McCovey Chronicles - In play: Out(s)

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San Francisco Giants Roster

pitchers	#	Pos.
Jeremy Affeldt	41	P
Madison Bumgarner	40	P
Matt Cain	18	P
Alex Hinshaw	43	P
Waldis Joaquin	60	P
Tim Lincecum	55	P
Joe Martinez	49	P
Brandon Medders	52	P
Sergio Romo	54	P
Dan Runzler	37	P
Jonathan Sanchez	57	P
Merkin Valdez	47	P
Brian Wilson	38	P
Barry Zito	75	P

catchers	#	Pos.
Buster Posey	28	C
Eli Whiteside	22	C

infielders	#	Pos.
Brian Bocock	13	SS
Matt Downs	37	2B
Kevin Frandsen	19	2B
Ryan Garko	23	1B
Conor Gillaspie	50	3B
Jesus Guzman	13	1B
Travis Ishikawa	10	1B
Edgar Renteria	16	SS
Ryan Rohlinger	29	3B
Freddy Sanchez	21	2B
Pablo Sandoval	48	3B
Eugenio Velez	8	2B

outfielders	#	Pos.
John Bowker	20	RF
Fred Lewis	14	LF
Aaron Rowand	33	CF
Nate Schierholtz	12	RF
Andres Torres	59	LF

Miguel Cabrera joins Tigers' trade talks

He's like John Belushi crossed with Albert Pujols. And he turns 27 in April. If only he were more consistent...

I, for one, think a package that starts with Alderson, Villalona, and Barnes has a good chance to land Cabrera.

about 3 hours ago Grant 127 comments 0 recs

Offseason Fears, Vol. MCMVII

by Grant on Nov 23, 2009 11:18 AM PST Comment 457 comments

I'm almost okay with the Giants acquiring another second baseman and moving Freddy Sanchez to third. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to pay a bunch of money for a player whose worth is completely intertwined with his ability to play a good defensive second base, but at least I wouldn't have to wince when 75% of the infield came up to the plate. The idea doesn't make a lick of sense, but I could file it under "acceptable silliness" if the team is improved as a result.

I'm almost okay with Aaron Rowand starting in center. Well, I'd better be okay with it, 'cause he's there for the next several decades, until we can draft Andrew McCutchen, Jr. Rowand's defense and offense are average. Rowand is a big ball of average. That's not just a gut feeling: FanGraphs ranked him third on their list of "Average-est Position Players of 2009." That's pretty danged average. It's easy to forget the month-long hot streaks that sustain Rowand, especially when he's in he middle of his "Imma gonna sit on a fastball in this 0-2 count and hit a home ru...slider?!?! Why, the nerve!" phases, but he does have stretches of competent hitting. Seriously. Look it up. Hopefully, he doesn't completely fall off an age-related cliff next year.

I'm almost okay with a short-term contract to an old timer. Johnny Damon wants something close to Bobby Abreu's deal -- two years, $19M. That's Edgar Renteria money! Who does Damon think he is? Still my biggest problem with the Zito and Rowand contracts wasn't the yearly amount; it was the length of the deals. A high-priced, short-term deal to Renteria is making a difference as to whom the Giants are pursuing this offseason, but at least it's over soon. While I hate the result, I still stand by the logic behind the Renteria signing. Damon, even with his noodle arm, would be a pretty good player for a team trying to win in the short-term, and he wouldn't be around long enough to affect long-term roster decisions.

I am not okay with Eugenio Velez starting. With Bengie Molina almost certain to go somewhere else, this is my new windmill. Velez in the starting lineup means that the Giants:

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Torrealba, who turned down a two-year, $4.5-million deal from the Rockies, is expected to receive an offer soon from the clubs that have called about him, including one from the NL West. I haven’t pinned down the NL West team, but the Giants make a lot of sense since they are expected to lose Bengie Molina and need someone they can trust if prospect Buster Posey needs more Triple-A seasoning.

It kind of makes sense; it kind of scares me.

1 day ago Grant 160 comments 0 recs

Giants out on Bay, Holliday -- Is that a bad thing?

by Grant on Nov 20, 2009 3:26 PM PST Comment 269 comments

To no one's surprise...

-Q: Holliday and Bay are the big names… Have you gauged their possible interest? Do you think either of those guys would have genuine interest in coming to the Giants?
-SABEAN: We have not. I don’t think that they would have genuine interest based on the field that they’re going to be involved in. Why would they?

I think Sabean's a little cheektender from when he pursued Gary Matthews, Juan Pierre, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Lee, offered them tons of cash, and watched them use the Giants' offer as leverage. But there are a couple of different ways to take the "Why would they?" line:

a. San Francisco is a smelly town with smelly people and I hate it and they would too because it smells, or...

b. Teams with deep pockets are going to be after those two, and the Giants are not going to get into a fiscal tinkling match with those teams.

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Why don't wins count anymore? - STLtoday.com

"If won-loss records are suddenly obsolete, why do we bother to keep the stat?"

Ding ding ding. And if 8-tracks are suddenly obsolete, why does "Close to the Edge" sound so sweet in my Vega?

4 days ago Grant 481 comments 0 recs

Stats and the Cy Young

by Grant on Nov 19, 2009 4:27 PM PST Comment 618 comments

Stats are good. I’m not even referring just to the advanced statistical arguments that support Tim Lincecum’s Cy Young, either. It’s good that there is a record of events to which to refer while doing research. Old-timers can’t argue; wins, losses, and runs batted in are stats. They’re a record of events. The new school and old school might disagree with what stats are important – you say RBI, I say OBP, etc. – but there isn’t a baseball fan alive who claims that player evaluation is better without stats.

Stats are good because the human brain is a goofy little thing built to emphasize anecdotal information and subjective opinions because those are what helped our ancestors avoid tiger attacks and poisonous mushrooms long enough to have sex. Look it up. Since we don’t have to avoid tigers so much these days, we can afford to spend our time debating dippy trivialities like the Cy Young Award, and we aren’t limited by the anecdotal or the subjective.

So when someone writes that a player shouldn’t win the MVP or Cy Young, or get a Hall of Fame vote, because a player didn’t make the writer feel a certain way, it’s hard to take that opinion seriously. "He just didn’t scream ‘Hall of Fame’ to me." Don’t care. I don’t know what melody a true Hall of Fame career sings as it tap dances on your buttocks, and I daresay that shouldn’t be the final word on the subject. Give me evidence. Don’t give me feelings.

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Tim Lincecum Wins Cy Young

by Grant on Nov 19, 2009 11:01 AM PST Comment 1250 comments

More photos » by Ben Margot - ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thank you, Royals, Rockies, Rays, Pirates, Mariners, Tigers, Dodgers, Reds, and Orioles. Thank you.

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November 19, 2009
From: The BBWAA
To: The World
Re: Cy Young

Tim Lincecum is better than everyone else. Please make a note of this.

Two full seasons, two Cy Youngs. That's two more than Juan Marichal. One more than Orel Hershisher, Eric Gagne, Fernando Valenzuela, and Mike Scott, all of whom can eat hot death.

Tim Lincecum: Cy Young Award winner. Again. You'd think that we'd be jaded because he won it last year. Nope. Still pretty danged exciting. Congrats, Tim.

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