Tim Hudson came off the DL to pitch 6 strong innings and helped his own cause with a solo HR in the pivotal 5 run 3'rd inning. Key Lines:
Joe Panik- 2 for 3, 2B, HR(8), BB, HBP. BA= .314. No offense to Kelby Tomlinson who was terrific filling in when Panik was injured, but what a remarkable player Panik has become! Big scare in this one as he collided with Paul Goldschmidt who was running from first to second on a groundball play. Fortunately, Goldy held up and minimized the force of the contact. Panik was clearly shaken up and appeared to be on considerable pain, mostly trying to shake it out of his hand. He stayed in the game and appeared to be fine, later hitting a long HR that cleared the swimming pool in right-centerfield.
Gregor Blanco- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .291. Blanco broke up a scoreless tie with a leadoff HR in the 3'rd inning that started a 5 run rally and chased starter Chase Anderson.
Tim Hudson- 2 for 3, HR(1). BA= .200. Huddy looked rejuvenated after a prolonged stay on the DL. Maybe a new undervalued commodity would be signing 2 older pitchers on the cheap and then setting them up in a platoon where they each alternate pitching and going on the DL for a month at a time?
Tim Hudson- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.51. A vintage Huddy start except for the coming out after 6 IP part.
Chris Heston faces Zack Godley in the rubber match of the series and the finale of this loooong road trip.
According to Baggs reporting on Extra Baggs, Bochy was pretty emphatic that the Giants need to have a younger and better pitching staff next season.
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In the minors, the Hillsboro Hops crushed the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 8-0 in game 2 of their 3 game playoff series. Nothing to see in the boxscore.
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I fully realize that is Giants-speak for "we're going to re-sign soon-to-be 28 year-old Mike Leake."
ReplyDeleteBut David Price is 30. Younger than Hudson, Vogelsong, Peavy, Cain, Lincecum, or Petit... Just sayin'.
There could be a difference of as much as $100 M between the contract that Mike Leake gets and what David Price gets. If it comes down to a choice between two Mike Leake caliber pitchers and 1 David Price. I think I would prefer the 2 Mike Leake's.
DeleteDrB, I respectively disagree. I think a rotation of MadBum, Price, Peavy, Cain and (Heston/Blackburn/FA) would be a great rotation. Also, in the playoffs you mainly work with 3 top pitchers. I would rather go into playoffs with ACE, ACE and 3rd tier than ACE, 3rd tier and 3rd tier.
DeleteWell, for one, I consider Leake to be more 2nd tier. Secondly, those last 3 rotation spots look mighty shaky to me. We could call it Bummy, Price and shoot the dice.
DeleteI agree with that. However, we got pretty darn close with MadBum and 4 shaky spots plus missing tons of time with Pence, Peavy, Aoki and Panik. Also, just replacing Duffy with the games that McGehee played and you can easily see a few extra wins right there. When we acquired Leake we had a 2 game lead in the second wild card spot. Getting Price plus 1 OF upgrade over either Pagan or Aoki/Blanco and that should be enough to reach the playoffs. I hope they check in on Yoenis Cespedes but I think Gerardo Parra is a more plausible option.
DeleteI think there is a fundamental issue that regardless of what we want, two spots are taken by guys who have question marks--Peavy and Cain. Bumgarner is obviously a lock. So we're talking two spots. Even if Leake is a second tier, I think having Bumgarner and Leake is pretty good 1-2. Now, the question to me is what we do after that. Short of cutting a big contract lose, I think you have to assume Cain and Peavy are 3/4 and then what you're playing with is 5.
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't see the Giants going big money on that last spot. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think they sign one guy not two and likely Leake. Signing more than that, especially an older pitcher, just sets us up for problems after the fact.
As to the 5th spot, I'm not sure I'd say Blackburn is a step down from what we've got. I also think Hesto go tired and anyone who pitches as well as he did for as long as he did has potential. I'd add his Colorado performance recently was pretty good, so having him next year isn't a bad get.
I'd be happy with Roger's performance, if for no reason other than I think Blackburn and Hesto both make the squad (Blackburn as the 6th man long reliever ready to go when Peavy or Cain go down). Then Meija is in AAA if both go down. Stratton too but I don't see that as likely. Beede might be there too. I think we need to get younger and not necessarily on the FA circuit.
Just a tidbit. On Milb.com they did some research on Minor League attendance. This is what they had to say that relates to this blog:
ReplyDeleteThe Triple-A Sacramento River Cats led all teams in attendance, as 672,354 fans visited Raley Field this season.
This isn't just for AAA. This is for all 83 Minor League teams. That is very encouraging news for a Giants fan. The Giants fanbase is so strong!
The Giants led the NL in many offensive categories until hitting the wall with injuries in August. So it will a #2 starter they be looking at signing in FA.
ReplyDelete#1 MadBum - lock
#2 - FA signing
#3 - Peavy gives you 5
#4 - Heston builds on 2015 season.
#5 - Cain his stuff is there, his command is not. Hopefully he finds it by opening day 2016.
I would go Leake as a #2 starter. Blackburn/Stratton/Beede as injury/depth call ups. It would be great if two of these guys were ready to compete for Peavy's spot by 2017.
The rest of the money goes to bench depth/flexibility. Kelby is groomed as super-utility. Susac comes back stronger. Retaining Byrd or a getting power bench bat is key. Does Mac Williamson make the homegrown leap?
I think you have to let go of Peavy via trade and get a solid number 1/2 in this great free agent class with Mike Leake #3. That's the only way to win season long and into the playoffs.
DeleteThe next year, 2017, Cain and Heston's spots will be more a known commodity, and potentially a place where one or two of the minor league crop will get their opportunity. Until then, a filler-rotation just won't do, debilitating the pen in the process and stagnating a great team. This is the offseason for great pitching and I think Evans knows this, as do we all.
I think they would love to trade Peavy or Pagan at $15MM and $11.2MM respectively. But who would want either of those contracts. You would have to trade a few top prospects and put one of those guys in as a salary dump. That is the only way. Kind of like what the Red Sox did with the Dodgers. The Dodgers wanted Adrian Gonzalez and the Red Sox made them take Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford as a salary dump. Both Becketts and Crawfords contracts were crap at that point.
DeleteJake Peavy has been decent. Giants have won 7 out of 12 games that he started and those were some tough teams. WSN, NYM, ARI,OAK,MIL, ATL, CHC, WSN,PIT, CHC, LAD and COL. I would much rather put faith that Peavy will give us 5-6 quality innings than Cain or Heston at this point. I think Cain will be much better next year though. He needs to find a way to get a little more velocity. He said some promising things the other day about his delivery pushing the ball instead of throwing downhill. Hopefully he has it all figured out by April.
Did not see that MosesZD posted about Cain's progress in the next thread before me. He gives the link which is a decent read.
DeleteYes, but while Peavy would simply have to be sent off with some cash attached, Cain is simply untradable. I agree, that he showed good velocity and may simply need to break bad habits - However, how many times have we heard a recovering pitcher say the right things and never be able to right the ship.
DeleteI always wait for the proof to show up in the pudding/stat lines. Like you said, Peavy had some significant quality to him this year. As a 4th/5th starter, a think a number of teams would like to take him on at the right price. The Giants are in the top echelon of teams, while others in the 2nd tier could really use that kind of addition to the starting staff. Cain can't be moved, but has MUCH higher upside in my opinion. The 93 - 94 readings consistently tell me that his body may truly be recovered.
The only way Peavy gets traded is if Bochy retires/resigns as field manager. How likely do you think that is?
DeleteAll I know is, the Giants play a dangerous game allowing better players to pass them by while holding onto old guys whom no one else wants, all because of personal relationships. How are they going to structure the rotation to include the two top-flight pitchers that they clearly need to add?? (Leake included in those two..)
DeleteThen again, I think Peavy's personal ties with the team psyched him up to demolish competition down the 2014 stretch. I just wish more managers/GMs could act like Bill Walsh and know when a guy's days are about to be up. I do not like watching my favorite players fail in their last years (Lincecum, Scutaro, Ross, etc.), and would instead rather see them move on and be left with nothing but the best memories of their time here.
Pretty tough to argue with the Giants track record over the last 5 years, there, Rainball. Billy Beane is certainly a guy who has no loyalty to any players and we've seen some comments and evidence that the constant turnover of the roster there negatively impacted both morale and performance.
Delete