Dear L.A.,

I just wanted to give you some encouragement after what must have been a long weekend.  I’m sure you feel like you just woke up from a week-long bender with some Jim Beam, a touchy-feely Mike Tyson and 13 howler monkeys.  That’s understandable.  Not to be too frank, but you did just get your ass handed to you on a platter with a side of shut-your-asses out.  That has to hurt a little.

I’m just here to tell you it’s okay.  You shouldn’t feel bad.  I’m sure Kuo doesn’t feel bad about hitting Posey.  I’m sure Broxton isn’t crying over his fourteenth bowl of cereal this morning about giving up Burrell’s homerun.  And I’m sure if it hadn’t been for the sun, Matt really could have caught Edgar’s triple.  It really wasn’t you this weekend, it was us.  See, we’re the Giants and you’re the Dodgers.  This is just how things are supposed to work.

But things are looking up for you.  Pods is definitely going to make up for the absence of Manny.  And after Manny returns from his fertility treatments or whatever, you might even win a few games.  Try not to think of yourselves as being in fourth place, 8 games out; try to think of it as being 15 games in front of last place.  And look, there are only 4 teams ahead of you in the wildcard!  I’m sure New York and Florida won’t leap-frog you in the wildcard standings for at least the next 45 minutes.  You could totally turn this thing around.  Totally.

And now you get to go to San Diego.  To be honest, I don’t like seeing you win.  I don’t care if the Giants have a 161 game lead on you entering the final day of the season and you’re playing a team comprised of Neo-Nazis, I want you to lose.  Nothing personal.  But things are different this week.  The Padres really need a reminder that they're the Padres.  So split the series there for us, wouldn't you?  We'll take care of Colorado, and hey, we can be in first by Friday morning!  Do us this favor and maybe we won't make Casey Blake look like an asshat next time we play you.  Well, anymore of an asshat than he already is.

We’ll see you in L.A. soon!  I hear your stadium is dirty and you could use a good sweeping there too.

            Sincerely,

            A Team That’s Better Than You

P.S. Thank Ned for all his hard work.  I mean, really, if he hadn’t started selling the farm in win now mode, you might have Carlos Santana around to replace Mr. Martin.  Trust me, it’s not that great to have a hot young catching prospect.  Definitely overrated.

P.P.S. Tell Russell to suck it for me, if you see him?  Thanks.

I'm not going to suggest Cain for Fielder.  That's already been done (or so I hear).  I am proposing trading for Carlos Zambrano.  I know that a hot-head pitcher with a 5.66 ERA doesn't seem a good trade target, but here is why I think this might be a good option.

First, Zambrano's peripherals are solid.  From Mr. Zambrano's fangraphs page, he currently has 8.57 K/9 (higher than his career mark), 4.04 BB/9 (in line with his career mark), an ERA of 5.66, a FIP of 4.14 and an xFIP of 4.26.  ZIPS has updated Zambrano to post a 4.48 ERA and a 3.95 FIP for the year.  So far, he has a .377 BABIP (career mark of .284) and a 65.6% strand rate (career 73.9%).  There is much room for improvement with Zambrano.

Second, Jim Hendry would probably love to unload Zambrano right now, given Zambrano's recent explosions.

But of course the money...Zambrano is owed $36 million over the next two seasons with a $19 million vesting option for 2013.  From what I can gather, the option vests if Zambrano finishes first/second in Cy Young voting in 2011 or in the top four in Cy Young voting in 2012, and he is healthy at the end of 2012.

I think a trade could involve one of two things.

First, the Cubs eating a significant portion of Zambrano's salary and getting little else.  The Giants taking on salary is problematic.  They're spending a lot as is, plus they have raises coming over the next few years.  Of course, I doubt Zambrano's option vests, so depending on how much salary the Giants took on, it might work.

Second, a nasty contract swap -- Rowand for Zambrano.  I think this deal is unfair for the Cubs.  Rowand will likely rebound, but I think Zambrano has a better chance to be a useful (if overpaid) pitcher than Rowand does to be a useful (if overpaid) outfielder.  But the Cubs might want to move Zambrano right now regardless.

So there's my thought for the day.  Might be an opportunity to buy low on an okay to decent pitcher.  Maybe the Giants could then flip Jonathan Sanchez or Bumgarner over the offseason or this year for a nice bat.  I don't know, just thinking out loud.  What do other people think?

This weekend's series against the A's is very important to me.  Not just because every Giants game is important.  Not just because beating the A's is particularly important.  Not just because we're in this thing!  And not just because I want the National League to finally beat the American League his year.  This series is very important to me because my brother (an unrepentant A's fan) and I have a bet about it. 

This will be the second year in a row that we've made a bet about which team would win the season series.  The winner gets to choose a photo for the loser to post as their Facebook profile picture for one week.  Last year, I laid back and watched the Giants destroy the A's -- my favorite moment was Nate the Great's inside-the-park homerun.  Then, as part of long-running a family joke, I made my brother post a picture of Cletus from the Simpsons as his profile picture.

So I just want to say, there's a lot riding on this series.  I need some dominance, and I'm expecting it from Zito, Cain and Sanchez.  Some hitting from Sandoval and co. would be nice too.  In summation, if you have any mojo out there, let's put it to good use this weekend.

Also, any interesting baseball bets people have going or have done in the past?

Slowest.  Draft.  Ever.

Because I am one of the nerds who wants to draft a Giant in some semblance of an ordered way, I'm going to take a note from Graham's book and repost this so we're on the front page again.  I've posted the draft lists below too, hopefully without missing any new draftees (please correct me if I'm wrong).

If any mods wants to delete this and repost, no complaints from me.  Walrusman, apologies if I'm stepping on your toes.  And if anyone really disagrees with the rule change I discuss below, we can do something else.

One rule change.  Anyone who has been on the clock for a full day will be moved from the primary draft list to the secondary draft list.  Anyone on the secondary draft list may draft whenever they stop by (guessing around 2050).  The top five on the primary list may also draft, with the same rules as before (once one drafts, a new person is added to the current draft list).  I will update the lists each morning, adding to the secondary list as necessary.  Because of the delay in the five drafters who were up, I've just started them off on the secondary list.

So let's get our draft on!

P.S. You're all haters.

WHO YOU CAN'T DRAFT

WalrusMan Edit: These and other slected players who have been drafted in this thread. Look.  Sorry, I don't have time to create images and post them right now.  I will next thread I have to create.

I can't edit this table, but here's who else has been taken (please note any omissions on my part):

TexasRanger - Mike McBryde

ACGiant97 – Amy Gutierrez

foothillsfan – Eugenio Velez

Headhunter Rollins – Todd Wellemeyer

Mike Hawk - Craig Clark

The Thrill - Ron Wotus

theghostofjasonellison - Wendell Fairley

Scottsdale - Bill Neukom's Bowtie

microwavedonut - Ydwin Villegas

DJ Tofu - The Ball Dudes

Desert Fox - Evan Crawford

jobrien9 - Guillermo Mota

capnk - Angel Villalona

imovermyhead - Joe Paterson

Tim LinCyYoung - Roberto Kelly

grape - Baggs

giantsfansince1981 - Tim Lincecum's dealer

crazedcrustacean - Chris Gloor

srpwrd - Mark Gardner

velvadp - Willie McCovey

Whiteteaandpoptarts - Nader Sherafat

henwo - Justin Fitzgerald

sanfrankid - Tim Flannery

Heffe22 - Steven 'Nick' Liles

DubsFanByTheZoo - Charlie Culberson

ringleader3 - Mike Murphy

capn - Andy Skeels

DrStankus - Bill Schlough

scout6 - Jesus Guzman

The Neuschler - Jackson Williams

Kestrel76 - Dick Tidrow

Solidarity - Michael Sandoval

TwoBagger - Matt Williams

positiveuphemism - Jaymee Sire

jcb9 - Kaohi Downing

WHAT IF I DIDN'T SIGN UP?

If you didn't catch the earlier threads then you can still draft, you'll be at the bottom, but you still are eligible to draft.  Also, after the draft is over, if anyone just wants to pick a still available player, that's fine.

SECONDARY DRAFT ORDER

sfoakbay

Ramah71

AngelWillSaveUs

OTTOMATIC

gbears16

pittsburghian

caincecum

aaroncallagher

papajoelius

DoubleDeuce22

Bay Area Sports Fan

quincy0191

atxgiantsfan

DRAFT ORDER

I love stats. I think most people on this site love stats or at least recognize their value. Yay for stats. However, not all stats are created equal. Spring training stats, for example, are not terribly valuable for several reasons: small sample size, players are not at full strength, pitchers are developing pitches and not going all out, etc. Lincecum, for example, currently has an ERA of 18.00 and a WHIP of 4.00 – probably because of a combination of all three listed reasons rather than a sudden talent crash. Unless he just wanted to cash in with his new contract and is now permahigh…

However, I’m wondering what (if any) value we can get out of spring training stats. Are there particular stats that people look at it to see how a player is progressing during spring training? For example, I ignore ERA for pitchers and batting average for hitters but care about walks for both. I think pitchers being able to throw strikes is always important, although less so in spring training because a pitcher may be working on pitches and/or is not physically ready yet. As for walks by hitters, I think hitters should always have a sound plate approach, and well, that’s nice to see on this team anytime. Are there particular players people watch, ignoring veterans while paying attention to those trying to prove themselves or earn a roster spot? I’ve been keeping an eye on Bowker, Lewis and Posey for that reason. Also, I think Giants’ management, unfortunately, puts some stock in spring training homeruns, RBI and batting average, so I want to see Bowker, Lewis and Posey impress with those numbers even if I consider other stats more important.

Or do people ignore spring training stats altogether?

Good morning, MCC,

I am a new poster here, although I’ve been visiting the site for a while, and this is my first fanpost.  I know some might read this post as blatant ass-kissing, but I'm okay with that for two reasons:

First, it kind of is.

Second, this is really how I feel.

I'm deeply and sincerely thankful that McCovey Chronicles exists, which means I'm deeply and sincerely thankful to Grant and everyone who comments and posts on here.  Sometimes, being a Giants fan feels like living in a dark, dark world.  A world where people think Fred Lewis is the worst baseball player ever, Eugenio Velez would be a great leadoff hitter, and the Derosa/Huff/Molina signings are the trifecta of baseball wisdom.  While this sounds elitist (and perhaps it is but screw it) it is hard to discuss baseball with some people: "But Molina's clutch!" "Velez carried the team for a month when he came up!  And he's fast!" "UZR?  What's a UZR?"

To me, McCovey Chronicles is a beacon of light in this dark, dark world.  Where criticizing the front office does not mean I hate the Giants or will not root like hell all season.  Where I can discuss stats (even with my relative sabermetric noobieness) without someone saying, literally, stats don't matter.  On here I can participate in good baseball discussions, and that helps baseball be fun to me.  And that's good, because I like baseball.

And I like you, McCovey Chronicles.  Will you be my friend?

P.S. - Thanks for letting me swear on here.  I fucking love that shit.