The Giants did not win today.
Yeah, there’s some room to complain about Eric Gregg’s strike zone today. But that wasn’t the only reason the Giants had a couple of hits. Yeah, Matt Cain was dinked and dunked to death. He didn’t deserve to give up five earned runs.
But the Brewers are a better team right now. A lot of teams are better than the Giants right now. Think about what this team looked like at the end of spring training:
- Buster Posey!
- A thinner, committed Pablo Sandoval was driving the ball all over Arizona ball parks
- Aubrey Huff was a hitter who probably wasn’t going to be as amazing as he was in 2010, but he was still going to be good
- Pat Burrell was back -- a low-average, high power guy who could hit in the middle of the order without looking like an extra from "It Happens Every Spring"
- Brandon Belt was Will Clark with more speed, and he was guaranteed to hit right out of the minors
Then you have a few cocktails, wake up, and the next thing you know, Manny Burriss is starting at third with Chris Stewart behind the plate, Huff is the same disaster that made 29 teams pass on him before 2010, Burrell just got released by the Rays again for good measure, the team’s two young hitting stars are hurt, and your Funyuns are stuck in the vending machine. That was your last dollar.
I’ve been just as disillusioned about this team before -- like, oh, last year. But at some point, it’s not fun to say "Just wait! This team was frustrating last year too, and look what happened!" At some point, you just want to be a little bitter and annoyed with baseball.
Right now would be a good time.
Now onto the topic of acquiring another catcher. Here are the options:
- get a guy who can't hit almost as well as Eli Whiteside, don't give up a prospect
- get a guy who's a little bit better than Eli Whiteside, maybe give up a prospect
You just watched that game, right? Would Chris Snyder have fixed things? Kelly Shoppach? And Ryan Doumit is a catcher like Pedro Feliz is a catcher, so pass on that.
Though, of course, Feliz is available. Feliz is available!
If the Brewers are willing to give George Kottaras to the Giants for a crab sandwich, great. If the Pirates just want to get rid of Snyder's salary -- highest paid player on the team! -- grab him. There are probably ways to make the team better, and they don't necessarily have to involve top-30 prospects, so the Giants should explore their options. They surely are. But trying to upgrade Whiteside in a market where there aren't any average catchers available should be about 53rd on the Giants' to-do list if teams aren't just going to donate backstops. This team isn't worth a prospect-for-minimal-improvement upgrade.
Until something falls into the Giants' lap, let's figure out how Aubrey Huff either de-bads or de-plays. Little things like that.