The Giants are still looking for a right-handed hitting outfielder, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports (on Twitter). Rival teams say the Giants are aiming low and that they aren't expected to add more than an extra guy.
Scott Hairston could have been a fit for the Giants, but he was claimed off of waivers by another team, apparently as a blocking move. The Giants had some interest in Steve Pearce earlier this month. However, they didn't claim him when he was placed on waivers and Houston traded him to New York. Both Angel Pagan, a switch hitter, and Gregor Blanco, a left-handed hitter, hit right-handers better than left-handers.
Where is Marlon Byrd?
sharing a bunk with Melky Cabrera…
The Royals have a RF with a great arm and who oozes leadership skills… Dayton, get on the horn!
I think the Giants owe us after how this past year has gone haha.
Ya I love how it says they’re “aiming low” and just want an “extra man” but we can’t get them to take Frenchy off our hands. We’ll take a bag of day old bagels for him.
Recent reports indicate the Giants aren’t really Francouer fans. And they obviously wouldn’t want any part of his 2013 salary. He’s not a big enough upgrade over Nady, Huff or Peguero to warrant throwing away 2013 dollars.
Just call up Xavier Nady. At this point he is equal to anyone we can get off waivers that wouldn’t be blocked. And we wouldn’t have to give up anything.
I have to agree with that. And if Nady does well he actually could be kept for the playoffs. I had thought he needed to be brought up before 8/31 to be eligible, but actually he only needed to be acquired by the organization before 8/31, but not necessarily playing for the major league team to be eligible. It would just be a matter of who would be optioned to make room for him if he does okay enough to play in the post season.
If he hits well in September (no sure thing, Fresno is extremely hitter friendly and can make even a bad major league hitter look good, see Christian, Justin) it wouldn’t be difficult to find room on the 25 man roster for him. Peguero is probably who he’d replace but there would also be an extra spot since they’ll likely only carry 4 starters and 7 relievers in the postseason. That leaves room for a 6 man bench with Sanchez, Theriot, and the half of the Arias/Crawford platoon that isn’t starting looking like the only sure things. If the playoffs started today I’d bet on Whiteside getting a spot because Bochy seems to like having the ability to pinch run for Posey and/or use Sanchez as a pinch hitter. But even that leaves one more spot available for Nady, Huff, Peguero, Pill or someone acquired in the next day or two.
I also like the idea of giving Hermida a shot. Still only 28, has the skill set.
I sometimes wish the Giants hadn’t swept the Dodgers in that last series just so LA couldn’t block them. I guess there’d still be the D-Backs though.
Wonder why the dbacks didn’t block the Dodgers from getting Adrian Gonzalez?
They can’t afford to pay him?
You don’t have to pay Gonzalez … the Dbacks could’ve claimed just to block.
That’s not how it works. Whether you claim to keep, or claim to block, it’s the same thing… you’re still making the claim. The player’s team can easily give the player+contract, in which case the Diamondbacks would be on the hook for the 100m+ salary.
sure, but there was no chance the Sox were just going to hand over Gonzalez’ contract for nothing
Probable, but not impossible.
Thanks for the clarification on claims. Totally forgot the other team could simply dump salary. But I agree with wolf9309, I don’t think the BoSox would’ve dumped Gonzalez for salary alone.
I understand it is the same thing. There are three scenarios – work out a trade, send him with his contract or do nothing in the event of a claim (in this case by the DBacks). The first scenario had no chance of happening, the second very little chance. Most likely they could have just blocked Gonzalez
Players with that much money very rarely get claimed, basically due to the fact that the initial team can simply give the player and large contract away. If you’re the DBacks, that’s a risk you absolutely cannot take. A 20m+ player for 6 years? Their total payroll is around 75m, to put things in perspective.
By putting in a claim, you can block a trade to the Dodgers, however, the risk is you MAY get stuck with 100m+, crippling your payroll for years, essentially destroying your organization for the next five years.
In the end, it’s a risk that simply does not match the reward.
“the risk is you MAY get stuck with 100m+, crippling your payroll for years, essentially destroying your organization for the next five years.”
…or you could just trade him in the offseason. or you could let him crush the ball for a year and then trade him. or give him away. or, worst case, you could pay a little of his contract and trade him
“getting stuck” with adrian gonzalez was never a possibility
eh, they easily could’ve traded Gonzalez in the offseason and come out ahead. I think they just didn’t think there was any way the Dodgers would make that deal
This is what I have been wondering. The only risk to them would have been the Red Sox just letting Gonzalez go to shed themselves of the contract. I don’t think anyone believes they would have done that. The only reason Gonzalez was traded is because he was part of a package deal with Crawford and Becket. They would not have let him go by himself for nothing. I hate the D-Back for this, they are totally out of the race now and still blocked the one player the Giants needed most. It’s probably moot because the Dodgers also would have blocked.
they have Goldschimidt. And they were A. Afraid he’d get dumped on them, and B. Thought there was no way the Dodgers actually make that deal happen
Like folks have been saying here, it seems highly unlikely that the BoSox would let Gonzalez go for just salary. Keep in mind too, the price the Boston paid for Gonzalez. Rizzo been pretty solid and looks promising and Casey Kelly had great debut. To let Gonzalez go without getting anything back would probably be heavily criticized. Anyways, it’s all speculation … would’ve been interesting to be flies on multiple walls.
of course its speculation. But its a very good point. Could the Dbacks afford to have 1/4 of their payroll on a player who has the position filled at 400K
Really? I rather be 3.5 games up than tied for 1st or worst. The Giants forced their hand to spend a quarter billion dollars and mortgage their future.
Pretty sure the Dodgers didn’t “mortgage” anything.
Losing top prospects for over thirty somethings with albatross contracts for players with a combine 0.6 WAR? Let’s not forget the Dodgers didn’t even spend on what they needed most starting pitching. Everything hinges on Kershaw. If he goes down with TJ next season it’s hard to even envision the Dodgers keeping afloat.
The only way the Dodgers ownership will spend like this is if the Dodgers win and go to playoffs each and every single season after this. Anything else will be deemed a failure.
So yes, they might not care now but if there is not a winning product I’m not so sure they’ll continue their spending spree.
From what I’ve read, a world series win will pay for this whole thing. Not to mention the tv rights getting more lucrative with every win. You really went out on a limb thete, didn’t ya?
You don’t win a world series with one good pitcher and no closer. No way to gauge that trade until we have the clarity of a few years. Unlike the other pro sports though, baseball’s free agent market is usually devoid of young talent because players are under team control for 6 years. Most of the last few world series winners (excp. yankees) had been primarily built through the draft.
How are the Dodgers going to win the World Series with guys like Chris Capuano, Josh Beckett and Joe Blanton in their rotation? Their offense was putrid before Gonzalez was acquired and do you think Gonzalez alone will turn that offense into a force that will be powerful enough to overcome their rotation? Not to mention that the Giants play all sub-.500 teams with the exception of the Dodgers. Meanwhile the Dodgers have a ten game stretch with four against STL, three @ Cin and three @ Was. The best they can hope for in those games is 4-6. That leaves them 21 games to make up what is a 4 game deficit at the moment and given the schedule will probably be more than a 4 game deficit. I know anything can happen but to say that the Dodgers have a better shot at the division than the Giants is insane.
Putrid? I think Kemp, Hanley, and Andre in the middle of the order was good, but replace Gonzalez with Loney, and you have a Texas- sized offense. We had two games where we couldn’t get a hit. You can’t win if you don’t score. Simple. Yet this team has shown in two different games what they can do in the blink of an eye.
And two teams have won a world series title with Beckett in the rotation. Kershaw is one of the best pitchers in the game and Capuano and Billingsley round out the postseason rotation. Blanton and probably Harang don’t start in the postseason.
Finally, we play 6 more games against SF. No lead is safe either way
Dodgers will continue to spend. Wait til they sign their new TV deal. They will be flush with cash.
Everyone thinking the Dodgers have reached their limit are fooling themselves.
And guys like Crawford are movable, if needed. The Dodgers can always eat salary to move Crawford if they want to deal him.
And there are starters on the market this offseason (ie. Kuroda, Edwin Jackson) who could be viewed as upgrades to this year’s rotation. I expect the Dodgers to deal Capuano and/or Harang if they do upgrade the rotation.
The Dodgers’ rotation should be decent next year. Remember, the Dodgers have one of the top starters’ ERA in MLB this year. Its not like their pitching is horrible.
They only had the top starters ERA because Capuano and Harang were pitching above their heads.
Again, if Kershaw goes down to injury that will really hurt that team. The Dodgers chances at going deep into the playoffs let alone get there is greatly diminished.
We’ll see what the spending is like in a few years. No way to know without looking into a crystal ball.
With that said all the Giants majority owner, the richest owner in MLB, has to do is raise one finger and the Giants can increase their spending ten fold. But after being burned by Rowand and Zito they’ve learned their lesson.
It’s not how much you spend its how wisely you can spend. Red Sox, Phillies, Cubs, Mets, and Yankees are just realizing that now.
and if matt cain goes down the giants are the padres… try to predict injuries. its impossible
Also, while the Giants owner may be rich as hell, he hasn’t been willing to raise payroll for years. You can hold out for a whim, but it probably won’t happen
I don’t get your analogy comparing the Giants to the Padres? If you’re talking about offense they’ve been fine this year scoring the most runs on the road in the league.
If Matt Cain goes down the Giants have Tim LIncecum, Madison Bumgarner, a serviceable Zito, and Vogelsong who has already proved he’s not a one hit wonder.
I never said I was banking on the Giants owner to spend money. I said if he was so inclined to actually do anything he could.
They’ve already increased payroll to about $135 up from $118 last season and the season before that it was $95 million.
If Matt Cain goes down we have only two Cy Young candidates and an MVP candidate. Thats the Padres?
Im saying if Cain goes down, so do the Giants. Just like if Kershaw went down. my note with the padres is the idea of being in contention early and falling quickly out of contention
Matt Cain is a 3.5 WAR player right now. Assuming the Giants didn’t have him all season and didn’t replace him with someone above or below replacement level they’d hypothetically be tied with the Dodgers right now with a weaker team, but softer schedule the rest of the way. That’s still in contention. With the same reasoning a Kershaw-less Dodger team would be 8 back by now.
My point to lakersdodgers is that if Kershaw goes down next season they have no one and their playoff chances go down with it.
If Cain goes down in 2013 at least the Giants have Bumgarner, Lincecum, Vogelsong, Zito, and a couple of 4 & 5s on the farm to fill in.
the amazing thing is it can be argued that Cain is closer to Billingsley than he is to Kershaw, going by WAR. Billingsley is a 2.8 Win player, Cain 3.5. Kershaw? 4.7. And assuming this is next season, you’d have to factor in Matt Kemp being healthy again. And based on his start to the season this year, and last, he would add 5 more wins compared to what he has given so far. AKA, cancel out Kershaws wins, and add more. Who replaces Cains?
A full season of a healthy Sandoval or an improved Brandon Belt? Or who ever the Giants decide to sign/trade for their OF position.
And again assuming Lincecum bounces back then that more than replaces Cain’s production along with what I mentioned above.
First of all you’re projecting Matt Kemp to be worth 5 WAR in 2 months? Thats insane. Pujols was has never even been that good over a full season.
As for who makes up for Cain going down (in this kind of ridiculous hypothetical scenario) Sandoval has missed about as much time as Kemp, Posey’s slower start (relative to his second half) may be attributed to his recovery from injury, and playing Brandon Belt everyday will absolutely produce better results than the way 1B was being handled over the first half of the year. Add in a healthy Wilson moving everyone else down a spot in the bullpen, a full year of Pence in RF, a full year of Scutaro (or comparable player) at 2B instead of the Theriot/Burriss/Culberson mess we saw over the first half, and FA/trade acquisitions in the other two OF spots and I think you’re almost certain to see an improved Giants team despite not having a steroid fueled Melky Cabrera in LF.
@BLB25:disqus @lakersdodgersyankees4life:disqus I think we can all agree that the Giants & Dodger rivalry will be more interesting than year’s past.
Both have high payrolls with the Dodgers having a clear advantage there. Giants though have been able to produce top tier starting pitching who have not reached their primes.
Then you have the youth of the Giants position players Sandoval, Belt, Posey, Sanchez, and Crawford going against the Dodgers lineup & bullpen.
All along this is what I’ve wanted some head to head games that mean something. Hopefully both teams stay competitive and healthy for next couple of seasons so we can see some epic battles on the field.
No I am not. I am saying if youre going to say it is a new year, you should expect a brand new year from Kemp. Kemp has the 2 months he missed, plus September that aren’t in his stats. Doing a comparison, not saying he is going to post a 5 war in 2 months.
Belt is hitting 264 with a 746 OPS. This is his 2nd time up(1/2 a season last year). Not the guy to expect a breakout, statistically speaking. Posey is having his best year and not sure what more to expect realistically.
and youre right, this is crazy to even talk about. both teams are different on paper than what happened. But if we REALLY want to talk about the difference, how about a full year of Hanley, Gonzalez, Beckett, and even Crawford(part for him). Completely different team
wRC+ weights OBP the way that it should and adjusts for park factors. 2012 Belt has a 112 wRC+ and Gonzalez has a 113 wRC+ in 2012. So you don’t think a 24 year old who has essentially been just as good as Gonzalez, in sporadic playing time, this year and has a career minor league line of .343/.457/.596 isn’t a strong candidate to have an offensive breakout in his first full year in the majors? Ummmm… ok.
No, the Giants can survive without Cain. Why?
Because they have a Lincecum who you have to believe will bounce back next season after an embarrassing 2012 and they have Bumgarner.
The Dodgers don’t have that luxury after Kershaw.
I don’t understand how so many Dodger fans think this TV deal is going to magically allow them to outspend everyone else by 50-100 million dollars. The Yankees have their own freakin network and even they have always used the luxury tax line as a ceiling. This roster you have now is basically the roster you’re locked into for the next 5 years. Enjoy!
If “locked in” equals 5 guys signed that long, cool. All are all stars and better than any option that could be had at a similar cost. Gonzalez, Kemp, Andre and even Crawford are guys that what they produce will be worth more than what you could get on the open market(obviously the wild card is crawford). However, for what crawford has left (5/~100), you weren’t going to get much on the open market. Hamilton is getting 150M+ and is easily a bigger risk. Swisher is an Andre-type player, not worth 100M. And thats about it. Kemp is at the top of CFs in the game, Gonzalez is at the top of his position, and what Andre has gotten, 5/85, is less than what he or anyone else equal level will get on the open market. Hanley is signed for the next 3 years, and we have the middle infield to make changes if we choose. We have a homegrown catcher for the next 5 years. You can say “locked in”, but its a great roster to be locked into…
Oh, I’m not saying its a bad team, and its certainly not a bad lineup. Sorry if that was implied. I’m just saying that I don’t believe there’s still a lot of room for roster flexibility financially speaking. Just because I think there are far better ways to spend 200M in payroll doesn’t mean I don’t think its a good team. Kemp/Gonzalez could very well join Ramirez/Ortiz, Fielder/Braun, Fielder/Cabrera, and Bonds/Kent among the best middle of the order two-somes of the past decade. But you have no idea what (or when) you’ll get anything from Crawford. Saying that 100 mil couldn’t be spent better on the open market is insane. He’s not close to Ethier in value right now and Ethier’s contract was kind of a ridiculous overpay for a guy who has extreme struggles vs lefties and is starting to not be able to field his position well at all. Thats not to say they’re worthless players, just not worth the money they’re getting. I’d just be far more concerned if the Dodgers had spent the Gonzalez/Beckett/Ethier/Puig/Crawford money (roughly 80-85 mil per year) on Swisher (actually very comparable numbers to Gonzalez) Greinke (far better than Beckett) Bourn (much better overall player than Ethier) Hamilton and Marcum for almost identical money, plus you’d keep the two good arms dealt for Gonzalez. The mega deal was a huge gamble on making the postseason this year.
Just wait until they miss the playoffs this year. Then we will hear how Carl Crawford was the major piece in the trade. Go ahead Doyers…overspend and lose. It makes it that much sweeter.
Pagan’s line is nearly identical vs LHP.
The SF Giants are still leading The NL west by 4 games in the loss column. The Giants could probably pick up Kansas City Royals Outfielder Jeff Francour. I think that Scott Hairston is very available. I would love to have Joe Mauer as our 1st Baseman as he has power and xtra base power. As for The Bullpen, We need to get Heath Bell from the Miami Marlins. Someone asked about Marlon Byrd? he was hitting very well with The Boston Red Soxs.
Well….Byrd had a .606 OPS for the Red Sox before he was cut and then tested posititive for PEDs, so yeah, perfect fit. 🙂
Scott Hairston is no longer available this season. He was on waivers but was claimed by another team (D’backs?) to block Dodgers or Giants from claiming him.
If Francoeur was on/cleared waivers, I don’t think Giants will deal for him. Too expensive for how he’s been producing lately & they don’t want to be responsible for paying the last year of his contract. Not worth the $6.75M he’ll be due in 2013.
I highly disagree with everything you said.
Fancoeur is one one of the worst players in MLB. I’d rather have Justin Christian for a fraction of the cost.
Last year he hit .285 with 20 hr. OPS of .805. OBP of .329 and SLG of .476. He’s having a bad year, true. But, for the RIGHT price I like the idea of taking a flyer on a young player with lots of experience, great + arm and a good presence in the club house.
Put it simply the Giants are not going to pay Jeff Francour next season because he’s not worth it.
For the Giants its Nady or bust time. If they somehow get a player through waivers than that would be a miracle.
Their bullpen is fine with Mota solidifying middle relief and with the emergence of Kontos it gives them a reliable 7th inning arm.
The 8th and 9th you can mix & match with Affedlt, Romo, Lopez, or Casilla. All of which are able to pitch in high stress situations.
Let’s just get Gary Brown up here already.
They’ll bring back Rowand before that, they’re still paying him anyway lol
He’s not ready.
Giants are 28-14 against lefties, 45-43 against righties. They have a .712 OPS vs Lefties (7th in NL) and .709 vs righties (12th in NL). Maybe a left handed bat is a better option!
Some of that can be attributed to Melky’s ridiculous numbers vs lefties.
Maybe they will take Jason Bay