In this morning's Chronicle.

A couple of brief excerpts from a terriifc, very long article (excellent photos too):

They call him "Papa" here in his hometown. Angel Villalona is the baseball hero you go to when you need uniforms for the youth ball league, bats or gloves for the neighborhood kids, a little money to help with the bills.

It's hard to find anyone in town who's not rooting for Villalona. He is their inspiration for a better life.

 "Angel was so poor that many days he only ate once," said Hochi Leandro Nolasco, manager of the La Romana youth league....

Out on Nolasco's ball field, a spread of dirt spotted by stones and wild-grass patches, 30 kids ages 6 to 14 practiced hitting and throwing one day last week under a 100-degree sun. It looks the same as when Villalona was there four years ago: Used tires, logs and concrete chunks serve as bleachers, and a highway roars alongside left field.

"Angel is the best," 6-year-old Eligio Parede said breathlessly after smacking a fastball past first base. "He buys us uniforms, gives us bats. He is Papa. I want to be like Angel."

All around, the other players grinned hugely and called out, "Angel! Papa!"

Villalona, through the court and his attorney, has refused interview requests. But his family and friends, who include the co-owner of Tony's, say he had nothing to do with the shooting.

"I was sitting on the sidewalk right here with Angel when suddenly people spilled out of the bar, fighting," said co-owner Jose de la Cruz. "I heard one shot, and everyone left, including Angel."

He shook his head sadly. "Angel only turned himself in to clear things up. People say he did this because they want to squeeze him for his money. He doesn't own a gun. He helps you out if you are short on your bills. At Christmas he gives out food. He is not a troublemaker."

 I so hope he didn't do it.

So says Schulman, with confirmation from Kline, so its a done deal. Ten days to deal or release him. Merkin and Threets both make the team. The Giants look clueless this spring regarding their lineup, but the pitching decisions seem ok - giving the kids a chance.

Schulman also thinks the Giants may acquire backup catcher Humberto Quintero (good field, no hit) who was dfa'd by Houston.

Choose one: Ortmeier, Frandsen or Velez? 

 

Since the Frandsen-at-short experiment was aborted, the starting infield has been pretty set, with Ortmeier, Durham, Bocock and Aurilia getting the overwhelming number of starts at their respective positions. But now, after the first two weeks of spring training games in which Ortmeier started virtually every game at first and really struggled offensively, the Giants seem to be moving to Plan B. For the first time that I can recall, Bochy was quoted in the weekend papers as saying that Aurilia could start at first (ResDog links to this in the diary below) - and Richie then played 1b with the A team in Cain's game against the Angels.

 

Essentially, with Aurilia starting somewhere (whether at first or third), the question is which one of the three kids do you want in the lineup - Ortmeier, Frandsen or Velez. The writers seem to have assumed that Frandsen gets first dibs at third, but interestingly Bochy had Velez at 3b against the Angels, alongside Aurilia, Durham and Bocock, and started Frandsen in the other game with mostly minor leaguers. For a while now he has been playing the starters together, so this might be an indication that he's leaning Velez' way. Which would be seriously cool by my book.

 

Note: In today's game Ortmeier and Frandsen aren't in the lineup, neither is Aurilia, and Velez is at 2b.

 

Shortstop: not Bocock, but who? 

 

In the last 13 days (today included) Bocock has started at short 11 times, so its pretty clear what the Giants are thinking in terms of a stopgap while Vizquel is out. But after a promising start his offense has been pretty brutal - not surprising for a guy who has been in the minors only a year and a half and didn't hit in high-A last year. The downside of adding him to the 40-man roster two years before he is rule 5-eligible (just to replace Omar for the first two weeks of the season) is considerable. In addition to the risk of messing up his development, flipping the options hourglass this year means he'd be out of options in 2011 rather than 2013 - quite a gamble.

 

So who, then? Burriss obviously has similiar issues, and doesn't have the defense. Aurilia hasn't played an inning at short all spring, so its not going to be him. Which seems to leave Ochoa. Given the dearth of options, he would be my choice for a 2-week stopgap but Bochy is hardly playing him - Ochoa has started only 4 games all spring, and subbed in only 5 others. With no one on the immediate horizon, the only other possibility is a trade - hopefully for a youngster blocked somewhere who can back up Vizquel this year and then move in as the starter. Otherwise we'll be back in the same situation next year.

 

What is it with the pickoffs? And: Fred Lewis 

 

Freddie Lewis was picked off first on Sunday. And on the previous Thursday. During the last week or so, Davis, Velez, Durham, Denker and Leone have also been picked off. WHAT is going on? First every starting pitcher seems to be trying out a new windup - now the baserunners are trying out taking leads with their eyes closed? Does anyone have Roberto Kelly's cellphone number?

 

Lewis worries me. In addition to his poor baserunning, there is the issue of his apparently brutal defense. GiantsFan9 has written a few times in his spring training blog about Lewis' bad routes, dropped balls, poor throws. Sometimes he seems like he might become a glorious hitter, but you wonder if he's the kind of player who is just incapable of "getting it" as far as the other stuff is concerned. Kind of like a Pedro Feliz in reverse.

 

Long relief? 

 

With the rotation set (assuming our guys stop screwing around in the first inning), who's in the bullpen? Wilson, Walker and Hennessey seem like locks. Taschner has pitched well. Kline seems to be on the trading block (though Andy Baggarly says today that he might be released), which would hopefully allow Threets to stick around. I think we're all rooting for Merkin (great AP article on him by Janie McCauley today). Chulk would make it seven, but he's out with tendinitis and it would surprise me if he was ready in time for the start of the season. Chris Haft (nice to see he's back) says the Giants want someone for long relief, with the candidates being Misch, Santos and Yabu. Umm, Misch please.

 

Minor league moves 

Randy Messenger has signed a minor league deal with the Giants - I guess he's going to be a Grizzly this year after all. BA and the San Jose Giants website (a pleasantly surprising source of information this spring) have listed a bunch of minor league pitchers the Giants have already released: Darren Sack, Adam Ortiz-Jusino, John Odom, Ivan Herrera-Rusova (too bad: you had to root for a pitcher from Canada who was born in Cuba and whose father was Russian), Gregorio Martinez, Ryan McGrath, Josue Gomez, Ricky Bauer, Alberto Montes. 

 

Will Villalona's move to 1b affect who we draft? 

 

Jim Callis at Ask BA now thinks the Giants will take a pitcher. He's assuming that the first 4 picks will be - in some order - Alvarez, Beckham, Crow and Matusz. 

 

As for the draft, teams picking at the top of the draft usually worry about taking the best player available (unless signability is a factor) and not so much about the strengths or weaknesses of the organization. However, Villalona's shift from third base has to decrease the Giants' chances of selecting another first baseman at No. 5. Though Villalona is still just 17 and a ways from the majors, it wouldn't make much sense to take a slugging first baseman who can't move to another position when San Francisco has so many other holes to fill.

Complicating matters is the fact that first basemen represent the greatest strength in this year's draft. When the Giants' pick comes around, Florida high schooler Eric Hosmer, Smoak and Alonso will be three of the most talented players available. The best guess at this point is that San Francisco will opt for a pitcher, with Missouri high school righthander Tim Melville, Eastern Kentucky lefty Christian Friedrich and Fresno State righty Tanner Scheppers among the candidates.

Oh well...

Spring training just around the corner, Fan Fest today - and a couple of articles on the Enchanter in this morning's papers. What could be more glorious (other than having corner infielders)?

Schulman and Baggarly report that Timmy is working on a sharp slider. "I plan to be a four-pitch starter," says the lad (bless his heart).  And, says he, "it's looking like a strikeout pitch". Now, is that sweet or what?

Plus, he's psyched that the fans were so strongly against trading him.

Other encouraging notes of interest:

The Giants will be scouting hitters in spring training and, says Sabean: "If a position player could help us, it'll be long-term". Sure hope that rules out trading for Crede (I prefer to ignore the possibility of signing him to a Borasesque-level extension).

Several clubs plan to scout Noah to see if his elbow is sound. Giants say he's fine.

Bochy says Roberts will go into camp as the "frontrunner" in LF, but Sabean is less clear. On the one hand he says "we hope Dave comes back to form", on the other hand there's "But you're going to have to find a way to get (the younger) guys in there. I'd hate like hell to be in a position to send any one of them back to the minor leagues". Me, I'll always take the more optimistic route, so I prefer to read that as somewhat encouraging.

The links:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/09/SPFLUV4JN.DTL
http://www.mercurynews.com/sportsheadlines/ci_8210696

I love baseball. Go Giants.

The Little Giants have announced their 2008 staff. As anticipated, Steve Decker replaces Sakata as manager, after 3 years managing Salem Keizer. New pitching coach is Pat Rice, who has been Seattle's minor league pitching coordinator the last 8 years. Gary Davenport returns as hitting coach after 2 years with Connecticut.

http://www.sjgiants.com/ArDisplay.aspx?ID=1101&SecID=27

BA latest transactions page has the Giants signing Japanese RHP Keiichi Yabu to a minor league contract. He'll turn 40 this year, so nothing dramatic about this. Yabu pitched in 40 games for the A's in 2005 (anyone see him then?). In 2006 the Rockies released him in ST and he pitched in Mexico. I don't know about 2007.

Also the Giants re-signed Justin Leone to a minor league contract. Just a few years ago he was a pretty highly-rated 3b prospect with Seattle, last year he played all over the IF and OF at Fresno.

Finally, Andy Baggarly writes in today's Merc that the Giants have been talking to Scott Boras about Dallas McPherson. All right! Seeing as how he had back surgery in January and only started his comeback in instructional league in September, its hard to imagine McPherson playing in the majors this year, but signing him and letting him work his way back in Fresno would be a great move. Here's an article on him, before the non-tender:

http://futureangels.mlblogs.com/futureangels/2007/12/the_return_of_d.html

In a (non-subscribers-only) chat on the fall leagues, BA's Chris Kline says the most extraordinary thing about his expectations for Velez in 2008:

Q:  Mark from Skokie asks: Who of the AFL National League prospects do you see making the biggest impact in 2008?
A:  Chris Kline: Eugenio Velez, Giants; Sam Fuld, Cubs; Matt Antonelli, Padres; and I'll go out on a limb and say that Rockies lefty Sean Thompson could be a bullpen fit.

Q:  Russ from Chicago asks: Matt Antonelli has not fared very well thus far in the AFL. With Marcus Giles not coming back to San Diego next year, what are Antonelli's chances of even having a realistic shot of claiming the 2B job this coming spring?
A:  Chris Kline: Going back to the last answer, I think it's very realistic.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/chat/chat.php?id=2007110201

I include the second question, about Antonelli, because it clarifies what Kline means by impact - he expects Velez to start for the Giants next year. Wow. Add this to the Kline article that keenlow posted in his diary a few days ago (NL scout even lauding Velez' defensive skills at 2b (!) and expecting him to spend all of 2008 in SF), and its dizzying. But, but... despite his breakout season at Augusta he didn't make BA's Giants top-30 list coming into this year; and just a month ago John Manuel didn't even include Velez on his Eastern League top-20 list; and during his September callup I remember an article about the coaches working with Velez on his serious defensive deficiencies at 2b, especially his throwing.

Eugenio Velez starting for the Giants at 2b next year and leading off? Now there's an exciting thought. Man, I hope Chris Kline isn't just messing with us.

www.minorleaguebaseball.com has posted an interview with Giants' Director of Player Development Jack Hiatt that was done a couple of days ago. Interviews with Hiatt are always fun, he's such an enthusiastic guy, but this time he seems more excited than ever about the kids in the Giants system:

They're crazy about Burris, with his game-altering speed and natural shortstop skills.

David Maroul has great "untapped power".

So far Marcus Sanders looks great in camp and his shoulder seems fine. It has been decided that he will not play short. They hope for him to play second at San Jose, if his shoulder holds up, with Burris at short

They love Velez' hitting, he's a terrific athlete but they aren't sure he'll be able to stay at second. They played him at center in Instructional League and he was terrific there. Hiatt really sounded enthusiastic about him.

EME looks better than he ever has, stronger and thinner. He's "a genuine major league hitter". What sets him apart as a prospect at this stage is his ability to hit curves as well as fastballs.

Some other points:

They'd rather have Lincecum work as a starter for now, because there he'll have room for error, whereas as a reliever he wouldn't have that luxury. But they haven't decided on his ultimate roll yet.

Frandsen has the ability to play second, short or third "very well". They see him as a future starting second baseman. He sounded as if he'd prefer Frandsen spend the year in the minors rather than sit on the bench with the Giants, since he hasn't had a lot of minor league at-bats.

When Russ Ortiz was coming up through the system, the Giants moved him to the bullpen in order to force him to concentrate on each pitch, because he had been so wild in college.

If they decide at the end of the spring that Sanchez' future role with the team is as a reliever, they'll pitch him in relief in Fresno too if he's sent down.

Its fun to  listen to Hiatt. Not sure how to post the link - help, anyone? - but right now its on the upper right-hand corner of the www.minorleaguebaseball.com homepage.

The BA transactions page lists two new Giants minor league moves. Most importantly, the Giants signed an Australian high school pitcher named Cameron Lamb (great name). Googled this article from Australia about the signing, with more encouraging stuff about the Giants enhanced scouting efforts abroad:

http://www.baseball.com.au/site/baseball/abf/downloads/PRO%20SIGNINGS/Giant%20Australia%20Day%20for% 20Perth%20Teenager.doc

The second move isn't significant, just cute: the Giants traded catcher Nick Conte, Stan's son, to the Dodgers (for "future considerations", which means zilch). He was a 13th-round pick in 2003 but never progressed beyond low-A.

The Giants have announced the minor league coaching staffs for 2007.

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070129&content_id 1789206&vkey=pr_sf&fext.jsp&c_id=sf

The Arizona club has a new hitting coach. The staffs in Salem-Keizer, Augusta, San Jose and Connecticut remain the same. In Fresno there is a new manager (Dan Rohn, from the Seattle organization) replacing Shane Turner, who becomes the new roving outfield and baserunning coach (Darren Lewis is no longer with the organization, it seems). And Fresno has a new pitching coach - Mike Caldwell (who the Giants once traded Willie McCovey for).

There is no mention anywhere of Trevor Wilson - neither in the press release nor in Draper's piece (unrelated newsflash: in the new Mailbag Draper reveals that Justin Hedrick is a lefty), and a quick Google search turned up nothing. Anyone know anything? Wilson was such a great coach and overall cool guy, what a bummer if he left the organization.

Here's the non-subscriber content:

Drafting the young arm with the best pure stuff in the 2006 draft was a good start. Add an intriguing sign out of the Dominican Republic, and the Giants have the makings of a farm system.

Excellent Prospects
1. Tim Lincecum, rhp

Very Good Prospects

2. Angel Villalona, 3b
   
3. Jonathan Sanchez, lhp

Good Prospects
4. Emmanuel Burriss, ss

Average Prospects

5. Eddy Martinez-Estevee, lf
   
6. Sharlon Schoop, ss
   
7. Fred Lewis, lf/cf
   
8. Nate Schierholtz, lf
   
9. Billy Sadler, rhp
   
10. Mike McBryde, cf
1. Tim Lincecum, rhp
   

DOB: 6/15/84
Height/Weight: 5-11/160
Bats/Throws: L/R
Drafted: 1st round, 2006, University of Washington
What he did in 2006: 0.00 ERA at Short Season (4-1-0-10), 1.95 ERA at High A (27.2-13-12-48)
The Good: Best pure stuff of any 2006 draftee. Despite looking like a 13-year-old on the mound, Lincecum's unorthodox mechanics and the fastest arm action you'll ever see allow him to unleash 92-96 mph fastballs while touching 98-99 and maintaining that velocity throughout the game. Curveball is an even better offering, grading out by many scouts as a pure 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. Slider and changeup are there and usable. Despite size and delivery, arm was remarkably resilient in college, as he often closed 1-2 days after racking up a high pitch count without ever having problems with arm soreness.
The Bad: Control can be a problem at times. Lincecum walked 216 in 342 college innings, and while he made significant improvements this year, his rate was still a relatively high 4.52 per nine innings.
The Irrelevant: The three highest single-season strikeout totals in Washington history are Lincecum's junior (199), freshman (161) and sophomore (131) seasons.
In a Perfect World, He Becomes: An all-star starter or an all-star closer.
Gap Between What He is Now, And What He Can Be: Low - Lincecum could have pitched out of the Giants bullpen at the end of 2006, but the team decided against it for a variety of reasons. He'll likely start 2007 at Double-A, and could be in the majors as early as the All-Star break.

2. Angel Villalona, 3b
DOB: 8/13/90
Height/Weight: 6-3/210
Bats/Throws: R/R
Signed: 2006, Dominican Republic
What he did in 2006: Signed a contract three days after his 16th birthday that included a $2.1 million bonus.
The Good: Absolute man-child and the top international prospect of the year. Already has plus-plus power to all fields and advanced pitch recognition. Good fielder with soft hands and a plus arm. Even an above-average runner.
The Bad: Um, he's 16! There will obviously be some weaknesses in his game, but we won't know what they are until they are exposed. At his age and his size, he could easily outgrow third base, but he's athletic enough where the backup plan is right field instead of first base.
The Irrelevant: International scouts saw Villalona hit a 400-foot home run with a wooden bat . . . when he was 13.
In a Perfect World, He Becomes: The sky is the limit, though Villalona is still on the ground. Whispers of the next Miguel Cabrera are understandable at this point.
Gap Between What He is Now, And What He Can Be: Very High - Again, he's 16. The Giants won't reveal their plans for Villalona, but all signs point to either a slow introduction to professional baseball with a year in the Dominican Summer League, or a half season in the Arizona Rookie League.

3. Jonathan Sanchez, lhp
DOB: 11/19/82
Height/Weight: 6-2/165
Bats/Throws: L/L
Drafted: 27th round, 2004, Ohio Dominican University
What he did in 2006: 1.15 ERA at AA (31.1-14-9-46); 3.80 ERA at AAA (23.2-13-13-28); 4.95 ERA at MLB (40-39-23-33)
The Good: Strong-armed lefty was moved to the bullpen in order to accelerate his progression, but moved back to the rotation and ended up making big league debut as a starter. 91-93 mph fastball is a plus pitch for a lefty, and changeup features excellent arm action. Goes after hitters with aggressive style that serves him well.
The Bad: Has tendency to overthrow breaking ball which causes it to lose break and get elevated, leaving it highly hittable. Has problems throwing strikes at times.
The Irrelevant: Sanchez's dominating four-year career at tiny NAIA Ohio Dominican included four no-hitters.
In a Perfect World, He Becomes: A No. 3 starter.
Gap Between What He is Now, And What He Can Be: Low - The signing of Barry Zito makes things a little more difficult for Sanchez, but he'll likely beat Brad Hennessey out for the final slot in the Giants rotation.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=5783

Sorry the formatting seems to get screwed up in the transfer.