SB Nation User Blog: milesntrane

Need Help from McCoven

milesntrane — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:48:20 -0000

I started my first job in baseball today. I'm now the pitching coach for the Kingsborough Community College baseball team. One of my first assignments is to bring around this one kid. He reminds me of someone, I just can't pin it down. I need some of your help to jog my memory, or steer me in another good direction.

One thing I am going to do is show him tape of guys that he can learn from. Here's my scouting report after about 4 batters. From my description, tell me which major leaguer this reminds you of:

- RHP

-Tall

-Medium build

-Straight over-the-top arm action

-Good velocity

-Good downward plane on the fastball

-Slow wind-up

The first guy that came to mind for me was John Garland... but that can't be the best I can come up with, can it?

Trade Sense I Am Lacking...

milesntrane — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:19:22 -0000

Pitching Surplus + Offensive Defecit + Defensively Adequate = Giants Organization

Offensive Surplus + Pitching Defecit + Defensively Inadequate = Rangers Organization

The Rangers ALWAYS suck at pitching and defense, though they do have a few guys that win gold gloves from time to time. The Giants have a ton of pitching to deal, and they hit like Special Olympic Bowlers [If you take offense with this comment, take it up with the President of the U.S.]. Can't the two sides better themselves with a trade?

Jonathan Sanchez and Andres Torres for Ian Kinsler and Josh Rupe. Someone make it happen.

Trade Values

milesntrane — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:54:45 -0000

How about a little bit less insulting, and a little more thought invocation? Of course we know Jonathan Sanchez, Bengie Molina, and possibly Randy Winn are hot trade commodities for the Giants. I'm wondering what the trade values are of a certain few players that I would be willing to part ways with, were I Brian Sabean. What would you guys grade the trade values of some Giants players? Assuming A+ being Matt Cain, and F- being Barry Zito...

Emmanuel Burris -

Kevin Frandsen -

Nate Schierholtz -

Fred Lewis -

Alex Hinshaw -

Dinner with Willie Mays -

Brian Bocock -

Extra Credit:

After you give your grades, pretend to be a GM and offer up some trades.

APBA Baseball, anyone?

milesntrane — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:37:08 -0000

It's been a while since I have been to McCovey Chronicles. I got pretty sick of it. For me it became an S.A.T. Word Analogy. McCovey Chronicles is to Baseball as Christians are to Christianity. Most of the Christians I come across believe in the right stuff, but go about it the wrong way. Doom and Gloom. Much like the McCoven. They root for the team that is obviously the RIGHT team, but go about it the wrong way. Protestant self-loathing and Giants fandom have striking similarities. Anyhow... I've decided to give it another try.

I was wondering if any of the McCoven plays the old school board game APBA. I haven't played it in years, but I kind of want to get back into it.

Quick Poll...

milesntrane — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 04:47:51 -0000

The McCoven is a savagely loyal group. How many games will you watch next season between live games, tv, and internet feeds?

Poll

How many Giants games will you watch in 2008?

0-20

15 votes

21-40

5 votes

41-60

18 votes

61-90

27 votes

91-125

37 votes

125-162

75 votes

177 votes | Poll has closed

Historical Tendencies...

milesntrane — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:17:13 -0000

I just read a very good ESPN.com column by J.A. Adande. Basically, he lays to rest any claims that the Celtics are a black un-friendly franchise. This got me thinking...

First, are there teams out there that are still hung-up on these kinds of things? One thing I have always loved about my Giants is that they are very interracial and always have been (you know... since they let black people play). Can there still be pro sports teams out there that hire players based on their ethnic background? Probably the Mets... Maybe the Padres... Red Sox?

Secondly, why is it that certain teams never change? Think of the Yankees. They basically always acquire the best talent and spend gobs of money. The Bears = Run-Defense. The Steelers = Run up the middle + Run-stop Defense. The Cubs = Lose as much as possible. Celtics = Win a lot

What is your opinion?

Laying Down the Law...

milesntrane — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 21:15:21 -0000

This is Keith Law's Blog on ESPN.com and my responses to it:

Rowand's not a Giant upgradeposted: Wednesday, December 12, 2007

The fact that the addition of Aaron Rowand probably makes the Giants a better club in 2008 should not be seen as an endorsement of the signing (When do we endorse signings then? When they make teams worse?). We're talking about a lineup where the fourth-best hitter is the "VACANT" sign hanging on third base. (I don't even know what that means. Is he saying Feliz was our 4th best hitter?)

Rowand is a dead-fastball hitter (true) with a complicated, high-effort swing (also true) that produces a lot of sound and fury, but a lot of swings and misses as well (true). His power is part real and part the effect of the hitters' parks where he's spent his entire career (56 homers at home versus 37 on the road) [I'd venture to say he doesn't have any real power at all... but that doesn't mean he's a bad hitter]. He's not enough of a contact hitter to predict high averages, and his batting average has fluctuated accordingly throughout his career. He is not patient, going after the first fastball he sees (or thinks he sees) [This is a completely unjustifiable statement. Keith Law has no idea about Rowand's approach. It's pure speculation.], never drawing more than 44 unintentional walks in a season (He swings a lot, yea... we get it). He's now moving to a bigger ballpark that's about as unfriendly to home runs as Philadelphia's park is friendly to them, and he's not going to make up for the loss of that power with good OBPs.

Jerry Crasnick just named the Giants' lineup (without Rowand) the worst in the majors as currently constructed, and lack of on-base skills is a major reason [The lack of hitting ability is the other major reason]. The Giants' offense revolved around Barry Bonds, who certainly won't be playing in San Francisco in 2008, leaving the Giants with a sort of baseball anemia. Bonds drew 132 walks in 2007; the rest of the Giants drew 400, with no one over 53. In fact, the Giants put fewer men on base in 2007 than any other NL club but Arizona, and that's including Bonds and his .480 OBP. If you don't put men on base, you don't score. Signing Rowand doesn't help the Giants on this score.

Here's what I have to say:
Rowand was not the best CF available in the free agent pool, but of the CF picks he was probably the best signing. Andrum Jones is basically more of a liability than an asset, and Torii is just way too expensive. Rowand is probably the highest value, even at his riddiculous signing price. He plays CF better than anyone that was available, and that alone would have won the Giants 5 more games last year. My hatred of Dave Roberts defense in CF is well documented.

Rowand is pretty quick, has a great glove and arm in CF, is only 30 years old, and is about the easiest guy to cheer for in the Bigs. That guy plays balls to the wall every day. He is well-known for firing up his teammates with his play and with his attitude. The Giants maybe didn't need a 17th out-fielder, but they did upgrade defensively and got a spark plug on the bench. I really do not disagree with signing him. Let Rowand roam around in CF and let Roberts platoon with Schierholtz in LF.

Sabean Is Due...

milesntrane — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 01:14:29 -0000

It seems to me that there may not be a GM in baseball that is better at keeping his dealings secret than one, Brain Sabean. I can think of a few examples of when the Giants were not even mentioned in obtaining a player on the block or on the market, and then the Giants nail him. Joe Carter, Moises Alou, Mike Matheny... These were all good moves, in my opinion. And more importantly, I didn't know they were coming.

This winter has been extremely calm. It could be because other GMs are jacking Sabean off with Cabrera/Rios type Lincecum-Fantasy trades, or because Sabean is up to his usual tricks of pulling off a major deal or two under the radar.

Sabes has had to put up with some pretty nasty hate mail from the McCoven in the past year or more (mostly warranted), but I have always liked the guy. I think he may be a little behind the times, but for awhile, I don't think anyone was better at putting decent talent and chemistry* together to make contenders.
(*I mean really... the last time I saw a franchise with more over-the-hill black guys was the Globe Trotters)

If Sabean can put together a trade, or free-agent deal that is under the radar, and mixes well with a rebuilding mentality maybe he can secure his spot for another few years. Or maybe he'll do the same, out-dated BS he's done for the last 4. I don't know... but from the calm on the waters we're feeling as a Giants nation, I think Sabean is due to make some viscious waves.

p.s.: How did you guys like my attempt at Passan's high-school-like use of metaphors there?

Bonds' Risky Signing...

milesntrane — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:22:49 -0000

Understandably, teams were very weary of signing Bonds to begin with, but now I don't think anyone is willing to risk signing an aging veteran slugger who has both potential for injury and potential for jail time.

My question is this...

If Bonds, who is not a member of the Players Association, wants to, could he not strike a deal with a team on a game-by-game pro-rated basis? Somewhat similar to Clemens pro-rated deal, but in reverse. Like a deal that says, "I'll play for $10 million a year, and that's based on my career average of games per season. Then if I miss any games below that, you don't pay me for games I haven't played."

I realize that the union would not allow something like this, but since Bonds is not a part of the Players Assoc. is it even possible? Not that he would...

More Evidence...

milesntrane — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 05:38:52 -0000

Feliz Injustice...

Chipper Jones can't believe Wright won Gold Glove
Sunday, Nov 11, 2007 8:00 am EST

Getty Images
A report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this week said that Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones can't figure out how David Wright of the New York Mets won the NL Gold Glove.

"When I find out [Wright won] I was speechless, for quite some time," Jones said. "Certainly the guys with the least amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn't win it." The report also quoted Jones as saying, "I wouldn't have been disappointed had someone like [Pedro] Feliz or [Aramis] Ramirez won it. I'm a little confused by the final tally, that's a head-scratcher for me."

Wright told The New York Post: "I don't take anything he says to heart. Obviously I think I can be better defensively. But I have a Gold Glove, and that's the bottom line, and that's something I'm very proud of, and I feel like I'm getting better and better defensively, and obviously managers and coaches have seen that."

Source: New York Post

I've been thinking since week 3 that Feliz has had a lock on the Gold Glove. Chipper Jones solidifies my sentiment with this quote. Who votes on these things, anyway?