The Giants designated Travis Ishikawa for assignment, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (on Twitter). Rookie Brandon Belt made the Giants' Opening Day roster, bumping Ishikawa from the team.
The 27-year-old appeared in 116 games last year and hit .266/.320/.392 in 173 plate appearances. He doesn't have much power for a first baseman (career .400 SLG), but UZR suggests he is well above average with the glove (career 13.5 UZR/150).
Ishikawa, who is out of options, didn't draw trade interest this spring, according to Henry Schulman of the Chronicle (on Twitter). That could change now that the Giants only have ten days to trade Ishikawa, release him or outright him to the minor leagues.
Congrats Brandon!!! Back to back R.O.Y. is possible!
Travis will catch on somewhere. Although he isn’t more than an 8th inning defensive replacement.
Ishikawa is at least Casey Kotchman, with less fanfare. Should be a great addition to someone’s bench.
Belt better get plenty of ABs
ESPN said he’ll be the starting 1B.
Hopefully he produces like he did in ST, if so they’re gonna have a serious dilemma when Cody comes off the DL, unless Burrell is struggling big time.
Eat Rowand’s Contract. (With a lot of Frank’s Hot Sauce.)
I wish they would, the only thing that Rowand is good for anymore is a late inning strikeout, usually in an RBI position.
Don’t forget the occasional rally-killing double play. But that being said, I wouldn’t completely eat Rowand’s contract. Even if they could offload a few million on another team, that would be a huge plus.
I put that s%$t on everything. Makes even a ridiculous contract utterly scrumptious !
Huff to LF?
Huff to RF.
Burrell to LF? That outfield better rake because they will be bad on the D.
Burrell to LF until Cody Ross comes back and moves Huff to LF. And Burrell to bench.
And Rowand to waivers.
or Ross to bench if Burrell is hitting well. Torres is going to have to work his ass off in CF.
or Ross to bench if Burrell is hitting well. Torres is going to have to work his buns off in CF with Huff and Burrell in the corners.
Highly doubt that they’ll move Ross to the bench, he is a key player in the lineup. Burrell is a bench player and should offer good power in certain situations.
You honestly think they will bench an established starter at that point who is hitting well at that point just for Cody Ross?
Water buffalo outfield FTW!
The Giants employed the Wild Kingdom defense a few times last year without major incident, but I really think the best alignment is Huff-Torres-Ross in the long run; there’s a lot of outfield to cover at AT&T.
Excited for belt
Surprised Belt made the roster, I wasn’t expecting as bold a move as this by the Giants FO.
Opening Day as the defending World Champions, on national television, against Kershaw and the LA Dodgers. No pressure, kid!
Ishikawa was a class act the whole time he was with the team. I’m sure someone will swoop him up off waivers.
Sure, first basemen without power are in huge demand.
Loney’s career slugging % is only .436… In fact last seasons slash stats between Loney and Ishikawa look eerily similar. Maybe the Dodgers will pick him up as an upgrade.
SO? I didn’t mention Loney, but since you have, Ishikawa makes Loney look like Babe Ruth.
ja. loney’s last 650 PA – .315 wOBA
ishikawa’s last 540 PA – .311 wOBA
j. pierre’s last 730 PA – .312 wOBA
(babe ruth’s wOBA – .510)
Are you sure he wasn’t making a weight comparison?
Babe Ruth: Height: 6′ 2″, Weight: 215 lb.
James Loney: Height: 6′ 3″, Weight: 220 lb.
Travis Ishikawa: Height: 6′ 3″, Weight: 225 lb.
Whoah Whoah Whoah! Since when was Babe Ruth 215 pounds. What scale are you using?
Metric?
Very Ruthian numbers I do say…
Why did you throw a left fielder in there. Juans soul purpose is to hit for average( he does) get on base( he does) and steal bases( he does) where as first basemen are meant for power
wOBA is a measure of total offensive output, which should be much higher from a 1B than from a slap-hitting outfielder with a .041 ISO
dude said loney looked like babe ruth compared to ishikawa. not only does he actually look like, well, ishikawa next to ishikawa – they both look like juan freakin’ pierre
So here’s the funny part. Giants fans are telling us how Loney stinks, and you’d have to look long and hard to find a Dodger fan who’d really defend him — but Giants fans seem to be falling all over themselves to praise Ishikawa. Turns out, the grass really is greener over the septic tank!
Who’s going out of their way to praise him? He played hard, has a great glove, is a good pinch hitter who last year showed he could handle more ABs solidly, albeit with no power. Whether he’s better or worse than Loney, it ain’t by much. They re very comparable. He’ll get picked up by a weak team like seattle and get solid playing time. Wishing a guy luck and saying someone will pick him up isn’t praise
Read the thread. Read your own post. Not that I disagree with much of what you said. If you look back you’ll see I was only responding to the claim that he’s going to be hot commodity. I think we all know that first basemen who can’t hit for power get little respect, even if they hit .300.
Um…who said he’s going to be a hot commodity? He’s a great bench player who can’t fit on our stacked roster. He’s also 27 years old and still has the chance to develop into an everyday player. I bet he gets picked up off waivers.
Top of the thread. He’s going to get “swooped up.” Making a waiver claim on a player is no big deal in any case but he wasn’t tradable earlier, so I thought “swooped up” was a bit of an exaggeration of his value on waivers.
Or you’re just reading too much into the comments and are coming to irrational conclusions based on fuzzy logic. I think that might be it.
As long as there are Adam Dunns playing first base, there will be a place for Travis Ishikawas. Especially if they can cut it as a left-handed pinch hitter. I’d explain how bargaining and leverage works to you, but it’d just be wasted breath.
Do you really think no one will pick him up? There’s enough bad teams with holes at 1B that someone will sign him for the minimum. If you DFA’d Loney tomorrow, do you think no one would sign him? c’mon man, he’d end up somewhere, just like Ishikawa will
Blue is just mad that giants improved and his team still sucks. By the way dodgers wanted huff got uribe what will stop them from getting Travis. Dodgers could use some clasd
so um the septic tank is in chavez ravine then cuz grass is pretty green at at&t after all WORLD CHAMPS yea ok best of luck finding the missing pieces.
so um the septic tank is in chavez ravine then cuz grass is pretty green at at&t after all WORLD CHAMPS yea ok best of luck finding the missing pieces.
Ha-ha. That’s the great thing about baseball today — there’s a stat to backup any argument. FWIW, I don’t think there’s much of a trade market for Loney either. Then again, I wasn’t the one who mentioned him, was I?
right, you were the one who said there was a babe ruth-sized difference between the two players when there is in fact a .004 difference in wOBA between them
and yeah wOBA is voodoo magic. batting average is all we need
It was a joke, son. Sorry you didn’t get it.
“Blue Sky” LA? That’s some kind of sick joke about y’alls environment, amirite?
I brought up Loney simple because you’re a Dodger fan and they employ a 1B that’s a virtual clone of Ishikawa. If the Dodgers can be successful with a first basemen without power [sic] than many other teams might be interested in the same. I figured you’d relate…
I do, actually, and nothing I said can really be interpreted otherwise by anyone who isn’t out looking for an argument.
How are the McCourts doing, bro?
Getting divorced, bro. I’m sure you’ve heard about it.
Bout to get a owner with money, bro.
Bout to file Chapter 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcies, all at the same time, bro.
Boche just stated he is the everyday first basemen.
Belt will be everyday first baseman for now, but Bochy said “we’ll evaluate where we’re at when Ross comes back.”
link to twitter.com
Grats to Belt.
Congrats to Brandon Belt, we will go ahead and anoint him the 2011 R.O.Y. Right now (and warming up in the proverbial on deck circle, 2012 R.O.Y. winner, Jerry Sands) =)
Just picked him up in my fantasy league. Now I’ve got two R.O.Y in Brandon Belt and Jeremy Hellickson.
If you pick up a third, I will be very impressed.
Thanks to Ishy for his contributions to the club. He will always be a part of the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. Can’t take that away from him. Good Luck Ish!
Why do I have a feeling he’s going to end up on the Pirates?
your opening day pitcher is already punishment enough
I can see the Angels or Mariners putting a claim in.
Padres put a claim in? No idea how Atkins will perform at 1B for the Padres.
Padres have Hawpe and Cantu on 1B
with Blanks and Rizzo…in the wings
Congrats to Belt ! Put together a great spring and looks to have all the tools to be a major force in the league.
As far as Ishikawa, it was the painless move to make. Ishikawa had nothing going for him: yet to live up to his potential, a roster that was pressed for space, and coming off of a terrible spring training. The real painful decision will be when Ross is off the DL and all eyes will be focused on the elephant in the room … Rowand. He is the obvious odd man out: backside of is career, coming off a terrible spring, and obviously physically and mentally done being in SF. Eat the money, let him go.
Hope the Astros jump on this!
I’m so excited that I get to watch Belt play now rather than in a few months time.
Cutting Ishikawa was the obvious move. A 1B defensive replacement is a luxury, especially on a team with two guys for whom that’s their primary position (Huff and Belt), and two guys who can fill in adequately if need be (DeRosa and Sandoval). Still, I always liked the guy. Total class act. Hope he catches on somewhere.
Brandon Belt
a baseball writer and headline writer’s dream
Can’t wait til he … you got it … Belt’s one out!
On a Belt-high fastball, no less.
sumbody stop me
belt is the man he will soon be our number 2 batter im thinkin best place for him to get a few quick swings in and get on base for posey and huff daddy shoot loving how the team is going to look lets drop our big contracts start saving to pay lincy and cain and wilson
The four best at-bats the Giants put together last night came from Belt. Remarkable patience for a guy that young.
iSH OFF CANT BELIEVE IT