and giving Rowand a day off here and there, but it’s not the best use of the Giants’ payroll cash money. (Threatening Winn with this role should make him very willing to waive his no-trade rights, if that’s even an issue, but let’s discuss this another time.)

Other than third, the rest of the infield in 2009 is a series of go/no-go decisions. Will Burriss be ready to take over? He’ll get more chances this year to find out. Second base should be Kevin Frandsen’s to lose, with Eugenio Velez in the mix if he shows improvement at Fresno. (Improvement means at least an average glove, good on-base skills and not getting picked off by any left-hander with a pulse.)

First base: another year of Aurilia isn’t part of the conversation. Bowker might surprise us and win the job outright, but if he continues as-is we could have another year of Bowker and a cheap platoon partner, be it a cheap savvy veteran or Daniel Ortmeier or a cheap underheralded 20–something pulled off the scrap heap a la Jose Castillo. Or, God bless us all, Thursday’s first-round draft pick will sultanically swat his way through the minors this summer and force his way into the lineup next spring. That would be rather splendid. May I have one, mummy, if I promise to be a good boy?

But back to our humble beginnings: what about third? Internal options are limited to Frandsen, who is better suited to second. Travis Denker? Longshot. (Then again, so was Brian Bocock.) The team could take a run at Hank Blalock or Joe Crede as free agents this winter, but they would amount to premium dollars for a couple years of long-ago peak performance. As my little Internet friends like to say, Do Not Want.

Could it be that Castillo is looking better and better as the ‘09 starting 3b? Ack. I just started the ‘trade-him’ parade last week, and now I’m backing down? Mmm, well, unless the Giants engineer a trade for a top prospect (Josh Fields? Andy LaRoche? Help me out here) or young star (Ryan Zimmerman?), the job applicants in ‘09 will be decidedly Castillo-ish. The question is, do you want to pay Jose Castillo dollars or Pedro Feliz dollars? (Or Hank Blalock dollars?) Or do you want to roll the dice on the health of Joe Crede’s back?

Another problem is, if Castillo continues his current pace of halfway-decent performance, his agent will probably demand Pedro Feliz dollars for next year and perhaps the year beyond. (Castillo is on a one-year contract and will be a free agent, not arbitration eligible. Please correct me if I’m wrong.)

Trading him this summer will probably kill any chance of keeping him next year, if indeed that’s an option the Giants want to keep open. Sheesh, it’s a conundrum like the world has never conundered. Let’s put our wisdom of crowds together, all 14 of us reading this today, and figure it out!

Sign Castillo to a one-year extension as insurance in case no one better comes along? Ask Aaron Rowand to lobby Crede to come to S.F. for a discount? Trade Jonathan Sanchez for Andy LaRoche? Got any better ideas for third base next year, smarty pantalones?



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[June 2, 2008 9:13 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris said

Oh man, if we willingly resign Jose Castillo I might have to question whether or not a god really does exist.

Maybe try to pry Jed Lowrie away from the Red Sox? Though, the thought of Sabean trading with Theo is a little scary.

[June 2, 2008 10:06 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Aaron B. said

I think a Lowrie deal right now is in the "no-f-ing-way" department for the Red Sox. They're really high on him and have been trying to move Lugo since... I think last season.

And while I'd like the Giants to acquire the services of LaRoche, that doesn't look very likely unless DeWitt keeps playing at a high level for the whole season. I wouldn't mind a Sanchez-for-LaRoche, 1-for-1 deal.

Just no more Castillo. Maybe a free agent on a short-term deal, kinda like what the Dodgers have on Andruw Jones (but hopefully the Giants don't sign a guy who's out of shape and has a knee injury).

[June 2, 2008 11:13 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Chris replied to Aaron B.

Yeah, I know the Sox are high on Lowrie but he IS blocked at 3B and 2B by Lowell and Pedrioa. Do the Sox view him as a SS? I know that a lot of people are iffy on whether or not he can stay at that position.

I like him a lot as a player, even though it's probably wishful thinking that he's ever going to be available.

[June 3, 2008 1:26 AM]  |  link  |  reply
PM said

The Giants designated Erick Threets for assignment. So, basically, they gave up on him. Is he better than Billy Sadler? He is a left-handed pitcher and Billy right. Sorry, I do not know much about their potentials and thus I am asking.

[June 3, 2008 2:47 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Jonathan said

Do the Yankees have any 3Bs in their system? They need bullpen help and might be interested in some of our guys.

[June 3, 2008 6:26 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Frank said

AS good as LaRoche is, I have a hard time considering trading Sanchez for him. Sanchez seems to be just scratching the surface. Unless he is considered an in jury waiting to happen, I say keep him. He looks like one hell of a #2 starter.
As far as 3b, I think a) Castillo has been a pleasant surprise, b) he has improved considerable, and c) reports are he is coming to the ball park early and working on his game (especially his D as he has primarily been a 2b. I don't like him hitting 2nd in the order, but I expect his BA/OBP will go up as the season progresses. Thus, I think he gives us the luxury of passing on Crede, or Blalock, et al. At a minimum, I would want to see how Crede performed for the entire year before giving any thought to signing him. But I am more inclined to not 'fill the position' with such a weak option, preferring to keep a cheap and expendable player (Castillo) until a real solution comes along.
Query: What if the Velez who has been playing for Fresno this past week is the real Velez? If he really does hit and field he would be an option.

[June 3, 2008 1:03 PM]  |  link  |  reply
MrLomez said

I think Brandon Wood, Chase Headley, Dallas McPherson, and Andy Marte would be good gambles (in descending order).

But Ian Stewart makes the most sense. And if not Stewart than Atkins.

[June 3, 2008 1:24 PM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive said

I don't think Castillo has made his 6 years of service yet, so I have to assume that the Giants control him until he does. He had at most 3.5 seasons before joining us, so we should have control over him for at least one season (2009) if not two. (I'm using A.J. as my guiding example, the ChiSox had to go through arbitration with him the off-season after signing him)

So the question, to me, is more whether we are willing to pay him the money he could get in arbitration. The thing is, he hasn't really hit that well previously as a 2B and it seems pretty clear that the Giants will probably be stuck with him at 3B for at least 2009 if not 2010, unless we sign a free agent. So he might be willing to take less money given the opportunity to start at 3B for us.

Of course, Sabean would never promise that so we will see.

I don't see the Giants shelling out the big bucks for either Crede or Blalock. After the problems with Durham and Alfonzo's health, I would hope they have learned about going with injured players (unless Boras wants to give an injury clause similar to the one Ordonez gave the Tigers).

And I sure as hell hope Blalock isn't signed, he can only hit in Texas, he can't hit even as well as Castillo outside of his home park, so why sign Blalock for big bucks for a long time when you can get a better performance for much less money and less commitment in Castillo?

Cheating, but how about a platoon of Bowker/Horwitz at 1B for 2009?

I wouldn't trade Sanchez for LaRoche, at least right now. I would want someone who has actually done well in the majors for Sanchez, and really well, considering that I think that Sanchez will continue to develop this season and be even better. Or I could consider someone like Evan Longoria of the Rays, who was great in the minors, though this would assume he hits well the rest of the season plus hit better on the road. Could happen this way if Rays (You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay) switch up everyone and drafts Alvarez as originally thought.

For another short-term pickup, how about Wilson Betemit of the Yankees, they don't seem to like him, but he hit well playing extensively for the Dodgers and Braves previously. Good power to boot, don't know about defense, but he's just wasting away on their bench. Plus, he has played a number of games at SS too.

[June 3, 2008 1:37 PM]  |  link  |  reply
obsessivegiantscompulsive said

You can also maybe go for a failed prospect or two: the Indians have Josh Barfield and Andy Marte, and neither is doing anything to convince them to start them in the majors. Not sure what we would have to give up, but their price should be way low now, though with CC Sabathia maybe on the way out, they will need a new stud starting pitcher. They have one in Adam Miller but may be tired of all the injuries that have been cropping up for him.

Unfortunately, they don't have any good position prospects up top in their system, it is mainly pitching and Beau Mills, who isn't doing particularly well in Advanced A ball, so I wouldn't trade Sanchez to them, maybe Misch for those two failed prospects.

Too bad they didn't still have Kouzmanoff, I would be OK with a deal like that for Sanchez. He has a power bat, like Longoria, LaRoche I just can't do since it's the Dodgers and we would have to face Sanchez so many times.

[June 5, 2008 5:49 PM]  |  link  |  reply
MarcoPolo said

Castillo had exactly 4.00 years of service time at the beginning of this season, so he is captive (and arb eligible) for 2009 only (unless the Giants send him to the minors for more than 20 days at some point this year).

bill hall has requested a trade.He's played all of 2B, SS, 3B and CF in the past 3 years. He still kills LHP, but the past 2 years his success against righties has plummeted - it would be a gamble since he's signed for $15M for the next two years (09 and 2010). Is he worth the gamble?