Chat with Sabes, eh? Interesting

Brian Sabean will participate in a live Web chat from the Major League Baseball winter meetings in Indianapolis on Wednesday, December 9 at 1 p.m. PT. Fans are invited to chat with the GM about his goals for the club during the week’s Winter Meetings. To participate in the chat, please register at:

http://mlb.mlb.com/fan_forum/chat.jsp

“What we’re doing right now – to get a bat, to figure out the catching situation, everything – is due diligence,’’ Sabean said.

/kicks tires

sabean thinks the word cliche is french for cool

· If the Giants don’t get Penny and instead bring up Bumgarner, their top pitching prospect, they will have a particularly young starting rotation. So what do you do about the bullpen? Do you counterbalance that with a more veteran bullpen and, say, bring Bob Howry back?

Opening day ages of the other Giants Starters in 2010 if Mad Bum is the 5th starter:

Lincecum – 25 years old (turns 26 in June 2010) – 3 years in the league, nearly 600 innings thrown + has already won 2 Cy Youngs.
Cain – 25 years old (turns 26 in October 2010) – 4 full seasons in the league. 3 straight 200+ inning seasons and a 190+ inning season. nearly 900 innings thrown in the majors. He’s one of the most mature young pitchers in the game and still improving.
Zito – Old, well 31 years old (turns 32 in May 2010). One Cy Young. plenty of veterannyness. 1999.0 regular season innings on that body.
Sanchez – 27 years old (turns 28 in November 2010). Jeez, I didn’t realize he was so old. Entering his prime. 1 no-hitter (has to mean something pressure/experience-wise, no?). 2010 will be his 3rd as a full-time starter.

That doesn’t strike me as particularly young, considering the 3 younger guys are all superior to the older guy. sure, only Zito has playoff experience, but will any 5th starter the team acquires really be that beneficial in the playoffs? he wouldn’t even pitch in the playoffs, except perhaps out of the bullpen.

Any 5th starter will be inconsistent and they’re probably will be more than one during the season, so I really don’t consider this issue to be one of the more burning questions of this offseason.

Frankly I don’t think that Mad Bum is the lead candidate for the 5th spot in the rotation and any journeyman free agent would probably be a better choice to allow him to get more innings in AA or AAA in 2010. At his age and with this staff, there’s really no need to rush him. Plus, he’s got some growing to do as a pitcher. If they bring him up and his velocity isn’t back it might not be pretty.