Saturday, June 23, 2007

Giant Issues

Today we're going to talk some MLB. My San Francisco Giants keep proving they're one of the worst teams in the Majors.

Last nights game vs. the Yankees definitely proved that as well. They continue to struggle at the plate. They just can't put up any runs and when they do, they can't ever hold a lead. I think it's time to make some changes in this organization. In my eyes, everything is revolving around Barry Bonds, especially the HR chase. Which needs to stop.

This team is getting older by the second I mean you have Ray Durham, Omar Vizquel, Mark Sweeney, Bonds, and Dave Roberts who are all 35 and older. It's time to get some young talent in there. The Giants could be utilizing Fred Lewis or some other young guy who could catch fly balls in LF that Barry misses by 5 feet. Bonds is flat out embarrassing in LF and it's time for them to start bringing in some young talent. Maybe they should consider moving him to 1B or not playing him at all.

As for pitching, I think they brought up Tim Lincecum a year early. He started off the year well, but now he is struggling and is continuing to get shelled. He would have been better off pitching in AA or AAA this season instead of getting throttled in the Majors.

Back to Bonds, this needs to be his last year with the Giants. They cannot continue to waste their money on him. It is a must for them to bring in some young talent for the future this off season or maybe even later in the year.

Red Sox continue to dominate
Just wanted to talk a little bit about Boston. On paper, no one can beat these guys; not Detroit, not Cleveland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, nor the New York Mets. They just continue to impress. Their bullpen is phenomenal, the starting rotation is awesome (especially Matsuzaka), and the whole lineup is producing as well. I really think no one will stop them come the end of the regular season. As of right now, they're my pick to be in the World Series.


Any other thoughts on the Red Sox or Giants?

5 comments:

Kevin Hayward said...

A couple of thoughts on the Giants from a fellow Giants fan:

* In a weird way, I'm glad the Giants are doing poorly this year. That means that they'll be a seller at the trading deadline this year, and hopefully we'll be able to jettison a few of our old-timers, such as Matt Morris and Ray Durham. That will give some of the youngsters more time to prove their salt. I'm especially high on Kevin Frandsen.

* I'd have to disagree about Tim Lincecum being called up too early. I cringed when he got the promotion, but only because that means that the clock is ticking on his years with us before his eligbility for free agency. As someone who watched him pitch up close (I covered his start against the Tacoma Rainiers for the local paper)), I can tell you that he has no business being anywhere in the minor leagues. This year can be a great learning experience for him, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he can escape from this season with his confidence in tact.

Anonymous said...

Lincecum should have stayed in the minors? The only place he'll learn to perfect the missing changeup and curveball/fastball location that will be sufficient to get major league hitters out is, um, the majors. His stuff was so good he didn't need to perfect his craft to accumulate those absurd stats in the minors. He's here to stay, and he'll be better for it later this season and beyond.

Stefan Ming said...

Well, would you want him to lose his confidence, or be more ready for the majors by gaining more valuable experience in the AA or AAA? What does giving up 6 ER every outing do for you? Why have him get shelled every night in the majors in stead of him developing some confidence? He would be better off pitching in the minors this year.

Luke said...

A couple thoughts from another fellow Giants fan...

-Lincecum has no business being in the minors, Kevin is exactly right. He has shown that he's much too talented to be in AAA, and there's really no room for him to develop there (giving up 1 ER run in all his starts there). At least in the majors he'll be able to get himself adjusted to major-league hitters. Sure, he may take a hit in confidence, but he'll learn much more and learn at a faster pace in the majors.

-To Kevin: sure we can hope for a fire sale of the old farts, but don't be suprised if this doesn't happen. Sabean has never shown an ability or desire to do this. Also, keeping the veterans' expiring contracts could get them comp draft picks in next years' draft (which is what I'd rather do). I can never root for the team to lose, but at least we won't be seeing any young guys for "proven veteran" trades (Lord-willing).

-Bonds isn't as horrible as you make him out to be in the field (he's still pretty smart, he's just lost a step and has never had a great arm), but he's definitely not a great fielder. It's exciting to see him break the record this year, but I agree that it will be time to part ways at year-end and free up some salary money.

-As I said in a post on my blog, if the Giants don't make a big run before the All-Star break, play the kids. Schierholtz/Ortmeier/Lewis are the most exciting things about the Giants that are not named Lincecum. Let's see how that group and Frandsen can do!

-Sox look killer, if they stay healthy I see no reason they shouldn't win the Series this year.

Stefan Ming said...

Why keep him in the Majors when he's giving up 6 runs a start? It's not doing him any good... another year in the minors would have helped a lot.