This is excellent, thanks jp for writing it up! Were you the only one taking notes? :)

Sabes started off the proceedings by rather hilariously comparing this year’s team to the ’97 and ’00 teams, in that he thinks the 2009 Giants will be remembered as a “springboard” of sorts for bigger and better things

Wait, what were the ‘97 Giants a springboard for? They didn’t make the playoffs again until Springboard 2 came along three years later.

And thanks for the write-up. I got so frustrated reading it, it’s like I was there!

You’re a stronger person than I am. I would have ran out of the room screaming, or at least thrown a shoe at him. I’m confused about what he said about free agency. He said that we’re basically paying for past performance, and hoping that they perform up to those expectations, but with Zito he never thought he would live up to those expectations? So the organization over-payed Zito when our own GM didn’t even think he was worth it. I know we all knew this, but coming from his mouth makes it a little worse.

I can’t believe they’ll pick up Sanchez’s option. Why wouldn’t you buy him out and renegotiate. I mean, 8 million for a damaged 2006 batting champ?

I could probably nit-pick every note, but I’m tired and want to go to bed. Thanks for writing it up, in was interesting to say the least.

In his monthly interview on KNBR last Thursday, Sabean seemed very non-committal on Sanchez’s option. IIRC, he said that he’d never publically stated that they’d pick up the option, and that, even if he had, a public statement was non-binding without the paperwork to back it up.

I don’t suppose there were any questions about whether Sabean would be back (I’m sure you’d report if there was, but I want to be sure)? Sabean’s sudden willingness to firmly commit to Sanchez and Bochy’s sudden decision to play Posey and Bowker might indicate that a decision has been made (or not, but it’s fun to speculate).

I have to admit, I’m disappointed with the content, but the chalk talks are often softball targets. I don’t expect a ton of minor league stuff out of these (particularly with the amazing lack of Bobby Evans), but there could’ve been some nice opportunities for questions: How much did the GIants know about Sanchez’s knee; What is Garko’s future with the team; and talking about how the team plans to whittle down the outfield situation, particularly if the team decides to pursue the only good offense on the market, which is corner outfielders; and, oh yea, when will the young players get that chance for development?

That said, I don’t understand the WTF about the Zito performance comment. I thought it had been pretty well agreed that such a move was Magowan’s, not Sabean’s. My only shock is that he gave a little kick to the now-departed guy responsible for it.

Nice work, jponry.

so it seems they understand we have a team full of aggressive hitters…so why in the hell did they sign these guys in the first place!? What happened to the so called “due diligence” on guys like rowand, renteria, and zito?? Anyone with two eyes could see these guys were on the decline and not worth overpaying.

Now I’ll go to bed angry and irritated. Thanks, Brian!

I forgot you (JP) were going to the game with the Mayor. I would have dropped by and said hello before the game.

Good deal that you went. I wanted to go, but I had to rehearse like a jerk.

That’s awesome.

I would’ve liked to know what their plans are for the outfield next year beyond Torres and Velez. Where do Nate, Bowker, and Lewis(LOL) fit in.

And then we’ll go talk to the damned Lunatic Fringe!

Thanks , Jayp.

He cited California taxes and the cost of living in SF as reasons players demand more to come here, but said even more important is that all players want to go to the Yankees, Red Sox, and the Angels (yes, the Angels) because they want to win championships and be in better positions for more years to win championships.

The armchair economist in me wonders about this. There are only 25 roster spots for each of those teams, and those three teams constitute 10% of the league, so 10% of the employment opportunities. In other words, not EVERYONE can go to NYY, BOS, or ANA. So once those teams have solidified the positions that the free agents play, then any free agents who don’t fit into the plans of those 3 teams should be had at market value, right? Or if it’s a tax situation (I think I recall hearing that FL has great tax rates, and WA doesn’t have an income tax), only so many players can play for the Marlins, Rays, and Mariners. I’m just not sure I buy the “players need a premium to come to SF.”

Sabean pretty much gave the same speech he gave on the radio to Ralph on Thursday. I wish someone had talked about the job Bochy has done this year, and what Sabean thought about how fast Bochy gave up on a player that Sabean thought would give them a much needed power boost. (Ryan Garko)
    By the way, did anyone watch Chronicle Live on Thursday? I didn’t see it, but someone told me that one of the writers seemed pretty sure that Bochy is out after the season and that there’s rumors about Tony LaRussa. Anyone hear this?

I’m reading the – Sabean never expected Zito to live up to his contract – WTF??? comment to mean that his contract was inflated for his value… but no one expected him to be THIS bad

Great read. Thanks fro taking the time to write it up.

Thanks for this? Was there a tv station that recorded this that we may be able to watch it on?

Was there any talk about lineup construction? Any talk about Winn and next year?

If you squint long enough wearing your rose colored glass, you can read “Most hitters do need some sort of adjustment period when they’re called up. They are aware of this. THEY KNOW. And yet. You all see what I mean by frustrating?” as there being a division between the FO and Bochy. So maybe, just maybe, there is a rift between FO and Bochy and even if Sabean comes back, Bochy won’t. That’s about the only positive thing I got from reading that.

I find it hard to believe that this is a springboard year. Most of the production that caused this team to surpass expectations were players who may be leaving the team after this year (Molina, Winn, Uribe, Miller, Howry, RJ, Penny, Torres, Medders). You can argue about whether the contributions of Winn, Molina and Howry were positive or not, but the fact remains that for a rebuilding year, this has been a piss poor one. What have we developed? Well, The back of the bullpen is pretty well set, that’s a plus. Pablo is awesome. cool. 1B? Ishikawa is a good part of a platoon, but the Giants may not commit to the other half (Garko), so it’s still a bit of a sink. 2B? the FA market is good, but no sane person could call that solved. SS? you get my point. The OF is the biggest disappointment, IMO. Lewis, Bowker and Schierholtz have not garnered significant enough time to identify what we have in them. As a result, the FO is more likely to overspend for FA then to give these players a shot. Too much of our success has relied on players having great years while on 1 year deals, and too little has come from cheap, under control players. This is not a springboard year.

I understand that it might not be the best venue to grill and ask real tough questions of the brass, but a question such as “When it comes to track records in the minors, it would appear Bowker has more potential and power than Velez yet Velez gets all the playing time. Can you address that?” seems to be tougher than the softballs they get but also not too tough in that venue.

If you really wanted to make it tough you could add “based on a stupid, fluky hot streak that has no connection to his previous performance at any level but the big head manager seems to think those 80 some at bats are his true ability so he runs him out there every day even against lefties.” That’s just a suggestion though.

They will undoubtedly pick up Freddy Sanchez’s option. Sabean used the word “undoubtedly”. So, there’s that.

Hmm.

If they get him for pennies on the dollar (damaged goods) and he ends up being productive, this could be good. If he continues to be made of porcelain, it will be bad.

I can’t believe he actually said some of that stuff (re zito, posey, mlb development even though they won’t give prospects more than a handful of at bats to prove themselves. And they actually mentioned OBP! Even though .294, assuming that’s correct, is really bad.)

Great summary, Jponry.

I was also there last night and thought I recognized you. My husband asked the question about moving Posey to another position. I went in there thinking that I would ask about Franchez. However, when Sabean mentioned that we would undoubtedly pick up his option, I concluded that we did not get Franchez to keep us “in this thing” for this season, but instead he was for next season. I think the medical staff was aware of the knee, and figured that it was not serious, there would be off-season surgery and his whole purpose was to bat #2 next year.

whether Freddie or Public

And the risk aversion comments make sense.
Velez and Torres being locks as of now is news. Tho Velez looked mortal recently.
I think it is early in negotiation with Fred Sanchez, that’s why it sounds confusing.
I do recall that Sabe never admits a mistake and rarely cuts his losses like the 1 year with DaveRoberts. So…that implies Sanchez returns one way or another. If we overpay in 2010, what do we get? Freddy’s undying gratitude?

Being committed to Velez / Torres as an everyday platoon / leadoff and saying that the places we need to improve are OBP, OPS, and HR makes me somehow madder than anything else in that whole thing. What in the ever loving…?

… with Billy Beane. The atmosphere is really supportive and the crowd wants to hear how great the team is. One of the events was at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, and the bleacher folks sat in the front of the balcony, waved their flags over the edge, and chanted “Let’s Go Oakland!” as loudly as if they were at the Coliseum. Nobody was going to ask much of a tough question then, though this was back when the A’s were winning almost every year and Beane was being celebrated in the press. Maybe the questions would be a little tougher these days.

I guess the other thing is even if you did ask a tough question, you’d get a non-committal or deflecting answer. For PR purposes, Sabean can’t say, “Wow, Zito really has fallen off a cliff, hasn’t he?”, or “Boy, we must have been out of our minds when we signed that contract,” even if he does think that. I’m not saying that he does, but he couldn’t in any case.

Basically, I think you’d only get his true opinion on the controversial issues if you were getting an off-the-record opinion, eavesdropping, or working in the Giants front office.

Oh by the way, jp, thanks for going to all this trouble … but really, all blog = no ballz.

Can someone please decide what to do with that kind of insulting crap?

I don’t like Brian Sabean.

Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post Dispatch believes super agent Scott Boras will be able to convince a GM to “wildly overpay” Rick Ankiel in a new contract this winter. Boras is apparently trying to spin the outfielder as “a combination of Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio,[and] Duke Snider.”

You rock. Thanks for all your contributions to McC. You too, Mayor.

strapped some dynamite under your jacket and pulled and Inglorious Basterds for us. You had the enemy and his generals all in the same room!

WAS SABES WEARING HIS TOP HAT???

At any time did you actually LOL?

http://www.mccoveychronicles.com/2009/9/28/1058205/sabean-takes-on-jponry#21944669

I posted that on a Fanshot, but that’s a wilderness. Exact quote from Brian Sabean, “We will undoubtedly pick up his [FSanchez’s] option.” No ambiguity, no mistakes, no misinterpretation. They recorded the event; a reporter could ask to see it and watch the whole thing. Listen for that sentence, as FSanchy came up a few times and they could try to show you one such answer and say, “See? No ‘undoubtedly.’”

Yes, he did say that. I don’t make mistakes like that. I don’t guess JPonry does, either.