From Andrew Baggarly:

"He didn't get consistent run support."

Yes, because being able to get consistent run support is one of the key functions of a pitcher. If Lincecum couldn't manage to muster consistent run support out of one of the worst offenses in baseball it obviously follows that he just isn't as good as we think.

What's best is that Baggs basically says that a pitcher needs fortitude to help him win games and then cites Matt Cain as his example. The same Matt Cain who used his fortitude to win 30 games over the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Wait a second... He lost 30 games? But he's a good pitcher, pitched really well and he has fortitude (Just ask Baggs), how can this be?

OK - a marketing idea to celebrate Timmeh. Skip the K-zone promotion this year, and make it the J-zone promotion. Give dollars off for flashing a Prop 215 medical cannabis card. Rake in $$$ from concessions in the vicinity of J-zone seating.

I have my feet in both camps.

For the fortitude, all I can say is anyone who followed the battles between Stewart and Clemens when they were at their best against each other, and not see that Stewart had the fortitude to beat Clemens, even though Clemens was arguably better (and offensively, the teams were pretty matched, and, if anything, Boston had the better offense), then I don't know what baseball you were watching then.

But Lincecum's controllable numbers are excellent, and very comparable with Carpenter's, if not better, and better than Wainwright's. I think I would have been OK with either Lincecum or Carpenter as the Cy Young winner.

Except that Carpenter missed 4-5 starts this season. That is where I don't buy that Carpenter is better than Lincecum.

Lincecum will bank, but I don't think that it will reach arbitration, the Giants typically meets the player half way and split the difference between their offer and the players offer. But if the Giants are stupid and offer too little, like they did with AJP, then Lincecum will win a redonkulous award and ruin arbitration for us and him going forward.

A couple of days ago I made a comment that columnists can have a bad day. I don't think that's the case here - I agree with Lefty 100%. Bagg's argument makes no sense. Back when Zito was signed, and Tim wasn't even on the team, I fretted that other pitchers might want more money for superior performances. We damn well better sign Tim, and if it costs too much, that is a problem of Sabean's (and the Giant's) making.

Giants, give the money to one of our own instead of coveting somebody else's leftovers.

The two guys whose combined offensive abilities would dramatically improve offense are Uggla and Nick Johnson.

Tender Garko. He's a good hitter despite what people who never watch AL games say.

Give Schierholtz RF.

Stop the Velez-Torres delusions. These guys are utility players, period.

Give Ryan Rohlinger and Kevin Frandsen a legit shot at Uribe's job, and forget about resigning him. You JUST KNOW Bochy will find a way to start him everyday.

What? Without Randy Winn and his beloved Begnie, Uribe's Bochy next fling.

Sounds like you have it all figured out. So who leads off again, FLew? Also, who do we give up for Uggla and who do we have to replace Nick J when he gets injured in the second week of the season and Garko still hasn't figured out NL pitching? Other then that I think you have put together a swell lineup that should propel this team to another 3rd place finish!

Re. the importance of pitching wins, Grant McChronic passes along this link.

2 or 3 months ago, Joe Posnanski debunked what he said he was hearing on the MLB Network about Jack Morris: That his high career ERA (3.90) is OK because "he pitched to the score." Which means, apparently, that Morris would allow just a run if his team scored two but let 5 runs in if his team was hitting that day. Posnanski looked at Morris's game logs and called BS on the whole thing.

I was reminded of this by the above decon of what Baggs wrote. It's disappointing to see him fall into this mindless cliche about "guys who know how to win," and worse, to say that Timmy came up short in "fortitude" in the second half. I didn't get around to commenting on the Chris Haft thing-- and now there's this, which seems worse because 1) It's not just a predictable sneer at a modern stat (like UZR), it's illogical; 2) It's Baggs, who of the 3 Giants beat writers seems like the guy most open to understanding the new knowledge informing how performance is evaluated.

Replying to DProf in case the reply option fails:

Yeah, I was actually talking to you because I still can't get my mind around how you think that after last year Fred is somehow going to pull his weight. Any confidence he had from 2008 went right out the window last year so other then his OBP which is ok, he just plain sucks.

I also watch the games and pretty much everything I say in these posts is based on what I see, not so much on stats other then the occasional RBI or HR reference. What I saw with Velez was improvement and what I saw with Torres was nothing spectacular other then the fact that I would rather have him in CF then Rowand.

Now, you reference the 4 and 5 spots in the lineup and the fact that those are 2 spots that need upgrades before anything else. I agree but I also think we can get those upgrades through free agency without the risk of Sabes getting bent over in a trade for someone like Uggla who really isn't any better then say DeRosa or Blalock. His defense is far worse and his average is pretty bad too. I haven't seen him play enough to be able to confirm this but my guess is that he rakes bad pitching and probably doesn't come through with a lot of clutch hits with the game on the line. Why give up a prospect or two for a guy that doesn't fill a position we need defensively when we could sign a similar player in free agency?

Honestly I hope you are right about Fred and I hope he gets his chance to bounce back. I also like some of the skills that Velez brings to the table but I can admit that I may be a little overly optimistic with him. Torres is what he is which is garbage but at least he hustles out there, kinda reminds me of FP when he was all roided up.

Try this one on for size, Sabean signs Dye to play RF and Blalock to play CI and there you have your 4 and 5 hitters. Not ideal by any means but you would have to say it would be an upgrade over last years 4 and 5 hitters. Knowing Sabean you can't be surprised if he goes after Dye. I like Blalocks upside even though he goes through long dry spells and can't hit lefties.

You puzzle me Dregarx, you say you don't want Dye because of his defense but are willing to give up prospects for Uggla who is well known to be defensively challenged. I would say that 3rd and 2nd base are much more important defensively then RF. Dye's power numbers are actually pretty comparable to Uggla as well so not sure why you think one is worthwhile and the other isn't especially knowing the fact that Uggla would probably deplete us of at least 2 quality prospects.

That's OK, I puzzle me too.

Dye is a lot older than Uggla. That's a plus in Uggla's favor. Outfield defense is quite valuable actually, and if Uggla is acquired I envision him as a 1B, where defense is much less important.

I've not decided whether trading for Uggla or signing Johnson is a better option, so I won't comment on Uggla.

What I will say is I don't think you know just how bad Dye is in the field. It's not just, oh, he's a liability in the field- he's pretty much one of the worst 5 players in all of baseball when it comes to defense, Dunn-esque.

I implore you to check out this fangraphs article for an impression of Dye's D:

OK, now I'm confused, Pato. I don't think I said that I am "willing to give up prospects for Uggla". I was just comparing him to Blalock and DeRosa.

So I have made no decision on Uggla.

I'm decided on this: No on Dye.

Wow, I guess you have a point there with Dye. I wasn't aware that he was that bad in the field and he probably should be a DH unless someone is dumb enough to sign him to play the field (um, Sabean?). Really though, the bottom line is that the options out there in free agency are not great, even Holliday and Bay have their drawbacks aside from being way too expensive.

Uggla is a decent player and I do agree that OBP is important throughout the lineup but a cleanup hitter who can't hit above .250 scares me. It would take a few prospects to get him and I am not so sure the Marlins are that pressed to trade him otherwise they would have probably done it last year. His value is lower this year as he has one less year on his contract and if they couldn't find any takers last year then I doubt they are willing to settle for less now especially since they know they can get draft picks for him when he leaves and signs with another team.

Blalock and DeRosa are obviously not ideal either but their price tag won't kill us, they can play multiple positions, and we don't have to give up any prospects to get them.

In the end, who knows what Sabean is thinking as in the past we had at least an idea around this time what direction he was looking to go in. Whoever he ends up signing, I think it is safe to say that there will be a need for upgrades before the trade deadline next year if this team expects to finish better then the dodgers and rockies.

Blalock and Nick Johnson will probbaly play the same amount of games with their history of injuries. Nick Johnson gets on base, but Blalock knocks homers. Blalock's batting average from last year is a cause for concern, but I think I prefer Blalock over Johnson, but not more than a one year deal and I would insist on incentives that could get him to $5 mill. I would not pay a dime over that. I still prefer going after Chone Figgins and move Pablo over to first.

If we could get Dye for that #, I would do it, but if there was nay chance to get Juan Rivera from the Angels for not more than a Merkin Valdez and some other pitching prospect like Sosa, that would be my first preference.

We need more out of the box thinking here. What Neukom needs to do is to call Frank McCourt and tell him that the Giants will pay McCourt's legal fees for the divorce in exchange for Andre Ethier. If that's not a win-win I don't know what is!