Friday, September 18, 2009

Your 2009 Giants are 79-67: Beat LA LA LA!!!

Disappointing.

Pretty much over, as I noted in my last post. Making up 3.5 games with 16 to go is not really a pretty proposition. So my post will be pretty succinct, at least for me:

Game 1: Sanchez vs. Vicente Padilla

Beat LA!

Game 2: Penny vs. Jon Garland

Beat LA!

Game 3: Lincecum vs. Randy Wolf

Beat LA!

Giants Thoughts

All I can say is I would not have played Renteria in that game, and had I played him, I would not have let him bat in that late inning after his performance in the game. Then again, had the hitters come through earlier when we got the first two batters on base, then that little rally would have won the game.

Bochy hasn't won any points with me since my rant on him after the fiasco series in Colorado. The lineup was working from the prior days, and you sit a guy who was a big part of the run explosion in Ishikawa while keeping a guy who wasn't in Schierholtz (and I like Nate, I wanted him to be the starting RF this season, but he's hitting .219/.286/.313/.598 in 32 AB this month).
Opined by ogc/ at
Labels: ,

21 comments:

  1. hemiolaFriday, September 18, 2009 8:23:00 PM

    Continuing our previous conversation here. Hope you don't mind... It was getting cluttered on the other page. I have made other responses on the other page, and if you want to address them, I'd appreciate it. These following points are different enough from the others, I believe, to warrant their discussion on a separate webpage.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hemiolaFriday, September 18, 2009 8:24:00 PM

    Here’s what I mean about Sabean being unsuited to the Giants’ current situation. By no means am I totally ignorant of Sabean’s strengths. I’m not trying to bash him willy-nilly. Sabean is particularly good at two things. The first is drafting/developing pitchers. The second is trading those pitchers for complementary players. Sabean is not very good at one thing, and that is signing free agents. Overall, he’s quite good.

    The Giants are currently loaded with good young pitching. What with Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, and Bumgardner, they will have top-notch rotations for at least the next 3 years. The need for Sabean’s first skill is minimized. The Giants have an offense filled with nice young cheap complementary players: Velez, Lewis, Schierholtz, Ishikawa, and Bowker to name a few. Thus, the need for Sabean’s second skill is minimized. Now with a winning record, the quality of our draft picks is greatly reduced. The need for Sabean’s drafting/player development skills is reduced.

    ReplyDelete
  3. hemiolaFriday, September 18, 2009 8:24:00 PM

    Looking at the roster at the beginning of the year, the defining feature of the 2009 Giants is the large amount of money in veteran contracts set to expire at the end of the year. The year is a rebuilding year to assess the young players, after which the ascent of 1-2 highly regarded prospects, and a large amount of money available for free agency the next offseason, will vault the Giants into a playoff spot in 2010.

    We have been successful beyond our wildest dreams this year. But the needs in the offseason are still the same. To reap the largest benefit from this offseason’s opportunity, the Giants GM needs to be able to use the money freed up by expiring contracts to sign position players who are big improvements over what we have now. Thus the Giants’ greatest need is in the area where Sabean has not had very much success.

    The problem with many of the players on this team signed to large contracts by Sabean is that they are often replaceable at no cost in production by cheap young Giants. Schierholtz is Winn’s equal, Lewis is superior to Rowand, Uribe is superior to Renteria, and Velez is slightly worse than Sanchez. That doesn’t mean he’s a horrible GM. Every GM has their strengths and weaknesses. Sabean’s weakness happens to be signing free agents.

    I don’t have an irrational dislike of Sabean, honest to God. I actually think that he’s an above-average GM. His strengths simply don’t jibe with the Giants’ needs. Because of his prowess in certain fields, the Giants have no need for the attention of an expert in those areas.

    To not sign Sabean this offseason would entail making a trade-off. The Giants GM ‘position’ would decline in skill at drafting pitchers and at player development generally. But if the Giants were to sign a GM who has expertise in free agent signing, and can pool the money available in the payroll to best effect, they would have a GM better suited to attacking the Giants’ weaknesses in the lineup.

    That’s the case for the transition to a new leader even after successes- now that the current leader has solved the problems he is best suited to face, it is time for a new one to address the new problems that he is best suited to face.

    I won’t disagree on one point: the Giants are much better off overall than just about everybody expected so soon after the loss of their superstar.

    ReplyDelete
  4. obsessivegiantscompulsiveFriday, September 18, 2009 11:35:00 PM

    It was not beyond my wildest dreams, I said in the pre-season that if some of the players develop better than thought, they could win 89 games. They are getting close to that.

    Lewis is not superior to Rowand, he is much worse defensively in CF and his OPS is basically the same as Rowand.

    Uribe is not superior to a healthy Renteria. If you knew that Renteria was going to be injured this year, then you are way better than me.

    Velez is horrible at 2B defensively, probably killing whatever value he provides at 2B. And are you guaranteeing that he's going to hit at Sanchez's level for the next 2-3 years?

    For that matter, before this season, it was very debatable whether Schierholtz is better than Winn. He has nice stats in AAA, but their rough MLEs put him around what Winn could do. Still, it is one thing to do it in AAA, another to duplicate it in the majors. And for the season, Schierholtz isn't hitting much better than Winn, and I'm suprised you like him better since Winn has a better OBP than Schierholtz and shows much more plate discipline than Schierholtz has ever shown.

    And so are you saying that 3 years ago when Randy Winn was signed to his contract, you knew that Schierholtz was going to develop enough to hit well enough to be the starter? Because if you are going to criticize Sabean for Winn's contract, that is the CONTEXT that I'm talking about, at that time, it was still a huge question mark whether Schierholtz would ever make the majors, he had a huge hole in his swing and was striking out too much. And Bowker had not even started hitting for power either, and no other prospect was in sight of threatening to make the majors, let alone play as well as Randy Winn.

    People don't think too much about the thinking process that led to the decision nor the situation the GM was facing when they signed a particular player. All they see is what happened after the fact. Anybody can see what the best results would have been, people need to push beyond this and see how the decision process was made at the time of the signing.

    Since you are focused on free agents, find me a GM who don't get burned on free agents. Then among them, find me the ones who built a superior pitching staff. Every GM has a weakness. I already told you that his weakness, as you characterize it, in position players is not a weakness.

    I already told you and many others that Baseball Prospectus studied how teams achieve success in the playoffs and they found that hitting does not contribute anything significant to a team going deeper into the playoffs. It is pitching and defense that gets you deep into the playoffs.

    Given that study result (which The Hardball Times already came to the same conclusion previously using a different methodology), why would anyone want to get rid of a GM who is good at developing pitchers and putting together a good defense, but is not the best at developing or acquiring position players (your position, not mine), which as the two studies assert, are not critical to going deep into the playoffs.

    If you can find me a study that refutes both The Hardball Times and Baseball Prospectus, I would love to see it. Until I do, given that two well-known and well-respected baseball analysis groups studied this issue and came to the same conclusion and I haven't seen anybody else refute this, I'm sticking to this.

    That is why Sabean brought in John Barr two years ago, to bring in someone with success in selecting position players, and he took over the draft from Tidrow, in terms of recommendations. They tout his selections in LA and Baltimore.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BoofSaturday, September 19, 2009 1:46:00 PM

    Building a pitching staff to get you deep into the playoffs doesn't mean squat if your GM puts together a team that can't get to the playoffs because they can't hit, don't have a discplined approach at the plate, and cannot perform the offensive fundamentals. All that pitching will be on the sidelines watching other team play in the playoffs.

    ReplyDelete
  6. hemiolaSaturday, September 19, 2009 4:32:00 PM

    I think that...
    -Lewis > Rowand
    - you're right about Renteria/Uribe
    - you're right about Velez, but I'd hope you'll consider that Velez is entering his prime and Sanchez is past his when guessing how they’ll hit in the future
    - you're absolutely right about Schierholtz/Winn. I do not like Schierholtz much. You're right that my disregarding the context with the Winn signing was dull. I was overgeneralizing, I and I apologize
    - you’re absolutely right about pitching/defense being most important for getting deep into the playoffs; I won’t dispute this

    I think you agree that once in the playoffs, chance is the main determinant. Pitching/defense pushes a 1/8 chance higher.

    Congrats on your season prediction, by the way. I remember reading it earlier in the year and you were right on track.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hemiolaSaturday, September 19, 2009 4:32:00 PM

    What do you think about my ‘transition after success’ hypothesis?

    Where I said:
    “That’s the case for the transition to a new leader even after successes- now that the current leader has solved the problems he is best suited to face, it is time for a new one to address the new problems that he is best suited to face.”

    The Giants will have no need for pitching for at least 3-4 years with Lincecum, Cain, Bumgardner, Zito, and Sanchez filling at least 3 spots in the rotation (low estimate based on possible injuries, trades). They will have no great need for position player development with Posey and Neal looking like sure things and all the other prospects you mentioned being possible future Giants.

    This offseason what they have is expiring free agent contracts and lots of payroll space to exploit. As long a GM replacement isn’t stupid enough to lose Lincecum, Cain, Bumgardner, or Sanchez by 2014, wouldn’t it be cool to have a GM who is spectacular at signing free agents and maximizing the production he gets from each dollar spent in free agency?

    I don’t know who that would be; do you know of anybody who fits that bill?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Matt MongielloSaturday, September 19, 2009 5:32:00 PM

    I'd say Sabean did an amazing job this offseason. His only mistake was signing Renteria, and if you look into that deep enough you'll see why they targeted him. If healthy he would probably have been one of the better offensive SSs in the league. Sabes didn't want to give up a draft pick and Renteria was the best hitting SS who qualified.
    Every other signing turned out well. RJ won some games(#300!), tutored some of the young guys and brought some extra media attention to the team.
    The bullpen has been outstanding. Howry, Affeldt, Miller, Medders.
    That's all I can think of off the top of my head. But it looks good to me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. hemiolaSaturday, September 19, 2009 9:19:00 PM

    Uribe, too.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Matt MongielloSaturday, September 19, 2009 9:49:00 PM

    yeah, Uribe was meant to be my best argument for Sabean's strong offseason but I started talking about pitching and completely forgot. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. obsessivegiantscompulsiveSaturday, September 19, 2009 10:01:00 PM

    Boof, the way you talk, you would think the Giants are far away from the playoffs. We are only 3.5 games away. We should be better next season. Just because we will probably come up short this season does not mean that the GM cannot put together a team.

    As I've said over and over again, the Giants are rebuilding this year. If you don't like the rebuilding process, so be it, but there will be flaws in any rebuilding team no matter how you do it. We're lacking hitting. Other lack starters. Other have no bullpen. Some are missing a little of each.

    Rebuilding requires patience that many Giants fans appear to don't have.

    ReplyDelete
  12. BoofSaturday, September 19, 2009 10:44:00 PM

    That's exactly what I am saying. Sabean's been here since 1996 and he hasn't succeeded yet. How many more chances is he going to get to keep failing before they see the light? The problem is systemic throughout the organization. The few players that do come up through our system are not schooled in executing the fundamentals, have not learned how to develop an approach at the plate, and do not understand the value of getting on base. It's not just about the good & bad moves that he has made. The organization lacks a direction....from top to bottom. That is a direct failure from the man at the top.

    ReplyDelete
  13. obsessivegiantscompulsiveSunday, September 20, 2009 11:55:00 PM

    Kevin said...

    F-ing Angel Villona

    No language, please. Also, it's Angel Villalona.

    ReplyDelete
  14. obsessivegiantscompulsiveMonday, September 21, 2009 12:20:00 AM

    Boof, you don't know what our players have or have not been schooled in. You also don't know whether they could have been schooled in it and yet have not picked it up.

    As I've been saying, it is all about talent level. They have spent almost all of their best bullets in the draft on pitchers. Posey is the only position player drafted with a first round pick since somebody in Sabean's first draft (can't recall his name, but obviously he failed). You can scream at Johnny all you want for not throwing the ball to the right base, but if that is his talent level, then it's not going to happen. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

    And you are wrong. The team has a direction. It has been clear as day since at least 2002-2003: the Giants are building on pitching and defense. Great pitching and defense.

    Guess what Baseball Prospectus and The Hardball Times say: teams that go deeper into the playoffs win with great pitching and defense. They both gave zero significance to hitting, situational hitting, taking a walk, executing the fundamentals (except on defense), approach at the plate, the value of getting on base, or anything related to the offense.

    It would be like a business saying today that it would be the best business around because we have the best typewriters around: typewriters have no correlation with winning in business.

    According to two of the more respected minds in baseball analytics, Baseball Prospectus and The Hardball Times, both using different methods to measure the same thing - success in the playoffs, going deep into the playoffs, winning it all - found that it is great pitching and defense that does it, and that offense has no significance in helping teams go deep into the playoffs.

    I have found no other expert who has examined the issue, not that I'm aware of every one that has ever been made. If you can refute it, please do, and I'll re-calibrate my thoughts and positions. Until then, I think I'm sticking with the two experts who studied this issue and came to the same conclusions despite using much different methodologies.

    ReplyDelete
  15. obsessivegiantscompulsiveMonday, September 21, 2009 12:37:00 AM

    And this clicks with my world sense too (world of sports).

    Teams in basketball never win when they have one of the better offenses around (being a Warriors fan, I've seen an unfortunate number of them). They couldn't even win with Michael Jordan. It is the ones who are so good that they can shut down the other side that finally do well and win. Even the 75 Warriors didn't win on Rick Barry's granny free throws, they had sterling defense up the middle with George Johnson and Clifford Ray.

    The Niners didn't always win with Joe Montana at the helm (or Steve Young), driving one of the best and methodical offenses of their times. It was when they had great defenses that helped them get over the edge. It was their defensive excellence that came to the fore in the Super Bowl (like the goalline defense against the Bengals). Offensive teams like Air Coryell in San Diego (where Walsh picked up some of his offensive acumen) which had not enough defense could never do it.

    I think baseball's unique scoring system makes defense all the more important (and I should have said pitching and fielding in my comment above). It is the only sport where a team can get multiple scores on the other team from a solitary event on the field. A team that can reduce the odds of that for the other team will have a strong advantage over the other.

    ReplyDelete
  16. obsessivegiantscompulsiveMonday, September 21, 2009 12:44:00 AM

    Now, obviously, you need the offense to support the defense. But once you got the cheap pitching put together, you can spend all the money you are saving on pitching to get hitters who are capable enough to score enough runs to enable the pitching to win many more games than the average team.

    And we are not that far. Any regression by Lincecum and Cain should be offset by Sanchez throwing capably all season long instead of just half a season. There are clear reasons for Zito resurgence this season and as long as his velocity stays high enough, he's going to be OK, more than OK.

    And our bullpen should be stronger. Wilson will have a successful season under his wing. So would Romo for the most part. Affeldt should continue to be good. Now we have Runzler and Joaquin looking like two good additions to the bullpen.

    Our offense should be better too. Sandoval turned the corner in May. Ishikawa appears to have done that too, plus Garko is there to take over if he isn't able to progress. Franchez is a huge improvement at 2B. And if Renteria is healthy, he should be improved as well. Most importantly of all, I would expect Posey to do better than the .258/.284/.403/.687 at C we got this season. At minimum, he would get on base at a high rate.

    We should also be able to improve in LF and RF. With Winn gone, Schierholtz should be the starter and hit better than the overall .265/.316/.389/.705 that Giants RF did in 2008 so far. In LF, we have Velez, Bowker and Lewis battling to beat the .260/.330/.399/.729 that LF hit for us in 2008. One of them should be able to do that, and the others could take over for Schierholtz should he falters in RF.

    Likewise in the infield, Frandsen will be there to be an adequate backup should someone performs poorly up the middle.

    It just needs patience, patience the Giants GM has shown for the most part.

    ReplyDelete
  17. obsessivegiantscompulsiveMonday, September 21, 2009 12:53:00 AM

    Kevin, just found out what you are talking about.

    While I won't condone that language here, I totally understand the sentiment and was thinking the same thing when I read the account.

    All we can hope is that he can explain himself and what happened, but if you do the crime, you do the time.

    My condolences goes to the family who lost their son, brother, grandson, nephew, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Matt MongielloMonday, September 21, 2009 4:14:00 AM

    Don't forget about Sabes drafting Wendell Fairley in the first round.

    ReplyDelete
  19. BoofMonday, September 21, 2009 8:15:00 AM

    I can say with a great deal of authority that the Giants lacked the type of schooling & discipline that I spoke about. You can see the lack of it prominently displayed over and over again on field. Perhaps you don't actually watch games, or if you do, you are not aware of the lack of execution of fundamentally sound baseball. That is something you'd actually have to observe......there are not statistical metrics that measure this. It is readily obvious to even the casual observer that watches this team. Perhaps you are correct to say that I don't know what they've been taught, but the clear conclusion that can be drawn from watching they way they play the gae is one of two things: (1) that they've been taught the proper way to execute the fundamentals and they systematically ignore what they've been taught, or (2) that they've not been properly schooled in their minor league careers. Either way, it is a huge failing of the Giants organization.

    ReplyDelete
  20. CraigTuesday, September 22, 2009 11:17:00 AM

    OC-- Some guys on my blog referenced and discussed your post from a couple of days ago---not sure if you want to respond to them. They start at 10:37am today. oneflapdown77.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. obsessivegiantscompulsiveTuesday, September 22, 2009 3:54:00 PM

    Thanks Big, much appreciated!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Labels

1984 Draft (1) 2007 Draft (15) 2007 Giants (52) 2008 Draft (22) 2008 Giants (53) 2008 season (6) 2009 Draft (18) 2009 Giants (87) 2009 season (24) 2010 Decade (12) 2010 Draft (11) 2010 Giants (137) 2010 NL ROY award (1) 2010 season (19) 2010's (3) 2011 Draft (9) 2011 Giants (84) 2011 season (8) 2012 Draft (11) 2012 Giants (93) 2012 season (11) 2013 Draft (3) 2013 Giants (39) 2013 season (5) 2014 (1) 2014 draft (5) 2014 Giants (79) 2014 season (16) 2015 Draft (4) 2015 Giants (50) 2015 season (10) 2016 Draft (1) 2016 Giants (45) 2016 season (6) 2017 Draft (3) 2017 Giants (27) 2018 Draft (8) 2018 Giants (50) 2018 Season (8) 2019 Draft (1) 2019 Giants (27) 2019 season (2) 2020 Decade (1) 2020 Giants (9) 20201 Draft (1) 2021 Giants (3) 2022 Giants (2) 2023 Giants (14) 2023 season (1) 2024 Giants (18) 2025 Giants (4) 25 man roster (11) 25th man fallacy (1) 26 man roster (1) 3B (1) 40 Man Roster (11) 49ers (1) 5-day rotation (1) 51/49 decisions (1) 6-man rotation (5) 89 Quake (1) 89 World Series (1) A-Ball (1) A-Gon (1) A-Rod (3) A's (6) AA-Ball (1) Aaron Rowand (25) Abiatal Avelino (1) accomplishments (1) ace pitcher (2) ace starter (4) Adalberto Mejia (6) Adam Duvall (5) AFL (4) aggression (1) AL Playoffs (1) Albert Suarez (5) Alen Hanson (3) Alex Cobb (1) Alex Dickerson (2) Alex Hinshaw (3) Alex Pavlovic (1) Alexander Canario (2) All-Star Game (1) almost perfect game (1) Alonzo Powell (1) Amphetamine (3) analysis (24) Andre Torres (14) Andres Torres (2) Andrew Baiiley (1) Andrew Bailey (1) Andrew McCutchen (2) Andrew Suarez (5) Andrew Susac (11) Andy Baggerly (2) Andy Sisco (1) Andy Suarez (9) Angel Joseph (1) Angel Pagan (17) Angel Villalona (30) Anniversary (1) appendicitis (1) Aramis Garcia (2) Arbitration (19) Armando Benitez (5) Armando Gallaraga (1) art of failure (1) Asia-Pacific signing (1) assessment (1) Astros (3) At the Rate They Are Going (1) ATT Park (1) Aubrey Huff (20) Austin Jackson (2) Austin Slater (5) Award (4) BABIP (3) Bam Bam Meulens (1) Barry Bonds (30) Barry Zito (77) baseball (1) Baseball America (3) Baseball Prospectus (6) Baseball Prospectus Bias Against Giants (4) baseball strategy (9) Baseball Study (18) baserunning (2) batting peripherals (1) batting stance analysis (1) batting title champion (1) Beat LA (9) bench players (4) Bengie Molina (14) Benjamin Snyder (1) Bert Blyleven (1) best manager (2) best practices (2) Beyond the Box Score (1) Bias Against Giants (1) Big 6 (9) Big Picture (3) Bill Hall (1) Bill James (1) Bill James Handbook (2) Bill Mueller (1) Bill Neukom (21) Billy Beane (3) biography (1) Blake Riverra (1) Blake Snell (1) blog news (3) Blog Philosophy (3) Bob Howry (2) Bob Mariano (1) Bobby Evans (4) Boston Red Sox (1) Brad Hennessey (5) Brad Penny (2) Brandon Bednar (1) Brandon Belt (50) Brandon Crawford (25) Brandon Hicks (1) Braves (5) breakout (2) Brett Bochy (4) Brett Pill (9) Brewers (1) Brian Anderson (1) Brian Bannister (3) Brian Bocock (2) Brian Cooper (1) Brian Horwitz (3) Brian Ragira (2) Brian Sabean (50) Brian Wilson (14) Bridegrooms (6) Bruce Bochy (36) Bryce Eldridge (2) Bucky Showalter (1) bulllpen (8) Bullpen (33) Business Plan (24) Buster Posey (105) Byran Reynolds (2) Byung-Hyun Kim (1) Cained (4) call-ups (3) Candlestick Park (1) Cards (13) Career Prospects (4) Carl Hubbell (1) Carlos Beltran (4) Carlos Gomez (1) Carney Lansford (2) Carson Whisenhunt (2) Carter Jurica (1) Casey Kelly (1) Casey McGeHee (3) catcher injury (5) catching (3) CBT penalty (1) CC Sabathia (1) censorship (2) CEO (2) Chad Gaudin (5) Charles Culberson (5) Charlie Culberson (3) Chase Johnson (3) cheating (1) Chillax (1) Chris Brown (1) Chris Gloor (1) Chris Heston (19) Chris Lincecum (1) Chris Marrero (1) Chris O'Leary (1) Chris Ray (4) Chris Shaw (4) Chris Stewart (4) Chris Stratton (30) Chris Strattton (1) Christian Arroyo (7) Christmas (1) Christopher Dominguez (4) Christy Mathewson (1) Chuckie Jones (2) Clay Hensley (3) Clayton Blackburn (10) Clayton Tanner (3) Closer (9) closer by committee (3) Coaches (4) coaching changes (1) Cody Hall (2) Cody Ross (8) Col (1) Comeback Award (1) Commissioner (1) comparison (3) competitive advantage (1) Competitive Balance Tax (2) Competitive Cycles (2) competitiveness (2) Conner Menez (1) Connor Joe (3) Connor Nurse (1) Conor Gillaspie (25) contender (1) contract extension (3) contract negotiations (2) contract signing (7) Coordinator (1) core competency (1) Core Rotation (1) Cory Gearrin (5) Cory Guerrin (1) Cory Hart (1) Craig Whitaker (2) Cubs (1) Curt Young (1) cuts (1) Cy Young Award (5) cyber-relief (1) D-backs (16) D-gers (36) D-Rocks (3) D-Rox (17) D.J. Snelten (3) Dallas McPherson (1) Dan Ortmeier (11) Dan Otero (2) Dan Runzler (6) Dan Slania (3) Dan Uggla (1) Daniel Carbonell (1) Daniel Slania (2) Dany Jimenez (1) Darren Ford (1) Dave Righetti (1) Dave Roberts (11) David Aardsma (1) David Bell (1) David Huff (2) David Loewenstein (1) Decade of the Giants (12) decline (1) Defense (11) Deferred Money (1) deleted comment (1) Denard Span (3) depth (1) Dereck Rodriquez (7) Derek Holland (18) Derek Law (11) Detroit Tigers (1) DFA (3) DH (2) Dick Tidrow (2) dictionary (1) direction (1) Dirty (1) DL (3) dodgers (15) Donald Snelten (1) Donovan Solano (1) Draft (11) Draft Analysis (29) Draft Bonus (7) draft list (3) draft philosophy (2) draft signing (3) Draft Strategy (12) Draft Study (9) Draft Success (4) drafting (5) Dres (16) Drew Pomeranz (1) DRS (1) Dynasty (3) Earl Weaver (1) Edgar Renteria (13) Eduardo Nunez (4) Edwin Escobar (5) Ehire Adrianza (26) Eli Whiteside (4) Elimination game (1) EME (2) Emmanuel Burriss (18) end of an era (1) epic season (6) era (1) Eric Byrnes (1) Eric Surkamp (6) Erik Cordier (1) Eugenio Velez (12) evaluation (3) Evan Longoria (3) Evan Longoriia (1) extension (7) fan outrage (10) fan rants (2) fanfest (1) FanGraphs (3) Farhan Zaidi (37) feature reliever (1) felony conviction (1) Fielding (5) Fielding Stats (4) finger injury (3) first post-season press conference (3) Francisco Peguero (4) Fred Lewis (3) Freddie Lewis (17) Freddie Sanchez (4) Freddy Sanchez (7) Free Agency (8) free agent misses (1) Free agent possibilities (28) Free agent signing (24) Free agent signings (21) front office (3) Gabe Kapler (1) Game Score (3) gamer-tude (1) Garrett Williams (1) Gary Brown (26) Geno Espinelli (1) George Kontos (10) Ghosts of Giants Drafts (2) Giants (10) Giants Announcer (1) Giants blogs (3) Giants Chat (4) Giants Classic Rotation (1) Giants Defense (4) Giants Draft (16) Giants Drafts (9) Giants Farm System (34) Giants Franchise record (2) Giants Future (66) Giants GM (13) Giants Greats (3) Giants hitting manual (1) Giants Leadership (1) Giants manager (1) Giants No-Hitter (5) Giants Offense (34) Giants Offseason (24) Giants Pitching (10) Giants President of Baseball Operations (5) Giants Strategy (45) GiDar (1) Gino Espinelli (1) glossary (1) Gold Glove Award (1) good players (4) good will (1) Gorkys Hernandez (2) Graphical Player (1) great players (4) Gregor Blanco (18) Gregor Moscoso (1) Gregory Santos (1) Guillermo Moscoso (2) Guillermo Mota (2) Guillermo Quiroz (1) Gustavo Cabrera (4) Hall of Fame (10) Hall of Shame (4) Hank Aaron (5) Happy Holidays (2) Hate mail (1) Hayden Birdsong (2) healthy (1) heart-warming (1) Heath Hembree (8) Heath Quinn (1) Hector Correa (1) Hector Sanchez (12) Heliot Ramos (13) Henry Sosa (8) HGH (1) Hidden Game (1) high expectations (1) high school focus in draft (1) high velocity hitters (1) high velocity pitchers (1) hiring (2) hiring process (1) Hitter's League (1) Hitting (19) Hitting Coach (1) hitting mechanics (3) hitting pitchers (2) hitting streak (1) Hitting; (1) Home Run Career Record (7) Home Run Hitting Contest (1) Hunter Bishop (4) Hunter Pence (25) Hunter Stickland (1) Hunter Strickland (9) Ian Gardeck (1) Idea (4) IFA (1) improvement (2) Indictment (1) Infield (1) injury (7) instant replay (2) instructor (1) Interesting Question (1) International Free Agent Pursuits (5) International Signings (5) interview (5) Investment (1) Ivan Ochoa (2) J.P. Martinez (1) J2 (1) Jack Taschner (4) Jackson Williams (3) Jacob Dunnington (1) Jacob Gonzalez (2) Jacob Junis (1) Jacob McCasland (1) Jae-gyun Hwang (1) Jake Dunning (2) Jake Peavy (39) Jake Smith (1) Jake Wong (1) Jalen Miller (1) Jandel Gustave (1) Japanese Starters (1) Jarrett Parker (10) Jason Heyward (1) Jason Maxwell (2) Jason Stoffel (1) Javier Lopez (5) JC Gutierrez (3) JD Davis (1) Jean Machi (6) Jeff Kent (1) Jeff Samardzija (28) Jeff Suppan (1) Jeremy Affeldt (12) Jeremy Shelley (2) Jerome Williams (1) Jesse English (2) Jesse Foppert (1) Jesus Guzman (4) Jimmy Rollins (1) Joaquin Arias (14) Joe Panik (18) Joe Torre (1) Joey Bart (6) Joey Martinez (2) Johan Santana (1) John Barr (1) John Bowker (22) John Thorn (1) Johneshwy Fargas (2) Johnny Bench (1) Johnny Cueto (31) Johnny Monell (1) Johnny Rucker (1) Jonah Arenado (1) Jonathan Mayo (1) Jonathan Sanchez (49) Jordan Hicks (1) Jordan Johnson (1) Jorge Soler (2) Jose Canseco (1) Jose Casilla (1) Jose Guillen (3) Jose Mijares (3) Jose Uribe (2) Josh Osich (9) JT Snow (1) Juan Perez (6) Juan Uribe (9) Juggling Monkey (1) Julian Fernandez (7) Julio Urias (1) Jung Hoo Lee (4) jury (1) Just Say No (1) Keaton Winn (1) Kelby Tomlinson (5) Kendry Flores (2) Keury Mella (2) Kevin Correia (2) Kevin Frandsen (22) Kevin Gausman (3) Kevin Pillar (2) Kevin Pucetas (10) KNBR (1) Kung Fu Panda (30) Kyle Crick (16) Kyle Harrison (7) laid off (1) Landen Roupp (1) Larry Baer (3) Larry Ellison (1) Lead-off (2) leadoff (1) left-handed (1) Lew Wolff (1) LHP (1) Lineup (17) lineup construction (4) Lineup position (1) links (1) Logan Webb (3) Lon Simmons (1) long relief (2) Long-Term Contract (22) long-term planning (3) losing streak (1) Lucius Fox (3) luck (2) Luis Angel Mateo (2) Luis Matos (2) Luis Toribio (1) lunatic fringe (1) Mac Marshall (1) Mac Williamson (12) Madison Bumgarner (185) Mailbox (1) Malcolm Gladwell (1) management change (3) management issues (5) managerial value (5) Manny (1) Marc Kroon (2) Marco Luciano (4) Marco Scutaro (12) Mark DeRosa (8) Mark Gardner (1) Mark Melancon (4) Marlon Byrd (1) Martin Agosta (7) Marvin Miller (1) Masahiro Tanaka (1) Mason Black (1) Mason McVay (1) Matsuzaka (1) Matt Cain (160) Matt Chapman (2) Matt Daniels (3) Matt Downs (2) Matt Duffy (8) Matt Graham (1) Matt Holliday (1) Matt Krook (2) Matt Moore (15) Matt Morris (2) Mauricio Dubon (2) Mechanics (4) Media (17) Media Bias (17) media hypocrisy (1) Media Trade Idea (3) Medical (1) Mediocy (11) Mediots (6) Melk-Gone (1) Melky Cabrera (14) Melvin Adon (1) memories (1) mental (1) Merkin Valdez (8) Message in a Bottle (1) methodology (2) MI (1) Michael Conforto (1) Michael Main (1) Michael Reed (1) Michael Trout (1) middle infield (2) Miguel Cabrera (2) Miguel Gomez (1) Miguel Tejada (5) Mike Fontenot (3) Mike Ivie (1) Mike Kickham (9) Mike Leake (11) Mike Matheny (1) Mike Morse (10) Mike Yastrzemski (1) Mike Yazstremski (2) milestone (1) minor league (1) minor league contract (4) minors (11) mismanagement (1) misnomer (1) mistakes (2) MLB (2) MLB stupidity (2) MLB Success (7) MLB Trade Rumors (1) MLBAM (1) MLBTR (1) MLE (1) Mock Draft analysis (8) Modern Portfolio Theory (1) Modus Operandi (2) MPT (1) MVP (2) Natanael Javier (1) Nate Schierholtz (45) Nathanael Javier (1) Nationals (1) Naysayers (2) Negotiations (1) Neil Ramirez (1) NewPQS (8) Next Gen (1) Nick Hundley (2) Nick Noonan (27) Nick Pereira (1) Nick Vander Tuig (2) Nick Vincent (1) NL Champions (2) NL Playoffs (1) NL West (29) NL West Division Title (20) NL West Future (1) NLCS (22) NLCS MVP (2) NLDS (8) Noah Lowry (14) non-roster invitees (2) non-tenders (3) Nori Aoki (4) NPB (1) NRI (1) Oakland A's (4) OBP (1) oddities (1) Offense (4) offensive era (1) ogcPQS (6) Omar Vizquel (3) one-run games (3) Opener (1) openers (1) Opening Day (6) opening day pitcher (3) opening day roster (11) Optimism (1) Osiris Matos (2) Outfield (3) outfielder curse (1) overturned (1) Ownership (7) Pablo Sandoval (97) Padres (1) Panda (6) Pandoval (1) passing (1) Pat Burrell (15) Pat Misch (5) Patrick Bailey (2) Payroll (11) PECOTA (1) Pedro Feliz (12) PEDS (10) Perfect Game (2) perjury trial (1) personal (2) Personal Reminiscence (2) Pessimism (1) Pete Palmer (1) Pete Putila (1) Pete Rose (3) Peter Magowan (2) Phil Bickford (3) Phillies (7) philosophy (1) Phoenix Theory of Rebuilding (1) Pierce Johnson (2) Pitch Count (3) pitch framing (1) pitch value (1) Pitcher hitting 8th (1) pitcher’s health (1) Pitchers League (1) Pitching (27) pitching analysis (4) pitching department (1) pitching development (4) Pitching Rotation (90) pitching staff (6) pitching strategy (2) plate discipline (1) platoon players (2) Play Ball (1) player acquisition (1) player budget (2) player development (8) playoff (2) playoff analysis (6) playoff competitiveness (1) playoff hopes (39) playoff roster (2) playoff rotation (6) Playoff Success (29) Playoff Win Effective (3) Playoff Win Efficient (2) Playoffs (44) postmortem (2) PQS (109) press conference (2) pressure (2) priorities (1) Projected Record (6) projection (2) projections (2) promotion (2) prospect (4) prospect analysis (7) prospect future (2) prospect handling (1) Prospect of Note (3) prospect promotion (1) prospect study (3) Prospects (46) QO costs (1) quality starts (1) questions (1) radio great (1) Rafael Rodriquez (8) Rajai Davis (2) Ralph Barbieri (1) Ramon Ramirez (3) Randy Johnson (10) Randy Messenger (2) Randy Winn (14) Rangers (5) Ranking (4) rant (1) raspberry (1) rationalization (1) Ray Durham (5) Rayner Arias (1) re-sign (2) realist (1) Rebuilding (5) Rebuilding Myths series (1) rebuttal (1) Red Sox (1) Reds (5) Reggie Crawford (1) rehab (1) reliever (3) relievers (1) Relocation Concession (2) Research (2) resource scarcity (1) rest for starters (1) Retired (3) Retirement (3) return (1) Reyes Moronta (3) RHP (1) Ricardo Genoves (1) Rich Aurilia (7) Rick Peterson (1) Rickie Weeks (1) Ricky Oropesa (3) right-handed (1) risk mitigation (2) risk profile (1) Roberto Gomez (1) Rockies (2) Rod Beck (1) Roger Kieschnick (13) Roger Metzger (1) Ron Shandler (2) Ron Wotus (1) Ronnie Jebavy (1) Ronnie Ray (1) rookie debut (1) Rookie of the Year (1) Roster (4) rosterbation (2) Rotation by Committee (1) Rotation Chaos (1) ROY (2) Royals (3) Rule 5 (2) Rule 5 Draft Pick (5) rumors (9) run differential (1) run prevention (1) run production (1) runs support (1) Russ Ortiz (11) Russell Carleton (1) Ryan Garko (2) Ryan Klesko (4) Ryan Rohlinger (2) Ryan Theriot (3) Ryan Vogelsong (93) Ryder Jones (2) Sabean Naysayers (7) Sabermetric Thoughts (6) sabermetrics (5) SABR (1) Salary speculation (3) SALLY (1) Sam Dyson (7) Sam Long (1) Sam Selman (1) Sam Wolff (1) San Jose Giants (1) San Jose Relocation (3) Sandro Fabian (2) Sandy Rosario (1) Santiago Casilla (9) scenarios (1) Scott Boras (1) Scott Harris (2) Scott McClain (2) Scott Shuman (1) Scouting (2) Sean Hjelle (5) season review (1) secret sauce (2) Sergio Romo (17) Seth Corry (6) SF Giants (2) Shilo McCall (1) Shohei Ohtani (3) Shohei Otani (2) Shooter (1) shutouts (1) Signature Song (1) signing (13) Silly-Ball (3) South Atlantic League (1) South Bay Rights (1) SP usage (1) spin rate (1) splits (2) Sports Illustrated (1) Spring Training (16) stabilized stats (1) standings (1) starting CF (1) starting lineup (19) starting pitching (96) starting rotation (5) StatCast (2) Statcorner (1) State of the Giants (1) statistics (2) STATS (1) Steamer (1) Stephen Vogt (1) Steroids (7) Steve Edlefsen (4) Steve Johnson (3) Steve Okert (8) Steven Duggar (7) strikeout rate (2) Sue Burns (1) sunk costs (1) superstition (1) tactics (1) talent evaluation (4) Tax (1) team culture (1) Team of the 2010's (2) Team of the 2020's (1) Team of the Decade (4) Team Speed (1) Team Support (1) Thank You (2) The Evil Ones (tm) (1) The Giants Way (2) The Hardball Times (1) The Hey Series (19) The Hey Zaidi Series (4) Thomas Joseph (3) Thomas Neal (9) Tigers (4) Tim Alderson (17) Tim Hudson (39) Tim Lincecum (195) TINSTAAPP (1) Todd Linden (3) Todd Wellemeyer (6) Tommy Joseph (3) Tony Watson (4) Top 100 Prospects (1) Top 14 Roster (1) Top Draft Position (4) top Giants prospects (6) top player list (1) top prospect list (6) Trade (12) Trade Analysis (22) Trade Idea (9) Trade PTBNL (2) Trade Rumors (30) trading (1) training staff (2) Training Tool (1) transitional season (1) Travis Blackley (1) Travis Ishikawa (47) Trevor Brown (5) Trevor Gott (1) tribute (1) Tristan Beck (2) turning point (1) Ty Blach (23) Tyler Austin (1) Tyler Beede (10) Tyler Cyr (1) Tyler Horan (1) Tyler McDonald (1) Tyler Rogers (2) Tyler Walker (2) umpire mistake (3) Umpires (3) USA Today (1) utility (1) Voros McCracken (1) Waiver Roulette (1) Waldis Joaquin (5) walks (1) Wall of Fame (1) WAR (4) Warrior Spirit (1) Wendell Fairley (10) What-If Scenario (3) wild card (1) wild card race (1) Will Bednar (1) Will Clark (1) Will Smith (7) Will Wilson (3) Williams Jerez (1) Willie Mac Award (1) Willie Mays (1) Willy Adames (1) winning on the road (1) Winter League (1) winter meetings (3) World Series (28) World Series Champions (14) WS Ring Bling (1) xBABIP (1) xwOBA (1) Yankees (1) Yusmeiro Petit (40) Zack Cozart (2) Zack Minasian (2) Zack Wheeler (9) Zaidi Haters (1) Zaidi MO (2) Zaidi Rotation (3) ZiPS (1) Zito Role (2)