In a dramatic and suspenseful article, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic chronicles the recent harrowing life-or-death race to get Astros first base coach Rich Dauer to Houston Methodist Hospital. On the day of the Astros’ championship parade, Dauer was present at the official ceremony to honor the team. He began to stagger as if drunk, and stepped to the back of the stage. From there, a panicked attempt to get Dauer to the hospital amidst a crowd of millions of people unfolded behind the scenes. The piece is incredibly well-written, and thankfully has a happy ending. It’s definitely worth a full read.
More from around MLB as we approach the end of December…
- Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun wonders if this offseason’s drama surrounding Orioles star Manny Machado could have been avoided. Meoli takes a look at the chances the Orioles had to explore trades or a contract extension with their prized third baseman, but he ultimately comes to the conclusion that there was never a reason to trade him until now. It also seems as though by the time Machado was a safe fixture in the O’s lineup, his value was sky-high, and he was close enough to free agency that an extension didn’t make sense for him (or his agent). While it remains to be seen whether Baltimore will actually end up dealing Machado, Meoli’s piece sheds some light on a tough set of circumstances for the Orioles.
- The Giants and Reds have remained active in talks about a trade that would send Billy Hamilton to San Francisco, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com. The Reds have reportedly shown interest in Heliot Ramos, who is largely considered to be the Giants’ best prospect (he credits The Athletic with first report of this news). Hamilton, of course, is regarded as one of the best defenders in the game, and also creates a lot of runs with his speed alone. His career .298 on-base percentage is widely regarded as his achilles heel, but he could still provide plenty of value as an elite center fielder in AT&T Park’s spacious outfield. A couple months back, I wrote about the trade market for Hamilton, noting that the Giants were the best match for his services.
Giants need a leadoff hitter who can actually get on base.
…and to not trade away one of their top team prospects (who also happens to be an outfielder). This seems like a no-brainer to avoid.
A SF Giants top prospect is like #200…so not really a “top prospect” for majority of the league.
Watch those quotation marks. If your aim is simply to criticize the Giants with your post, don’t misquote me to do so.
Your exaggeration didn’t fool anyone. Also, what are these rankings based on? People’s projections, not reality. The giants farm has never been highly regarded. Even when they had the likes of bumgarner, Posey, lincecum, belt, panik, and Crawford in the minors. Only a fool puts actual stock in some websites prospect rankings. The internet generation doesn’t seem to comprehend what scouting is.
Indeed. Don’t trade Ramos for Hamilton. No brainer.
Don’t trade Ramos in general.
You mean like the scouts that those rankings are based on?
Much rather have Duggar or even Parker attempt to cover center than give up their top pick from last years draft.
Slater* not Duggar
Agree 100% with both of you. SF is a team that can’t hit, so getting a no bat CFer is just dumb. Especially when they have to give up prospects to do it. SF need to spend money on players and forget about the penalties for a couple of seasons. Keep everything they can on the farm.
The Cardinals have a leadoff hitter who hit .241. Not a good base runner. He’s capable of playing adequate defense at several different positions, but a master at none. Ownership, the front office, and the Cardinal manager insist he not only start regularly, but he also, he must hit lead off because he hits better in that position, or so they say. He hit
.241. Dang, I’m sure glad he was the lead off hitter. If he had batted anywhere else, he probably would have hit .185 or worse. Would the Giants want him for Crawford??????
Um…Carpenter’s on-base percentage last season was .384, which was good for 17th in all of baseball last season. That’s why he was the leadoff guy.
I assume you are talking about Matt Carpenter , which he was hurt most of last year! You really aren’t judging him by batting average are you? Seriously ? He’s got great OBP skills
and has been an All-Star at 2 different positions . The Giants can keep Crawford!
@brucewayne are you ever gonna use your cubsfan2489 account again? I was just wondering. Troll.
His comments were a lot more reasonable than yours. I recommend you read them again in the proper context, and save your troll remarks for those who actually deserve them.
I find it hilarious that you think brucewayne and myself are one of the same. I see you’re still attacking people for absolutely no reason. #Winning
You misspelled know and you have absolutely no room to talk.
What are you talking about? No reason. How does that necessitate the spelling know? And I have no room to talk? I’ve sat back and watched for the last month and a half while you attack people because of their opinions. You tell brucewayne that he’s me. If anyone disagrees with you, they’re wrong and you’re right. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, GROW UP.
You said that I think you and brucewayne are the same person, but I think you meant to say that I KNOW that you and brucewayne are the same person. Just like how Just Another Fan and I are the same person according to you XD XD XD
And as for attacking people for no reason, literally the first time we ever associated was when you were flaming every single person who commented on the David Rollins thread. Plus you lied about your age on that thread. What is the point in lying about your age to bunch of random on the Internet?
What’s the point in accusing someone that they are the same person on two different accounts? Oh wait, there isn’t one. Yet I stand back and watch this guy comment on articles and not even say anything ridiculous, and because your OPINION differs from his, YOU attack him!
“What’s the point in accusing someone that they are the same person on two different accounts? Oh wait, there isn’t one.”
Funny you should say this considering you’ve done it before.
“… and because your OPINION differs from his, YOU attack him!”
Not because his opinion differs from mine, but because he’s been targeting me for a few months now, not unlike yourself.
Okay genius. Hate to tell ya, he’s not me, I’m not him. And when have I done this before? Pretty sure this has been my name on here since I first downloaded the app in 2011. Not sure if mommy and daddy got you a phone at that point, but it’s been my name this entire time. @brucewayne commented on this article and hadn’t said anything to or about you, yet you attack him. That’s why I decided to call you out, yet again, on your crybaby b.s.
When I said “you’ve done it before” I meant you’ve accused me of using two accounts before. And unlike you I actually had reason to do so. Same commenting style, you both target me and once he picked up your side of a debate right after you stopped.
And you’re still wrong, I have way more to do in my life than make up 2 accounts on here to “attack” (point out how you’re a pompous a$$) you.
Lol if you say so.
You still fail to address your disastrously wrong accusation of me and Just Another Fan being the same person.
Yeah, I believed you two were the same person. I could argue about, “when are you going to use your just another fan account again?” But see the funny thing is, you two never comment on the same thing. You could be on one account on your computer and another on your phone. Which is probably the case.
This will keep going because everyone knows you have to have the last word on EVERYTHING. So I’m just going to sit back in the shadows and watch you ASSume that I have two accounts.
1. We have commented on the same thing.
2. If we had never commented on the same thing, that would make us being the same person less likely, not more. When one person has two accounts, they comment on the same thing to make it look like people agree with them, like you tagging out to brucewayne in arguing with me on the Upton thread.
3. If you wanna think that I have two accounts, I really can’t stop you from doing that so have fun in your delusion I guess.
4. You do the same thing (having to get the last word in all the time). The hilarious part is you claim you’re done commenting first then keep commenting anyway. Waiting in earnest for you to reply to me again.
Crawford has a full no-trade clause. If you’re going to troll, at least troll in a semi-informed manner.
The number one skill for a leadoff hitter is getting on base. Forget about batting average. As far as the rest of that, Carpenter had a peculiar 2016 in which he had bad baserunning numbers, but the rest of his career he has been well above-average at baserunning. He also basically almost never hits into double plays, which is an interesting skill to have but a quite welcome one. If you’re going to attempt to quantify a player down to a single number (which isn’t wise) use anything except batting average.
Because he….gets on base…now we got it
FWIW, that Rosenthal article doesn’t actually require a subscription, and it’s a fantastic read. I’d never heard of Dauer before, but that was a great story
Astros 1B coach. It was well-written.
Rick Dauer Park was right down the street from my old house in Colton
Second baseman for some memorable Orioles teams. Part of a truly great culture in Baltimore. (Gave me my first autograph when I was five during that time. Very cool and gracious.) Has coached in KC as well before Houston.
Agree, great story. Dauer was the starting second baseman for the Orioles in the late 70s and early 80s, and was the first base coach for the stros the last 3 years.
It reminds me a little of O. Don Hawkins’ passing at Dodger Stadium. He had a massive heat attack right after throwing a pitch pre-game, if I remember correctly. Dodgers vs Padres. Thankfully and hopefully Dauer will be okay.
*heart
My first time in camp, he was the first major league player to greet me. Just an all-around great guy. That was a great article. Thanks Ken Rosenthal.
The giants should grab billy Hamilton, this is going to be their last chance to go for it before they have to blow it all up into a Phillies-ish rebuild. They have a lot of money invested in older players and a completely depleted farm system. If this season doesn’t go well they need a complete fire-sale at the deadline
No, to all of that. There’s too much money to be lost in a total rebuild, and last year they finally broke the long, many-years run of sold out games. I am sure it was a loud and clear message. Hamilton is not the answer to unlocking success for next year, goes against type for a Giants hitter, and is therefore not worth the prospects (and further depleting the farm).
Well then I guess they’re lost forever according to you. They’re farm system is already trashed, why not give up one more guy that could be a spark on the top of their lineup and make one more run? If that doesn’t work by the deadline then blow it up and trade some of their bigger trade pieces. That way they still give it another shot but can save themselves from a lengthy rebuild.
You’re stupid if don’t rebuild when you have to. Based on last year it’s time for them to consider rebuilding. What you’re saying is tread water which is just going to make their inevitable rebuild longer and more painful. They are not set up for the long haul. There is very little young talent on that team which does not bode well for the long run. You have to be realistic about a team and the giants are just in bad shape
I am not stupid, mostly because I know I actually have no say or power about the direction of the team (except in small ways, with my choices about how I spend dollars for tickets, merch and subscriptions).
I never said they should tread water. I just said that San Francisco is not the right city for a complete teardown, nor is it primed to do so if you look intelligently at their major league assets. They have a few All Stars in their prime, and are missing a few key pieces.
A team with slugging assets could use a complementary piece like Hamilton, but he wouldn’t complement the lineup that the Giants have. They need a high-OBP guy with great defense. He is only one of those things, so is wasted in the Giants’ lineup.
so you’re saying Herrera for Bumgardner straight up?
I have never heard of this Bumgardner
Starting pitcher for the Giants for the last several years. Pretty good too.
At this point the Giants need to go for it for at least the next 2 years when Bum contract is up. Billy will be great in the large CF and could be a solid 8 hitter, and if he ends up having a career year regarding OBP he could be an amazing leadoff hitter with 60 sb. Combining him and Panik at the top would give plenty guys on base for Posey, Longo, Bruce(hopefully) to hit in.
No reason to give up any prospects to get Hamilton when there are other guys available that will cost no prospects and no draft picks.
Just sign Dyson or Maybin and platoon Duggar against LHP.
Gary……..read raltongo’s comment again.
Wolf’s point was sarcasm…..
……..”There’s no “d” in Bumgarner”
Spelling is hard…..
kbarr………. read your own comment again.
Your point is correct……. however…….. you can’t have quotation marks inside of a quote.
Grammar is hard.
I agree with what you’re saying, but I don’t think an OBP guy with great defense exists in this market. Obviously, the Giants have contended and won championships with less than ideal options in center. I mean, Angel Pagan? Aaron Rowand? They’ve run worse guys out there than Hamilton. Hell, Span was a better hitter than Hamilton but his defense was terrible last year. They were a pretty good team in 2016 and ran into some bad luck in 2017; a little advantage in the margins, defensively, might be enough. Or they could just sign Jarrod Dyson, who has the same skill-set and won’t cost much.
There’s plenty of reasons to believe that 2017 was a fluke for the Giants. They will eventually go the direction of the 2014 Phillies but I think that team still has a few good seasons left in them.
Giving up Ramos is a non starter and the Giants won’t do it. Period. You can forget about it- it will not happen. That said, acquiring Hamilton for other prospects, if achievable, is absolutely a worthwhile endeavor.
Billy Hamilton plays INSANE defense with ABSURD range. You all know who manned center field in SF last year, right? If Hamilton’s OBP drops next year he would STILL make the Giants soooo much better than the were with Span. AT&T Park isn’t changing anytime soon- any team that plays there and wishes to be successful must pitch, play exceptional defense, and likely have some right handed timely pop. If you skimp on the defense in that park, ESPECIALLY the CF and RF positions, you’re not going to win without some serious ability to make up for it elsewhere in a very big way.
Billy Hamilton’s range and defensive prowess would have extremely powerful ripple effects on the fly ball pitchers the Giants have in their rotation. Billy Hamilton’s range is so great that he literally might save enough runs to make his batting mostly unimportant in that park.
The Pirates should trade a prospect to the Giants for the Giants to include in a package for Billy Hamilton just to get him out of the NL Central.
I’ve never seen one player do so much damage to any one team than Hamilton does to the Pirates.
When the Bucs come out of the dugout to warm up before any game against the Reds, Hamilton is on first already, and itching to steal second. His numbers against Pittsburgh in his career have to be insane.
Youve clearly never seen Chase Utley against the Mets lol.
i wish i could upvote this a thousand times haha
So true, used to destroy the Mets!
Same with Longo destroying the Sox and Yanks
People literally named that right field box at citi field “utly’s corner”
Nuff said
You’ve never seen what agon does to the padres I’m guessing
I guess you have never seen what Agon does to the Mets or Brewers.
if the Giants are going to give up Ramos, it’d be awesome to get a better return than Hamilton.
I really would HATE to see Billy go
Reds are not getting Ramos for Hamilton.
yea, i would hope the Reds wouldnt trade a proven, havoc-wreaking MAJOR league baseball center fielder for one unproven prospect. get over yourself.
LOL reds take ramos for billy in a second. Stop pretending to be ignorant on how this all works
That .632 OPS and .298 OBP is sure havoc-wreaking. You can’t steal 1B.
The Mariners have an expensive CF I am sure they would love to dump. Jarrod Dyson is still available in FA and I can’t see him being very expensive. 2/10 or 2/12?
Maybe even a guy like Jankowski from the Padres who is 3rd on the depth chart there or signing a guy like Cameron Maybin who can still go get the ball in the OF.
So many options available for Giants that are all better than giving up Ramos for a mediocre player like Hamilton. Low .600 OPS is not an upgrade for them.
Dyson wouldn’t get over 3 MIL a year I don’t think. But getting another injury plagued player is the last thing the Giants need.
I think at this point Maybin is more of a corner outfielder, mostly because he has a weak arm.. He also has real trouble staying in the lineup. But he’d be cheap and is available. For some reason I think the Pads want to hang onto Jankowski, although I think he’s just a 4th outfielder.
Is heilot ramos good? I keep hearing about him, anyone have a scouting report?
A quick Web search of “Heliot Ramos scouting report” gets you what you need. He was the Giants’ 1st round draft pick in this year’s draft, so there is plenty of ink out there on him. He’s also 18 years old, so he has a few years of polishing before he has a chance at the majors.
This one is an article from Baseball America. Not sure if its a subscription only piece.
baseballamerica.com/minors/heliot-ramos-makes-mark…
I still the Giants and Yankees connecting on an trade for an Outfielder not named Ellsbury. My guess is Gardner or Frazier for prospects…
Do the Giants just not want to spend the money for Cain? He seems like by far the most obvious fit.
Cain declined the Royals’ qualifying offer, so signing him would cost the Giants much needed high picks in next year’s draft. Because they went over the luxury tax threshold, if they sign Cain they will lose their second and fifth highest picks in the next year’s draft and also forfeit $1 million from its international bonus pool. Too expensive! I would hope that they avoid any QO-declining free agent.
I think Randall Grichuk from the Cards would make a good fit for the Giants. I don’t know what they would have to give up though .
Samardzija would be a target for the Cardinals.
The Giants aren’t giving up Samardzija for Grichuk, at least not straight up.
Why wouldn’t they? Samardzija has negative trade value. Grichuk doesn’t.
So I was watching the mlb network , they were saying the cubs are looking to get machado, and all they have to trade is Russel , Almora Jr. and montgomery. If I am the cubs , I am not making that trade.
I’d give them Russell, Montgomery, and a prospect, but definitely not Almora. I know BAL wants to maximize the return, but their leverage is imaginary. Even with the best lineup in baseball they won’t contend next year because they’ll likely have one of the worst pitching staffs in the majors. Well, unless they sign 2 upper tier SPs and a closer which is highly unlikely. They’d be insane not to trade Machado now for the best offer they get.
Has Baez become more valuable to the Cubs than Russell?
It’s been a long haul for Javier, but I think he has shown his worth. Most fans wanted to trade him before the playoffs in 2016……but that chatter has almost completely disappeared.
What say you Cub Fans???
Hamilton is one of the absolute worst if not the worst everyday hitter in mlb. He isn’t worth a high package despite his elite speed
I think even if the giants make this trade, it won’t put them above the dodgers for the division.
or the d-backs for the wild card
Hamilton is that guy who is still trying to figure out how to steal first base. I think the Giants would live with his lack of hitting just to have his glove in CF. He’s just one of a handful of major league CFs who can handle that Grand Canyon at AT&T Park.
Worst at hitting, yes. Worst hitter, no. His defensive and baserunning value is so high, he’s still a valuable player, who happens to be a hitter.
If he is only going to be had for defense and nothing more then you shouldn’t have to give up too much at all. There are plenty of no hit all glove outfielders around. Hamilton doesn’t help the giants now cause they are just really bad. Just hold on to whatever you have and sell. They are in terrible shape. Guys like Cain and Lincecum becoming sudden flame outs was the beginning of the end of their run.
They should flip mad bum to help replenish their farm
Bumgarner to the Cardinals for Grichuk (CF), Hudson, Fernandez, and Plummer.
Gives the Giants a true CF w/power….and is affordable, a couple can’t miss pitching prospects who are almost ready to go, and a future RF that can hit to replace Pence
Gives the Cardinals that missing piece to a solid rotation (at least for the 2nd half when Reyes most likely returns to form)…..and they have an affordable option to keep him around for 2019 as well
He ranked 9th worst among the 144 qualified hitters in oWAR, 6th worst in wOBA, 5th worst in wRC+ which includes baserunning, 4th worst in both OPS and OPS+. Hamilton is a really, really bad hitter for an everyday player.
He sure is. And an elite fielder, plus the games best baserunner. Crazy extremes at both ends.
The Giants are making bad moves. I know they’re trying to compete with the dodgers, but they got old really quick.
Mark my word, arroyo will be better than longoria in two years. And, now they want to trade for hatcher who isn’t all that.
Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make.
When a bad team has no farm system they get desprate. The giants are just that
This would be great for my reds
Hamilton, one of the best defenders in the game, was worth a grand total of…1 WAR last season…
Normally war is heavily influenced by defensive metrics but his offense was so bad that not even his good defense gave him much value lol
Would love to have Billy on the Pads.