*Insert 'Hunt for Red October' Reference Here*

Ochoa should’ve been up at the beginning of the season, but that’s getting near dead horse beatin’ territory. I think he deserves a chance to show what he can do during an extended stay in the bigs. I wouldn’t mind having him there next season. The shortstop position is the least of my worries about the Giants’ infield at the moment.

Ultimately, until we can aquire a good shortshop, we should try & use in house options to try & get average production at a cheap price. I don’t see any attactive options in free agency, so unless we trade for an upgrade, i’m fine with Ochoa as our shortstop next year, as i am with Burriss. Ideally they should be challenging each other for the position next season, with our plethora of 2B options doing the same.

Ochoa and Burriss fighting it out for the 2009 starting SS position makes sense, and yet the more I see Burriss’ glove at second base, the more I feel like it wouldn’t be so bad if he were fighting it out at that position next season with Frandsen (a big question mark after missing an entire year) and Velez (seems inferior to Burriss defensively, from what I’ve seen). Oh, and you can add Denker to the 2B competition, after he finishes his wake-and-bake.

Obviously Burriss’ bat lacks, um, pop, which is an issue, but I fear if he’s sent back to AAA he’ll get caught in a Nate Schierholtz-esque vortex and the next time we see him in the majors it’ll be wearing someone else’s uniform.

Answer: Nate Schierholtz!

“I will live in Montana. And I will marry a round American woman and raise rabbits, and she will cook them for me. And I will have a pickup truck… maybe even a “recreational vehicle.” And drive from state to state. Do they let you do that?”

I want to see Ochoa get the opportunity to prove or disprove himself the rest of this year.

What worries me is the way I’m starting to feel about our infield. I’m to the point where I want the Giants just to do ‘something’ to fix one goddam hole this offseason. It’s like they try to exasperate us enough to where we’re saying “Yay, we got Aaron Rowand” or “Sh*t yeah, Zito!” (that’s a direct quote from yours personally). So, let’s all do our best (me in particular) to not get restless with the current group or the next thing you know we’ll be saying “Yay, Rafael Furcal”.

If you’ve got XM, tune in to Channel 175 now for words of wisdom from our great leader!

I like Ochoa as a backup, but I’d give the chance to Burriss to start. Trying to make him a 2B is a poor choice, in my opinion. It reminds me a little of when the Giants tried to make Ort their 1B. It’s like the Giants willfully ignore some of the requirements of certain positions. Square pegs into round holes.

In order for Burriss to break the threshold of a replacement level player in National League at 2B, he’s going to have to be a +20 run defender (or a +2 win defensive player). Only elite defensive players can defend at that level. Chase Utley was the top defensive 2B by UZR, I believe, in ‘07 with a +16 runs saved.

I’m torn because SS won’t totally cure his weak bat but it will play slightly better at that position. He’d have to be a +13 run defender at SS in order to break the replacement level threshold. Burriss might be able to play a +5-10 SS, I liked the way he looked at that position when he played it.

We will pass through the national league west, past their deadline acquisitions, and lay off their best waiver offers, and listen to their baseball boogie… while we conduct infield drills.

I agree that Ochoa and Burriss should be competing for next year’s starting SS job, but I don’t have a problem with Burriss finishing this year out at second. Burriss is in a big slump now; let’s see if he can make adjustments at this level, which ultimately will tell us more about whether he’s ML ready than a few weeks starting in Fresno will. I’m sure his defense will play at SS if the bat is there.

Personally, I don’t trust that Ochoa’s improvement this season is something that is going to last. I much rather see the Giants FO try to look for better options at SS than just Ochoa or Burriss.

I know Grant has said it a lot before (as have others), but I think the Giants need to seriously try to see if they can work something out with TB to get Ben Zobrist. I trust Zobrist’s minor league track record far more than Ochoa’s. BUT, Zobrist might not be easy to acquire.

Basically, I think Ochoa should be in the SS back-up plan mix if something better cannot be worked out.

For those interested, in a stupidly small sample size (just 97.2 innings) Ochoa is a 4 in Dewan’s -/ system. Burriss is a -6 in 248 innings.

Still, you should never really look at a half season of defensive data (I’ve heard that 2 seasons is the minimum) and try to make a judgment because the sample is so small. Burriss could improve and Ochoa could get worse, or both could improve, or both could get worse. Anything could happen.

“I see utility people. They’re everywhere.”

This is the 2nd year Burriss has been in this org, and we spent a high draft pick on him. Still, it is unclear if he is totally incompetent at the plate. Should he stop hitting lefty? Could that be even lousier? There is no data!
Can he be evaluated properly at Fresno in the dry air that minimizes curveballs? No clue! He should probly be in AA now learning craft.

Yes, Burr has been making some contact recently, and actually hit a long line drive to the outfield last night. Still, I don’t see a ML hitter.

I am OK with Ochoa in the mix for 09, likely batting 8th. Ochoa’s D is adequate to keep pitchers happy. It’s a rebuilding year, and Hardy would not make us a contender. Too many holes in the lineup.
Eventually there are many SS pretenders—Schoop, Adrianza, Burriss; Haines just turned 26 and is OPSing .724 in Norwich; sure we may trade pitching prospects for a SS sometime, but no real need to do it now.

There’s not a single position that has anything resembling a solid answer. None of the in-house options are really that appealing (unless Ishikawa really is the monster he’s looked like the last couple of months).

Therefore, it’s open competition time in my mind. The key, of course, is that the open competition should be between young and semi-promising players. No Aurilia, Vizquel or Castillo, please.

I think Ochoa should definitely play nearly every day for the rest of the season. However, he, like all of the Giants options in the infield that are close, is not good enough to not try and find a solution elsewhere.

For instance, I think the Giants should go after A-Rod to play short.

“Crazy Ivan” would be a good nickname but it just doesn’t suit Ochoa.

How about “Worried Ivan”? Dude always the facial expression of someone who may have left the stove on.