The Giants rallied to tie a close game in the top of the 9'th inning only to lose it in the bottom of the 10'th as Jeremy Affeldt's season long struggles picked up where they left off before he went on the DL. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 2 for 5, SB(9). BA= .283. Another good game for Pagan who did not participate in the scoring as the Giants managed just 2 runs out of 14 baserunners.
Marco Scutaro- 1 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .299. So the top 2 batters reached base 5 out of 10 PA's yet neither one scored or drove in a run. That is the Giants' season in a nutshell!
Hunter Pence- 1 for 5, HR(21). BA= .289. Pence's offseason paycheck continues to increase in value by the day.
Gregor Blanco- 3 for 4, 2 CS. BA= .261. Blanco drove in the tying run in the 9'th.
Matt Cain- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.24. Solid start for Cain who battled Greinke and the Dodgers to a standstill through 7.
The Giants remain in 9'th place in the race for the #1 overall draft pick in 2014.
Madison Bumgarner takes on Clayton Kershaw in game 2 of the series tonight.
Addendum:
There is a note in MLBTR that none other than Brian Sabean himself is in the Dominican Republic with Felipe Alou scouting Cuban defector Jose Abreu. Stay tuned!
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This roadtrip looks like a tough one on paper. I'm hoping for a series split with the Bums, but the Mets gave them problems and the Yankees are fighting for a wildcard. I could see them moving up for a higher draft pick on this trip.
ReplyDeleteLG
A higher pick.
ReplyDeleteWell, Wilson is lending a helping hand there.
Will Zito be allowed to do his part, considering how much he's making?
As of now (subject to change frequently), the 2014 rotation:
Bumgarner
Cain
?
?
?
I really believe we cannot afford to let Pence go. That would leave us with Pagan and Blanco and a weak free agent market besides Pence and Choo. Nobody in AAA or AA seems to be ready. The news about Jose Abreu is encouraging. The two biggest players (Yankees and Dodgers) do not need a 1B. However, Boston is showing some interest. Retaining Pence, moving Belt to LF and signing Abreu for 1B sounds like a great lineup. Pablo will be playing for a new deal so we should expect a decent year from him. I am thinking that Posey's future could be at 3B if Abreu is signed. Crawford overall had a decent year at SS but Scutaro's health is a big concern for me. Wondering if signing a player like Kelly Johnson to a small one year deal as insurance would be a good thing. He offers some power off the bench but he does K a lot. I highly doubt we would win the posting for Tanaka but I think we would be stupid not to at least try. The guy is 24 and last time I checked he was 18-0 with an ERA in the low 1's. Darvish is proof that some stars still exist there after a decent amount of busts. I am sure his posting fee will be similar or more than Darvish's 51.7M. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteAfter 2 World Series wins that rainy day fund is overflowing. It is about time to spend but spend wisely. I think Pence will accept some sort of a discount to stay in SF. He might be cheaper than Choo and I love his enthusiam. Really pumps the team up. Pence 4-5 years at about 15M annually and lets get it done.
I agree that the OF situation looks rather bleak without Pence in the picture. Ellsbury and Choo both have their own warts and are going to be crazy expensive. The rest of the FA class is uninspiring at best. Nobody from the farm has stepped up. Roger K looks like he could be another Nate after a similar number of years of development at the MLB level. I think Pegs could go on a tear if he was ever allowed to get enough AB's to settle in, but wouldn't want to bet my GM's job on it. There may be hope for Brownie, but he seems completely lost at this point.
DeleteIf Belt could move to LF, it would solve a lot of problems. I would be happy with Posey moving to 1B and Hector catching or maybe Abreu can be signed and be the Giants answer to Yasiel Puig? Even if Belt does move to LF and either Buster or Abreu or a FA plays 1B, it still wouldn't fill the void in RF if Pence leaves.
Seems like they have to make re-signing Pence the A #! priority!
I agree Pence is more of a must now. Is Abreu ready to start? If not, how far behind someone like AngelV is he? First basemen we've got. Not OF. I get moving Belt to LF would help, but he better start learning it. As for Posey at 3b, wasn't he a SS at one point? If so, I'm wondering how hard of a transition that would be. I definitely hope that in spring ball they spend a bit of time moving those guys around. Freeing up the 1b at some point and having Posey learn first (spelling Panda next year) could really add a lot in flexibility and long term planning.
ReplyDeleteAs for Scutaro, not all that worried. Panik had a decent year in a hard division. Duffy is coming. I could see Panik moving up to AAA and Duffy to AA, so (a) one of them is ready if Scutaro goes down and (b) they are both ready come '15. Noonan and Arias are fine back ups short term.
Only good news is that we're gonna have a ton of money to work with. Even with contract escalations, Timmy's and Zito's contracts are coming off the books at their current numbers. Will give them some room to move.
PiLamBear
I believe Bochy himself was recently caught fantasizing out loud about Buster playing 3B in the future.
DeleteFelipe Alou of RafRod fame? We sure we want to go this route? With a real lack of options in LF I guess shifting Belt over could work out OK.
ReplyDeleteI hate seeing the Dodgers walk off. Hate seeing them win. The NL Central teams better bounce those bums out right quick.
Totally agree about our lads falling to the Bums late. How about SF beats LA the rest of the way, and gains ground on a Top 5 slot by falling to the others in exciting extra innings fashion, so the kids get some additional audition time. Have Buster try out 3rd in late game switch & Belt in LF as well. I say QO Timmah and hope Jack Z goes for it. M's tend to ak r ernate hit & miss on their top picks (they hit with Zunino last, so they are due for a Clement/Ackley miss)...
ReplyDeleteOh, Duck the Fodgers!
NWGiantsFan