Giants drafting a pitcher

by Osama91w9 on Apr 1, 2008 3:23 PM PDT Comment 30 comments

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/04/giants-may-draf.html

the more i think about it, the more i like it

unless Beckam or Alvarez is there at number 5 (unlikely) why not draft a pitcher

while i do like smoak, neither he nor big v look much like left field material

if the giants were to pick up brian matusz or aaron crow (not the three guys that were mentioned in the blurb) i would be extremely happy

we could always trade away one of our 2007 first round draftees away for offense thats closer to the majors

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ah yes

because trading pitchers for bats has worked out so well for us.

¿Julio is tourist in San Francisco?

by hairball on Apr 1, 2008 3:41 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

But now they actually have some good pitchers to actually trade...

Giant Expectations

by UnleashTheGore on Apr 1, 2008 4:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hope you're being sarcastic

Seriously, there is a decent-sized list of good young pitchers that the Giants traded for crapola. You don't even have to look back that far. Do you miss Accardo? I sure do.

¿Julio is tourist in San Francisco?

by hairball on Apr 1, 2008 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We Also Traded Some Crapola Pitchers

We also traded Kurt Ainsworth, Damian Moss ,David Aardsma and Jerome Williams among others that ended up being out of or nearly out of baseball in a few years. They were highly touted at the time of the trade as well.

Father of Adopted son Clay Timpner

by Andy In Fresno on Apr 1, 2008 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not being sarcastic.

Yes, Accardo was a good pitcher, but who else is on this decent-sized list that I'm not thinking of? Seems like most of the pitchers they've traded away aren't in baseball anymore outside of Accardo and Liriano (who is looking more and more like the injury-riddled player Sabean thought he was when he traded him).

Giant Expectations

by UnleashTheGore on Apr 2, 2008 8:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ask the Twins

Joe Nathan
Francisco Liriano (don't write him off yet)
Boof Bonser

Flaxseed oil dependent

by 3Com Park on Apr 2, 2008 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not writing him off...just very leery

Boof isn't turning out to be quite the excellent pitcher (at least from what I've seen). Nathan obviously has had success, though. So that makes what, 3 successful pitchers they've traded away? (including Liriano who is still on the fence) And we can debate all day about Nathan's injury problems before he was traded and if it was a wise thing to think he'd continue to be injured (I personally see how Sabean would have thought Nathan would continue to be injury-riddled).

3 pitchers, and 2 were in the same trade and were traded for a position we desperately needed. I think it's very tough to say that Sabean's "trade pitching" theory hasn't worked when there have been only 3 successful pitchers he's traded away. We shall see in the coming years if he has the balls to trade away Bumgarner, Alderson, Cain, Lincecum, etc. to get some offense.

Giant Expectations

by UnleashTheGore on Apr 2, 2008 11:11 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did Sabean draft Russ Ortiz?

Because he did quite well after we traded him.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Apr 2, 2008 11:18 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is called slow news day.

Wait until the college season is over to really make predictions.

SFDugout.com is BACK! See the Top 50 Giants Prospects!

by BruteSentiment on Apr 1, 2008 3:42 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

mlbtraderumors

grain of salt

Idolizing the Nuschler Face since April 8, 1986 / GIANTSPACE™ returns!

by SoFa King Mike on Apr 1, 2008 3:58 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

grain of salt...

hence the "rumors" part of it

Disfrute Los Gigantes every day at www.leftymalo.com

by leftymalo on Apr 1, 2008 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

grain or block?

"he walked 18; new league record! Struck out 18, another new league record! He also hit the sportswriter, the PA announcer, the bull mascot twice..."

by i did my job on Apr 1, 2008 5:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sea salt.

Democracy is lovely but baseball is more mature. BVCE supports Manny Burriss and SF Dugout.

by BaronVonCurrentEvents on Apr 1, 2008 6:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wrong

Sabean was on KNBR 4 days ago and explicitly said they "hope to land an impact bat" with the 5th pick.

You can listen to the interview on Ralph and Tom's page at KNBR. It's in the last 3 or 4 minutes of the interview.

by KCE on Apr 1, 2008 4:05 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

And we're trusting Sabean now....why? I expect him to do what he does well -- find pitching prospects.

Giant Expectations

by UnleashTheGore on Apr 1, 2008 4:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

he does something well?

news to me.

Billy Hayes: Nine more big-league plate appearances than you.

by delorean on Apr 1, 2008 4:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm pretty pleased with Cain, Lincecum, and the prospect of Bumgarner and Alderson, are you not?

Giant Expectations

by UnleashTheGore on Apr 2, 2008 8:17 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Erm

But neither Smoak nor Angel play left field.

Are you perhaps referring to not drafting Smoak because it would cause a logjam of hitters at first base? Because that's not something worth bucking a great pick over.

He is Vengeance. He is the Knight. He is Dave Righetti. PRAY TO HIM!

by howtheyscored on Apr 1, 2008 4:34 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i'd kinda like to see what it is like to have too many good young hitters at one position

Bengie Molina: stretching doubles into singles since 1998.

by jasomack on Apr 1, 2008 4:39 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Also, I think it's way to early to be worried about the Giants developing two good hitters at the same position. Villalona is far from a sure thing, and if he and, say, Smoak develop into the hitters they are capable of becoming, they will find themselves a position defensively just to work them into the lineup.

Less arm, more talk. Raisingcain is a GAMER.

by raisingcain on Apr 1, 2008 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Aaron Crow is available sign him

by wilriv21 on Apr 1, 2008 4:41 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

The 33 IP scoreless streak he has going is crazy.

by Cainer on Apr 1, 2008 5:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

there

is no way aaron crow will be available. He's tearing up right now. Smoak is seemingly worthy of #5 overall.

you draft for the best available but I think you can choose hitter over pitcher at a slot based on talent depth in your own system. We need more hitters, pure and simple.

Also, both Smoak and Baby Bull are athletic and Villalona has a good arm. Both could quite easily handle left, or even right field. Last year, Matt LaPorta was taken by the Brewers and was immediately transferred to Left Field. He's a worse defender and less athletic than Smoak.

Your headline is quite misleading. Reserve assertiveness for posts with actual information, not speculation.

I sure wish that Ort Cloud would form a solid sphere to enter into this team's orbit.

by SloIsLonelyForTheOrange on Apr 1, 2008 5:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Normally I wouldn't agree with this

but there are so many holes on the ML roster, I don't think it even matters what the Giants draft. I never thought I would see a baseball team drafting for need on the ML roster. I thought that was only for football teams that, you know, don't have minor league systems.

by natteringnabob on Apr 2, 2008 6:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

A lot will change from now to June. Longoria was looking like he'd slip to 10 when we drafted Lincecum, but played his way to a top 3 pick.

Some hitter could easily emerge, almost all of our info comes from sites like BA or BP. A high school hitter could easily emerge as well, as bodies change more drastically at that age.

I also don't feel that Smoak or Vilanona moving to LF is hardly unrealistic.

Go Durham, Roberts, Aurilia, Vizquel, Winn, Lowry! The better you do, the quicker we can trade you!

by NeifiChicken on Apr 1, 2008 5:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I remember Sabean saying he'd look for an impact bat. And I'm really hoping he meant that. I'd think this is the smarter thing to do because we're pretty well set as far as pitching prospects go. We have Sanchez, Misch, Pereira, Romo, Wilson, Alderson, Bumgarner, and the list goes on. For position prospects, we have Villalona, Schierholtz, Bowker, and Noonan. And aside from AnVil, there's a good chance they won't make it in the majors. We're gonna need to draft some more hitting talent if we ever want to have a not-laughing stock offense again. I think it'd be kind of a waste of a #5 pick if we picked another pitcher again...

by boonitez on Apr 1, 2008 5:34 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Just to echo what Sabean alredy said, Magowan was just on KNBR with Ralph and Tom stating they are going to look to take a positon player in the 5th slot - preferably a 1B or 3B.

by KCE on Apr 1, 2008 6:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The fans will storm AT&T

and scream for Sabean's head if the Giants draft a pitcher at #5.

Not that the fans dictate what management does, but I am sure the Giants brass is keenly aware of what their fanbase wants. At a time when they are rebuilding and desperately need to maintain interest in the team, the Giants need to breed confidence and foster hope by indicating that management has a plan for building a contender.
If Alvarez is available he is a no-brainer. Even T. Beckham would be a great choice since there is a dearth of complete ballplayers in the system. The fans will wait for him because he has such promise. I don't think there will be a huge uproar if Smoak is chosen. If the Brewers (who already had a great 1B in the MAJORS) could not pass up the bat of LaPorta and had to move him to LF, why not try it with Smoak? Lincoln Hamilton of Project Prospect feels he is good enough of an athlete to handle the OF. At worst we could have Pat Burrell with better plate discipline. Even C Kyle Skipworth (who just ended a streak of going 16 for 16 over 5 games!) or 5 tool HS OF Aaron Hicks might make some sense.
The 2008 draft is critical, not just from an organizational standpoint but also in terms of public (fan) relations. Besides, the Giants are renowned for finding hidden mound gems from unlikely sources later in the draft (e.g. J. Sanchez ), so let them choose pitchers in rounds 3-50 if they really feel the urge to draft arms.

by baseballjunkie on Apr 1, 2008 6:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

if the fans stomr AT&T

over drafting a pitcher with #5, the fans are even more idiotic than I've ever dreamed. If the best talent available is a pitcher, you draft a pitcher. Would you want the Giants' to have passed on Lincecom because they felt they needed a bat? Baseball. more than any other sport, is a total crapshoot in the draft. As excited as we all are over An-Vil, there is a huge chance he never sees the bigs. Remember a few years ago when the whole world was complaining that the Braves' were foolish for giving up Andy Marte for Edgar Renterria? Dave Dombroski, the GM from Detroit, said it when he pulled the trigger on the trade that landed Cabrerra and Willis for the Tigers. They are just prospects. You are right, however, in saying that the Giants' should draft Smoak if they think he's the best talent available. Don't worry about having An-Vil in his way, that'll be figured out later.

by tyrannoman on Apr 2, 2008 11:34 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs