A dramatic grand slam HR by Darin Ruf PH/DH in the 7'th inning fueled a late Giants comeback from a 5-0 deficit to take a 6-5 lead in the 8'th only to see it all go to naught in another bullpen failure.
Poor OF play contributed to Carlos Rodon LHP giving up 5 runs in the first three innings but his pitching was also not his best work as an 0/7 GO/AO shows.
Even though he PH the previous AB, Ruf's HR brought back memories of Mike Ivie C/1B/3B, who were he playing today, I have no doubt would be a FZ/Kapler type player. BTW, here's a hot tip if you are Giants fan looking for cheap thrills: Google Mike Ivie Grand slam and watch the video and/or read the Chronicle game story.
You could see Ruf's slam coming from a mile away in a situation tailor made for him. Bases loaded with a LHP with deer-in-headlights look and nowhere to put him. So great!
You could also see the bullpen meltdown looming from a long way off. John Brebbia RHP faced 4 batters in the 7'th inning, gave up 4 hard hits and got 3 outs. Dominic Leone RHP and Jarlin Garcia LHP were not so lucky and the hard-won 6-5 lead evaporated quickly. It's got to be telling that Tyler Rogers RHP and Camilo Doval RHP were nowhere to be seen in the late innings.
With all of the talk about Juan Soto OF, he's not going to do the Giants much good if they don't also get at least 2 seasoned reliable veteran late-inning relievers.
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This game reminded me of the one and only game I attended in Candlestick Park May 16, 1971. The Giants lost to the Dodger by the same score. The Giants would go on to win the NL West by 1 game over the Dodgers only to have an aging and exhausted core of Willie Mays CF, Willie McCovey 1B, Juan Marichal RHP and Gaylord Perry RHP lose the championship series to the Pirates who would go on to beat the Orioles in the WS. You can look up the boxscore in Baseball Reference linked to the left. A young Bobby Bonds RF gave the Giants a lead in the 6'th inning on a dramatic 3-run HR but the Dodgers scored 9 runs due to sloppy fielding and a bullpen failure.
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Logan Webb RHP tries to tie the series tonight facing former Giant Tyler Anderson LHP.
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Churn Watch:
The Giants traded with the Guardians on 7/18/2022 to acquire Alex Young LHP. Young was once a highly regarded draft prospect out of TCU and then a pitching prospect for the D'Backs. He moved fast through their system and had some success as a rookie but has struggled since.
Yesterday, the Giants signed Trevor Rosenthal RHP to a guaranteed, prorated $4.5 M contract and immediately placed him on the 15-day IL. To make room on the 40-man roster, they moved Mauricio Llovera RHP to the 60-day IL. As I am sure you all remember, Rosenthal has been an elite Closer at times but has struggled with injuries and inconsistency throughout his career.
The Giants currently have a total of 6 players on the 60-day IL. Isn't there a limit to how many players you can have on the 60-day IL at one time?
Churn on!
Risky Rosenthal signing for all that cash appears to answer the question: they are buyers. Farhan does not plan to go gently into that good night.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if they would take on Thor’s contract for the rest pf the season.
Doc - just as a thought experiment and all you clearly know about prospects and longstanding baseball history, what would a realistic trade package the Giants could offer the Nats for Soto that would make them actually listen? Would Luciano, Harrison, Bailey and maybe another couple high upside young guys in the low minors be even in the ballpark?
ReplyDeleteSo, you may be surprised if I say I would be OK with empyting out the farm for Soto, even as a 2+ year rental. I am extremely skeptical that they have the juice to pull that off even if they wanted to, so I don't think Soto is coming to the Giants. In that extremely unlikely scenario would think both Harrison and Luciano would have to be in the initial offer to even get Rizzo to stay on the phone. He might well demand Webb and/or Doval too. Again, I would point out that the Giants biggest current need is in the bullpen and there is not much point in getting Soto if they also can't bolster the bullpen with at least 2 seasoned reliable late-inning relievers. There also would obviously not be much point in getting Soto for short term help if they have to give up Webb.
DeleteNot even Juan Soto could save the Giants in 2022 — one bat cannot carry a team that is unlikely to have a single 3.0 bWAR in the lineup! fWar isn't much better: Slater has a chance but he looks good now because his BABIP is .406!
ReplyDeleteAnd the dWAR as a team is < -5.
And they still need to find some reliable RP!
Why would the next 2 years be different if all the high value prospects are traded?
Get in the 2025 Soto-Sweep-Stakes: the Giants have $0 salary committed for that year and everyone on their MLB Top 30 has an ETA for 2025 or earlier (except 17-yo Ryan Reckley).
Soto will be 26 and be playing for 15 years - Bonds did! He is the Coming of Barry, isn't he?
OTOH, considering Doc's All-In strategy, perhaps if the Nationals would include Bell 1B, Ruiz C, and Garcia SS plus some old relievers like Espino, Ramirez, and Edwards, they can have the whole Top 10.
I understand the desire to trade for Soto. He is a special talent, and our top prospects (like most) are not sure things. However, this would set the Giants back significantly, not only in prospects, but in how much it would take to sign Soto to long term. The Giants don't have the roster to support Soto just yet, and one player cannot win you a title. If that were the case, the Giants would have won multiple World Series' with Bonds and the Angels would win every year with Trout and Ohtani. I could be pessimistic, but my eyes tell me the Giants aren't having the kind of year to win the World Series. It would be better to trade Rodon and anyone else with value at the trade deadline, bolster the farm and sign Judge in the offseason. Judge won't cost any prospects, and he won't cost as much to sign as Soto. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI'll be in the minority since I'm not for trading for Soto. He's a tremendous young player, have him on my fantasy team. FZ has said that the Giants roster is in transition, older vets like Lingo, Belt, Crawford, that they'll need to replace, so I'd like to see them develop their young players instead so they can either replace their vets, or use them in lesser trades to fill their holes in the roster. A Soto trade would be too costly in terms of prospects and MLB players they would give up
ReplyDeleteAll this reminds me of the frenzy over Vlad Guerrero with everybody rosterbating to try to get a Vlad contract into an imagined payroll. All the while, Sabes had no intention of signing him and never made an offer. BTW, how many championships did the Angels win with Vlad Guerrero?
ReplyDelete