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

03.20.2009
Memo from the Personnel Department

First, a report filed from No Surprise, Arizona, tells us Noah Lowry had an injection in his shoulder and won’t even pick up a baseball until April. Ugh. I feel for the kid. Realistically, anything he can contribute in 2009 will be a bonus. With an historically fragile Jonathan Sanchez and a 45–year-old Unit in the rotation, in addition to the usual caveats about starting pitching, it’s worth wondering who’s on the second line.

Keiichi Yabu would be a candidate for a spot-start or two, but he’s been kicked to the curb. And now comes word the Giants might trade for a long reliever. That makes no sense until you realize the long reliever could be synonymous with “a guy who might have to start a dozen games during the year.”

And it still doesn’t make much sense. If the Giants are going younger — the reason they gave for dropping the 40–year-old Yabu (one of my favorite movies, by the way, and definitely NSFW) — why not give Joe Martinez a shot at the swingman role? He pitched last year at AA Connecticut and this spring has made four appearances. He has surrendered a lot of hits, but his BB/K walk of 2/7 isn’t bad. (Better than another pitching prospect, Kevin Pucetas, who has walked 7 to only 2 Ks.) How about giving Martinez a couple more starts so he can face the other team’s regulars?

The Giants also have Pat Misch, who was mediocre last year when he took a few turns in the rotation. He would have to be re-added to the 40–man roster. Jeremy Affeldt has been a starter and swing man in previous years, but I think the Giants will want him to settle in as a set-up guy. There was talk of Pucetas having a shot at the team, but other than a nice stint in the Arizona Fall League his highest level is High-A. If the Giants want to fast-track him, let’s see how he does in Fresno.

And who knows, in a couple weeks Pedro Martinez might be willing to take a minor-league contract. There’s definitely no need to trade for a long reliever right now.

BING! Speaking of trades… according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Trib, the Giants have acquired infielder Sergio Santos from the White Sox for “future considerations.” If true, I assume Santos is minor-league roster filler.

[UPDATE: Baggs speculates that Santos will be the Fresno starting SS because Manny Burriss is likely to make the big squad.]

In his blip about the Giants possibly looking for a long reliever and backup catcher, Baggs speculated that Eugenio Velez, Merkin Valdez and Luis Perdomo could be trade bait. If the Giants can get value in return for Velez, by all means do so. But I don’t see it happening. As for Valdez and Perdomo, I’m wary of trading good young bullpen arms right now. If Romo’s injury is worse than appears, Hinshaw regresses, Taschner implodes, Howry gets old fast… you get the picture. The more bullpen depth, the better.



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11 Comments

| Leave a comment
giantsrainman | March 20, 2009 9:22 PM | Reply

Small Correction:

Misch doesn't need to be re-added to the 40-Man Roster. He was never removed from the 40-Man Roster but rather was just optioned off the Active Roster to Fresno's AAA Roster. This is also true for Yabu.

giantsrainman replied to comment from giantsrainman | March 20, 2009 10:19 PM | Reply

Yabu was just released freeing up a second 40-Man Roster slot to go with the one freed up when Roberts was released.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/03/giants-release-keiichi-yabu.html#comments

ELM replied to comment from giantsrainman | March 21, 2009 1:42 PM | Reply

Thanks for the catch, rainman.

giantsrainman | March 20, 2009 9:31 PM | Reply

I am thinking that the Giants should sign Odalis Perez as the Long Reliever. Why trade anyone if you don't have too? I am also very much liking the rumor that the Giants are in on Will Ohman and looking to trade Jack Taschner. I sure hope this happens. I just don't think "Special Agent Jack" is ever going to find the strike zone enough to be effective. If both of these were to happen I would be really happy with the following 6 man bullpen:

Wilson - Closer
Affeldt - Lefty Setup
Howry - Righty Setup
Ohman - Lefty Specialist
Medders or Miller - Middle Relief
Perez - Long Relief

obsessivegiantscompulsive replied to comment from giantsrainman | March 21, 2009 12:31 AM | Reply

Odalis Perez?

The only reason he had a good season in 2008 was because he pitched in a good pitchers park:

08'Home: 2.65 ERA
08'Road: 6.43 ERA
07'total: 5.57 ERA
06'total: 6.20 ERA

And he has definitely benefited from home cooking in his career:

Career home: 3.78 ERA
Career road: 5.15 ERA

No thanks, I would rather give Misch that position instead, he has pitched well in spots as a reliever previously, perhaps he can do it over a longer stretch.

giantsrainman replied to comment from obsessivegiantscompulsive | March 21, 2009 7:25 PM | Reply

You Have A Point.

Perhaps the better course is to go with Medders in middle relief and Miller at long relief. Justin made 33 starts for Toronto 2002-4.

That said, I am still really hoping the Giants sign Will Ohman and dump (trade or otherwise) Jack Taschner.

obsessivegiantscompulsive | March 21, 2009 12:41 AM | Reply

Yeah, Santos was part of that Baby-Backs generation that Brandon Webb came out of, ironically, most of them fizzled while Webb, who was not heralded at all, not only did better than all the rest, but is among the best in the majors. Jerome Williams and another W-named starter did better in the minors than Webb (they came up around same time), but something clicked for him in the majors.

Eh, throw the jello at the wall, see if it sticks this time.

Yeah, the way Burriss is hitting, you can't send him down, and Frandsen is out of options. I'm not sure what scenario would allow the Giants to keep Frandsen, Uribe, and Aurilia, plus Torres, as he's rumored to have pushed into the running. I assume the rumor to trade Velez reflects the desire to keep the three infielders, because I think he's out of options too. I assume Schierholtz isn't going anywhere and there is only 5 spots on bench:

Holm
Schierholtz
Frandsen
Uribe
Aurilia

Unless Sandoval becomes the backup catcher, and Holm opens up a spot by moving to minors, Torres has no spot to take.

giantsrainman replied to comment from obsessivegiantscompulsive | March 21, 2009 7:17 PM | Reply

Your bench assumes 12 pitchers but the talk has been that the Giants are leaning towands just 11 pitchers. If 6 on the bench then Torres could be competing with Velez for that last spot.

I am also thiking that Uribe and Aurila spots are at risk as well. If the Giants keep both Burriss and Frandsen they don't need either as the defensive replacement and backup for Sandoval at 3B or as the backup at SS. This would allow the Giants to choose Guzman as Ishikawa's platoon partner at 1B and to go with Bowker or perhaps the second of Torres and Velez as a 6th outfielder.

Pato | March 21, 2009 11:18 AM | Reply

Misch is not an option. He pitched so poorly in every opportunity he got that we might as well just forfeit any games they would consider using him to start in. Affeldt is the best option and who cares if he doesn't have a chance to settle in his role as set up guy. He has value as a starter and could actually win a few games so why waste time with guys like martinez and pucetas when we have a ligit starter and enough lefty arms in the pen to hold it down without Affeldt??

Sabean truly has become the joke of the league at GM. Who in the world is sergio santos?? This kid cant even hit .300 in the minors. Is this really what Sabean is spending his time doing, picking up trash from other teams? The only consolation is that there is no way they will keep him around after this season and it is almost worth another year of mediocrity if it means next season we won't have to put up with him any more.

ELM | March 21, 2009 1:45 PM | Reply

>Is this really what Sabean is spending his time doing, picking up trash from other teams?

In Sabean's defense, this type of move is standard stuff for all GMs. They all pick up guys to fill minor-league holes or hope to catch lightning in a bottle.

Frank | March 23, 2009 11:54 PM | Reply

I know you're the expert, Pato, and don't complain unless you absolutely have to, but thought you might like to hear, quoting Lefty's article from yesterday, that "In the tumble of the busy work week I missed BP prospect dude Kevin Goldstein’s organizational rankings. Subscription required, but I’ll give you a sneak peak: The Giants are #6, a huge jump from #25 last year."
I also want to say to everyone, I just got back from Az. I was really impressed with Torres. Smart, fast, head in the game, excellent OF defense, doesn't show the usualy lethargy in the hot, hot sun. I saw him make an outstanding catch of a sure double line drove to the warning track at Scottsdale stad. The fence in dead CF is 430, so in LCF where he made the catch it must be around 420. He's playing medium, say about 380, maybe 375, gets a great jump when Dye hits a big league (with some height on it, not a rope or screamer) line drive, which I was sure would one hop the LCF wall; he sprints to the track and snags it 2 ft off the ground. I haven't seen CF defesne like that since Rajai Davis. I don't think he beats out Schierholtz, but if we go w/ 5 OFs, I think he is the guy as he is head and shoulders the best D OF we have.

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