December 2009 Archives

I'm confused about something. In his notes from the Mark DeRosa press conference, Baggs writes that the Giants will still look to add another hitter. Here's the Sabean quote: "It's a chess game at this point. We're engaged in a...
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Checking in from the badlands of Greenwich Village, where hot apple cider on the street never tasted so good, I see that Mark DeRosa is indeed a Giant, and for the rumored contract we discussed before Xmas. I've basically said...
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  By the end of the day Juan Uribe, who is "close" to re-signing with S.F., and Mark DeRosa, who is "leaning toward" the two-year contract we discussed yesterday, might be on board. (Link tips from MLB Trade Rumors, of course.)...
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  Coming off reports that the Giants unsuccessfully offered Nick Johnson in the neighborhood of $6 million for a year of service, we now have a tweet (ooh, how lovely! a tweet!) from SI's Jon Heyman that SF has offered...
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As a professional reporter, I appreciate the Giants' beat writers. Whatever you think of their writing styles, their opinions, their analysis, you can't argue that it's easy work. They drive me crazy sometimes, but that's part of the biz. When...
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I came back last night from a weekend off the grid to see that, yep, sho' nuff, Brian Sabean et al stayed awfully quiet after whiffing on Nick Johnson -- more on that in a second -- which tells me...
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  Thought exercise time: If the Giants' leadoff options dwindled to two choices, which would you choose? A) a platoon of Eugenio Velez and Andres Torres in left field B) an expensive one-year deal for Johnny Damon to play left...
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A few weeks ago we had a lively debate whether Tim Lincecum or Jason Schmidt was the Giant starting pitcher of the decade. It's time to revisit the Best of the Oughts, dear readers, especially with the lull of Giant-related...
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Ugh. So much about this situation stinks. 1) He was traded for a fairly valuable prospect, a lefty starter throwing well in a hitter-friendly league. 2) He was given two months to prove himself, much of the time starting against...
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 Woo-hoo! Winter Meetings! Meetings in the winter! Wasn't that fun? The Giants come away from Indy with a wriggling bag of snipe courtesy of Scott Boras and little else, inducing panic among those who think the Winter Meetings are the...
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Word comes tonight from Barry Bonds's agent that Bonds is very unlikely ever to play major league baseball again. No duh. We knew that from the moment the Giants made their intentions clear at the end of 2007. Would I...
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  It's a busy work day, so let's get to the bullet points. I'll update this post with more items and thoughts as the day goes along, unless big news hits that requires its own post. * 3pm: Scott Boras...
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Amid all the chatter on the Giants' catching situation, regular reader and commenter Walter Guest weighs in with the following column. To get the juiciness flowing, here's the nut of Walter's argument: The benefits of Sandoval catching are so obvious to...
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LATE NIGHT UPDATE: From the Baggs link below, we learn the Giants aren't sure whether to keep Ryan Garko next year. The risk is he gets a few mil in arbitration and becomes an expensive bench guy if the Giants...
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Question: What's the only thing worse than a trip to Indy in December?Answer: Coming home from Indy with Jason Kendall as your starting catcher.Since "nobody thinks [Buster Posey] is ready to catch 100-plus games in the big leagues," quoth the...
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The interview is from 2007, and it's with ex-Dodger GM Kevin Malone, who at that point was a car salesman in the outer suburbs of the Southland. Before you scroll too far down, don't miss the accompanying photo. Why are...
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  What was it Sally Field once said at the Oscars? Without looking it up: "You still like me! You really do!" The Giants might want to say the same. Baseball America's John Manuel -- who has a thick Southern...
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  Curses, foiled twice! I couldn't stay up late enough to learn the Giants' arbitration decisions last night, and when they finally announced their decisions, they proved me dead wrong in public, as Bruce Jenkins of the Chron likes to...
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  I admit I don't know what I've been looking forward to more today: the President's speech on Afghanistan or the decisions by each major league team on free-agent arbitration. Sources close to the White House have drained a lot of...
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