by
Greek Giant
With the news that the Giants may be in search of another left-handed relief pitcher, my first thought was: “there’s something wrong with Will Smith or Josh Osich”. After the Giants signed Will Smith to a new contract a few weeks ago, I realized that the issue may lie with Osich’s health. The presumed battle for the last spot in the Giants bullpen between Steve Okert and Josh Osich may never take place if the Giants make a push for another LOOGY like Jerry Blevins or Boone Logan, both of whom are available as free agents and would not cost a draft pick or Major-League talent to acquire.
Is it possible the team knows something about Osich’s health they are not admitting? Last year the big lefty experienced an up and down season, at times looking dominant, think closer stuff and starter command, while at other times looking like he was picking up a baseball for the first time in his life. The season did not end well for Osich as he was first put on the DL then banished to Sacramento. These new rumors are either attempts by Evans and CO to drive up asking prices for available relievers or part of some long-term strategy to add depth in the event Osich or Okert don’t measure up because of health concerns.
I have to admit I am intrigued at the thought of the Giants upping the ante in their bullpen with this acquisition. Last season showed us all the importance of not walking batters in late innings (Remember Anthony Rizzo’s walk by Javy Lopez in Game 4?).
With Okert showing signs of excellence and Osich seemingly unpredictable, suddenly going through wild streaks at inopportune times, and the Giants probably in a season-long dogfight with the Dodgers and DBacks, Evans may want to leave no stone unturned in his quest to construct a championship team in 2017.
If it the Giants add more payroll, there will be a corresponding increase in the luxury tax however. This is no small thing to consider. It might all depend on how the contract talks play out and what kind of monetary demands are being made by Logan and Blevins. In the meantime, I am all for an upgrade. These are the difficult decisions GMs must make every season and these are the reasons why one must weigh so many factors before making them.
I’m all for an upgrade, a veteran presence, and for minimizing risk when it comes to protecting late-inning leads. I am still scarred from the second half of last season.
Also, Osich had knee surgery after the season ended.
Maybe (hopefully) that was the issue all along?
Maybe. I think the story was that he injured it just a couple weeks into the season and pitched through it.
In the category of I didn’t have a clue. Charlie Pride, C&W singer, was a pitcher for the Memphis Red Sox and Bitmingham Black Barons, and pitched as a teenager to the likes of Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
http://tasteofcountry.com/files/2013/07/Charley-Pride.jpg
http://tasteofcountry.com/charley-pride-played-professional-baseball/
I did not know. Thank you for this. You come up with some nuggets.
I was listening to an NPR story this morning about Serena Williams win yesterday and the commentator talking about how abandoning the concept of excellence in team sports had allowed him to appreciate how really good an athlete Ms. Williams is. It occurred to me that that’s a part of the magnetism of baseball. Not many sports played as a team require such a generalized set of skills across every player on the team. There is no one blocking for you, or screening your shot when you have to hit or field a baseball.
This pic is for GiantFrog. Vous devez savoir où ils sont et quels sont ces blocs. Un indice: l’alignement de Kermario. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/67dedb04d0d41b88feb0880b342c9609b2389d7911583f71dc2708cbae73e752.jpg
Of all the myths (and guesses) I’d like to think the stones of Kermario are dead Romans struck down by Merlin. But I’m an incurable romantic. Take no Italian offense. I could tell tales of fine Romans as well.
You can tell what you want of the Romans. I consider them the Nazis of their time.
How to bootleg in AT&T.
http://www.dailydot.com/bazaar/iphone-shaped-flask/
At this point with the team hovering around and over the luxury tax, to worry about a few million more for a LH relief option is like ordering a tomahawk steak and worrying about the salad. Just do it. Last year’s wound is still fresh. Sure it would be nice for the homegrown kids to come through, but guess what? They don’t all perform to peoples wishes. Right now throw the best team out there, they will make a ton of money and if they win another ring they will make even more. To worry about 6 M now is trivial.
Oh, crap, I agree with you. I think I’d better go lie down now.
Yup. Agreed. Personally, I’d love to add Logan to our pen.
Speaking of Ben Hogan, how did the birthday boy fare on the fairways the other day?
105. Shhhhhhhhh
When do you lay down vs lie down?
lay down after glory glory hallelujah.
You lay something down. You lie yourself down.
“Let me lay the carving knife down on the counter so I don’t hurt you by accident.”
“I usually lie down for a nap every afternoon around 2. “
Cmon Lefty you know you agree with me more often than not.
It’s my delivery that throws you off lol 😉
Finally a ball player (Sano) speaks out rather than tiptoeing around the issue just for the sake of it. Players who grew up in their homelands have a effervescent – little-kid like way of playing baseball even when they get to the Show. They also have enough former players who are well-respected enough to be mentors when they step off the beaten path.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/twins-sano-dominicans-lead-different-lives-than-americans/ar-AAmnEr2?ocid=mailsignout
Must have been a Met fan http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/catholic-bishop-attacked-on-altar-during-mass-for-baseball-hall-of-famer/ar-AAmnNuv?ocid=mailsignout
If Osich and Okert are healthy, I would keep both. But if we keep only one, I just don’t see the urgency of adding Jerry Blevins or Boone Logan, or similar. We have several nice right handed relievers who can compete for the last spot..There is no law that 3 LHers must be kept and Loogies are famously unreliable from year to year- we were lucky to have Lopez for so long with very few hiccups along the way.
All the hubbub about the pen is just an over reaction to Casilla’s failures last year. IMO this will be a strong bullpen with we have internally.
What’s the worst overreaction to something you have cooked?
Just a couple deaths.No biggie.
Pufferfish?
I had an Elderberry eating contest and two folks went overboard.
Did you and Merna live underground during the search posse
I have a submarine periscope to see when the coast is clear. it can be submerged to about 800 feet. That might be enough.
I just burned the crap out of my right hand sauteeing onions for a lamb stew for tonight’s dinner. I’m left-handed, but still–OW.
NO NO NO old wives tales NO Butter.
Put entire hand in bowl of ICE even if that in and of itself hurts
Listen to the Coach. You have to lower the temp of the continually cooking flesh down deep. Oh… and IT WILL HURT LIKE HELL.
Ice alone won’t work nearly as well as ice water.
Yep–ice water is what I did, and it’s not turning out as bad as I thought it would in the moment.
I burn my hands all the time. I’m working on cooking with My Left Foot.
I’ve had bad burns almost disappear by immediately cooling the burns in ice water, but it takes a really long time to cool deep down flesh.
Pufferfish?
Thanks for making me laugh, Chef Mike!
We Chefs aim to please. BTW- you have done some great posts lately.
If you need to bring someone back, you could always bring Lopez back. He’s a good guy with a few pelts…… though that walk to Rizzo is unforgiveable and may show he knows he can’t go right after guys anymore.
#TeamNoMoreLopez
#SorryJavi
#ButIt’sOver
Bring Lopez back as a scout, front office personnel or broadcaster to replace Krukow and/or Kuip (Yes…I’m in the minority).
I’m optimistic about the pen, too. If they get a more experienced lefty, fine. If not, fine too. I really like Okert. And there’s Blach, too, if he doesn’t get that rotation spot.
I’m very optimistic about bullpen as it is. Melancon is great and law, smith, and strickland with have another year under their belts, and the untrustworthy older guys are out of the way. On the other hand, a solid loogy would be nice. Bochy shouldn’t use smith for that and he might be tempted to.
No Steph in Portland
@WarriorsPR
Injury update: Stephen Curry (stomach flu) is OUT for tonight’s game at Portland. David West (left thumb) is also OUT.
So you think he’s really sick?
These guys should get their injuries and illnesses out of the way in the off season. This is really poor planning.
I like what Osich can do with the ball more than Okert. Nastier movement, some heavy sink at times. Upper 90’s too. But if Okert can consistently stay on top of the ball he could certainly dominate LHH. It’s a battle. They both have options. It’s not like the Cain v Blach battle where Blach could be at a disadvantage because of options. Same goes for Tomlinson in the infield battle. Parker could be the benefactor of not having options as well, to the detriment of Williamson.
Osich has an incredibly low z-swing % (that’s for pitches out of the strike zone). He just doesn’t fool anyone
Australian Baseball League Umpire Blake Halligan ejected Heat 2B Luke Hughes for punching an opponent and player-manager Matt Kennelly for arguing Hughes’ ejection.
http://www.closecallsports.com/2017/01/abl-halligan-ejects-heats-hughes-for.html
We’re having a Thai Roast Chicken tonight with Broccoli Rabe sauteed with Oyster Sauce ,and Steamed Rice. The chicken is marinaded in Thai basil, garlic, soy,and cilantro. Then it’s rubbed with coconut cream. I let the bird sit for an hour or so before roasting. To eat the chicken I slice a little dark and white meat (with the crispy skin) and put a couple slices with into thin pancakes w/lettuce and hoisin sauce and roll it up. This so good that I might make it as our last meal before the missiles land.
Do you know how to make Oyster sauce?
It’s not really “Oyster” sauce. It’s an Asian sauce that has oyster extract among the ingredients.
OK. I love it.
I may develop a love for soccer. Michael Bradley, captain of the US men’s soccer team this weekend.
“When Trump was elected, I only hoped President Trump would be different
than the campaigner Trump. That the xenophobic, misogynistic and
narcissistic rhetoric would be replaced with a more humble and measured
approach to leading our country. I was wrong. And the Muslim ban is just
the latest example of someone who couldn’t be more out of touch with
our country and the right way to move forward.”
For psychic soothing. A kinetic sculpture that mimics the flight of a bird flock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnYCaprdqTY
I feel so Mel l l l l l o o o o w.
You haven’t been mellow since your last smores ration.
Ogni botte da il vino che ha.
Every barrell only spills the wine that is in.
Steph really isnt sick
Giving everyone a portal for putting their 25-Man prediction in the books. If you post it in Reply to one of my posts then I can catch it and record it. You may update/edit it up until February 25 by again writing me.
The Okert/Osich Occasion is One Obstacle to figure Out.
About 18 spots seems settled; seven are all up for grabs.
Let me know.
In case you missed it:
Starting Pitchers: Bum, Cueto, Moore, Samardzija, Blach
Starting LU- Posey, Belt, Panik, Crawford, Nunez, Pence, Span, Mac
Bench-Hundley, KT, CG, Gorkys
Pen- Suarez, Melancon, Kontos, Smith, Law, Strickland, Osich, Okert
That is 25, isn’t it?| I get so confused after dark.
Got it now.
You are the first one going with a 13-man pitching staff so far.
Haak — I’ll play. Here’s mine:
SP — Bum, Cueto, Moore, Samardzija, Cain
RP — Melancon, Smith, Strickland, Law, Okert, Blach, Kontos
Lineup — Posey, Belt, Panik, Nunez, Crawford, Williamson, Span, Pence
Bench — Hundley, Gillaspie, G. Hernandez, Tomlinson, Ruggiano
Okay, I have your picks down. I need to learn about this RuggianoGuy™.
He’s the Joker pick. Had to grab a wild card to shoulder my way into the Haak win column. And, as you might opine from my Mac pick as a starter, I like power hitters (and the Ruggi has some).
Dinner! Gnight, all.
Lettuce know if it’s no good. Some sirloins have a hot date with the grill at my place.
Niners hire John Lynch for their next GM.
Give a spoiled brat the keys to an organization, and see how badly he drives it into the ground. Also the addition of Paraag Marathe and keeping him in the organization shows a lack of understanding in football operations and burning bridges with more knowledgeable football people. I guess the team is aiming for the overall number 1 draft pick in 2018.
http://www.knbr.com/2017/01/18/paraag-marathes-involvement-obstructing-49ers-gm-search-report/
MLB.com has their top 100 prospects out and Beede and Arroyo stand side by side at 88 and 89 respectively. They’re in the B crowd with *** ratings.
http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2017?list=prospects
Debate over who’s # 1, Moncada or Benintendi or Torres or Reyes …
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/1/28/14424584/moncada-benintendi-whos-the-best-prospect-in-2017
May not be a ***** prospect this year, but the Cardinals’ Reyes may be the best bet to become a true superstar and be that kind of prospect. Moncada has certainly been hyped as one, and Benintendi has hit the ground running as one.
Averages are that each team should have 3.
Those three should avearge #50 ranking.
The Giants do not measure up so good.
Yet they have more home grown starters than most IIRC.
And obviously the Giants are the most successful team in this decade.
What is happening?
They’re doing fine for a team that does not have high draft picks, does not trade talent for prospects, and does not expend much energy in the international draft. They are a bottom half talented farm but that doesn’t mean they don’t have players that can help the big league club as they most certainly will. Even the worst farm systems can contribute big league help. Giants are simply lacking the big time star power that comes from hitting big on a pick or a trade. But all in all, they are doing fine and it is still fun following the progress of Giant prospects.
Eh, some of that’s true, but look at the Dodgers finding guys like Bellinger and DeLeon in later rounds. I think the Giants should fire their whole drafting staff and try to poach some good people from teams that draft better than they do.
The thing the Giants don’t do is hit on the H.S. talent as the Dodgers do. Their pipeline of H.S. drafted prospects is impressive and not reliant on muscling the international draft. It’s damn good scouting to pluck Seager, Bellinger, Pederson, and Verdugo out of H.S. Urias was a nifty grab out of Mexico though, real nifty. I won’t argue about Giants scouts not having eagle eyes with respect to young picks.
And again, with the exception of Seager, those HS picks were not high first-rounders. The Dodgers just have better scouting than the Giants do. The Giants could have drafted any of those guys except for Seager.
They probably do and it seems like they pretty much always have.
Wait a minute. How many home grown players are making a big impact on their team right now? 3?
Kershaw, Jansen, Seager, Pederson, for starters. Puig, Maeda and Urias. Ethier isn’t technically homegrown, but he’s been in the organization forever. Kemp and Gordon were both homegrown–both are helping their respective teams, and Kemp brought Grandal to the Dodgers.
Urias has made 15 ML starts, Pederson is a lifetime .225 hitter, Puig they want no part of but are afraid to trade, Gordon was given away for nothing, and Maeda can’t exactly be called home grown as a 27 year old FA.
Meanwhile, the Giants have Posey, Belt, Panik, Crawford, Bumgarner, and if you want to count trades, I guess you have to add Pence, Strickland, Moore, and Smith (although Strickland and Smith are a stretch to be called big impacts at this point). And I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Williamson or Parker have an impact similar to Pederson this year.
So you can understand why I’m having trouble with “The Dodgers just have better scouting than the Giants do.”
There’s no question that the dodgers are much better at hyping their prospects.
To quibble a bit: Posey and Bumgarner were top-10 draft picks, so you can’t quite credit “scouting” for them. I’d say Belt and Crawford are good examples of picking good players out of lower rounds (4th-5th), but that’s been awhile ago now (2008-09 drafts). Panik was a late first-rounder, and–hopefully he’ll bounce back this year.
Really the only recent example I can come up with of the Giants striking gold in the lower rounds is Matt Duffy. They got a five WAR rookie season from him and then sold high for Moore, a former top prospect.
Strickland, BTW, wasn’t technically a trade–the Giants grabbed him off waivers before the 2013 season when the Pirates DFA’d him to add…Jonathan Sanchez, whose Pirates career lasted about eight minutes.
Eggsellent work, Doctor 🙂
Giants and their faithful fans like you are hoping Steve Duggar becomes the next in line to have big league success after being drafted in early-middle round (4-8).
Duggar AND Slater, who have both been MyGuys™ in the past. Oh, and Blach–he was a fifth-rounder.
Yeah, but then you have to knock Kershaw and Seated off the list as well! Giants win! Giants win!
Seager, not Seated
this basically tells you all anyone needs to know in a nutshell. They do a great job of drafting HS talent and what is most impressive is they don’t always utilize high draft picks to do so.
I’ve been saying this for a couple of years! Maybe they are just getting old and stuck in their ways. Time to revamp the scouting, as you said, they do well in the development end.
My one issue is why not take a chance on more high ceiling types than be so ultra conservative and stick to the college low to mid ceiling types. Seems all we have been grabbing lately.
Yep, and they do a good job of bringing those guys along in the minors. But it would be nice to get some high ceiling types, too. To me it’s the scouting and drafting side that’s the problem. The development side seems quite good.
Having lower draft picks due to success is true and shpould be factored in.
So a formula would include what kind of picks you had and then what prospect level your group attains. There is a formula to develop in that.
They had five on the last MLB list (All-Star break)–Beede, Arroyo, Bickford, Mejia, and Shaw. We know what happened to Bickford and Mejia, and I guess Shaw dropped off the list. I think 88 is too low for Beede. Keith Law had him at 62. But whatever–the Giants aren’t trying to trade them right now, anyway.
The poor Diamondbacks don’t have anyone on this list. Although you could make a good case for Anthony Banda.
What is happening is that player rankings are a complete crapshoot and mean next to nothing in projecting Major League success.
If that’s true, then the players ranked 1-10 here have just as good shot of success as players 91-100. Do you think that is true?
It’s a thousand times closer to being true than you’d like to believe.
Ha! I hope thou finds peace with prospect rankings.
Totally at peace, I never see them, let alone pay them any attention. Tell you what – without looking it up, tell us what you think the success rate is of the #5 overall draft pick. Then we can look it up and see how it they did.
That’s a draft pick for a player without professional experience. The #5 chances are certainly better than the 105th pick.
Tell me who you think has a better 2017, Joe Panik or Jarrett Parker. How do you know that?
All right then, what is the success rate of the #5 overall ranked player for each of the last 25 years?
Not 100% but pretty good.
Arroyo and Beede have a good chance of finding some success. It’s nice they are being recognized. You can go on believing the crap shoot theory. As you said, you don’t follow and you don’t care and as far as you are concerned the Dodgers and giants systems are on equal footing and we can expect the same talent to rise from each.
Why are the Dodgers capitalized and the Giants not capitalized? Huh? It’s an outrage! Who are these #5 ranked players? I’d like to see a list.
Correction: April 2016, less than a year ago. (You know what I mean.) I’m not frazzled!
That’s the kindest thing you can say about them.
At last! WORDS OF TRUTH !
That would be interesting to prove by seeing how these lists turn out down the road.
The Warriors are like that lousy boyfriend I had in college. So attractive and charming, but every now and then they remind you that you can’t trust them or count on them.
You are a tough critic. Playing without Curry on a back-to-back on the road and they still won. Look what they did to the Clippers without Paul — only beat them by 46. It is tough to win on the road without your PG. They have a 4.5 game lead on the Spurs. They lead the league in offensive and defensive efficiency. Lead the league in point differential. They destroyed the Cavs and the Rockets the last time they played them.
Good thing they did not lose 5 out of 7 like the Cavs recently did. If you cannot count on the Warriors right now, then you can not count on anyone in the NBA.
Still–they yakked up a 21-point lead. They had a 7-point lead with 30 seconds to go and almost brain-farted the game away. Turner had a wide-open three for the win. I don’t know how he missed it.
Portland’s not a good team. Even on the road, they shouldn’t be giving up big leads like that.
82 game season — Turner missed because he is a poor three point shooter. The 21 point lead was early in the game — it is not uncommon for first 1/2 leads in the NBA to be cut down. The Spurs lost at home to Dallas tonight. The Cavs lost to the Kings at home last week. Hard to expect perfection every night. I think you have unrealistic expectations. A BS suspension cost them last year by the biggest flopper — or we would be talking 3-peat.
Lebron threw a fit the other night b/c he knows they will struggle against the Warriors or even the Spurs.
That last 30 seconds took a lot out of me tonight.
The foul on the 3 point shot was brutal, but the three that CJ was made was a great shot. On the play where Durant pushed off — they should have called timeout. Klay fell out of bounds on defense and they only had a few options to inbound the ball to. I thought Kerr should have called TO.
Thank God Klay was making his free throws. FTs were the reason they won that game–they had like 25 more than Portland did!
Once upon a time, my dear friend, I was somehow like you. But I learned to relax and to give due weigh to things. After the third stent. Take care of yourself.
Wow, I turned the game off after Klay hit the three to put them up 7. Never in my wildest imagination did I think Portland had any chance. Glad I didn’t watch the incredibly stressful last 30 seconds.
Why is it hard to expect perfection every night? Casilla and the Pen got roasted over not being perfect every night when handed 1 run leads in the 5th and 6th innings. So many on this board said the Giants Pen did not do their job.
They didn’t do their job. They blew 32 saves. 32!!!!!! And those weren’t all one-run leads.
Look at it another way: Their ONLY job is to protect leads (or keep the game close if the team is trailing). They don’t have to take four ABs and play the field for nine innings like a position player and they don’t have to pitch through the other team’s lineup three times like a starter. They pitch maybe one inning and sometimes only one hitter.
Turner is a career 30 percent shooter of 3s, so if someone had to take the shot he was a good choice.
We of course debate these kinds of wins over on Adam’s blog too. In my opinion we are living the luxury of debating the quality of wins, lol.
41-7. I’ll take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Barely hung on to a big lead over an inferior team–yeah, a win is a win, but at this point, it’s less about wins and more about wondering how they’ll hold up in the playoffs. They’re still a work in progress.
That said, it was nice of San Antonio to lose twice this week–the Dubs have a little daylight for once. Top seed in the West IS important.
I couldn’t agree with you more on the top seed in the West is important. Good morning to you as well.
I think Kerr will have them running on all cylinders come playoff time.
So two Giants tidbits:
1) Ramiro Pena’s not coming back to the Giants after all–he’s signed with a team in Japan.
2) If you want a laugh (and a wince), go read Aubrey Huff’s timeline on Twitter. Let’s just say I hope he had a ghostwriter for this book of his because when he writes his own stuff…yeeesh.
Which team? Aah, I should google it up myself, instead of just asking: The Hiroshima Carp, one of the two teams playing in the Japan Series in 2016. Ganbatte, Ramiro, がんばって.
Thanks Greek – nice write-up. And yes I agree — I think you’re not the only one still scarred from the pen problems last season and into the playoffs!
One of my ‘imagine if’ trades is sending panik to san diego for jankowski and hand. Get a solid loogy (i like smith but that isn’t his role), add a good defensive cf for a change, and run wild on the basepaths with nunez, tomlinson, and jankowski.
This gives me the heebie-jeebies. Wasn’t trading Duffy traumatic enough, without sending out Panik as well? Who’s next, Posey or Bumgarner?
Crawnik’s next uniform number can’t come soon enough…
You have a tougher FakeGM™ psyche than me … Losing DuffMan was hard enough.
I didn’t say I’d do it but practically speaking it does make some sense.
Oh god no. Jankowski has some nice wheels but a lot of uncertainty with the bat. May as well way for Duggar or even Jebavy to surface.
He’s also a very good fielder already and presumable will get even better. That was also the point, with their big park the Giants should have good defensive outfielders.
Please read the last sentence of this article. Someone starts to tell that there are serious basis for an impeachment already.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/30/muslim-ban-consitutional-crisis
We hope and pray that the checks and balances of our system can slow this administration down. It’s not just Trump either. If he were to go down, somebody that’s been pushing his buttons would step in (see Bannon et al). Republicans and Independents will have to voice their concerns as well. Who would not be alarmed other than those who adhere to the same agenda?
People are definitely letting their congress know…
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/politician-voicemail-boxes-full.html
Buster Olney’s column today is about how the new CBA is making teams view the luxury tax line like a hard salary cap (due to the higher penalties for exceeding it). Thus, guys like Jose Quintana, 28, very good, with a team-friendly deal for the next four years, are incredibly valuable, while Giancarlo Stanton has become fundamentally untradeable.
He also speculates that guys like Bryce Harper and Manny Machado won’t get the kind of money after 2018 that they might have because teams won’t want so much money tied up in one player.
Once again, hats off to Sabean/Evans for Bumgarner’s contract and for pulling off the trade for Moore.
Bum? Nothing new right? You mean his current low contract?
Yes, his current contract. Can you imagine what he’d get back on the trade market? Not that they should or would trade him, of course.
Most of us made guesses on his Extension for MyHotStoveGuy™ bumping near $30M/yr. I think this “cap” will bring that down.
Good morning all. 14 days until pitchers and catchers report. With apologies to the likes of Trevor Brown, Mike Fontenot, Fred Lewis, Andres Galarraga, F.P. Santangelo, and Atlee “Got Hammered ” Hammaker, I give you… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/add1e16b314e998a47630b5df462181352f82a5797245635c9be7fc3fcda3e3e.jpg
VIDA! I knew it.
Met him at spring training a few years ago. He’s a charmer.
Oh he’s a great guy. 1978 was his best year as a Giant.
Funny, I met both Laskey and Blue at a fantasy batting practice at Pacific Bell about 15 years ago. Talked to both (they were there along with a few other former Giants to schmooze and throw pitches) and Laskey seemed in to it and was engaging but Blue seemed a bit out of it as if he’d have preferred to be somewhere else. Maybe just a bad day.
Lefty you’d hate my tablet -it changes Laskey to Lackey. Every freaking time.
Well…Vida was a charmer and a bit of a flirt, so maybe you didn’t clear the bar. The first thing he did was ask me to take off my sunglasses so he could see my eyes!
I think Laskey’s great. He interacts with fans on Twitter well, too.
I think you are right; Vida did not ask me to take off my sunglasses, nor offer to buy me a drink (full bar right in the Giants dugout).
During our road trip with the Giants in 1986 we were having beers in the bar with 5-6 players. While I’m hanging out with Chili Davis, Vida was flirting with Mrs. TF, who he knew was my wife. She got my attention and waved me over. A bit creepy, for sure.
I’d say my affection for him is because I loved watching him as a kid. I started following baseball at around 9-10 years old; Vida arrived on the scene about a year later. He was pretty dynamic in those early years on the Swingin’ A’s, and he was good on the Giants later, too.
I liked him a lot as well. He was stellar for us in 1978, pretty good through 1981 as well. He was personable, gracious, fun to be around during our road trip with them, but as noted…his “flirting” went a bit too far for me.
hey doc, i hope mr. lefty was there, and told vida that those pretty eyes behind the raybans belonged to him..
PS35 – I might have been at that same fantasy BP! Was Mark Ibanez from KTVU your host for the day? If I recall Noah Lowery was signing balls as well…
The one I went to was in 2002. I don’t remember Mark being involved and Lowery was not there. The other ex-players were Rich Murray, Mike McCormick and one other guy who I am vapor locking on right now.
Did you take hacks in the batting cage behind the Giants dugout? I couldn’t see a thing, poorly lighted, Bonds and Kent etc must have had bionic eyes.
Yup… managed to hit a couple of weak dribblers!
The best part for me was shagging flys in the outfield. I would get perfectly positioned for the catch and then watch the ball sail 10 feet over my head! LOL
It was a fun day. After lunch in the luxury suites we toured the stadium and the “command center” for the scoreboard operations. Ibanez was a nice guy.
I couldn’t it in the cage but I tore it up on the field with the better visibility, albeit a few wet balls from the morning dew. I thought someone would get killed shagging balls, line drives, multiple people going for them, others not paying attention. Fortunately everyone survived. Did you get a pic of your name on the scoreboard? I did, still have it somewhere.
The Moose was fixated on the #5 with respect to prospect rankngs, so I have gone back and listed that #5 overall prospect from Baseball America over the last 10 years, with mid-season list from last year as well. You will certainly recognize some names and there are varying degrees of success here. Brian Matusz may be the only true bust here. We’ll see. One could create a list of the #1 overall prospects from each year and suggest there are no true differences. And I wouldn’t expect there to be an obvious difference as 1 and 5 are on the same tier. But the Moose can certainly look up these lists and compare the 5’s below with the 95’s or the 75’s or the 55’s or the 25’s.
I will say that the one accurate inference that Moose makes is that the rankings don’t really matter over same tiers of talent. You could generally rank prospects 50-100 any which way, as you could for 100-175, or from 25-50. Moose’s eyes may have glossed over by now and I have no real faith that he’ll come around, but you never know where agreement and compromise can be met.
2016 mid season: Trea Turner
2016 pre: Lucas Giolito
2015 : Corey Seager
2014: Javier Baez
2013: Jose Fernandez
2012: Julio Teheran
2011: Julio Teheran
2010: Bryan Matusz
2009: Jason Heyward
2008: Colby Rasmus
2007: Homer Bailey
I like the Group idea to get a better measure. Of the top 10 from 2010, how many are on MLB rosters compared to the 90-100 Group. That should be noticeable. What kind of rate would you predict?
LIke most stats, aberations stand out (Duffy), but a norm probably prevails.
Absolutely. Aberrations. Uncertainty.
That’s where tiers come in the higher the grade the better chance of uncertainly. Grade A prospects are going to have a very good chance of success. But there may only be 10 that are deemed “grade A or A-” in a given year, these would be **** prospects, with a possible *****, future superstar at the top. Meanwhile, there are hundreds that are deemed B-/C+ prospects, ** or * prospects, and while the majority of these will not make it or have minor impact, there are some that rise to relative stardom because they developed skills such as making more contact, had the right makeup, or were young and had to gain physical maturity.
This year, there would be plenty of argument as to who the top prospect is. Is it Yoan Moncada? Andrew Benintendi, Dansby Swanson, Jose Reyes, Gleber Torres, Amed Rosario?
What would be a fair time frame to use in comparing results then? Would the 2012 top prospects be in the MLB by now if they panned out or should it be given more time? Of course, staying power would be measured by if the 2006 top prospects were in the MLB in 2016. I think I will start there so even the late bloomers will be included.
Stand by.
Compare any point in time you like.
Last year’s Top : Seager, Buxton, Moncada, Urias, Giolito, Crawford, Reyes, Arcia, Turner, Gallo.
Last year’s 91-100: Paulino, Lopez, Bradley, Drury, Ramirez, Knapp, Murphy, Stephenson, Polanco, Verdugo (this is actually a nice looking selection of names for deep in Top 100 list).
http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/top-100-prospects/#IFkiBjP5GLx1bqA5.97
I agree 100% with your last paragraph. Teaching students is just the same: some are clearly intelligent, but the ultimate fate of most depends on both the effort they put in, and the skills of the teachers they encounter. Giants seem to do pretty well at bringing their people along, and do always seem to be able to make that late July trade (and don’t seem to make too many mistakes about who they trade off, save for ol’ Long Ball, perhaps).
p.s. Thanks for the effort in compiling the list of no. fives…
My head hurts. Thanks, footy!
More pain up above.
Great
Mess with the feet, you get the toenails.
GG, another great piece. Thanks. I do concur with you when you say Evans may not want to leave no stone unturned in his quest to construct a championship team in 2017. He, along with many a Giants fan, is still seething after not doing more to acquire a closer at the trade deadline.
I fully believe they always look at every possible option to construct a championship team. It may not work out financially or in terms of cost in prospects, but they always seem diligent in exploring ways to improve.
Signing a Boone Logan and then stashing both Okert and Osich in AAA wouldn’t be the worst way to go. Smith is big dude that wears a knee brace, he’s not immune from injury. New guy could go down as well. Then the well primed and ready Osich or Okert would come in. Or Ty Blach could surface out of the pen if Matt Cain was managing to hold down the 5th spot.
After a 4 week job search, if you don’t know who to hire, it’s always best to get the guy with the least, if not zero experience.
And give them 6 yrs!?
Why not Steve Young if you’re going to go for an ex-player turned announcer?
Steve is to busy being a board of director on companies. That is how he subsidizes his lifestyle and why KD went to the Dubs. By the way I thought Steve would be bigger than he is.
Rod Carew was just released from hospital after a heart/lung transplant.
Heart Kidney
Misprint in headline I read. Oops, should have checked multiple sources. My bad.
Ylu just found “alternate facts”. Rod is 71 years old, which is a bit more than I thought. It is strange that all the heros of my youth now seem mortal – and it should be telling me something ominous, I guess.
How the Royals used defense in the outfield to win a pennant.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/a-champions-outfield-where-line-drives-go-to-die/
good read.
The remarks on the value Heyward brought to the Cubs was interesting too. I was really surprised how much outfield defense and not hitting brought to the Royals year on year win total, almost 10 games.
Defense matters, especially in a big stadium like ours. The Cubs and Cards pay close attention to each other, and STL must like what they saw in Heyward’s play in 2016, and think he will hit better than that in 2017. And STL makes very few mistakes. I am 100% in alignment with Scout’s plan to get Cain to SF someday, too.
Once the Royals fall out, hopefully the Giants will make an aggressive pursuit of Lorenzo Cain – even if he’s having an off year with the bat.
I’m all in on Lorenzo. His hitting can revive. He’s young enough for a renaissance. But his defense never falters. He actually wins game with his D. (Is Span listening?)
Span is giving it all he’s got, captain. He’s a ballplayer, not a miracle worker, Jim.
This morning Trump voters and those in favor of Jed’s GM hiring both woke up on the same side of the bed.
PS – in the image above, is that roided out Barry Zito, or Josh Osich?
Definite Zito Look.
Sure looks like Zito and his 4.71 ERA last year. Then again his 3 blown saves in 3 Save opportunities was perfection.
Discussion oif the accuracy of “Prospect’ lists … Here is Baseball America’s 2006 List of Top 100
You can judge for yourself by the ol’ “eye-ball” test.
Top 15
Delmon Young
Justin Upton
Brandon Wood
Jeremy Hermida
Stephen Drew
Francisco Liriano
Chad Billingsley
Justin Verlander
Lastings Milledge
Matt Cain
Prince Fielder
Howie Kendrick
Alex Gordon
Andy Marte
Ryan Zimmerman
– – – – – –
Bottom [#86-100]
Eric Duncan
Ricky Romero
Cesar Carrillo
Andre Ethier
Nick Adenhart
Glen Perkins
Ryan Sweeney
Anthony Lerew
Ronny Cedeno
Tom Gorzelanny
Matt Kemp
Chris Volstad
Chuck James
Nolan Reimold
Anthony Swarzak
Gordon was a failing 3B who was almost cut by the Royals in 2009-10.
A #2 overall draft pick in 2005 our of U. of Nebraska.
He had OPS+ of 109 in 2008. They probably weren’t close to cutting him. But he did undergo a position change.
Some solid names there.
RIP Andy Marte and Nick Adenhart.
I’ll also tell you one problem you will run into with this type of comparison.
A young player with undeniable talents may debut on the list at #90. But the following year, having exploded on the scene, is ranked #1.
That would be the case for a guy like Mike Trout.
Then it could be adjusted to the highest ranking they were ever given to be fair. One year is a ‘snapshot’ as they say and it counts for something.
There ya go.
For you Dubs fans…
Is it me…or is there a lot of drama going on with the Cavs? LeBron is critical of management about spending; yet he insisted on extensions for specific specific players…like Tristan Thompson. Then (apparently) Thompson wasn’t earning his money in the eyes of some of his team members.
They win against the Thunder and their PG says this?
“It’s about time, and he knows it too. Really being our anchor on the back side of the defense. When he’s doing that as well as rebounding and contesting shots, he’s amazing. He knows what he means on this team, and he needs to play at a high level, especially in that center role, to be the anchor for our defense.”
Sorry…but without Thompson, the Warriors would be destroying the Cavs. Personally, I’m kind of hoping they’re dumb enough to trade Love for ‘Melo. Less boards and less worrying about Love sitting beyond the 3.
I’m literally praying the Dubs get to face Cleveland again in the Finals. I know Lefty gets critical on the Dubs ( even after a win :o) ) but Cleveland is the perfect example of a leading contender having issues and being dysfunctional. They lose to NO without AD and then to the Kings? At home?!? LeBron is already worried about them not winning it all, and yes, you could say, he’s a competitor, of course he wants to win it again. But he’s always struck me, maybe more than any athlete who’s in the discussion of being one of the GOAT, as being more concerned with how he looks and where he stands in terms of that list, than actually winning itself. Yes, I hate him.
I am with you on the Dubs playing the Cavs in the Finals. They have serious unfinished business. I want to see the Warriors eviscerate the Cavs and the Cavs walk off the floor in defeat (preferably after Game 4) wishing they never would’ve been there and knowing they never had a shot. Yes, I’m still very, very bitter about last year. The Warriors were the better team then and are the MUCH better team now. I want a statement to be made to this effect in the NBA Finals this year.
Agreed. And also to hear Barkley rationalize exactly why the W’s won because it certainly won’t be due to us being the best team.
I’ll admit I’m being nit-picky, but there’s a reason. I figure this is a 65-70 win team, so no specific win or loss matters that much (unless, I guess, they lose their other games with the Spurs–that wouldn’t be good).
Rather, I’m looking carefully for evidence that this loaded, talented team has solved its crunch-time problems. I wouldn’t say last night’s win put my mind at ease. They got lucky at the end.
Ok, but Curry was out, they were on the end of a back to back, the foul on Lilliard giving him 3 free throws was iffy, McCollum made consecutive contested 3’s and the offensive foul on Durant was a joke. Turner stepped in front then acted like he got elbowed in the face. Or, in other words, pulled a LeBron. I’m not worried about this team.
So this time last year the Cavs were also imploding and ended up firing their coach, despite leading the Eastern Conference at the time and having been in the Finals the year before. They figured things out.
Agreed, but part of that was LeBron trying to get “his guy” Lue to replace Blatt. They don’t have that ace in their sleeve to play and I honestly don’t see a “Love-for-Melo” swap being a solution, either.
The Cardinals have to forfeit their top two draft picks to the Astros and pay them $2 mil for hacking their system. Some say it’s a light penalty, considering that they already punted their first-round pick for signing Fowler.
I wonder if they were aggressive in signing Fowler knowing they stood to lose that pick anyhow. Hmmmm.
It would make sense.
and Houston soaking up those picks is not minor thing. Their GM, Jeff Luhnow, may not be the most adept at putting a together a cohesive MLB roster, but he definitely knows scouting and will know what to do with those picks.
Giving the Astros those picks punishes the teams in Houston’s division (and the rest of baseball) as much as the Cardinals. The $2M is pocket change, and while it hurts that STL loses their picks, it hurts the teams in Houston’s division just as much that the Cardinals IMO. How would we all feel if the Dodgers were awarded 2 extra picks because the White Sox hacked their system?
I thought the exact same thing–why should the other AL West teams get hosed because of what the Cardinals did? And did the Cardinals’ hacking really “hurt” the Astros such that they need this kind of compensation?
It’s time to protest the league office!
Here’s another one for our Mooooooooooooooooooose. Comparing the #5 picks with the #105 picks over the last 16 MLB drafts. I really like what happened in 2008. Thank goodness 4 other teams missed on the best talent available – a Golden Spikes catcher with a rocket arm (used to close games), experience in the infield, and the ability to hit for power and high average. Thank goodness the Giants talent evaluators believed in talent evaluation and weren’t just throwing darts at a list of names – although that could be the case for some front offices 🙂
2016: #5 Corey Ray MIL …. #105 Stephen Alemais PIT
’15: Kyle Tucker HOU … Jordan Hicks STL
’14 Nick Gordon MIN … Michael Mader MIA
’13 Clint Frazier CLE… Drew Ward WAS
’12 Kyle Zimmer KC…. Tom Murphy COL
’11 Bubba Starling KC…. BA Vollmuth OAK
’10 Drew Pomeranz CLE …. Carter Jurrica !! SF !!
’09 Mat Hobgood BAL….. Josh Prince MIL
’08 Buster Posey !!! SF !!! …. Ryan Chaffee LAA
’07 Matt Weiters BAL …. Dan Carroll SEA
’06 Brandon Morrow SEA … Justin Edwards CHW
’05 Ryan Braun MIL … Ryan Mullins MIN
’04 Mark Rogers MIL … Matt Spring TBR
’03 Chris Lubanski KC…. Kyle Pearson PIT
’02 Clint Everts MON … Camilo Vasquez CIN
’01 Mark Teixera TEX … Adam Stearn ATL
Say YOU go to a game as a fan and end up on the field doing some umpiring?
* Andrew Bell Injured, Spectator Wilson Fills in as Ump
http://www.closecallsports.com/2017/01/andrew-bell-injured-spectator-wilson.html
I’d go all Frank Drebin behind the plate. “Hey! It’s Enrico Palazzo!!”
The TWG group would PAY to see you pull that off
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCpGCpHfaSs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxHnXajIex4
I have a good feeling about the Shanahan/Lynch pairing. Yes, I’m sure this is evidence of too much past drug use. And no, I don’t expect any of you to feel the same.
I do. Why?
Anybody that was somebody in the NFL – got a chance to do so for the first time. That so called “first time” turned into xxxx amount of years eventually.
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