This entry is purely so that I might tell everyone I was right about something.
I went over to read myself some o' that Lefty feller, and found out that it isn't good to miss a couple of days without your computer, cuz then...well, you can miss stuff.
Turns out what I wrote about the Giants needing to jettison Jim Brower last Monday, and what I wrote about Al Levine last Friday were simply harbingers of the inevitable, as Levine was DFA and Brower was released in the past few days. My rant about Brian Sabean needing to make moves at least for PR reasons was seemingly on the mark, too. Both Sabes and Father Alou said in this article that more changes would be forthcoming.
And the white flag has officially been waved (or waived, take your pick). The Giants have actually brought up someone who is younger than 30 to fill Brower's roster spot: Jesse Foppert.
A lot of what Sabean said in the article have been things Giants bloggers have been saying in one way, shape, or form for a couple of weeks now, and I'm honestly feeling he read my mind. He's making moves that will not only attempt to make the team just a bit better right now, to try and avoid estranging the fan base by being idle, but any trades, etc. that come along will be for people with a future with the ballclub. I'm assuming that means that they'll be players he'll be installing for last run next season.
This also means we can really, really forget about Barry Bonds. He wasn't going to be rushed in the first place, but after the Giants have lost their shirt over the last few weeks, now things will be taken ultra-slow -- I wouldn't even think to see Bonds until mid-August, or perhaps even September. And believe it or not, that's great, because the Giants will be able to get some more information on players like Pedro Feliz and Jason Ellison, who are both players that could fetch some value from a contender in the next month or so. Of course, I think that the Giants may have gotten extremely luck with Elly, so it's hard to say whether or not he should be traded. The longer he plays this well, the more Sabean may want to gamble that he's the real deal -- being able to pay league minimum for that kind of production simply can't be overlooked, especially as cash-strapped as the Giants will be next season. Feliz is trade bait, plain and simple, but his future with this ballclub may rest of the tradeability of Edgardo Alfonzo. If they can trade Fonzie, then Feliz probably stays. If not, well...hasta la bye-bye to Feliz and his GIDP's and untimely three pitch strikeouts.
3 comments:
I hadn't thought about trading Feliz, but I guess he's not much younger than Alfartzo anyway. Can we trade both?
I also hadn't considered trading Ellison, and of course would rather not. I'm wondering about his glove these days, as the errors do keep cropping up. But he's got flair, and a lot of range in CF. Even if he ultimately just is a roleplayer three years from now he's worth keeping.
I also hope that watching the Indians and Royals hit triples and run around the bases inspired a thought in Sabean et. al. There's a LOT of room in the outfield at Mays Field. It's hard to hit the ball over the wall without steroids, but since Ellison types are undervalued, comparatively, let's get two: one for CF and one for RF, and maybe someone (Jr. Spivey or Chone Figgins, not that they're available) and run, run, run. Carl Crawford is another utter pipe dream, but to me is the kind of guy we should be piling up in the minors, as opposed to the Niekro/Torcato/Shabala/etc. model (not a knock on Niekro, as he is doing just fine and I am glad he's up).
I think Sabean just woke up and noticed that giving away draft picks for 5 years has a downside, as do multi-year deals for old dudes...
BB
You bet the Giants can trade both Alfonzo and Feliz, although that would dictate a search for a new 3rd baseman -- a search that would be made easier by 11+ million being off the books for 2006 in the form of Feliz' and Alfonzo's salaries. Heck, Brian Dallimore would be fine enough at 3rd for the rest of 2005, right?
I cannot really figure out why Ellison is still having those rookie jitters out there -- it really seems like he's on crack or something out there (at the risk of being too flippant). I overlook those bobbles and whatnot on purpose, figuring they can't continue. I never heard of him doing these things in the minors, so I assume they'll pass with time and comfort in the bigs.
And yes, Sabean may now fully realize the Giants can really only afford one mediocre-to-poor outfielder in the OF at one time if the Giants hope to field a decent defensive team.
And hey, don't knock Niekro too much, as he's another Ellison -- only at 1st base. Father Alou has already told J.T. Snow that Niekro's going to be picking up more ab's at 1st, so you could be looking at the Giants new 1st baseman for years to come. It all depends on Sabean's evaluation of Elly's and Niekro's years, and if he feels they're worth the gamble of depending on them.
It'll save gobs of money, though, to be able to get that kind of production from 1st and CF while paying league minimum.
I like Niekro a lot, and since when does anyone expect a 1B to run well? Since I posted this I've seen reports that Linden and Shabala actually can run and catch.
In which case, what the he!! has been going on? Did we need Jeffrey Hammonds, or Tucker, or whoever? These dudes could have been grounding into DPs in SF instead of Fresno.
Except if they can actually run, they could avoid DPs, which is a skill our bums really, really need.
I thought Dallimore should have been playing 3B all last year after he won the AAA batting title. I still don't understand the logic of "we're paying this guy $5M so we have to play him". To me, introduce the guy's butt to the bench and tell him he's not getting off it until he agrees to leave. Or a pay cut. Or just quits. It's bad enough to overpay these old dudes and worse to watch them stumble.
I never saw the Grissom/Alfonzo DL gambit; I like it a lot although I should think it makes potential trade partners unduly nervous.
BB
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