FanPost Spotlight

A lot of sites have “FanPost Fridays”, so in the interest of not copying them, I’m going with this far more boring title. I don’t think this feature will be relegated to Fridays, either, it’s just that today is a good day to put the spotlight on a few good FanPosts.

The first is by Leo.R: “The Giants need to trade McCutchen and a lefty to save their future”

First, that’s a dramatic title I can get behind. Second, this is a well-reasoned article that discusses the impact clearing the deck to go after Bryce Harper or an equivalent free agent will have on the team for the next few years: they’ll lose at least one draft pick and put themselves in a similar position that they find themselves in right now.

With the Giants’ history of signing big name starting pitchers for lots of years (Zito, Cain, and the jury is still out on Cueto and Samardzija) I would be hesitant for them to go out and give another large contract to a starting pitcher. The best under 30-years-old starting pitchers that are free agents this offseason are Patrick Corbin, Drew Pomeranz, Matt Harvey, and Nathan Eovaldi. I would much rather the Giants spend money to sign a left to replace the loss of Smith or Watson than attempt to fix their rotation with one of those four.

This next one is actually a FanShot (remember those?), but it’s also an excellent one by paboperfecto: “Old Baseball Broadcasts”

Ever wanted to listen to early baseball radio broadcasts? Now you can. Enjoy the Giants and Yankees facing off in the world series in 1936, and many more.

Finally, quincy0191 does a fantastic mid-season overview of the pitching down in the farm in “Minor League Pitching Standouts - Midseason Updates” and pulls out several gems of note:

Caleb Simpson isn’t a name that gets thrown around a lot, but there’s a reason his K/9 is over 11 at every stop he’s been. He’s another mid-90s arm, though without much projection as he’s already a RP, but his fastball has good cut and he appears to throw both a slider and curveball with excellent break.

This article’s great because quincy0191 has developed their own control and stuff scoring system and put it to use here. You can read some of the thinking behind it in this post.

All great stuff and worth your valuable time.