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

01.15.2009
Ready, Freddie?

Fred Lewis was on the radio this morning and he gave a sunny assessment of his post-bunion surgery rehab: “I’m happy to have on shoes,” he said, and everything’s “fine and dandy.”

Shoes: The first indication of a monster season. Say, does that guy have on… shoes? Whhhhooooah, nelly. Watch out. Freddie said he’s hitting the weight room a lot and has been joined in the Arizona training center by Pablo Sandoval and others. He’s gained more weight than in any of the past three years, not at the Giants’ behest but as “something I wanted to do myself.”

Keep an eye on that. Lewis couldn’t run or presumably even walk on his foot for a couple months, so the weight he’s gained might not be purely from hitting the gym. Why he needs to put on muscle, I’m not sure. Last year, bad foot and all, he showed he could hit balls far, though not with slugger-like frequency. Maybe he thinks he should bulk up to protect his body over the long haul of the season, but a slower, heavier Lewis might be a defensive setback, especially if he has to move to the vast spaces of our local right field. More on this in a minute.

The KNBR dudes asked Freddie if he’s beefing up to prepare for a move down in the order into a power spot, as the Giant brass mused about last year. From Lewis’s description such a move didn’t sound set in stone: “if they put me in the five-hole or whatever, it’s exciting to me,” etc.

When asked about the Manny Ramirez rumors, Lewis said Bobby Evans, the team’s director of player personnel, told him even with Manny on board Fred would still be in the lineup every day “because I was the future.” Evans said he’d be hitting third “or something like that” and they’d move him to right field “or something like that.”

If true, either Aaron Rowand or Randy Winn will be traded. Seeing how this information comes from a front office not known for sticking to its personnel pronouncements, cool-filtered through a young player shooting the breeze early in the morning, I wouldn’t hold it as gospel. I wouldn’t submit it as evidence before a court of law. I wouldn’t trust it to come over and water my plants if I went on vacation and gave it my apartment keys.

If Manny joins the Giants, Lewis could get bumped to fourth OF, a very busy fourth OF seeing how Aaron Rowand will need more time off, which Rowand himself admitted recently, and Manny will probably come out for late-game defensive purposes. Trading Rowand would be great and moving Winn to center, but I don’t see it happening until Rowand proves his second half of 2008 was a bad patch, not the beginning of the end. (And the idea of Rowand to the Yankees for Nick Swisher as discussed in parts of the thread here doesn’t make much sense for the Yankees.)

To protect against evil spirits and haunting personnel decisions, let us all chant three times: FreddieLooooo,  FreddieLooooo, FreddieLooooo….
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9 Comments

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FelipeForever | January 15, 2009 5:58 PM | Reply

When you say that a Rowand-for-Swisher deal doesn't make sense, is that just another way of saying that it would take more than Rowand (or more $$ with Rowand) to land Swisher. Because the Yanks do seem to be pretty weak in CF, and they have a surplus of corner types. FWIW, I think it makes more sense to try to deal Winn, because his perceived value is probably at a peak.

ELM replied to comment from FelipeForever | January 15, 2009 6:08 PM | Reply

It doesn't make sense because Rowand is not a very good centerfielder. Perhaps his decline in the second half of 2008 was temporary and he'll bounce back. But I don't see why a team, even as rich as the Yankees, would try to fill their CF gap with a guy who didn't play CF very well last year. They dno't need more offense, so they might as well get an all-glove no-hit CF type on the cheap and bat him 9th.

Anonymous replied to comment from ELM | January 15, 2009 6:53 PM | Reply

Well, okay, but they already have that guy in Cabrera, no? Your point still stands, though, which is why I think you try to deal Winn if you want to deal an outfielder.

DRH | January 15, 2009 7:50 PM | Reply

Lewis coming in for Manny for defense? Define irony..

joey g | January 16, 2009 1:56 AM | Reply

Can Freddy play first? or could he learn? I bet he would see some pitches batting before or after Manny. Manny isn't coming to SF anyway so I don't know why we get so worked up. Its 85% Borris spin.

obsessivegiantscompulsive replied to comment from joey g | January 16, 2009 11:34 AM | Reply

It Boras; Borris is Bonds's agent.

obsessivegiantscompulsive | January 16, 2009 11:53 AM | Reply

Fred gave more info on his Evans talk on KNBR than what was reported in the print media. Thanks for passing that on!

According to a recent Bochy interview/chat on KNBR, the lineup with current personnel is Winn, Renteria, Sandoval, Molina, Lewis, Rowand, Ishikawa, and 2B.

I would think that while he couldn't run, shouldn't it be protected by something to allow him to walk? If so, then he can hit any gym and most machines there would allow him to exercise most parts of his body except for maybe his thigh muscles, though there are all those curling machines that you can use for your legs, as well as those "thigh-master" like machines. The only one I can think of that he wouldn't be able to use at my local Y is the one where you plant both feet on a lever to push a weight up and down, there are at least 4-5 machines I can use to exercise leg muscles besides that.

I think the Giants have been pretty good at holding to their personnel pronouncements when the players perform. Burriss lost SS with a horrible AFL. Wilson blew his roster spot with a horrible spring. Linden played so far below the Mendoza line that they couldn't play him that much. There are others they didn't hold, but while I'm sure there are some that fits your description, I don't recall any egregious ones that weren't performance driven changes.

Meanwhile, they gave the starting spot to Lance Niekro when they said they would. In 2007, they gave both Frandsen and Ortmeier extended looks, just as they said they would. In 2008, they gave Sandoval and Ishikawa extended looks, just as they said they would. They also cleared out Kline in order to keep and hold onto young pitchers going into the 2008 season, as part of their commitment to young players that they were espousing since Bonds was let go, and had a stream of them making the majors in 2008, as well as young hitters. They also gave a starting slot to Correia last season, which they said they would. Going further back, they committed to Feliz and kept to that, giving him a lot of AB. Even with vets, they batted Molina 4th and Rowand 5th, as announced for 2008.

trilljester | January 16, 2009 2:53 PM | Reply

I have no issues with Fred Lewis playing CF in relief of Rowand, but I would get concerned if he started there everyday.

I also have no problem with the Giants throwing a lot of money at Manny.

john c | January 16, 2009 6:20 PM | Reply

I think much of this playing around with Manny rests on a few things, primarily a 2 year (maybe an option for 3) deal. Also, Lowry's health. If he is ready to go, the sending Winn or Roalnd and a youngish pitcher (Lowry or that dirty one) would be a tempt some team. Giants could reap a solid hitter and still treat the youth right. Bring in Manny and the Giants becomne a team many others would not want to face postseason. Well, assuming everyone performs.

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