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

09.02.2009
Why Hellooo There, Buster

I'd like to take credit for this. Less than 24 hours after I write that "by all accounts" we wouldn't see Buster Posey in S.F. this month, the Giants call him up.

Well, then. Let's try this: There's no way in hell the Giants will have a winning road trip. Tim Lincecum can't win a second Cy Young because he doesn't have enough wins. I'm never going to win the lottery, and that elusive Nobel Prize in Chemistry will forever elude my grasp. Everything associated with me is completely wrong.

The Posey move -- or "about-face," as Hank Schulman writes -- was prompted by Bengie Molina's leg injury and perhaps the Giants' unhappiness that he's not playing through it in a pennant race. Whether Posey gets starts, and who is on the mound when he does, will be a fascinating sideshow in the coming weeks.

Lefty reliever Dan Runzler is also up. Neither call-up was on the 40-man roster, which means we'll see some maneuvers, methinks. Baggs reports Ryan Sadowski could come back soon, and that the Giants can use the DL-replacement loophole to get Posey or others onto the post-season roster. That's the loophole the Angels used in 2002 to use K-Rod in the playoffs and watch him get abused by Barry Bonds. It shattered the poor kid's confidence and he was never heard from again. Other than that, I don't remember how it all turned out for the Angels that year.   

The Giants also swore they wouldn't call up Madison Bumgarner, but I don't expect an about-face there. Bumgarner has thrown a lot of innings this year, and there's much talk about his recent drop in velocity and strikeouts even though he's still pitching well.   
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8 Comments

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obsessivegiantscompulsive | September 2, 2009 4:18 PM | Reply

Plus, we are already out of 40 man spots. My best guess at who gets waived are Brian Bocock and Jesse English.

I think Bocock probably played his way off it earlier this season but they didn't need to the spot, so why bother until you need to.

English is, to me, the low man on the totem pole among the other 40 man rosterites who are not currently up here or on the 60-day DL: Osiris Matos, Joe Martinez, Ryan Sadowski, Matt Downs, and Conor Gillaspie. Unless the Giants have written off Martinez, Sadowski, or Downs for their play earlier in the MLB, English makes the most and only sense.

I would also note that Baggs only reported that Sadowski was on the travel list, and speculated that it might be a call up, but couldn't it also possibly be a waiver also?

Unless the Giants waive some one on the list above, Bumgarner isn't coming up. While I thought that perhaps Posey might come up before the "news" came out that he wouldn't (and now that turned out to be wrong), I was pretty sure Bumgarner would not see the majors this September. It was not what they did with either Cain or Lincecum. They both were in AAA and doing well before they were brought up for good.

obsessivegiantscompulsive replied to comment from obsessivegiantscompulsive | September 2, 2009 4:31 PM | Reply

Oh, and I think this is a good move.

One, it gives Posey a taste of the majors before he comes up for good.

Two, it gives Buster the experience of being in the middle of a playoff race.

Three, it gives us a chance to see how good he is now, and better judge whether he should be the starter for us in 2010.

Fourth, if he gets on a hot streak, we can ride it, perhaps into the playoffs.

Fifth, it gives BP a chance to see how good major league pitchers are and gets his unconscious mind thinking about how he's going to hit them next season.

And sixth, he can start making some friends with our major league players and perhaps find a buddy to hang with and learn from over the off-season.

All around good move, even if he flops hard. We need to see him and how good he is now, to have a better sense of whether he can be our starting catcher next season.

I would love to see him start today, but Penny, another new Giants, is on the mound so it might be a little overwhelming for Posey to fly there, join the majors, and start as catcher with a pitcher new to the Giants, all in his first game.

dave jr. | September 2, 2009 4:52 PM | Reply

The whole bengie not playing hurt thing sounds real fishy?? Cole Hammels was dealing last night!! If bengie is jaking it then he could be the next Wally pipp..Wouldnt that be cool??

Statman Crothers | September 2, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply

Benji will get healthy real fast now.
BP does OK, he doesn't get offered an extension.

Anonymous replied to comment from Statman Crothers | September 2, 2009 6:15 PM | Reply

I don't buy the notion that Bengie was jaking it. He's in the stretch drive of a contract year. He's in a fantastic hitter's park. And it's not like his stats can get that much worse if he pulls an 0-for-10 or something. Everyone knows what Bengie can and can't do. A two-week stretch gutting it out with a bad leg isn't going to change it.

50andstillfly | September 2, 2009 6:36 PM | Reply

Meanwhile, Kevin Frandsen continues to pout in Fresno. Memo to Kevin: hitting horribly and then throwing a tantrum when you are demoted = not good career moves.

I know this is not a good place for a mini-rant, but after Damon Bruce's inexcusable "I told you so" yesterday, I am boycotting Sportsphone 68 for the rest of baseball season. Bruce decided in April that the Giants suck, and he has been beating that drum ever since. I don't expect the media to be homers, but they don't have to be haters either.

dave jr replied to comment from 50andstillfly | September 2, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply

Kevin needs to keep his ass out of the fucking bars at night.Damon bruce is a peice of shit that gets paid to be a hater.

DProfessor | September 3, 2009 1:25 AM | Reply

Good move to DFA Sadowski. He wasn't very good.

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