Lovely Lefties Coming Back to Giants Bullpen

After the surprisingly good 2009 season for the Giants, one prediction I had for 2010 was that there was no way we should expect the pitching staff to be as good as it was, especially the bullpen.
Turns out it was better, especially the bullpen.
After the World-Series-winningly good 2010 season, one prediction I had for 2011 was that there was no way we should expect the pitching staff to be as good as it was, especially the bullpen.
Turns out it was better, especially the bullpen.
After the disappointingly good 2011 season, one shocking prediction I have for 2012 is that there is no way we should expect the pitching staff to be as good as it was, especially the bullpen.

But the Giants made 2 moves over the weekend to help ensure that the bullpen performance stays at least near where it has been, by signing Javy Lopez to a 2-year deal (worth $8.5 mil), and picking up Jeremy Affeldt's 2012 option (worth $5 mil). It's a hefty chuck of change for middle relievers, but I agree with the moves. As Lopez said himself, "the pitching staff from top to bottom is special". I'm of the opinion that keeping this staff for as long as possible should be the top priority of the offseason, and by locking these guys down, it addresses that issue.

We all know how frustrating an average (or worse) bullpen can be. So while it was widely assumed the G's would keep one but not both of their lefty specialists, the news comes as a pleasant surprise. The Giants probably don't win the World Series in 2010 without these guys getting the tough outs against Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton, and the like. Affeldt's 2 innings in the clinching Game 6 of the NLCS is probably the most underrated performance of that playoff run.

By bringing these two back, it gives Bruce Bochy a luxuriously good left-handed bullpen, and it should make it easy for him to continue to look like a genius when it comes to handling the pitching staff.

They HAD It...

I feel pretty awful for the Rangers. Losing the World Series for the second year in a row. And to lose Game 6 like they did. They were up on the dugout railing TWICE in that game, waiting for 1 more strike, ready to storm the field. Until they win one, Rangers fans will be haunted by that game. Haunted by Nelson Cruz misplaying that David Freese triple (let's be real - he should have caught that ball). Haunted by that Lance Berkman single.

I went through something similar when the Giants blew Game 6 and lost Game 7 in 2002. Let me tell you--no person should go through that. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Unless you count Dodger fans. But they don't really count as people.

-Mike the Menace

Don't look now, but the Sharks have won three straight!

Off to a dismal 1-3 start, with three of those games at home, the Sharks headed out on the road for six straight.  Instead of worrying about the first few games, the Sharks have rattled off three in a row and head to Detroit to start the final three games of this road trip.  Detroit will be hungry for a win after falling to Columbus on Tuesday night for the BJ's first win of the season.  They will also be welcoming back Jimmy Howard (starting goaltender) who was away form the team Tuesday night for the birth of his child.

I see the Sharks playing with a lot more passion these last couple of games and the core veterans are learning to trust the new guys that joined the team this year.  The Sharks need to just stay afloat these next few games because after this road trip they head home for six in a row!

Hey Detroit, you better keep on eye on Pavelski!  He's on fire right now! 4 goals and 2 assists in the last 3 games!  Keep it up American Joe!

Go Sharks!  Amicis!!!

Cheers,

Mr. A

Come on Maaaaannn!!!

As you may have heard, Cliff Harris, standout cornerback for the Ducks has got himself into another pickle yet again.  Good luck getting out alive this time Cliff!  Really Cliff?  You can't just lay low and chill?  First off you were not wearing a seat belt and second, you were driving a car!  You don't have license means you shouldn't be driving a car.  Get one of your other homies to drive you around.  If you were smart about it, you can just pay them with an IOU since you have a good chance at making some big time money in the near future in the NFL and pay them back then.  With back to back slick moves like this in a four month span you are putting that income in serious jeopardy.  You would think this guy knows that every move he makes is looked at under a microscope and he knows that Chip has not treated past recurring offenders well at all.  Here's a link to the article in the online sports section of the Oregonian newspaper.

If you know of Cliff Harris at all, you have seen this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEiK1kyCrQo

Well, you know what Cliff, looks like the you won't be able to lay the smack down on our little brother this year.  You have a steep hill to climb in a very short time.  I wish you good luck while you beg Chip for forgiveness in hopes to get back on the field.  Oh and about that, if you do get back on the field you better be ready to play.  You have been a disappointment this year starting with Jonny Law catching you doing 118mph down I-5!

In the mean time, Go Ducks this weekend.  Preview and prediction coming later in the week!

Cheers,

Mr. A

Palmer to the Raiders? Mark Davis, like father like son!

Carson Palmer to the Raiders for a 1st round draft pick in 2011 and a 2nd rounder in 2012 (which becomes a 1st rounder if the Raiders make the playoffs this year).  My first thought was, is Al Davis really dead because this sounds too much like a move he would make.  Sounds like his son is not missing a beat by keeping up with his father's "all in" mentality.  That being said, the Raiders had to make some sort of move.  They have a pretty good football team and with Boller or Pryor running the show (their only options after Campbell went down on Sunday) , the ship would have sank very quickly.  In the end, it just seems like too much to give up for a guy that hasn't had the best of luck and success in a league that demands excellence from his position.  

On the other side of the story, Cincinnati owner Mike Brown got what he wanted in the end.  He didn't want to give up Palmer for nothing in return and he waited it out until the perfect team needed his fake retired player.

With this deal all but wrapped up, I would have to say the Bengals future just got a whole lot brighter.  They are lined up with a stock of young players and freak athletes for rookie QB Andy "fire" Dalton to spread the ball out to.  Add to that potentially two 1st round picks in each of the next two years.  

In the end, I could care less how good Cincinnati is and I wish the best of luck to the Raiders.  If Palmer has any type of instant success, good luck to Campbell because his career as a starter in this league is going to be in serious jeopardy.    

Cheers,

Mr. A

 

My Fairweather-ness is Being Exposed

New Feature idea: Left Coast Lean's "News of the Weird". In which writers profile obscure or weird sports stories around the West Coast. For example, today's post could be titled "News of the Weird: The 49ers Are Good at Football".

Look, I don't know a lot about football. I actually find it to be pretty boring at times. So in terms of watching a full game, I'm only good for a few of those per year. But if the 49ers continue on this roll their on, I might have to start blocking out 3 hours every Sunday to sit and watch. Because I like the 49ers when the 49ers win.

It seems pretty clear that this is not just a flash in the pan. They may have struck gold with Jim Harbaugh at the helm. It's just a remarkably better team than what we've seen in the past. The 49er teams I've watched over the previous 10 years or so were broken. Like I said, I'm no football guru, so I couldn't tell you the details of the "why" or "how". But it was a horrible product. I could tell. Now, something is different. Probably lots of things. Even with them down in the 4th quarter yesterday, I was confident they would get the win. The Lions were definitely not going to score again, and the 49ers definitely were going to score again. I was pretty confident in both of these things.

Congrats to Harbaugh on the great start. I think in football, compared to the other major sports, coaching has the most direct impact on wins and losses. Both in terms of play-calling and X's-and-O's-type stuff, and in having a personality that the rest of the team is comfortable with. If the players can relate to the coach, be comfortable asking questions, and that sort of thing, the players and team will grow and you will get better execution.

As far as Handshake-gate, I thought the Lions' coach grossly overreacted.

And that, my friends, is Mike the Menace on football. Good day.

AL Davis dead!

Al Davis dead!  Wow!!!!!
More news to come.

-Mr. A

So Who Can We Blame? - Part III

I've established that the lion's share of the blame for the disappointing 2011 season for the Giants should fall on the players. Had the hitters performed at levels that most people expected them to, things certainly would have been different. I explored the idea perhaps it was Manager Bruce Bochy who was at fault for not getting the most out of his players. There's some merit to that, but general consensus is that he was dealt too tough of a hand for much of the blame to fall on him. Given that Brian Sabean dealt Bochy his hand, how much blame can we put on Sabes and the rest of the front office?

I never believed that managers and GMs could have "good years" and "bad years". Until this year. Last year, Sabean killed it. He signed Huff, picked up Burrell, nabbed Cody Ross, and traded for Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez. All of these moves had SIGNIFICANT impacts leading to the 2010 World Series Championship. This year, it was quite the opposite. He gave Huff too much money. Calling Tejada a dud would be much too nice. The same goes for Orlando Cabrera. Nobody knew what the hell to do with Brandon Belt. By season's end, Jeff Keppinger (another attempt at a minor upgrade for prospects) saw his OPB dip to .300. Finally, Sabean gave up the system's top prospect in Zack Wheeler -- in a season in which the Giants finished 8 games out of first place. Sure, Beltran performed admirably when he was on the field. But his total contribution while with the Giants? 1 Win Above Replacement (WAR), according to Baseball Reference. The fact is, one player really can't make that much of a difference over 2 months. Especially one who gets injured, and Beltran was a known injury risk. Not to mention a risk to clubhouse chemistry. Taking away Shierholtz's starting job in right clearly had an effect on him. Beltran should have been relegated to left for defensive purposes alone, and to cause less of an overall disruption.

All in all, Sabean had a bad year this year. I don't think it's because he did anything differently than he normally would. It's not as if he's a player adjusting his mechanics. But in a career filled with good moves and bad moves, chances are that some of the good ones will cluster together (as in 2010), and some of the bad ones will as well (2011). Here's to hoping for a rebound in 2012.

I have one suggestion to start: the Giants front office needs to do a better job of marketing themselves. Not to fans--they've got that down pat. I'm talking about marketing the Giants to the rest of baseball. Players and agents. Get people to want to come here. I'm sick of hearing how bad of a hitter's park this is. I remember seeing stats a couple years ago showing that AT&T park was neither a pitcher's park nor a hitter's park. It was in the middle. Since then, it has probably drifted towards a pitcher's park. But let's get real: the reason for that is because opposing hitters come in here and have to face the Giants' pitching. And the Giants' hitters are, well, Giants' hitters. Get going on some PowerPoints to convince Beltran to stay. Show Jose Reyes what sort of numbers he could put up here. Focus on the gorgeous weather we have in September and October. If players don't want to play here, put together a better goddam sales pitch. I'm sick of that excuse.

Thursday preview and prediction for Ducks vs Bears and "Fakegate" round two!

First off I want to start with Tedford and company being upset that people and the media are bringing up a certain something that happened in last year's match up in Berkeley.  Reported on SFGate this morning, there were talks about "Fakegate" and whether or not it will happen again in tomorrows game.  I don't think any opposing team's players want to hear what the fans at Autzen have to think about it if they see it will their own eyes.  Anyway, you guys at Cal don't need to fake being injured.  You can have all the time in the world and we will still burn you.

If you want to read up on the latest injured list, see this link from the good guys over on ATQ.

Prediction:

This being the first PAC-12 game at Autzen, not surprised, the crowd is going to play a huge part in this game.  The Ducks will do what they do on offense and should be able to put up some big numbers on the Cal D that hasn't been the greatest vs some other PAC -12 opponents so far this year.  As for the running game, Cal did a good job in Berkeley last year so I'm sure LaMike and company want to redeem themselves this time around.  The deciding factor will be how Oregon does again Allen (#1 Wide out for Cal) and the rest of their receiving core.

I see the Bears hanging in their through the first quarter and a half with the Ducks cruising to a big lead by the middle of of the third quarter.

Final score:
Oregon 48 Cal 20

Bold prediction:  Cliff Harris strikes Cal again with a big first half punt return for a TD!

Go Ducks!!!

So Who Do We Blame? - Part II

In my opinion, between the 8 teams in the baseball playoffs, the World Series Trophy is pretty up for grabs. Sure, the Phillies were the powerhouse favorite coming in, but they are playing the hottest team entering the tourney in the form of the Cardinals. Plus the Brewers are the resident "sexy" pick in the NL. In the AL, Texas has been called the most complete team, the Yankees are the Yankees, the Tigers have Verlander, and the Rays (behind their starting pitching) have emerged as the consensus nobody-wants-to-face-them team.

The point to all of this, of course, is to say that had the Giants made the playoffs, they would have had a decent chance to dominate the field as they did a year ago. And the question on everybody's mind is, "Can we blame Bruce Bochy for any of this?" Baseball is America's Pastime; criticizing Bochy is the cynical Giants fan's pastime.

I've been going back and forth on this. For every point, there is a counterpoint. Here's the conversation that's been going on in my head:
Pro-Bochy Point: "You can't blame Bochy for this year. He was dealt too tough of a hand. The injuries, the poor performances, etc."
Anti-Bochy Counterpoint: "But in baseball, perhaps more than any other sport, the role of the manager is to get the most out of what he has. Did he really squeeze all he could out of that line-up?"
Point: "He certainly gave it his best. He pretty much tried everything."
Counterpoint: "Yeah. And none of it worked."
Point: "But at some point you have to blame Cody Ross for Cody Ross's poor performance. Simply put, these guys were a suck machine fueled by what must have been Tommy Lasorda's armpit sweat."
Counterpoint: "Well that was not simply put at all, but I know what you mean. They were terrible. Given that, don't you think he should have given some of the younger guys a shot?"
Point: "Oh because they really shined when they were out there. Crawford was clearly overmatched (.584 OPS) and Belt's numbers only look as good as they do (and they don't look great) because of a few outlying productive games."
Counterpoint: "Still, it's the manager's job to keep these guys motivated, and mentally ready. These hitters were obviously in their own heads. They hit .219 with runners in scoring position. That number drops to .173 with 2 out. It wasn't until they were all-but-mathematically eliminated when they started to hit and rattle off a season high 8-game-win streak."
Point: "Well then look at the pitching staff. It'd be pretty hard to say he didn't handle them well. Everybody knew their role. Nobody was overused. And they had their fair share of injuries as well."
Counterpoint: "Easy enough when all your starters go deep and your bullpen is nasty all the way through. Plus he got lucky with Vogelsong. The Zito and Sanchez situations were a mess."
Point: "Well now you're just throwing anything at the wall to see what sticks. I would like to see another manager win 86 games with this team. He was just dealt too tough of a hand."

And that's where it ends. He generally did a pretty good job. The players seem to like him, and that should not be looked over. Yes, some of his line-ups frustrated me. And some of his in-game decisions (Ex: Orlando Cabrera NOT bunting with a man on second and no outs, in what would eventually become a 1-0 loss. Bochy's explaination, "You got a professional hitter up there" DRIVES ME NUTS). And let's not forget what a dud he is when he speaks to the public. But overall, I'd say he was more right than wrong. Things could have been done differently, but with the talent he had, I think 86 wins was more than appropriate. You and me, Boch, we're cool.