SAN FRANCISCO — Here’s the thing that makes these San Francisco Giants different: They’re lovable. These Giants won the National League West title on Sunday with a 3-0 victory over San Diego, and it had been seven years, going back to 2003, since the Giants made the postseason. But a LOVABLE Giants team in the postseason? For that, you have to go back a long time… a long, long time.

"Somebody GIVE ME A HUG!" Giants reliever Sergio Romo shouted in the clubhouse as champagne splattered all around him. "Why am I standing all alone here? SOMEBODY ON MY TEAM GIVE ME A HUG!"

For all those years in the 1990s, in the early 2000s, the Giants were all about one man standing all alone… one brilliant, moody, thrilling, haunted, indomitable and often ticked-off man named Barry Bonds. He was so good at playing baseball, so preposterously good, that the San Francisco fans had to try and embrace him. They tried hard. He was the Charlie Parker of baseball, the Billie Holliday of baseball, the Marlon Brando of baseball, a pure genius, a force of nature, and San Francisco was awed by his magnificence. It is worth noting that for four years in a row, Barry Bonds’ on-base percentages were .515, .582, .529 and .609 — these happen to be four of the top nine in baseball since 1900. Yes, awe was the only viable response to Bonds’ genius as a baseball player, and so awe was what the Giants were about for the last couple of decades.

But this Giants team… no, this team isn’t about awe. This is a "somebody give me a hug" kind of team. Their best hitter, Aubrey Huff, has been on five different teams the last five seasons. Their closer, Brian Wilson, wears a tuxedo-black beard. Their ace, the pitching dude, Tim Lincecum, was asked on Sunday if he had thought about pitching on Monday — had the Giants lost the game, he would have had to pitch the one-game playoff for the division title. His response: Yeah, he thought about it. And because he thought about it, he didn’t have to think about it anymore. And that way he could enjoy the game. There’s a brilliant logic to it, if you think about it (but don’t think about it too much).....

 

http://joeposnanski.si.com/2010/10/03/these-lovable-giants/?eref=sihp

Couldn't agree more Joe, couldn't agree more. I love this team so much, they have been so much fun to watch this year.

In past Giants seasons, there has always been a scapegoat for how the season didn't go as planned. Scapegoats have mostly been made my the fans, media and management. In prior years we have seen Dusty Baker, Barry Bonds, A.J. Pierzynski, Jose Cruz Jr., Felipe Alou, Dustin Hermanson, Carney Lansford, etc. Only Baker and Bonds ever really were brought back after a season in which they received serious heat. Bonds was scapegoated mostly due to injury though, not for lack of performance. And Baker survived in 2000, only to move on after 2002.

Never once has Brian Sabean received REAL criticism for failed seasons. Nor has ownership. Yeah us here may have dished it out, but the stupid media, casual fans (who there are a lot more of), etc all seem to think the team is sincere in it's approach. Obviously if that were true some of these players might not have been blamed for the failure of an entire organization.

So because it's painfully obvious that Sabean won't be blamed this year and will keep on truckin' as the teflon man, who will be the scapegoat for this season? Mind you, they likely would not be brought back as a Giant next year. As I see it, there are plenty of candidates this season:

Bruce Bochy is the most obvious scapegoat candidate. Managers are high profile enough that making a change passifies the masses for usually at least 2 seasons. This is Bochy's fourth, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him be fired for the team's performance this year, especially if it continues to sag and leads to a losing record.

Another is Bengie Molina. While the hatred for Molina's poor play has been found here among the McCoven for quite some time, only now are people really starting to notice. Of course, it will be convenient to scapegoat Molina for his poor hitting and defense this season, as he's going to be a Free Agent anyway at the end of the season. But I can hear it now, "If Bengie had just hit like he did in 2008, we would have made the playoffs."

One potential scapegoat  that might be starting to form (I hope not) is Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval is having the first real slump of his career and he was expected to carry the offense this year, and carry a more acceptable amount of weight. He has done neither so far, but I'm not really sure that is fair to put on him. Hopefully all the double plays and baserunning blunders do not lead to his being given away for pennies on the dollar just to passify KNBR and the sad sack casual fan base the Giants have.

Last but not least, and the least likely IMO, is Buster Posey. God forbid the kid goes into a real slump, which could occur just in the fact that he is stuck behind shitty veterans everyday and not given ample playing time. I can hear all the stupid criticism already for the fact that he didn't make the impact of a Strasburg or that Santana guy. Luckily I don't think the Giants are even that dumb. Larry Baer knows they have real marketing impact with a kid like Posey.

My money for now is on Bochy or Bengie. Let's just hope Panda picks it up with his bat, and Posey is actually allowed to play so that he doesn't get Bowker'd.

Entering 2005, both Matt Cain and Felix Hernandez were among the top 15 prospects in baseball. Cain was rated #13 in Baseball America's annual Top 100 Prospects list and Hernadez was ranked 2nd. Both were young phenoms on their way to AAA that year before making their major league debuts in the 2nd half of the 2005 season. Cain was the oldest of the pairing at age 20, and Hernandez was 19.

So it was only natural for both of these young prospects to often get compared to one another, and Hernandez usually came with the higher accolades, due to his younger age and better stuff. Hernandez tore up the PCL in '05, going 9-4 with a 2.25 ERA in 19 games (14 starts) with 100 K's in 88 IP and 48 BB, while giving up only 3 HR. Matt Cain fared well for a 20 year old, with a 10-5 record and 4.39 ERA in 26 games (26 starts) with 176 K in 145 2/3 IP. But Cain also walked 73 and gave up 22 gopher balls.

Hernandez would go 4-4 in 12 starts in the majors that year with a 2.67 ERA with very good numbers of 77 K in 84 1/3 IP while allowing only 23 BB, 61 H, and 5 HR.

Cain went 2-1 in 7 starts with a 2.33 ERA and 30 K in 46 1/3 with 24 H, 19 BB, and 4 HR allowed.

Since then Hernandez has been anointed as one of the best pitchers in baseball, while Cain has been mired in obscurity due to the emergence of Tim Lincecum, and because the Giants putrid offense has given him the worst run support in the league since he's entered it in 2005. Both Cain and Hernandez have thrown in exactly 148 games since entering the league in '05, here are their results:

Hernandez (24) 148 Games (all starts), 8 CG, 3 Shutouts, 969 IP, 929 H, 417 R, 374 ER, 86 HR, 312 BB, 868 K, 60 - 45, 1.28 WHIP, .253 BAA, 3.47 ERA

Cain (25) 148 Games, 147 starts, 10 CG, 3 SHO, 940.2 IP, 791 H, 378 R, 361 ER, 80 HR, 371 BB, 780 K, 47 - 55, 1.24 WHIP, .229 BAA, 3.45 ERA

So while Hernandez is proclaimed a true superstar pitcher who has arrived, virtually nobody talks about Matt Cain. Even many casual Giants fans think Cain isn't that good because he "can't win". As you can see by the numbers, Cain stacks up with Hernandez just fine as their peripherals are pretty spot on, with Cain besting Hernandez in some, while Hernandez is better than Cain in others (notably K/BB ratios), but there really hasn't been much that separates the two other than win total.

The saddest part of this is that Cain is 6-35 when the Giants give him 2 runs or less of support, but that Cain's seems to have performed best when he gets no support:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=cainma01&year=Career&t=p#rs

In 51 starts with 0-2 runs of support, Cain has a 3.17 ERA

While Hernandez is at his worst when he gets 6 + runs of support:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=hernafe02&year=Career&t=p#rs

Now I'm not trying to say that Cain is better than Hernandez, just that Cain is deserving of more praise, as he certainly is pretty close to King Felix in terms of performance so far in their careers.

And for those that think Cain has an advantage pitching in the NL, and he'd fair worse in the AL: his numbers in the AL are better than Hernandez vs the NL:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=cainma01&year=Career&t=p#oppon

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=hernafe02&year=Career&t=p#oppon

Granted the sample is only that of like half a season of work, but I think the whole thing about advantage pitching in one league over the other is minimal if any, and these two would be great in either league. Just thought this was an interesting comparison given the paths each player's career has taken. Neither has disappointed so far, but Hernandez has gotten far more acclaim than Cain has. It's even easier to compare when they've had the same amount of appearances and broke in at about the same time. Plus their ages aren't that far apart either. Thought it would make for a good discussion.

Here's a list of potential non-tender FA's that could be made available this off-season according to MLB Trade Rumors. One guy in particular I would like for the Giants to get if he becomes available is Conor Jackson. He played pretty good defense in LF in 2008, granted in a small sample. He had some weird fungal disease that caused him to miss most of this season but he should be healthy enough for winter ball. Jackson knows how to get on base and is a guy who's expected to have developing power....In bold are players I would consider trying to acquire if they became available (not in the first intro part, that's from MLB Trade Rumors, in the list, bolded part is guys I like)

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/nontender-candidates.html

Below I've listed non-tender candidates for each team; it's mostly speculative.  Feel free to debate or add names in the comments; I may add to the list based on that.  A few of these players - Jeff Francoeur, John Maine, Mark Teahen, and Delmon Young - are unlikely, but were included anyway.

 

Jeremy Accardo
Garrett Atkins
Cha Seung Baek
John Bale
Denny Bautista
Jose Bautista
Matt Belisle
Wilson Betemit
Boof Bonser
Chris Bootcheck
Bill Bray
Brian Bruney
Taylor Buchholz
John Buck
Dave Bush
Daniel Cabrera
Buddy Carlyle
Ryan Church
Neal Cotts
Jack Cust
Randy Flores
Jeff Francoeur
Ryan Garko
Joey Gathright
Chad Gaudin
Jody Gerut
Jason Grilli
Gabe Gross
Craig Hansen
Aaron Heilman
Jeremy Hermida
Shawn Hill
Conor Jackson
Mike Jacobs
Bobby Jenks
Kelly Johnson
Logan Kensing
Noah Lowry
John Maine
Andy Marte
Seth McClung
Brandon Medders
Corky Miller
Justin Miller
Sergio Mitre
Dioner Navarro
Scott Olsen
Joel Peralta
Scott Proctor
Robb Quinlan
Kelly Shoppach
Tim Redding
Jeremy Reed
Jason Repko
Cory Sullivan
Jack Taschner
Mark Teahen
Marcus Thames
Josh Towers
Matt Treanor
Doug Waechter
Chien-Ming Wang
DeWayne Wise
Tyler Yates
Delmon Young

I realize he had an AWFUL year. But given the White Sox man-love for Aaron Rowand, would you consider a swap of bad contracts? Rios has more left on his contract, but he seems like a likely candidate to have a bounce back year over Rowand. Rios is younger, a far superior defensive OF'er and I think he would hit better in SF than Rowand would. Plus he's also got 20 + SB potential, so he could improve the team as a baserunner, just because of his speed. I absolutely can't stand Rowand and see getting Rios as a great way to getting him off the team.

Just last year Rios was a 5.5 WAR player. And according to Jim Hendry the Cubs might be hanging onto Bradley, so if that potential swap isn't available, than what do you guys think about Rios?

The one thing that scares me with Rios though is his .ISO has been declining for the past 4 seasons.....So maybe it's not the best of ideas, but how else could we get rid of that sucky gamer that can't resist the outside fastball and slider?

My friend at a 49er forum just posted this in our SF Giants thread....thought it was scarily accurate. This was written I guess by some Padres fan back in 2006.

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?sr=y&msg=22333.1&nav=messages&webtag=ml-padres

Bochyball is very similiar to Martyball, very unexciting
coaching and does not fully utilize the young talent on
their teams. Takes a talented team and wastes it.
Bochyball came into existence because a career bench player became a head coach and always hated warming the bench.
For those unfamiliar with Bochyball here are its basic rules.

1. Never use young talented players with dynamic defensive
skills when you can start older vets with decreased
mobility and range.

2. Never use young talented hitters with power or higher
batting average when you can start some pathetic hitting
veteran because of experience.

3. Never rest an older veteran even in a slump unless he
gives persmission. Regularly rest your young future stars
so older bench player can get regular starts.

4. If older vet gets in a slump, let him play through it even
if it gets really bad. If a younger starter has slightest dip in performance, sit him on bench or send him back to triple A.
If you really screw him up, you can then trade him for
another tired scrub veteran castoff.

5. When selecting playoff rosters, experience is more
important than talent or proven performance.

6. Make sure young talent in playoffs still gets no experience
so you can continue to play experienced vets who have
inferior skills.

Bochyball really is best for teams with aging teams with
no farm system or money to spend where it creates the
least damage. See San Francisco. Of course,
Bochyball, like Martyball, is at cross purposes with managers
trading for new young talent and growth your own
talent from the draft.   

I realize he is coming off an injury but he's currently rehabbing in the minors, and has been asked to play some LF as well...I really think he would be a really good low risk buy for the Giants. The Cards are trying to give him away because of the salary owed to him, and the Giants could probably get him for a bag of balls. If he is able to get healthy in the next week or so we can add a guy capable of playing LF, 1B (platoon with Garko vs RHP) or 3B (assuming he is healthy enough to handle the throws necessary). Plus Glaus immediately would upgrade our lineup yet again and provide nice protection for Pablo. And the best of all it might finally force Molina out of the cleanup hole....

Thoughts?

On Monday, ESPN's baseball page had this 3 part series of articles on the magic number of 100 pitches being some sort of end point for starting pitchers in today's game. It's a long look at how things got to that point and how it might change in the future. Discusses the saber side of things and the scouting side and gets perspective from a lot of different people. There was a lot of interesting stuff in there I thought and was a good read. I figured this would make for a good discussion, and am kinda surprised this hasn't been posted about yet on here. Guess the Garko Mania was just too big!

Anyway here is links to the different articles and a few quotes I found to be interesting....the Kirkjian article is particularly long but has the most information and quotes. Crasnick's pertains to past player comments like from Tom Seaver and Don Sutton and the 3rd one is just a rundown of cautionary tales.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=kurkjian_tim&id=4359938

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=4358940

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4358917

La Russa added, "Young guys today rely on stuff. They throw 100 pitches; they don't pitch 100 pitches. They are max effort on every pitch. And in the minor leagues, they're doing whatever they can to get from Double-A to Triple-A, so the stress level is higher. They're getting to the big leagues younger, there is maximum pressure to perform, and because of that, they are letting it fly. That's how young pitchers develop arm injuries and fatigue. In the old days, pitchers spent time in D ball, C ball; they threw 500-600 innings, sometimes 700-800, on lower levels. There was no carrot out there like there is now to move up. Today's young pitchers are firing 85-90 pitches, fatigue sets in, and the next 15-20 they throw, they're still firing. A veteran at 70 pitches might have all kinds of stuff left. Clubs that have a lot of young pitchers are leery of pushing them because they know it's smart not to push them because they are throwing, not pitching."

We are now obsessed with pitch counts. "It's more mental than physical," said one NL manager. "I have pitchers who come up to me all the time when they come off the mound and ask, 'Is that it?' And I say, 'Yeah, that's it,' because I know they don't want to pitch anymore."

"We have conditioned our pitchers to go 100," Black said. "It didn't used to be that way. When I came up [1981], we pitched until we were ineffective. We would go 125, 130 pitches all the time. Now it's 100. We have pitch limits in Little League, in high school. We are so cautious of their talent, we are not encouraging them to go on. Today's athlete is bigger, stronger and faster than ever. They should be able to do more, but we don't let them."

Hershiser made his major league debut in 1983. "I could rest at certain times during the game: two outs, no one on, seventh hitter up in the National League," he said. "I didn't want to show all my bullets at that time, so I'd throw a BP sinker away and get a ground out. If the guy got a hit, no big deal; you had the eighth and ninth hitters up. But you can't do that today with these lineups. You can't throw only 80 percent of what you have. You can't get by with a get-me-over curveball. What used to not be a big deal is now a huge deal."

High-intensity pitches are often high-stress pitches. Teams all across the major leagues don't just count pitches; they count the number of pitches a pitcher makes under duress. "The philosophy in our organization is, 'How did you get there?"' said Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett. "When we have a 25-to-35-pitch inning, that's highly stressful for a pitcher. Our guys are very conscious of that. When you're in a highly stressful situation -- runner at second base, none out -- one pitch becomes a pitch and a half. We pay attention to that."

Don Sutton, who won 324 games over 23 seasons and never spent a day on the disabled list, calls the quality start a "ridiculous and absurd" statistic that rewards a 4.50 ERA. Sutton favors a new definition, with six innings and two runs or seven innings and three runs as the barometer for quality.

He also views the 100-pitch barrier as an "unsubstantiated, artificial limit" that conditions pitchers to feel fatigued based on a predetermined barrier established by others.

"We're teaching it in Class A ball," Sutton said. "We're telling kids we're not going to let them pitch, we're not going to extend them, and we're not going to see what they're capable of. We're encouraging mediocrity and being very successful at it.

The Giants have had some impressive seasons by a number of pitchers this year, both starters and relievers at various levels. I included Joseph and Wheeler since both are expected to sign as far as I can tell. I was tempted to put a few of the first year draft pick pitchers like Stoffel and Toole in here because it wouldn't surprise me if Stoffel especially ends up in the top 30 come next February. I didn't put Joey Martinez since he made the big league team out of camp and if not for an unfortunate injury probably wouldn't be eligible anymore, plus he's older for a prospect to begin with. Sosa drops due to injury despite a good record and ERA at AA, but his periperals mainly K/9 is down, though his injury status is probably a good cause for that. Durability has to be a concern with him now as that's 2 years in a row he has missed time, this time it's his arm.

Feel free to post your own and comment on mine. Prospect talk is always fun and makes for a good debate.

1. Buster Posey

2. Madison Bumgarner

3. Tim Alderson

4. Thomas Neal

5. Zack Wheeler

6. Angel Villalona

7. Roger Kieschnick

8. Chris Dominguez

9. Scott Barnes

10. Brandon Crawford

11. Rafeal Rodriguez

12. Jesus Guzman

13. Kevin Pucetas

14. Nick Noonan

15. Conor Gillaspie

16. Clayton Tanner

17. Eric Surkamp

18. Tommy Joseph

19. Ari Ronick

20. Ehire Adrianza

21. Francisco Peguero

22. Henry Sosa

23. Aaron King

24. Jesse English

25. Craig Clark

26. Joe Paterson

27. Mike McBryde

28. Brock Bond

29. Kyle Nicholson

30. Wendell Fairley

He just was on with Ralph and Tom and said something to the degree that teams continue to ask for the same 3, 4, 5, guys and that when they keep hearing other teams ask about those guys that it's just re-affirming what their internal feeling about those players is and makes them reluctant to trade them because they could make a real impact for the team in the near future.

I'm guessing Neal is apart of this group, along with MadBum, Alderson, Posey. Nice to get some reassurance that they'd only trade someone like that if they were getting a lot back or a really good player.

He also said 50-50 chance of making a deal, but doesn't forsee anything big coming as of today. Looking more towards a bat, and that with Johnson's injury he's even more reluctant to trade Sanchez than before. And teams see him as being a power reliever too, if they so chose to convert him. Probably the most calm and civil interview he and Ralph have had in quite some time haha.

Now we can debate whether or not the Giants should make any moves at this point, but I'm wondering if Sabes is afraid to make a trade regardless of the situation of the team. Because when you think about it, since the trade of Joe Nathan, the Giants haven't really made a lot of trades. The ones they have made were either really poor choices like Shea Hillenbrand, or dumping crappy players to other teams like Matt Morris for Rajai Davis or Mark Sweeney for Travis Denker.


I'm of the school of thought that the Giants aren't really in a great position to go after what they really need because the players that would be attractive to other teams either are too important a piece to the big club (Cain, Sanchez, Lincecum, Wilson) or they are top 10 prospects in all of baseball and really shouldn't be traded away because the team is still in a rebuilding stage. So because of that, I can't really blame him for not pulling the trigger on moves that probably won't be a big upgrade or help the Giants, but also if the Giants in the next few years reach a position where they are legit contenders, they're going to need to have a GM capable of pulling the trigger to improve the team.

So why do you feel they haven't made any moves?

Does Sabes and Co. see this team as overachieving and they don't want to mortgage what could be a bright future for a shot at the wildcard going head to head vs better teams?

Do the Giants just not have the horses to pry good players away from these other teams?

Is Sabes afraid to make a move with his job on the line despite already having turned in a season good enough to get a contract extension (in the organization's eyes, not so much the fans).So perhaps he's playing it safe?

Or do you think Sabes and Co are happy with the current players/minor leaguers and are content to try to contend with them and look to improve the offense/back end rotation in the winter?

Saw a top 5 favorite player thread on Minor League Ball, and thought it would be a fun thread to start here. I am leaving out Giants players since I think it's a given that guys like Timmy and Panda and Cain etc would be on all of our lists....so here is mine, feel free to list yours and explain why!

1. Joe Mauer - One of the best pure hitters in the game, probably one of the best defensive catchers in the game.

2. Evan Longoria - Picking up right where he left off last year into becoming one of the best young players in the game. Fantastic 3b defense combined with middle of the order power. Also very hard working and should only get better.

3. Chase Utley - As consistent as they come over the past few years....great with the bat and glove. One of the best all-around players in the majors today. Hard not to like the guy, just goes about his business and plays great ball every day.

4. Matt Kemp - I'm sure I'll get tons of flack for this, but I can't help it. Kemp is a raw player who has oozed talent for since he first ditched basketball for baseball full-time. 5 tool player, who continues to improve each year into one of the games better young outfielders. I just find him fun to watch (even if he's a Bum) and it's nice to see players with tons of potential turn their tools into skills.

5. (a.) Roy Halladay - Have been a big fan of his for a long time. He's very efficient, kind of an old school pitcher who is able to go 9 innings every time out. And he's a Yankee killer, so he naturally is a favorite of mine for that.

5. (b.) Dan Haren - Another guy who I can't help but like since he first broke in with the Cardinals. Noah Lowry's old college teammate has done quite well for himself and turned into one of the top pitchers in the game. Good stuff + fantastic command makes for a fun pitcher to watch every 5th day.

I wanted to post this last night, but there's a really good article (and consequently debate in the comments) on comparing the relative value of offensive sluggers who are poor defensively like Adam Dunn, to defensive specialists who bring little value with the bat like Nyjer Morgan. I figure it's a pretty apt thing to look at given all those who think the Giants need to add a bat like Dunn or Jermaine Dye so badly, while ignoring the kind of value that a player like Randy Winn brings, and that in most circumstances Winn is more valuable then most slugging OF'ers, or at least has been in past seasons. 

One thing I think is really interesting also, is the debate over defensive metrics as a whole, as they certainly are not what one could deem being an exact science. Whereas offensive value and stats/metrics etc are a little more clear cut and easy to understand.

Anyway, here is the link and a little blurb for those that haven't already read it. I left out most of the meat, which is where Cameron breaks down their strengths in offense, baserunning and defense and talks about where they each are valuable and by how much etc.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/morgan-dunn

Hitting: Dunn, +45
Baserunning, Morgan, +4
Defense, Morgan, +35

Total: Dunn, +6

The gap between Dunn and Morgan, going forward, is expected to be about half a win per season if you use conservative estimates of their respective defensive value.

I’m sorry, but there’s no way that the response from the sabermetric community around these two moves matches that reality. If paying Adam Dunn $10 million per season to be a +2.5 win player is a good idea, then paying Nyjer Morgan $400,000 to be a +2 win player is a great idea. There is no world in which Dunn’s production and salary is more valuable than Morgan’s production and salary. You could acquire 100 Lastings Milledge’s for the amount of money that Dunn is getting to be the big, power hitting equal of Morgan.

There’s just no way around the real conclusion - the sabermetric community, for the most part, has a blindspot when it comes to players with defensive skills at the extremes of the spectrum. Given the cost differences, Morgan is clearly a more valuable asset than Dunn, yet his acquisition is mocked while Dunn’s is celebrated.

Baseball is not just about who can hit the ball further. It’s time we stopped evaluating players on their offensive worth alone.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/30/SP3818FPG4.DTL

TRADE CHATTER: Giants scout Paul Turco was seen at Monday's White Sox-Indians game, possibly looking at Cleveland first baseman Victor Martinez, whom the Giants are thought to admire.

It's probably too good to be true and they were really scouting Konerko or Dye, but man I'd love to get V-Mart. He's got another year left on his deal for 2010, he can play C and 1B pretty adequately. He's also already been a 3.1 WAR player for Cleveland. I'm guessing the Giants could get him without having to give up Mad Bum or Posey. Hopefully we'd keep Big V too.

I'm guessing Alderson, another decent prospect and a bullpen arm or two could get it done.

He would look awful nice hitting 4th behind Pablo. Also we could platoon him with Bengie, which will help Bengie be more effective with time off. Sadly Ishikawa wouldn't play as much, but I'm sure they'd still find ways to get him AB's and make him a defensive replacement late in games.

Vs LHP you could have Bengie catch, with VMart at 1st.

Vs RHP you could have VMart catch and Ishi at 1st.

Or something like that. What do you guys think?

He seems like a name that has gone largely unnoticed or talked about in terms of being someone the Giants should go after.

He has missed some time this year and still already has 9 HR's, his walk rate looks like it would be the best on the team at 14.1 %. He also is better than I expected defensively. He's around league average in LF, and he also would give us a RH stick to put in a lineup primarily filled with LH or SH's. He also can play a little first base and came up as a catcher, so he could be the team's 3rd catcher if need be. He seems to have durability issues, but his power numbers have been slowly increasing over the past 2 years. He would probably be a cheaper buy than Nick Johnson, and I think we'd be able to keep him longer then just this year.