The Giants pummeled the hapless Twins in a runaway win and a sweep of the 3 game weekend interleague series. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 3 for 4. BA= .183. Blanco is hitting .313 over his last 10 games. He filled in for Angel Pagan who was getting a routine rest day and did not miss a beat in the leadoff role.
Hunter Pence- 3 for 4, HR(6). BA= .294. Pence continues his red-hot pace and is closing in on a .300 BA.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4. BA= .233. In addition to being hot at the plate, Pablo continues to sparkle on defense at 3B. I'm pretty sure he would have had Morse's bases-loaded double down the line had he been playing 3B for the Twins.
Michael Morse- 3 for 4, 3 2B, SF. BA= .279. Morse got a well deserved standing O after his 3'rd double cleared the bases and turned the game into a route. Someone tried to troll me the other day about Jose Abreu and whether I still thought the Giants should not have signed him. First of all, I never said I didn't think Abreu would be good, I just didn't think the Giants needed to pay that kind of a contract. Then, I would point to Michael Morse and say the Giants got a better player for about $83 M less. How's THAT?
Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 10 K. ERA= 3.15. The 3 hits were all BABIP jobbies. A medium-hard grounder through the hole to LF, a dunker over 2B and a comebacker that Bummy could not get a handle on. The Twins do not have a good team. I mean, a lineup with Trevor Plouffe hitting 3'rd and Kurt Suzuki hitting cleanup is pretty pathetic, but you have to dominate those kinds of teams and Bummy certainly did that today!
George Kontos- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. Kontos' FB was sitting at 93-94 MPH with good movement. Makes the slider all that more dangerous.
The Win enabled the Giants to increase their lead in the NL West to 5 games over the Rockies who got shut out by the Braves 7-0. The Dodgers stayed 5.5 games back by defeating the Phillies 6-0 behind a no-hitter by Josh Beckett. The Padres beat the Cubs 4-3 to remain 9.5 games back in 4'th place. The D'Backs split a twinbill with the Mets to fall 13 games off the pace in last place.
Matt Cain's hammy is not quite there yet, so Yusmeiro Petit gets the substitute start against Jeff Samardijza and the Cubs in a Memorial Day afternoon game tomorrow.
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Doc, correct me if I am wrong but I have Abreu's contract as 6yrs/$68m? Then Morse won't be $83m cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Min. would be thinking about that Mauer deal? looks god damn awful.
Do the Giants have the prospects to acquired Samardijza? Cubs org. is quite weak at C and pitching prospects, which the Giants have, what about a Susac/Hector, Crick and Blackburn?
OK, what about $61 M cheaper? Would that make you take Abreu, who currently happens to be on the DL, over Morse?
DeleteGotta think the Dodgers are looking at Samardijza. Rockies might be too. Yeah, I think the Giants might have enough on the farm and on their bench for a deal. Which of the Giants starters would you bump from the rotation? Timmy to the pen? Or, do you go with a 6 man rotation or just assume someone is going to get hurt?
If I'm the Cubs I'm insisting on Urias in any deal. Don't know if the Bums will give it up. I'd empty a lot of our farm for Sharky, but I don't know where he'd fit in the lineup and I wouldn't give up Susac for him. Susac would be my only untouchable here though.
DeleteIf the Giants think they could re-sign Samardz to a 5 or 6 year contract, and that trading for him this season would both win them another WS and give them a leg up on FA, then I would trade Susac. They still have The Hector as a backup plan at catcher.
DeleteSusac is apparently hurt yet again. Staying on the field is perhaps his hardest challenge. The Shark is definitely worth kicking tires on.
DeleteMorse was all over the 3 year leaderboards right there with the FAs getting 5 and 7 year deals for big money, even nine figure money. That wasn't really discussed because the narrative was focused on his defense and how the Giants were giving up a better WAR score with Blanco. This is a good example where you shouldn't forget that WAR score is only one part of the puzzle, and it doesn't tell a complete story. The risk was involved with his wrist surgery and being healthy more than the defense, which has been managed properly. As we expected it to be.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants brass is known for catching lightning in a bottle, and they sell that notion with enthusiasm. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that they have a rough formula that increases their odds of success on that and it's not all in the batting line numbers or WAR formulas. It includes timing of injuries and other extenuating circumstances that may have contributed to a loss of playing time or a small sample of poor performance on the field that led to other organizations giving up on a guy. Doesn't always work out, as we saw with Frenchy last year, but when it does, it's a beautiful and exciting thing to watch.
DeleteI'll add that some of it seems to be that the Giants now have enough of a track record for rehabilitating careers, if even for one season, that guys who are looking for a shot at redemption are almost begging to sign with the organization. I mean, who doesn't want to have just one more great season and win a World Series? That's what the Giants have become known for among down and out players, and how motivating is that?
I'm getting in some chats on Sickels site, one thing that is getting some noise is Houston's team building approach and their rep in the game. Lithnow appears to have the attitude that "Winning will cure all, and when we offer money they will come" but the lowball offer to George Springer was definitely noticed big time. Teams wielding the sword over players in a play for pay basis, or with saddling them with the QO for FA as another example, the players do take note. The Cubs and Astros are getting to be full time regulars at the 1-5 prime draft pick territory, quite deliberately. We'll see how it turns out, but they made the wrong move there and it'll hurt a ton. I think the Stros have made the wrong move.
DeleteThe Giants not offering Pagan the QO was befuddling at the time. I think you can look at it now and see they wanted to have a chance to match but didn't want to punish his market with that QO. That makes them a step apart. But they weighed pissing off a player versus the benefits of having a 10% shot at a average player or 3.33% chance at a good player (picks in the 20s) and said no thanks, we'll take a chance to get the guy back at market rate. That has turned out to be a great move from a player evaluation perspective, but also a great move in terms of rep in the game.
Just posted a take above on how I think Houston's draft position has worked against them and will likely do so again this year.
DeleteDoc, how long will Casilla be out?
ReplyDeleteThey are saying 4 weeks for Casilla. Kontos looked very good yesterday, albeit in a non-pressure situation. I think the pen will be fine until Casilla gets back. Hopefully the rest will pay off later in the season and the momentum he had built up won't be broken by the layoff.
Delete