Ryan Vogelsong capped off a storybook season for him with another sparkling pitching performance in front of another sellout crowd at AT&T Park. Key Lines:
Mike Fontenot- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .231. Fonty is hitting .318 in his last 10 games. Is he making a case for himself to be retained for next year over Jeff Keppinger? Is Bochy's suggestion that Gillaspie will be in the mix an ominous sign of drastic cost cutting ahead?
Brett Pill- 2 for 3, SF. BA= .295. Brett Pill continues to make a solid case for remaining in the picture for next season.
Ryan Vogelsong- 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 11/4. ERA= 2.71. While the Giants season has been forgettable, Vogelsong's has not. He may have faltered a few times, but never gave in to the gods of regression. He finishes with the best ERA of the Giants starters. With just a bit more run support here and there, he might be in the mix for the Cy Young! Just a wonderful season for a guy who really seems to deserve it, not just him, but his family who has stuck by him all these years. I sincerely hope he gets a nice contract that will give him just a bit of something to lean on the rest of his life. His window to earn money in this game is small. That's the least this game can give back to a guy who gave so much to it, even if it was just for this one season. One more thought, there has to be a book and maybe even a movie deal in this story somewhere. It's that remarkable. Vogelsong seemed to have something very specific in his mind that he wanted to prove to the Giants, the team that traded him for Jason Schmidt almost 10 years ago. On top of that, he seemed to have something he desperately wanted to prove to his family. Most of all, he had something to prove to himself. Man, did he ever! Yeah, in the midst of a very forgettable season for the Giants Vogelsong gave us all something to remember for a long, long time.
2 more games to go. Madison Bumgarner, who has had a pretty good season himself, takes the mound against Alex White tonight at AT&T.
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Doc, I totally agree about Vogelsong. Give the man some cash. I think he's more likely to repeat his performance than Huff or Torres were.
ReplyDeleteBaggs said something about Bochy trying to turn Gillaspie into a 2B. Bochy went as far as saying "he will make some noise next year". If I read that correctly it may mean they plan on doing a sign and trade for Keppinger or using Gillaspie at a utility guy and have no need for Fontenot. I like Keppinger but if Sanchez is healthy then there is no need for a 3-4 million backup. I think we could get a few decent prospects for Kep and maybe a few for J Sanchez if we offer him arbitration. With Kep at 3-4 million and J Sanchez probably around 6 million, that is a decent amount to get another bat such as Reyes, Rollins, Bourn (if available), etc. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteGod, tell me Sanchez doesn't get a raise in arbitration after THAT season.
ReplyDeleteI think the ideas of signing and trading Kepp or Fonty and JSanchez are great ideas. That's not how Sabes has played it in the past, but let's see if he can come up with something creative here. I agree that if FSanchez is healthy, there is no need for an expensive backup like Kepp.
ReplyDeleteThe evil of arbitration is that it almost guarantees a raise no matter how bad a player performed. I would think a graduated minimum wage for 5 years the FA would be much fairer for the fans and management.
charlie o tried to warn the other owners about arbitration...they wouldnt listen
ReplyDeleteits arbitration...not fa that exploded salaries
arbitration and sabean bidding against himself
Bacci,
ReplyDeleteYup, I remember that. Charlie O wasn't as stupid as he seemed to be on the surface. In fact, he was much smarter than most of the owners. He had the arbitration thing nailed.
Arbitration is not the problem, it is the lack of a hard cap. It is the fact that most top free agent go to only a few teams. I am in belief of a hard cap at a decent amount, say 130 million. Teams have until a week before opening day to get under the cap. Also, I believe in a minimum cap like now in football where they have the entire season to spend the minimum. This would force teams like Oakland and San Diego to spend enough to field a competitive team. If they can't then maybe a fund should be put together with revenue sharing to help these teams relocate to larger populated areas and newer stadiums. I am all for this
ReplyDeleteexcept for Oakland moving to San Jose. If we did these things it would be the end of teams like Boston spending over 300 million in one year (AGon 154 mil and Crawford 145 mil) and letting teams like San Fran have a shot. Since there is less demand from the bigger clubs, the salaries would be more reasonable. On a side note another problem is the guaranteed contracts. Zito anyone? Just imagine if we could spend 20 mil in free agency next year.
Roger,
ReplyDeleteThere's already a significant amount of revenue sharing going on. The Boston situation and the Werth signing this last year tends to actually argue against the need for any constraints in my mind. To me, it just proves that any team can afford to spend as much as it chooses any time it chooses. I guess I'm just enough of a lefty to find it hard to swallow that billionaire owners need to be protected from themselves. If the Red Sox can find a way to maintain their payroll structure in a market like Boston, then the vast majority of teams could do the same if they chose to.
As for giving San Fran a shot, they did win the World Series last year, didn't they? I think it's pretty darn funny that the Red Sox may well not make the playoffs and the team that let Carl Crawford has a legitimate shot at winning it all.
DrB,
ReplyDeleteYes, we did win the World Series last year. But unless something happens with our offense, it will be awhile before we get back. Last year was not a fluke but we just won those close games where this year after the All Star break it didn't happen. I am looking at the FA class of 2012 and 2013 and unless you want Pujols, Fielder, or Reyes it is very thin. We both know we probably won't sign any of those guys. 2013 is just awful. So unless we make a trade to get a few bats we will be in trouble. And in 2014 when a few names might be available look for the Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies to reload. This is what I am referring too. I like the idea of building through the draft but I think we need to be more aggressive in International and FA signings. It is stupid when the majority of free agents are taken by 3-4 teams. Something is wrong with that.
Roger,
ReplyDeleteThe whole point is the FA market has all but dried up. The teams that succeed in the future will be those who have strong scouting, drafting and player development. I believe the Giants have those. That is why I believe they are as well positioned for the future as any team in baseball.
Smart trading will have to be part of the mix too. This is the area where I think Sabes is a bit suspect. He will have to re-prove he is a smart trader in today's market.