Season recap....

I'm going to post a long winded, opinion based, unreadable season recap on the abortion that was the Giants 2011 season tomorrow. I'm gathering my thoughts, looking up stats and contracts and will give a synopsis of each player for the season that was and the upcoming season.

So I'll see you tomorrow.....

Here we go.....

Basically, the Giants can't lose another game. How sick would it be if they reel off 8 straight and tie at the end of the year and have a 1 game playoff? Like against the Cubs way back in 1998 when and they started Mark Gardner  vs. Steve Trachsel and got shut out for 8 innings but put up 3 in the 9th to lose 5-3. I'll be honest, if the Giants had a 1 game playoff with any team other than the Dodgers and Kershaw, I put them as the favorite.

I have a golf tourney today so I gotta keep this short. The Song goes tonight and I'd love for him to produce in the clutch. At this point, every game is a playoff game and if he throws well, it's a huge boost going into next year for the Giants rotation...

Why I dislike the Giants....

Because they make me care. I was totally prepared to write them off so I could focus on the football season. Now they've won 8 in a row and are 5 back in the West and 4 back in the Wild Card. Bochy, for the most part, has let the kids play in September and they've responded. Playoffs or not, we have sen what this team could be next year. If they get a leadoff centerfielder, with Panda, Beltran, Keppy, Posey, Freddy and maybe even Belt, Pill or Crawford in the mix, they have a steady offensive base when they're healthy.

Question....when am I ok with Huff as my starting 1st baseman? Well, if Belt is in the left field, never. But my real answer is if he's the 5th or 6th best hitter in my lineup. With Panda and Beltran (if he re-signs) and Posey the Giants have their 3-4-5 hitters (not necessarily in that order). With either Freddy or Keppy hitting 2nd (I prefer Keppy 2nd, Freddy 6th or 7th), Huff can be the 6th or 7th hitter. I'm totally fine with that. We've seen the worst of Huff this year. So next year if he evens out, I'll take .265-.270 with 15-20 HR's and 65-75 RBI's from the 6th/7th hitter.

But for the rest of this year, I'd love for Pill to get more AB's and Crawford to be in the lineup vs. lefties to see if what he can do. If not him, then when the Giants face a lefty, put Keppy at shortstop and let Fontenot play 2nd (he hits a respectable .250 vs. lefties). And I'll say again....CABRERA SHOULD NOT SEE THE FIELD. Mike Murphy should hide his uniform. He STILL offers nothing. I bet he's a great, likable guy. If so, he should turn into what Torres is now. A dugout guy. Who's the first guy to welcome a Giants hitter at the top step of the dugout? Torres. And you know he says, "Vamos! Come on baby!" Love him as a 5th OF'er next year.

Tomorrow the Giants get Kershaw. So, basically, it's a loss. Not because it's the Giants but because he owns them and he's been unreal all year. He's won 17 of his last 19 decisions. The Dodgers have won 13 of his last 16 starts. And he faces Lincy. How does this game not end 2-0 and Lincy throws 7 innings and gives up 1 earned? Kershaw should win the Cy Young in the NL this year. 1st in wins, ERA and Strikeouts.

Here's to hoping the Giants can reel off 8 more in a row after Tuesday and make things interesting :-)

Dare I say......6 in a row!?!?!?

So I'm semi-interested now. Here's the deal. If the Giants can somehow pick up 2 more games before they go to Arizona next week, I'll be regular excited. That would mean they'd be 4 games back with a 3 game series in Arizona. While it's still very unlikely that they actually have a say in the playoff picture, it's nice to see Bochy put in the kids and get results. Oh, and I didn't mention the Wild Card, which the Giants are 5 games behind the Braves. It's more likely they get closer to ARZ because of the head-to-head games but if Atlanta decides to shit the bed, more chances can only help the Gigantes.

Now, let's say they get close with a few games left. Does Bochy get a tight butthole and put Cabrera and Burrell and Stewside back in the lineup because they've "been there"? I sure hope not. The guys who have played in the last 10 days (H. Sanhez, Crawford, Belt, Christian, Pill) deserve a shot to play in pressure games. It could only be a good thing. Either they win games and their confidence soars or they lose and deal with failure on the big stage. The Giants have played with a loose confidence since they've been "playing out the string" and it'd be awesome if they stay that way the next 11 games.

So Bochy, keep the kids in the lineup, stop letting Runzler pitch and just because Stewart hit a Coors Field homerun doesn't mean he starts the last 11 games....

5 in as row?????

Panda hits for the cycle and The Song gets a win. Surkamp is showing he's just fine as a 5th starter and is more valuable than Zeets and J Sanch. In the last 5 games (all wins), here's a breakdown of starts:
BCrawf - 4
Hector Sanch - 3
Eli - 2
Cabrera - 1
So, when Crawford starts, we win. The one start Cabrera had, it took extras to win. Can someone email these numbers to Bochy?

It's nice to see the kids playing. Still, Huff has had 4 starts and Pill 1. I just will never get it. Ross, Panda, Keppinger and Los should all start right now. And then Pill, BCrawf, Belt and Sanchez should start no matter lefty/righty for the rest of the year. Period. Can anyone make an argument to the contrary? Why do we need top see what Huff, Cabrera, Torres, Stewside or DeRosa can do from here on out? They can hit a combined .232 with no pop. Am I crazy?

Football....Oh, and the Giants

Giants first. Ummmmm, did Bochy just start BCrawf for 2 straight games? I believe he did. Did the Giants win? Oh, that's right, they scored 8 runs....TWICE!!!! Now, was it all Crawford? Of course not. The dude went 0-7 with a walk. But he flat out picks it and should start for the duration. Also, did you see Hector Sanchez's double? Stewside has never put a swing on a ball like that. And he threw a out Maybin who's had 4 stolen bases and Bartlett who's had 6 SB's versus the Giants this year. But he's a bad defender, right? A switch hitter with gap to gap power and at least average defensively. Nope, I'd rather have a guy (or 2) who hits .203 (combined) but as Krukow says, "sits really low for a tall catcher". Ridic.

And in the savior department, Zito was just activated by the Giants. Hey Zeets, thanks but no thanks. How has he not become the only lefty, sidearm knuckleballer in the league. I'm dead serious. Become a specialist and contribute SOMETHING....

On to football. I'm, as you can imagine, a big 49ers fan. I also have the NFL Sunday Ticket so I watch a ton of football on Sundays. Most of my thoughts will have a fantasy football feel to them. Here's a few takeaways from Week 1:

-Jim Harbaugh is going to try to hide Alex Smith as long as he can. Smith had zero high risk throws on Sunday. Their D was very good but you just don't know because they were playing the Seahawks. Tarvaris Jackson is worse than Alex Smith, hands down. I also find it weird that for 6 years (probably longer), no matter who is calling the plays, the 49ers specialize in the 4 yard out on 3rd and 6. I see an 8-8 or 7-9 team this year.

-Darren McFadden is a beast. If he stays on the field (a big if), he's a top 6 RB in the league. For running as upright as he does, he punishes people.

-It's REALLY the year of the QB. As they say, it's a copycat league. Green Bay won without a dominant run game so we are seeing a ton of guys just chucking it. 14 of the 32 QB's in the league broke 300 yards. 44%!!! Only 7 RB's broke 100 yards.

-If Kenny Britt (TEN) stays healthy, he's a top 5 WR. He's got a knack for the big play. Oh, and if he stays out of jail as well.

-Cam Newton looked much better than anyone expected but I'm not on the bandwagon just yet. He very rarely checked down or went through his progressions. He'll need to adapt in a hurry.

So that's just a taste of Week 1. I'm very interested to see the 49ers versus a quality team in Dallas. We'll know a lot about this team by this time next week....

Playing out the string...

Words you hate to hear as a baseball fan. Especially when your team won the World Series last year. But that's what we're faced with as Giants fans. The biggest reason, in my opinion? Believe it or not, it's not Bochean's ineptitude. Seriously. I guess you could thank Scott Cousins, Freddy's shoulder, and Panda's hamate bone. Oh, throw in Nate's right foot, Beltran's wrist and B Weezy's right elbow. Yeah, it's injuries. Were they good enough to win despite those injuries? I say yes but it's debatable. I think if they made a few different moves (in game moves and roster moves), they had a shot. So I'd say it's a 60/40 split. 60% injuries, 40% Bochean/Veterans not playing to their potential.

So what to do next year? Well, let's talk about what they do have offensively. Posey, Huff, Sanchez and Panda. You can mark that. Huff is getting paid $10 million next year and you can be sure the Gaints aren't going to eat Rowand's, Zito's and Huff's money next year (yes, that's what the Giants are doing, eating Zito's contract. Can anyone say that they think he will ever contribute on a baseball field again?). So who plays SS? It's fairly clear the Giants brass (using that term loosely, they're more of a pewter I think) doesn't believe in Crawford is the answer. So going off that belief, I'd say Keppinger has earned the respect of Giants players, coaches and fans. He deserves a 3 year deal (the only caveat to that would be if the Giants can sign Jose Reyes. He would be A#1 on my off season list). That's it. You can stay in house or hit a homerun with Reyes. So that leaves the OF.

So the guys who are UFA's (unrestricted free agents) are Ross, Burrell and Beltran. I can't see the Giants signing Cody Ross next year. He made $6.3 million this year and produced about $1.3 million worth. Unless he takes a huge pay cut, he's gone. Burrell should become a coach. Period. Now, if they want Beltran, I think he'd stay at the right price. He made $18.5 million this year. I see him getting a 2-3 year deal worth in the $12-$15 million per year. He's 33 and I'd be totally fine with a 3 year deal. He's that good. Now onto guys who are arbitration eligible. Torres and Nate. I could see both of them re-signing as backups. Nate could find a starting gig elsewhere but he stays home I think. Torres would have to sign as a 4th or 5th outfielder. He made $2.2 million this year. He won't be getting a raise so I'd take him.

There are a few names I'd love to see on the Giants next year. Michael Bourn is tops on the list. Now, he's arbitration eligible with the Braves but if the Giants could pry him away, he's EXACTLY what they need. An real life leadoff hitter. Other guys you may have never heard of. -Emilio Bonifacio. He plays in Forida, is a SS, but also played in center this year. He's arbitration eligible but could be had in a trade. Love him at the top of an order.
-Angel Pagan. Also arbitration eligible but the Mets could part with him. Switch hitter with pop and lotsa speed. He pushed Beltran from center to right so we know he has skills in the OF.
-Coco Crisp. From right across the Bay. Keeps the ball in play, is an UFA and the guy can flat out play.

Those are just a few guys who could leadoff and play CF. I've heard Grady Sizemore as well but I think that would be a horrible move. Haven't they had enough of the injury bug? Sizemore has had like 37 knee operations in 9 months. P.S. I haven't even talked about Belt and Pill. That's a discussion for another day. But as the season winds down and the football season kicks off, there will be a shift in focus here at 6 Demon Bag SF. Th Giants will always be #1 in my heart, but I've got to stay relevant. Thanks for the support thus far and I hope to keep entertaining.

Oh and P.P.S. - if you're reading this, when you're done, click on one of the adds on the blog and check 'em out. It helps me and you :-)