It's been seven months since I've posted here, but since I've apparently been nominated for vice president, I figure now is as good a time as any to jump back into the fray. I've been carefully crafting some clever Bocock jokes lately, but before we get to that, please indulge me a little story...

As a season ticket holder who usually attends about 30 games a year, I was happy last March when I was able to sell all of my tickets for a midweek August series against the Nationals. Those are the kind of tickets that you often end up having to eat. Of course, as August approached, the Nationals series started to look like one that might be pretty exciting. I found myself wishing that I still had some of those tickets, but it was just as well. My wife was seven and a half months pregnant and I had a lot of work to do to prepare for our first child.

On the afternoon of Friday, August 3rd, my wife called me at work and told me that she had impulsively hopped on a bus to Union Square during her lunch break and purchased two tickets for Monday's game from the half-priced theater tickets booth. God bless that woman. "They had Tuesday's game for sale as well," she told me, "but we have our labor and delivery class that night." Barry Bonds had gone a week without hitting a home run, the buzz had died down a bit, and remarkably, she was able to get two upper deck seats behind home plate for $10 apiece. When Barry hit #755 on Saturday, her purchase looked even more brilliant, and we were eagerly looking forward to Monday's game. My only concern was that my wife might have trouble making it to Row 15 (and back down to the bathrooms several times) after a day of work.

As it turned out, this didn't up being our biggest concern. As I was getting ready to leave my office on Monday evening, I had just posted one last comment about Kevin Frandsen when the phone rang. It was my wife. "I was taking a nap in my friend's car, and I think my water just broke," she said. I sped to her office by the ballpark, she gave her tickets to her friend (nothing says "sorry my water broke in your car" like Giants tickets), and we headed to Seton Medical Center. Twenty hours later, Clark was born, 5 1/2 weeks early but healthy and nearly six pounds. My wife named Clark after her godparents; I quickly agreed to the name for other reasons.

A few hours later, I ran home to pack an overnight bag, catching Barry's first two at-bats on television. When I got back to the hospital, my exhausted wife was watching the game with her parents. "He's locked in," I told her as he approached the plate. "If they pitch to him, Clark's birthday is going to be a very historic day." Sure enough, a few minutes later, Barry crushed one. My mother-in-law alertly snapped this photo:

No, wise guys, she wasn't weeping for the loss of baseball's innocence. It had been a grueling day physically and emotionally, and she hadn't slept in nearly 40 hours. The emotional events at the ballpark were just a little too much for her to handle at that moment. The previous night we had wondered if Clark's early arrival might cause us to miss #756. But as it turns out, his early arrival was the only reason we were able to see it on television. We would have still been at our labor and delivery class otherwise. (Apparently my wife was qualified to give birth despite her lack of formal training.)

Here is what the home run (well, actually, this was a replay a few minutes later) looked like from our perspective:

Given his historic birthday, we figured we should drag Clark out to the ballpark a little ahead of schedule in honor of Barry's last game as a Giant. Clark lasted five innings; almost as long as Barry did:

Clark is doing great now. He's happy, healthy, and ready for Opening Day. And he's expressing a healthy skepticism towards the concept of giant stuffed rats that should serve him well later in life:

He's sleeping through the night now, so I finally have the time and energy to return to McCovey Chronicles and check in on the team. So, what's been going on? Someone please give me a rundown on all the young hitters Sabean was able to bring in over the winter. And is it true that Randy Messenger was sent down?

This from Kevin Goldstein in today's BP (subscription required), wrapping up his review of players who will make their professional debuts in short-season ball:

Saving the best for last, Villalona was the top talent in the Dominican last year, finally signing with the Giants for $2.1 million, or more than the team gave Tim Lincecum as the tenth overall selection in the draft. His hitting skills are remarkably advanced for a person born in 1990, and he has the size and raw power of a college slugger. The only concern is that since he's already six-foot-two and well over two hundred pounds, he'll grow off of third base, but we'll get a sense of just how far he's come since signing when he makes his pro debut in the Arizona League before his 17th birthday.

Must try to be patient and lower immediate expectations... must try to be patient and lower immediate expectations... must try to... ah, screw it! It's on!

Poll

At what age will Angel Villalona win his first National League MVP award?

51%

18

38 votes

48%

17

36 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

The general consensus here (and elsewhere) seems to be that the Giants went cheap with their fifth and sixth selections: Williams at #43 and Culberson at #51. The way the narrative goes, there's not much money left in the budget since they're going to be paying 4 of the first 32 picks of the draft. So, they drafted players they wouldn't have considered until much later under normal circumstances, figuring that they will happiily accept much less money than their draft slot warrants.

Everything about this narrative seemed reasonable to me, until I looked up the signing bonuses for the top 100 picks in 2005 and 2006 in Baseball America. I only found a few examples of teams clearly saving over $100,000 with a signing.

The Cubs saved about $150K in the first round last year, while the White Sox saved about $150K in the second round last year.

12. $1.6M, Kiker, TEX
    
13. $1.475M, Colvin, CHC
    
14. $1.7M, Snider, TOR
72. 500K, Fontaine, ATL
    
73. 330K, Long, CWS
    
74. 480K, Jay, STL

The D-backs saved a few bucks on Dallas Buck at #86 (maybe $180K), but injury concerns that became clearer after the draft may have pushed his salary down. And that's all I could find for 2006.

2005? Wade Townsend to Tampa Bay at #8 was a 500-700K bargain. There were some odd issues with Townsend, but I think the D-Rays knew what they were doing. This is clearly the biggest price break of the last two years. The Marlins saved about $200K at #22, the D-backs saved about $150K at #49, and the Astros saved about $140K at #89.

By my estimation, that's one pick in two years who saved their team more than $200K, and he was picked in the top ten. Is there any reason to believe that the Giants are going to save any more money than this with these two picks? That they are somehow taking signability to a whole new level? If not, the likely choices are a) the Giants really wanted these players and were worried they wouldn't be available in the fifth round, or b) there were over a hundred players on their board that they preferred over Williams and Culberson, but they overlooked all of them in an effort to save $200-300K total. I honestly don't know which of these scenarios is accurate or how valuable these players will turn out to be; I was just surprised to learn that we're talking about chump change in an organization's budget here.

(Also, I realize that the Giants could have drafted players that were considered difficult signs with these picks, and either paid well over slot or lowballed them to the point where they wouldn't sign. However, when people say the Giants went "cheap" with those two picks, I am assuming that they mean they were planning to pay under slot, not simply that they were avoiding players who would require more than slot. Of course, nothing would save more money than drafting an unsignable player, but that clearly wasn't the case here.)

Anyway, I'm just throwing this out there for Brute, Doc, and Steve and the rest of you out there who understand amateur baseball a lot more than I do? Am I missing something, or is there not much money to be saved by going "cheap" once you get past the first ten picks or so?

Exhibition tickets: the hidden tax on season tickets. You can't give 'em away.

Or can you?

I've got two free tickets in VR314 Row 3... if you're interested I can leave them at Will Call in your name this evening.

Back in August, Grant left on his honeymoon and we all went Lord Of The Files on him. The site briefly descended into an orgy of profanity, personal attacks, and bannings. I don't recall the details, but at one point I believe Josh From Hollywood tore a newbie's head clean off of his neck and posted it on a stake. It got ugly.

Irwin was the first to step up and call for civility (or, failing that, improved punctuation). A few days later Grant himself violated his pre-nup by posting from his honeymoon. There were many useful sentiments in these two diaries, but four words from Grant's diary ("don't be a weenie") tell you all you need to know.

Unfortunately, personal attacks appear to be on the rise again, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the site is suffering because of it. One recent diary alone featured implications that posters' arguments were either a "bullshit position" or a "huge pile of dog doo doo." They were "idiotic" and the "worst kind of prejudice" and displayed the same logic as the KKK. Posters were cordially invited to "shut the f up" and "have a couple of Coronas and some hemlock." One poster idly fantasized about pointing a gun in another poster's direction. Various posters were referred to as either a "wet fart", a puppy-strangler sympathizer, a poo-flinging monkey, or a "tardbox." (Actually, a poster wasn't referred to as a "tardbox"... Doug Gottlieb was. This is entirely fine with me. Plus, I do enjoy the word "tardbox.") One poster was described as "clinically insane" and "off his meds." (Oops, I did that. Sorry, E.) I think most of us will agree that it was all a little much.

These are anxious days for a Giants fan. The team's creaky old lineup is a few hamstring pulls away from disaster, and it's been twenty years since Stephen King wrote anything as terrifying as the current incarnation of the Giants bullpen. Ideally we would point our angst not at each other but at the bullpen itself. Or at the Dodgers. Or Doug Gottlieb. But I realize that this might not be enough, so I'm willing to take one for the team in the name of sanity and civility.

Feel free to use this thread to unload any pent up personal attacks on me. Call me a hemlock-slinging tardbox, or a poo-strangling puppy fart. I promise not to take it personally, and hopefully we'll all be better off for it.

In order to help get the ball rolling, I'll even provide a discussion question:

"What's the matter with Pants Man?"

I was well aware that Bonds's contract wasn't completed yet, but was surprised to learn today that none of the Giants free agents contracts have been completed yet. That's right... the Giants have signed zero free agents so far this winter. The culprit seems to be new language that Bobby Evans has thrown into all contracts this season. Agents no likey.

The Barry Bloom article on the subject is at the Giants website:
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070108&content_id=1775232&a mp;vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf

I expected this to be the case, but I'm disappointed nonetheless. Sabean's major triumph of the offseason (not signing any deals worth over $20M in this winter of madness) is diluted by the fact that all of his multi-year deals are backloaded to some extent, and we're going to pay Barry even more than the $20M he's already due to receive over 2008-2001. I am neither a fan of Sabean's shaking, nor a fan of his baking.

The good news, there will be more flexibility to add players in 2007... preferably ones that don't come with crippling backloaded contracts.

From AP:

Barry Bonds is willing to wait for a significant portion of his paycheck until after he's done playing for the San Francisco Giants.

"That was very important to us to arrive at a deal. It was almost the only way we could arrive at a deal," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said Monday without officially announcing Bonds' new contract.

"There was definite give and take. If we hadn't been able to shake and bake the financial part of this we wouldn't have been able to go forward."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/12/11/sports/s170615S81.DTL

The Giants' website lists 38 players as being currently on the 40-man roster... the addition (or reappearance) of Bonds and Kline will bring that number to 40. If a Zito or a Klesko or a Riske is going to be added, someone is going to have to be voted off the island. (I don't think you can use the 60-day DL in the offseason... can you?)

The good news, if you could call it that: we have a fair amount of dead weight on our roster.

There are aging players with career-threatening injuries (Matheny, Worrell).

There are veterans we could trade (Benitez, Sweeney).

There are AAAA hitters who seem to be getting squeezed from the active roster (Niekro, Ellison).

There are live-armed AAA pitchers who we may be able to sneak through waivers given their significant injuries (Valdez, Threets).

There are players who are spinning their wheels and giving off an "organizational guy" vibe (Ortmeier, Knoedler, Munter).

There are the "is this guy possibly going to be ready to contribute at the big league level before he runs out of options?" guys (Ishikawa, Acosta).

And then there's Maude.

We may only need to waive one or two of these guys, but I think we should be prepared to waive more should we get the chance to grab some interesting names that other teams are forced to waive this winter.

I have included only the most likely candidates for DFA in this poll for simplicity's sake, and because it's difficult to rationally consider the other options when you're given the choice of dumping Benitez.

Poll

If the Giants sign another free agent, who should they drop from the 40-man roster?

13%

Munter

14 votes

9%

Ortmeier

10 votes

13%

Acosta

14 votes

6%

Threets

7 votes

32%

Ellison

33 votes

22%

Knoedler

23 votes

101 votes | Poll has closed

I really don't get too worked up about voting for postseason awards or the Hall Of Fame. I appreciate a good subjective barstool debate topic as much as the next guy, but as much as I love the game, I can't get too excited about a sportswriter's ballot. Some people think, "Justin Morneau was only the third best player on his own team! This is an outrage!" I think, "Hmmm... Justin Morneau was only the third best player on his own team. What's for dinner?"

Given my lack of enthusiasm for this particular form of democracy, and my crippling steroid fatigue, I don't know why I decided to read Gwen Knapp's column about her Hall of Fame ballot this evening. But I did. And, boy, is it a doozy.

Early in the column, Knapp discusses the Mark McGwire controversy in a fair and rational manner that gives me faith in the ability of sportswriters to look at a player objectively when marking a Hall of Fame ballot:

McGwire's debut on the ballot brings a host of torturous questions. Did his refusal to talk about the past on Capitol Hill constitute an admission of steroid use? Is it somehow nobler to throw a spitter than it is to juice? Should McGwire be rejected for doing something that so many others did, including pitchers who tried to contain him? How many other users will slip into Cooperstown simply because Congress left them alone?

These are difficult questions that require a great deal of thought, and answering them won't be easy. Oh, wait...

In this corner, the decision is easy. I can't honor a man for a past that he refused to discuss under oath.

Okay, some of you may find this maddening, but I just find it hysterical. Particularly the idea that this was an "easy" decision, as if a bizarre and arbitrary statement such as "I can't honor a man for a past that he refused to discuss under oath" is a time-honored method of player evaluation that has served sportswriters for generations. Ah, yes, I remember the last words Leonard Koppett ever said to me: "You've got to look at the whole package, Gwen. How did he perform in the field? How did he perform under pressure? Most importantly... how did he perform under oath?"

I'm still waiting for the column where Knapp blasts her colleagues Williams and Fainaru-Wada: "Many of my fellow journalists have praised these men for their thorough investigative work regarding the BALCO scandal, but I can't honor men for a past that they refused to discuss under oath..."

Steroids will keep Gwen Knapp from voting for a man who hit 583 home runs, including 70 in one season. I disagree, but it's her opinion, and it appears to be the majority opinion. This doesn't bother me, as long as she is consistent and doesn't do something insane like vote for an admitted steroid user who hit only 239 home runs in an uneven career that was followed by cocaine and alcohol abuse, prison, and a fatal drug-induced heart attack.

The late Ken Caminiti appears on the ballot for the first time this year, along with the record-breaking Bash Brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. Only one of the three made real history.

In 2002, six years after he was named the National League's MVP, Caminiti became the first prominent major-leaguer to admit that he had used steroids. He died two years later, at age 41, when a cocktail of drugs sent his already damaged heart into arrest. One of the last pictures of Caminiti showed him handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit, preparing to check out of a Houston jail, where he spent 25 days for using cocaine and violating his probation in an earlier drug-possession case.

For me, none of that rules him out as a candidate.

I couldn't agree more, Gwen. I believe that steroids should not be a litmus test in an era of rampant drug usage. And anything that happened to Caminiti outside of baseball after his retirement is obviously irrelevant. I think you and I would agree that what matters is what he did as a player...

Nor do I care that he hit only .272 with 239 home runs in his career.

Hmmm. Of course not. Hall of Fame voting shouldn't be cluttered by insignificant little facts such as how a player performed on the baseball field.

Oh, and if you're scoring at home...

Caminiti admitting his steroid use: "real history"

Canseco admitting his steroid use: not "real history"

McGwire evading questions about steroids while testifying before Congress: not "real history"

Canseco achieving the first 40/40 season, hitting 462 home runs and winning two world titles, rookie of the year and an MVP award: not "real history"

McGwire's 70-home-run season... well, you get the picture.

I'll admit that I'm a little old school on this issue, as I still believe that there's a difference between "historical acts" and "acts that I find morally admirable." I learned this the hard way in junior high, when my "Why Stalin Was Not A Historical Figure" essay only got a C-.

Anyway, Gwen Knapp is going to vote for Ken Caminiti because of his honesty concerning his steroid use, which some believe was a turning point in how we view steroids. In a way, I guess you could say Caminiti changed the game...

But I'm not voting for Caminiti because he changed the game.

I'm trying to work with you here, Gwen. I really am. In a column full of reasons not to vote for Caminiti, you're going to have to give me at least one "I'm voting for Caminiti because..." sentence.

I'm voting for Caminiti because of who he was, a deeply flawed, widely beloved man.

I absolutely adore this sentence. The problem with McGwire is not the flaw in his personality that caused him to take steroids or the one that caused him to stonewall Congress. It's that these flaws didn't run deep enough. It's tough to find just the right combination on this year's ballot. Albert Belle? Deeply flawed, but not quite beloved enough. Now, Dale Murphy is beloved, but he just doesn't have any deep flaws that I know about. If only he were a pedophile or something.

So, the clearly underqualified Ken Caminiti will receive one Hall of Fame vote this year. (Well, two votes. It would appear that Knapp got this brilliant idea from Tom Verducci, whose reasoning is just as sound, I would guess, and is in no way influenced by the fact that he was the reporter who broke the story about Caminiti's steroid use in the first place.) It's not a big deal, and he probably won't be the worst candidate to receive votes this time around.

But what bothers me is that it's a vote that screams "THIS VOTE IS ABOUT ME! GWEN KNAPP! OVER HERE! LOOK AT ME!" This is nothing new, as evidenced by the fact that five percent of the voters didn't vote for Babe Ruth or Willie Mays when they were elected to the Hall of Fame. Any hack can humbly fill out a ballot based on rational analysis, but an arrogantly misguided ballot, now... that might generate some press coverage!

You write columns for a major metropolitan newspaper, Gwen, so you already have the kind of soapbox that every shrieking talk radio caller in this country dreams about. So use it as such. The column is about you, so keep giving us your unique perspective on the sports world. Give us a "Caminiti Good/McGwire Bad" column every week for a year if that's what burns inside of you.

Your Hall of Fame ballot, however, isn't about you. So try to take a step back and take it seriously.

From mlb.com's transaction wire...

San Francisco Giants
Sent LHP Jesus Reina and IF Tomas De La Rosa outright to Triple-A Fresno.

Okay by me. I hope Reina clears waivers and we get to keep an eye on him for another year, but we should be able to find a better use for the roster spot. I wouldn't mind if Munter, Acosta, Knoedler, and Ortmeier were outrighted as well.

...according to a blurb at the bottom of this article.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/baseball/mlb/san_francisco_giants/15554290.htm

No word on who's off the 40-man roster, although I'm guessing that Grant's Munter wishes are about to be fulfilled.

Man, yesterday was one of those days that makes the "only x meaningless games played in a decade" nonsense actually make sense. While the Giants were starting their big comeback, many of us were following wild games in Cincinnati, Miami, St. Louis, and Chicago, all of which involved dramatic comebacks and favorable outcomes for the Giants. This team ripped our hearts out in July and may be preparing to do it again, but at least they gave us reason to celebrate with the likes of Jason LaRue, Carlos Delgado, Albert Pujols, and Cesar Izturis on September 12th. Good times.

We would be lucky if tonight's outcomes around the league are half as positive and/or exciting as last night's were, but with Game One of the Phillies doubleheader heading towards a close finish, the Reds, Padres, and Marlins ready to take the field, and the Dodgers about an hour away from starting, I figured we could use a place to whine about players other than Giants for a few hours.

Out of the country for 2 1/2 weeks, and I miss... nothing? Thie boys were 9-9 while their division turned from a textbook example of parity to a cartoon exaggeration of parity.

Just so I'm up to speed... we're still reserving most of our bile for the third baseman with the slugging percentage of .483 (and not the rest of the team at .406) and the closer with the 2.21 ERA (and not the rest of the bullpen at 4.98 ERA), right? Although it sounds like Benitez is making it harder and harder to defend him.

Oh, and I must admit that I would have been upset to learn that I was out of the country for the Giants' first no-hitter in thirty years. I didn't hear about Cain's effort for nearly a week, but if I jinxed him through a mysterious manifestation of international karma, you all have my sincere apologies.

Or at least ten of you.

Forces beyond my control are conspiring against my annual tailgate party. I had 42 seats spoken for in Section 312 for Saturday's game, but a group of regulars has decided to attend a college buddy's birthday party in Santa Barbara that weekend, leaving me with at least ten extras.

That's okay... this has created a perfect opportunity to get a few of the members of this site together for a ballgame and a few beers. Tickets are $25 each. First come, first serve, although priority will be given to those who are planning to show up to the tailgate well before the game starts... I'd like to avoid multiple ticket relays or trips to the Will Call booth. Send an email to rich@pantstalk.com if you're interested.

The other force that is conspiring against me... apparently the Giants decided to dig up their parking lots this week in honor of my tailgate party. I appreciate that. I'd like to avoid shelling out the $250 for a "tailgate space" in Lot C, since these parties aren't particularly elaborate... usually just a little food and a lot of beer, but most of what's left of Lot B is reserved for pass holders now, as is Lot A. The Giants have mentioned Pier 30/32 and 48 as alternate parking areas. I think Pier 48 may be indoors, which seems wrong. Does anyone know if Pier 30/32 would be tailgate friendly? Or does anyone have any other ideas for a suitable location?

Thanks in advance. When I decide where we're meeting, I'll post to the site so any of you who already have tickets to the game can stop by and have a beer.

Stumbled upon this article about Tyler LaTorre, a fifth-year senior from UC-Davis who the Giants just signed as a catcher. This signing was originally mentioned in this thread on Friday.

I'm not sure I understand the rule in play here... if you're a fifth-year senior you can sign with whoever you want before the draft?

I had tickets to tonight's ballgame, but my buddy just came through with free tickets to the Sharks playoff game. Suddenly I'm a lot less enthused about Trachsel v. Wright.

So, two free tickets (VR 314, Row 3) for tonight's game will be left at Will Call for the first person to respond with heartfelt praise for Kirk Rueter.

...to make room for Wright. From the footnotes of today's AP game story.

Reina is apparently headed to the 60-day DL to make room for Greene, so any Walker/Linden trade will not be made out of necessity.

A 41-year-old ballplayer mired in controversy and coming off multiple knee surgeries getting off to a .714/714/1.571/2.285 start is pretty impressive, but nothing Barry does with the bat surprises me anymore.

Except maybe this... did Barry record a sacrifice bunt today? What the hell?

Winn is now locked up through 2009. It's definitely a case of buying high... we're signing him after his "career month." I'm sure financial info will be trickling out soon... I would be thrilled with $15M, and I could live with $20M, but I fear we may be looking at something closer to $30M.

That said, it's not my money, and it's nice to have a good ballplayer and a likeable local guy locked up for awhile.

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060228&content_id=1327701&a mp;vkey=spt2006news&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf

From a footnote in Draper's article about Vizquel.

Cervenak to Korea: Infielder Mike Cervenak, who hit .312 with 19 homers for Triple-A Fresno last season, is in Spring Training with Korea's Kia Tigers at Charlotte Sports Park.

Cervenak had solid seasons in the Giants' organization, but at 29 he was an in-betweener -- too old for a prospect and not yet a sixth-year free agent.

Getting past my irrational Dallimore-esque obsession with Cervenak, the Giants have a very questionable first-base situation and no legitimate backup to Feliz at third. If there's any place where we should have major-league ready options in AAA, it's at first and third. Steve's last estimate was that we would have EME at first (I wouldn't have a problem with this) and Cervenak at third. One of these is unlikely to happen and the other one definitely isn't going to happen. AAAA sluggers who can only play first are not a rare commodity... we should have signed a Pickering type to a minor league deal.

And who do y'all think will play third in Fresno this year?

The Spring Training b-squad has beeen announced.

"...the following players will participate in big league Spring Training: right-handed pitchers Jamey Wright, Matt Anderson, Joe Bateman, Justin Hedrick, Matt Kinney, Pedro Liriano, Jeff Miller, Billy Sadler and Brian Wilson, left-handed pitchers Jonathan Sanchez and Michael Tejera, catchers Todd Jennings and Brian Munhall, infielders Brian Buscher, Tomas De La Rosa, Kevin Frandsen, Derin McMains, Pablo Sandoval and Jake Wald and outfielders John Bowker, Brian Horwitz, Abraham Nunez, Adam Shabala and Clay Timpner."

Jamey Wright has nasty stuff and gets a lot of ground-balls, and now he's back at sea level, but that walk rate is a killer. Still, I'll take him at a minor league deal over $2.6M for Ryan Franklin. Good to see Matt Kinney back as more insurance too, along with Liriano and Tejera. Matt Anderson has been around forever (I can't belive he's only 29) and still hasn't figured out how to pitch. Abraham Nunez looks like your basic 4-A masher, and if De La Rosa has any sort of glove at short (does anyone know?), this would be a nice pickup as well.

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20060117& ;content_id=1296810&vkey=pr_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf

Thomas Gorman has a detailed piece on option rules over at Baseball Prospectus today, and he was kind enough to use two Giants as examples:

"An option is not expended if the player is optioned down for less than 20 total days in a season. As long the total number of days a 40-man player is on the farm doesn't add up to 20, then an option hasn't been burned.

Giants outfielder Todd Linden was optioned down to the minors in three different seasons, as you can sort of tell from his professional record. Being sent down in 2003 didn't count, though. Linden started the year with a minor-league contract in Fresno, and on August 17 he was placed on the 40-man roster for the first time and assigned to the major-league squad in San Francisco. On the 20th, Linden was optioned down, but he was recalled on the 21st and stayed with the major-league team for the rest of the year. Since he was only optioned down for a single day that year, he didn't burn one of his option years, which means that the Giants could option him down again in the coming season if they wanted to."

And the next example...

"A player is eligible for a fourth option season if he has been optioned in three seasons and has not yet amassed five full seasons of professional baseball experience. A little slower now: if a player runs through his three option years very quickly in his professional career than his team is granted a fourth option.

Consider another Giant, pitcher Kevin Correia. As you can guess from his professional record he was added to the Giants 40-man roster in 2003 and optioned down to the minors in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Three options burned so he can't be optioned again in 2006, right? Well, because his options were burned before he amassed five seasons of professional experience, he gets a fourth option year."

Gorman later states that since Corriea only played short-season ball in 2002, if we don't use up his fourth option this year we could use it next year.

I am assuming that the rule that applies to Linden would also apply to Niekro and Ellison, who didn't spend much time in the minors in '05, but I don't know for sure. Either way, we should have more roster flexibility in '06 than I had expected.

This guy can mash and take a walk, and he's only making $800,000 this year... I would be willing to sit through all of the strikeouts.

Doesn't seem like a fit anymore... he would have to either take Niekro's place on the roster and leave the team lacking in righthanded bats, or take Linden's spot with Sweeney becoming the fifth outfielder.

If Linden has an option left (there are conflicting reports on this), I would make a play for Branyan. I'm not crazy about Jose Vizcaino being the only third baseman on the roster besides Feliz. I don't know if the Brewers would be asking for much in a trade. They DFA'd Branyan to open up a spot on the 40-man, so we would have to trade someone who isn't on our 40-man, and then drop someone (Chavez? Alfonzo? Ellison?). Or, we could just grab him off waivers if he isn't traded in the next ten days.

I think the Giants are done offensively this offseason, but I hope they prove me wrong.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.asp?sport=MLB&id=6149

From ESPN's transaction page for the Giants:

"Signed pitchers Brian Cooper and Oscar Montero, catchers Guillermo Rodriguez and Yamid Haad, infielders Julio Cordido and Chad Santos and outfielder Alex Requena to minor league contracts."

As far as I can tell, Santos is the only player who wasn't already in our system.

I still think some more intriguing players will sign minor league deals before all is said and done... this just looks like we were doing some cleaning up with our own six-year free agents.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS: Acquired pitcher Brian Lawrence and cash from the San Diego Padres for third baseman Vinny Castilla.

I can only hope that the Giants make a move this winter that makes me more excited than this one does. I think the "and cash" part is my favorite.

If the Padres were so hard up to acquire an aging third baseman who can't hit, we should have offered them Alfonzo.

Poll

Who got the best of this trade?

2%

San Diego

1 votes

73%

San Francisco

30 votes

24%

Washington

10 votes

41 votes | Poll has closed

There has been much written about the possibility of the Giants acquiring a first baseman who would be expensive in terms of salary (Konerko, Thome, Klesko), prospects (Dunn, Huff, Overbay, Wilkerson, Howard), or both (Delgado). But if the Giants end up spending a good chunk of money on pitching, can they solve the first base problem without breaking the bank or emptying the farm system? Here are some cheap options that could help the team in 2006, even if they won't help sell any season tickets.

The numbers by each player are their projected 2005 EqA by PECOTA, their actual 2005 EqA, their 2005 MLB plate appearances, and their AAA numbers if applicable.

Group 1: Arbitration-Eligible Players

Russell Branyan (.294/.296/241)
Craig Wilson (.292/.289/237)
Carlos Pena (.288/.282/295)
Ben Broussard (.285/.272/502)

The PA numbers here indicate that these players aren't considered indispensable to these teams. Wilson may not be a great fit, even though his numbers against righties have improved lately, but we could do a lot worse than Branyan, Pena, or Broussard.

Group 2: Cheap Free Agents

Erubiel Durazo (.296/.243/167)
Mark Sweeney (.261/.313/261)

Nothing too exciting here. Durazo can hit, but he hasn't played much first base lately, and is it really fair to female fans to replace J.T. Snow with a Durazo/Niekro platoon? Sweeney had a great year, but he's 36 and those 261 PA were a career high. Are we ready to give him 500 PA? I believe that Roberto Petagine and Brian Daubach are free agents, but I'll choose to place them in the next category...

Group 3: Triple-A Mashers

Calvin Pickering (.320/.173/30, .275/.384/.528 in AAA)
Brian Daubach (.288/.243/33, .325/.426/.554 in AAA)
Joe Dillon (.286/.161/38, .360/.459/.631 in AAA)
Roberto Petagine (.282/.283/36, .327/.452/.635 in AAA)
Terrmel Sledge (.280/.272/44)
Ross Gload (.258/.113/44, .364/.416/.657 in AAA)

So, who are the 4-A players, and who are the solid big leaguers waiting for their chance to play? I have no idea; I only know that it would be pretty cheap to find out. PECOTA has always had an unnatural Pickering fetish; they predicted that he would be a better hitter than Carlos Delgado this season. Still, this "off" season after 2004's .314/.451/712 campaign is intriguing. Sledge spent most of the year on the DL after a decent 2004 as a fourth outfielder... he hit .324/.397/.545 in AAA in 2003. PECOTA was not a big Gload fan this season, but he remains one of my top choices.

Other than that, there is Matt Stairs (.287/.296/461), who the Royals could probably be talked out of. And I'm sure there are some Petagine clones bashing through Japan (Alex Cabrera? Fernando Seguignol?), but I don't know enough about the relevance of Japanese statistics to have much of an opinion. Brad Fullmer (.287 projected 2005 EqA) was trying out in Japan the last I heard.

Any comments or additions to this list would be appreciated.

Poll

Which AAA masher will have the best big league season in 2006?

6%

Terrmel Sledge

2 votes

9%

Calvin Pickering

3 votes

6%

Ross Gload

2 votes

0%

Brian Daubach

0 votes

40%

None... just looking at that collection of 4-A designated hitters turns my stomach.

13 votes

3%

Joe Dillon

1 votes

34%

Roberto Petagine

11 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

The votes are in! This year's Willie Mac Award, which is given to the player "who best exemplifies the spirit and leadership shown by Willie McCovey," will be awarded before tonight's game. The players vote, and for that reason, it is always a bit of a popularity contest, which may explain why Bonds has never won and Kent never won after 1998.

My ballot would look something like this:

1. Scott Eyre

Pros:
Pulling away with the league lead in appearances.
Warmed up in half the games he didn't appear in.
Never bitched about the workload... in fact, the crazy SOB has asked Felipe to make sure he pitches in at least one game this weekend.
Had a 1.50 ERA in 30 appearances on zero days rest.
Was clearly the best reliever on the team, even against righthanded batters.
Expressed relief that he wasn't traded at the deadline, and eagnerness to return to the Giants next season.
No Giant was more enthusiastic about the team with the media this season.
Nailed a smirk-free "arugula" in one take.

Cons:
We will probably pay him $13 million for three years of TJ rehab.

2. Omar Vizquel

Pros:
No Giant in my lifetime has ever been more fun to watch defensively than Omar was this year.
Always had a smile on his face.
Is rumored to be dreamy.
Late in the year when his legs and bat were dragging, he never let up defensively.

Cons:
Late in the year his legs and bat were dragging.

3. Mike Matheny

Pros:
Played 130 games at catcher, making only one error and throwing out more baserunners than anyone in baseball.
Once took a fastball in the jaw and calmly stood there with a mouth full of teeth and blood, for chrissakes.
Hit .314 with runners in scoring position and .341 with runners in scoring position and two outs.
Posted career highs in homers, RBI, doubles, SLG, and OPS.
Guided a young pitching staff to a solid second half.

Cons:
Guided a veteran pitching staff to a miserable first half.
That "career high" in OPS is .698.

4. Randy Winn

Pros:
Carried the team offensively down the stretch.
Came through with the most memorable hit of the season off of Trevor Hoffman.
Refused to be intimidated by SBC Park when batting lefthanded, unlike Ricky Ledee and the like.

Cons:
It was an amazing third of a season, but it was a third of a season nonetheless.
His first steps in center still make me nervous.

5. Jeff Fassero (ducks)

Pros:
Was a much better reliever than my memory tells me (2.63 ERA in 62.2 innings over 41 relief appearances).
As a 42-year-old soft tosser who hadn't been effective since 2001, he had no right to be effective at all.
Had better numbers vs. lefties than Scott Eyre (.482 opponents' OPS).
Did whatever was asked of him: emergency start, long relief, situational relief, and, for long stretches of time... nothing.
Never complained or rocked the boat.

Cons:
Never showed any human emotion whatsoever.
Um, he kind of walked two batters and then gave up a crucial grand slam in the most important game of the season about 16 hours before the ballots were passed out.

Honorable mention to the old and the infirm, who heroically battled injuries and age:

Armando Benitez (nothing was more inspiring to me this season than seeing Benitez, who is no one's idea of a fitness freak, go through an excruciating rehab, lose weight despite being immobile for a few months, and return ahead of schedule. However, he has a huge contract and I can't help but think that his conditioning had a role in the injury in the first place)

Barry Bonds ($18M for two and a half weeks, but man... that was some two and a half weeks)

Ray Durham (carried the team with a torrid July while limping around like Kirk Gibson... the problem is, he's a 5'8" 33-year-old middle infielder with 248 career steals. Stay with Stan's offseason conditioning program this time, Ray, and maybe you won't look like a 42-year-old DH next year.)

Moises Alou (played hard, came up with some huge hits, ran when he needed to, and proved my preseason claim that he was "old and slow, but not retarded" true with some great catches in the outfield. Has body language problems, though, and is in the midst of an impressive bat-throwing streak.)

Poll

Who gets your vote for the "Willie Mac" Award?

5%

Thigh-bone Girl (or "Other")

2 votes

60%

Scott Eyre

23 votes

0%

Armando Benitez

0 votes

10%

Omar Vizquel

4 votes

0%

Barry Bonds

0 votes

18%

Mike Matheny

7 votes

2%

Ray Durham

1 votes

2%

Randy Winn

1 votes

0%

Moises Alou

0 votes

0%

Jeff Fassero

0 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

A solid mix of humor, faith, anger, snark, and nostalgia. I'm not going to start referring to Grant as "Wally Pipp" just yet, but it's always good to have a strong bench.

Poll

Should Josh from Hollywood have to compete for a guest blogging spot next spring?

6%

No, he had earned the spot before he was called up.

2 votes

24%

No, he has proven enough in his brief major league time.

7 votes

51%

Yes, the kid lives in Southern California. Nothing should be handed to him.

15 votes

17%

Yes, Grant will sign the top three free agent bloggers on the market. Unfortunately, that includes Matt Drudge, but still....

5 votes

0%

He shouldn't be in the rotation next year.

0 votes

29 votes | Poll has closed

From Dave Metz and the Baseball Prospectus Hit List this morning...

The decline of the Giants on this Hit List begs the question: "Why were the Giants trading away prospects at the trading deadline?" They only netted a measly Randy Winn on D-Day, and had to give away Zach Miner and Jesse Foppert in the process.

Farewell, Zach Miner, we hardly knew ye. No, really, we hardly knew ye. I suppose forfeiting draft picks is one way of trading prospects that you don't have, but this is much more direct.

A year ago I idolized BP, but eight months as a subscriber have revealed a lot of warts... they have slipped in my eyes from "cutting edge bastion of analysis and objectivity" to "as full of sh** as anyone else, only with a lot more acronyms."

That said, I'm sure Clay Davenport was right when he called Jonathan Sanchez one of the top five starting pitching prospects in all of baseball. I mean... this is the guy who came up with RAR/AdjG and the Pythagenport Standings.

I was out of town for the weekend, and while browsing McCovey Chronicles this morning I was shocked, angered, and depressed to read the news. In a way it seemed to transcend baseball for me. It made me question my views on good, evil, and all that I hold dear in this world.

The brilliant Tom Kenny does the voice of Scooter?

Say it ain't so!