Matt Morris Released By Pirates 

Wow, it must really suck to be too bad even for the Pirates. And somehow, Morris was. I guess the trade doesn't look as great as it did last year when we had Rajai and he was playing pretty well, but it sure looks really bad for Pittsburgh now to have acquired him, agreed to pay all of his contract and then to have him blow up like this.

FWIW: 22.3 IP, 44 H, 24 ER, 7 BB, 9 K, 9.67 ERA, 42 ERA+, 2.14 WHIP

All Matt Morris-related schadenfreude is welcome. How about that Pirates defense, eh Matty?

MGL has posted the top three and bottom three at each position in terms of UZR... a few Giants showed up on both lists.

http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/article/best_and_worst_of_2007_uzr/

The Good:

Vizquel - +16 (3rd best shortstop)
Feliz - +28 (best third baseman)
Winn - +7 (third best NL RF)

The Bad:

Bonds - -23 (3rd worst NL LF)
Roberts - -26 (worst CF in the majors!)

http://jinaz-reds.blogspot.com/2007/10/2007-fielding-data.html
A dude named JinAZ has also posted some defensive ratings, based on THT's RZR. Notable Giants numbers:

Klesko - -4
Ortmeier - +5.1
Durham - -12.1 (owch)
Frandsen - -0.1 (as a 2b)
Feliz - +28.6 (damn, he's good)
Vizquel - +12.9
Bonds - -2.3 (not so bad here)
Roberts - -5.2 (as a CF)
Davis - -1.9 (as a CF)
Winn - +7.0 (as a RF)
Schierholtz - +4.5

Any thoughts? It looks pretty clear that Dave Roberts needs to not start in CF next year... (with his offense... that signing's looking pretty bad to me right now.)

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/264877.html

1. Angel Villalona, 3b, Giants
   
3. Nick Noonan, 2b, Giants
   
5. Wilmer Font, rhp, Giants
   
6. Wilber Bucardo, rhp, Giants
   
15. Charlie Culberson, 2b/ss, Giants

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/articles/0807brynes-ON-CR.html

Seems pretty relevant to the Giants, since everyone (including me) was sure he was destined to wear the orange and black.

I can't say I'm personally disappointed by this, though he does kill us.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7089294?MSNHPHMA

Suspended an additional 80 games for testing positive for stimulants AGAIN.

Thanks to Cainer in the gameday thread.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/93559

Now let's just get the MadBum and Fairley signed and we can all be happy!

According to Damon Bruce on KNBR

I hope Richie is better and can hit now.

It's probably a good idea to give Nate more regular playing time.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/breaking-down-the-drafts-1st-round-picks-1-10/

He really likes Bumgarner!

10. LHP Madison Bumgarner, Giants
Oh my goodness, I really like this kid too. Good arm action, very good tempo. Don't be fooled. He looks really smooth, but this kid is aggressive, which I really like. I may disagree with other scouts about changing his arm slot. I say leave his arm slot where it is. As you can probably tell, I like athletic pitchers, and he certainly fits the mold.

He again drifts and leads with his hips into a nice long stride, but his finish is a little on the abrupt side. A couple of things that I would do with Bumgarner: Teach him how to finish his pitches better (upper body lean, long arm deceleration a la Price) and scrap the curve and go with a slurve/slider-type pitch that starts on the same plane as his fastball. He could also speed his body up just a tad. Here's a short clip of Bumgarner's athletic move forward:

I really like this pick at No. 10. As of right now, Price and Parker are Nos. 1 and #2, and Bumgarner is probably my No. 3.