tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post2275976264305713415..comments2024-02-23T20:49:09.057-08:00Comments on obsessivegiantscompulsive: Your 2014 Giants: Vogelsong Signs for one year, $5M plus incentivesobsessivegiantscompulsivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-3313938983026532102013-12-09T07:24:55.638-08:002013-12-09T07:24:55.638-08:00It's much safer to sign a vet like Mark Ellis ...It's much safer to sign a vet like Mark Ellis (much like signing Theriot) as we don't know what we will get with Adrianza. <br /><br />But that's a choice made all the time in baseball, you have to chose your poison, which I don't think most fans realize. Signing Ellis means giving up, most likely, on Adrianza, or at least crossing the threshold and seeing if a certain tactic ensures he gets back to us or not.<br /><br />I think there is the potential for Adrianza to become a starter at the MLB level. His glove plays well (I would point out the deal the A's made for Gentry as an example of how superlative defensive players can generate value, among others) enough that he could provide value off the bench even without hitting too much.<br /><br />On top of that, we don't know if Sandoval will still be here in 2015. Even if Scutaro plays there, then who would play 2B? Panik? Adrianza? Arias? Duvall? None of them are sure things.<br /><br />We could always wait for a free agent, but then that takes money, and the team is already committed to a lot of money that I have to think that their preference is to fill from within. And Adrianza had a nice partial season in Fresno and did OK in the majors, though his power hits were fluky.<br /><br />Plus, the Giants under Sabean has tried to keep a good defensive team overall, as evidenced by their sabermetric uses of advanced fielding metrics, so advanced that they were one of the first teams given the chance to try out the new FieldF/X tools and data. Frankly, Pagan, Pence, Scutaro are not that great defensively, and as good as Crawford and Belt get from the fans, it's not showing up much on the advanced fielding metrics. Adrianza, in a small sample yes, showed very good skills, plus scouts have said it too, major league glove even when he was in the lower minors.<br /><br />And typically, your season should not turn on how well your bench MI player performs, if so, then your margins are too tight then. <br /><br />So for all those reasons, I would prefer the Giants keep Adrianza. But I understand that it might cost the Giants some games in 2014 to go through his learning pains, and thus why they might chose to go with a Mark Ellis instead. And I know it is a gamble to keep him around, but he's still very young and starting to show his hitting abilities, I think, so I would rather keep him around.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-27978857164700654802013-12-08T21:44:46.515-08:002013-12-08T21:44:46.515-08:00Just curious would you prefer the Giants to leave ...Just curious would you prefer the Giants to leave a bench spot open for adrianza or sign a veteran such as mark Ellis to help the bench depth?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-31519104002339147292013-12-08T21:16:18.627-08:002013-12-08T21:16:18.627-08:00Frankly, have not heard anything regarding any of ...Frankly, have not heard anything regarding any of these bench positions. Right now, it sounds like Perez will be the platoon partner with Blanco in LF, that Arias and Adrianza will be the MI on the bench, and the Giants have talked about getting another bullpen arm upgrade, and right now that's a battle between Machi, Hembree, and Kontos for two spots. <br /><br />Since the Giants went into 2013 with three lefties and kept that going for the season, I would think the edge on the free agent would be a Loogy type and the best one I'm aware of is Boone Logan, who I have a soft spot for because I had him on my keeper league long ago, and he's matured and developed nicely. Then that would leave one spot open for Machi, Hembree, and Kontos to battle for. <br /><br />I expect Hembree to win the spot, and that Kontos' poor 2013 (reportedly due to poor conditioning) ended up costing him a spot in the Giants bullpen. Too bad, I had high hopes for him, but if Hembree is ready, you need to get our probable future closer in there and learning the game at the highest level. <br /><br />I don't see how Adrianza don't get the MI spot. He's out of options, and probably is lost to another team if placed on waivers, as he has a major league glove, reports been saying that since he was in the low minors. On top of that, he's been good in avoiding strikeouts when he's nearer the age of the league, like early in his pro career, and he's been good despite being young for each league, in getting walks, which shows that he has a good eye, so he might develop further if given more time.<br /><br />Unfortunately, it would have been best to give him one more year in AAA before giving him a shot in the majors, but that's just reality. I think he'll eventually be at least an average type player - great glove, OK bat - who will get better with experience. Like Ozzie Smith and Omar Vizquel, or even Marco Scutaro, bad or below average to start, but will get better with experience and as his age catches up with the league. Thus I would not want to see the Giants put him on waivers.<br /><br />The Giants might be able to try one trick, which is to keep him on the 25 to start the season, but then send him down in mid-to-late April. By then, most clubs would have filled their roster with guys they want and won't want to waste a spot on someone they might lose to waivers (kind of like how Rosario got bounced around last off-season). That is how the Giants got to keep Ishikawa for another season before losing him.<br /><br />But I would prefer they not chance that and keep him on with Arias, they complement each other, Arias has a good bat, OK to so-so defense (except at 3B if I remember right), while Arianza is a whiz at defense at SS, and therefore probably just as good at 2B or 3B, but his bat probably will be Neifi-ish.<br /><br />I'm not too worried about the rotation, in spite of how poorly most did in 2013. Cain's PQS returned to normal in late season, Lincecum actually had a pretty good second half if not for the bullpen giving up 7 of 8 inherited runners, Hudson passed his physical, and Vogelsong, well, if he fails, I think Petit and Escobar is great backup.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-14145006204225582562013-12-08T18:41:20.912-08:002013-12-08T18:41:20.912-08:00Before the start of the 2012 season if you would h...Before the start of the 2012 season if you would have told me that the 2014 rotation would consist of Cain, Bumgarner, Lincecum, Hudson, and Vogelsong I would have been so excited. But with recent history I am a tad worried about everyone besides Bumgarner but none the less still excited to have this rotation and if it doesn't work out the Giants aren't on the hook for very long and with the minor league arms coming up it should be very promising. OGC what are thoughts on who may be in play for the outfield, middle infield and bullpen arm? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-78622384687519930362013-12-06T20:23:42.989-08:002013-12-06T20:23:42.989-08:00As the FA returns start rolling in... wow are we g...As the FA returns start rolling in... wow are we glad Sabes did his usual impatient act. The demand far outstrips the supply. 3/30MM for Scott Feldman? give me Timmy, Timmy and some more Timmys!<br /><br />Hunter Pence is a straight up bargain.<br /><br />Don't know how we'll kick in on some pen help, but there are a couple good arms out there. I have to think bringing Pablo's name up at the winter meetings with the crazy demand for bats might kick loose a 2-for-1 that Sabean might be interested in...<br /><br />And if the contracts getting kicked out this year don't demonstrate the importance of locking up Belt right now... It is a priority, one that has traditionally taken place near the end of ST.Shankbonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04803824507120403397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-16827910911195966062013-12-04T18:09:39.985-08:002013-12-04T18:09:39.985-08:00http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2013/12/04/sabean-no...http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2013/12/04/sabean-not-optimistic-new-left-fielder-will-be-big-piece-also-vogelsong-deal-finalized/<br /><br />Vogelsong officially signed to new deal. Sabean confirms a number things. LF likely not to be upgrade much if at all. Looking for bullpen improvement. Suggests that the Giants don't think Hembree, Machi, Kontos, Law - as a group - will be strong enough to withstand a playoff chase, which could include problems with one of our set-up guys or our closer, Romo. <br /><br />Also, finally confirms that Belt will be playing 1B, no chance of him moving to LF this season, so that means that the Giants are not looking for 1B, they are only looking for an improvement in LF, whether better than Blanco starter (unlikely), or a nice RH platoon partner for Blanco (Cody Ross would have been nice, but he's not available). Otherwise, that would mean that Perez and Brown would be competing for that role in 2014, at the moment. I assume Giants will invite someone to their minor league camp who will compete for that role, much like how Torres and Blanco and Vogelsong got minor league invites too, and won roles, Stewart and Arias too, Casilla, wow, lots of recent guys.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735245.post-71161637576161299992013-12-03T06:13:02.995-08:002013-12-03T06:13:02.995-08:00About the arbitration eligible players, as reporte...About the arbitration eligible players, as reported, the Giants offered contracts to five players: http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2013/12/02/sf-giants-cut-reliever-who-pitched-43-times-last-year/<br /><br />The five are Belt, Blanco, Arias, Petit, and Abreu.<br /><br />So Abreu was retained, despite media rumblings that he was probably going to be non-tendered. He was OK when he was on the roster, but that was the problem, he was injured most of the year. So it made sense that he would be let go. <br /><br />Maybe they are hoping he can be that guy they were hoping for in 2013, in 2014, but with Arias already around, that means that Adrianza will need to beat out Abreu for a roster spot, or the Giants will have to risk putting Adrianza on waivers.<br /><br />I think Adrianza has done enough in the minors to warrant keeping him on the roster and seeing what he can do in the majors. He's suppose to be a whiz defensively, and he's done nicely with avoiding strikeouts as a hitter. And if he can bring it defensively, and got the same innings playing 2B/SS that was allocated to Noonan and Arias at those positions, he could add nearly 1 WAR via his defense, plus whatever he does offensively. He had some success in AAA plus surprising power in majors.<br /><br />The Giants non-tendered Peguero and Rosario, a move not unsurprising. Peguero was already DFAed and apparently there were no teams interested in trading for him (unlike Monell). Perez appears to be higher on the depth chart now, making Peguero expendable, plus Brown looks like he's similar to Peguero in terms of what he might be able to do for a MLB team, good defense, good speed, questionable offense. And Kieschnick and Brown got OF spots in AAA, maybe the Giants want to see what Parker can do in AAA (or Herrera) and created the space by letting go of Peguero.<br /><br />Rosario was already low man on the bullpen depth chart, with Hembree and Machi expected to grab the last two spots in the bullpen (since 5 are already spoken for: Romo, Affeldt, Lopez, Casilla, Petit) and there is still Kontos in the mix, and Law did so well in the season and AFL that he's got an outside but good chance of taking a spot, plus there is Dunning, who the Giants liked last season, plus they could always go with Kickham as a reliever. And Sabean has spoken of adding another reliever, as well.obsessivegiantscompulsivehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11362706004246875823noreply@blogger.com