Giants Not Kidding When They Said They Were Out On Beltran

Carlos Beltran just signed a 2-year deal with the Cardinals worth $26 million. A contract so extremely reasonable it makes me want to do unreasonable things. Like light myself on fire. Signing Carlos Beltran for two years at market value is EXACTLY what the Giants needed to do this offseason. A Posey-Beltran-Sandoval middle of the order not only would have made other teams envious, but it might have even covered up some mild (read: unacceptable) shortcomings (read: Brandon Crawford) elsewhere in the the lineup.

I don't know how many times or how many different ways I can say this: the window to win the World Series is open NOW. It is open now, and it is being held up on the shoulders of Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. And they are tired, guys. They need a little help. If they don't get it, who could blame them for going elsewhere? You know what might help? A switch-hitting power bat who had a .385 OBP last year. Wait...didn't they have a guy like that last year? Yes, you may recall they gave up the organization's top prospect for him. Good investment, guys.

Letting Beltran go represents a lot of bad signs for the Giants front office. It shows a lack of creativity, which could also be seen in the Jeremy Affedt signing as well as the Brandon Belt situation, which will be a mess for the second year in a row. It shows a lack of foresight in that the Aubrey Huff contract two offseasons ago effectively maxed out the payroll for this year. Speaking of a lack of foresight, the Giants are relying heavily on a healthy and productive Freddy Sanchez. Let me say that again. The Giants are relying on Freddy Sanchez.

This is all just another way to say the most disturbing thing that the lack of Beltranity represents: complacency. McCovey Chronicles said it best -- the new ownership would rather earn than win. They're going to rape and pillage that World Series title for all its worth, all while using that very team to justify the current roster. They need to be reminded that while it was the pitching that carried them, the trophy would not have come to San Francisco without career years from Huff, Juan Uribe, and Andres Torres. It's not the sign of a healthy team when you need career years from unlikely spots to win a title. But they sit back and try to pacify the fanbase on the grounds that Sanchez will be healthy and Posey will be back. And it's not like there's no merit at all to that stance of standing pat. There are plenty of reasons that the Giants will be better next year. Maybe Sanchez will stay healthy. Huff will be better or they'll put someone out there who is. Just by the law of averages, chances are they'll hit much better with runners in scoring position. And Posey will be back. But to strive to be average-at-best like they are doing is not what the fans want.

Is Kobe this year's Tiger?

Just over two years ago the world of sports was rocked with the Tiger Woods sex scandal and the beating he took from his wife on Thanksgiving night.  This holiday season one of the faces, if not the face of the NBA for the past 15 years has been served with divorce papers.  Kobe's wife accused him of cheating with multiple women and just can't take the cheating and lying anymore.

Hey Kobe, looks like your boys around the league ratted you out!  What'cha ya going to do about that?
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/12/19/kobe-bryants-wife-reportedly-tipped-off-to-his-alleged-cheating-by-basketball/

Does this smell like the beginning of the end in LA for Kobe?

Cheers,

Mr. A

P.s. Shaq, "Kobe's tell me how my ass tastes!"

Warriors add Rush, ship Amundson to the Pacers!

Over the weekend, the Golden State Warriors traded Lou Amundson for Brandon Rush who was with the Indiana Pacers for the past three seasons.  Rush is a 40% 3-point shooter and a good defender.  He is a nice addition to the bench and he is only 26 years old.  Here's the press release from SFgate this morning.

Cheers,

Mr. A

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/19/SP6B1ME4F8.DTL

Giants Rival Mat Latos Traded out of the NL West

The Padres traded starter Mat Latos to the Reds for four players, including 2 prospects. I can't speak to who won this trade, short-term or long-term. But I do find Mat Latos to be a total piece of shit, so I'm writing about it.

I'd be interested to hear Dave Flemming's thoughts on it. Surely he'll be able to rest at ease when the Padres come to town this year, now that he knows Latos wont be there lobbing warm-up tosses towards his sun-roof. Latos pitched well against the Giants in 2011, compiling a 3.15 ERA in 3 starts against them. But ever since September 2010, when the G's beat him in two crucial games (including the deciding Game 162), I just haven't been afraid of him. Plus, who didn't pitch well against the Giants last year?

So on the one hand, a good pitcher is out of the NL West. That's a good thing. But he is a guy that I love to hate. A Zack Morris wannabe who is nowhere near as cool. And "Mat"? Come on. Where'd that second "t" go? Unless he was going for, like, Doormat. Yeah, that's probably it.

All roads lead to... Kwame Brown?

After the Warriors swung and missed trying to sign a big over the past couple of weeks they landed on Kwame Brown.  Brown, is a former #1 overall pick out of high school back in 2001 originally drafted by Wizards before playing for the Lakers, Grizzlies, Pistons, and Bobcats.  This is a bit disappointing for the "we believe" nation but it was the most realistic outcome.  New coach Mark Jackson has stressed that his main focus is going to be on defense and the two-headed center, Brown and Bedrins will hopefully be a good fit.  Like it or not, the Warriors are still a small market team but are on their way up the food chain to competing with the likes of the Bostons, New Yorks, and LAs of the league.

No doubt about it, I am ready to watch Monta and Curry fly up and down the court as well as see the influence that Coach Jackson has on the team.  Here's a LINK to the breaking news on SFGATE.COM.  


Looking forward to Christmas Day could be a huge game if the Clip show make some more moves!

Go Dubs,

Mr.A

4Akers... I mean 49ers now 10-3 on the season

Folks.  The 49ers are sitting in 2nd place in the NFC and if the season ended today we would have a first round bye in the playoffs.  Since the season does not end today the 49ers have some work to do with three games remaining on their schedule.  Let's take a second and be happy for where this team is this late in the season.  That being said, there are some things that need to be fixed if we want to keep this rolling to and through the playoffs.  The 49ers offensive line needs to play a lot better and the offense needs to get away from settling for field goals.  David Akers is a great kicker and we might need lean on him in the playoffs but not in the way we are doing right now.  Akers averages over 10 points per game and just under 3 made field goals per game.  The offense needs to take advantage of the turnover and positive starting field position that the defense sets up for them.  They lead the league in the turnover margin (+21) which you think would help set up some short field opportunities for them.  It has but for whatever reason the TD's just aren't piling up.  Take yesterday for example, Teddy Ginn takes a punt and returns it all the way down to the five yard line.  All of the sudden it was 4th down and here comes Akers!  This is not acceptable!  If you can't finish in the redzone, let alone first and goal inside the 5 yard line you can't expect to win the game.  If the 49ers can fix a few of these things, they should have a good chance to hold on the second spot in the NFC.  It all starts with a big game a week from today.  The Steelers come to town with a veteran defense and have the ability to rack up the sacks on Alex Smith just like Baltimore did on turkey day.  Looking at the schedules of the 49ers and the Saints (currently with the same record as the 49ers but sit in 3rd because of a conference record tie breaker), the 49ers will most likely need to win at least 2 of 3 since the Saints have two of three at home against inferior opponents. 

Let's hope Harbs can get the pieces lined up for Monday night's clash with the Steelers.  

Niiiiiiiiinnnnnneeerrrrrssss!!!!

Cheers,

Mr. A

The Dead-beat Dad that is the Giants' Front Office

The 2011 season was a failure for the Giants. No way around it. But just because that failure was in large part (though not entirely) due to injury does not give the front office the excuse to turn in a failure of an offseason. Baseball's Winter Meetings closed today, and it was the most exciting one I can remember (but that's because I never remember any Winter Meetings once they've been done for a week). Unfortunately, the Giants' contribution to that excitement could be described by any of a number of words-that-aren't-really-words-describing-indifference. I'm gonna go with..."bleh".

Giants fans mailed their offseason wish list to the North Pole the day after the World Series ended. (In this metaphor, the North Pole is actually AT&T Park--did your head just explode?). We were hoping Santa (that's the Giants' Brass) would bring us a shiny new Lincecum contract extension. Or a Carlos Beltran, which we would absolutely love. Or a new Cain contract to play with. But when we excitedly opened up our presents, the reaction was about on par with Tim Whatley opening up his label-maker from Elaine. "Oh...an Angel Pagan...thanks."

The Giants decided "well, we can't afford a real middle-of-the-order hitter. I know! We'll fill the lineup with lesser hitters to justify hitting Melky Cabrerra 3rd. Easy!" It seems as though our fears of this new ownership are coming to fruition. Melky Cabrerra and and Angel Pagan probably do make the Giants a better team. But they came in trades. There was no way the Giants were going to make a splash in free agency because ownership set a payroll ceiling that was easily met with the raises coming to existing team members. (Those raises for the bullpen lefties, which I was initially in favor of, are looking increasingly unjustifiable by the day. I whiffed on that one).

What it comes down to is this: it's actually only now that the Zito and Rowand contracts are coming back to bite them. You could've said the same thing during any recent offseason (I'm certain CC Sabathia would be a Giant right now if Zito wasn't). But they got by because their other pitchers were good, and they were cheap. Now Lincecum, Cain, B-Weezy, and the like are actually making what they deserve, and Zito/Rowand/Huff fill up the rest of the payroll. Still, to not even make a real move for Beltran is incredibly frustrating. I get that the Giants are not the Yankees. I don't even really want them to be the Yankees. But why not increase the payroll this year, and then have it go down in the next couple years as Zito, Rowand, and Huff come off the books? The Giants have incredible pitching NOW. A short-term commitment to Beltran would make the offense average NOW. We've all rejoiced in what that combination yields. The team has a young, cheap core of hitters in Sandoval, Posey, and hopefully Belt. It is poised to make a dynastic run if they can round out the offense and keep the pitching in tact. As I've said before, the window is open, and it could slam shut if Cain walks after this season.

Which brings me to my next point. Why are they not working day and night to lock up LinceCain to long-term deals? As McCovey Chronicles pointed out, that sort of thing would not even increase this year's payroll much, if at all. If they're not going to extend them now, and if they're not going to splurge on Beltran, well then they better effing splurge when those guys actually do reach free agency. Or they will feel the ultimate wrath of my keyboard. Mark my words.

Oh, and also, Brandon Belt is totally getting screwed again. More on that later I guess.

*Update*: Andy Baggarly of the SJ Mercury News wrote this excellent article on the contract discussions with LinceCain. To their credit, it looks as though the Giants' front office is working hard towards extending them. I made it sound like since deals didn't get done at the Winter Meetings, they wouldn't get done at all. But we should keep following the ongoings through Spring Training. Be warned: reading that linked article has a downside -- you'll find out that Cain's camp is probably in the $150 million range (not a big surprise, but just...big), and Lincecum's camp could be looking for 8 years (oof!).

Adios Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez, welcome Angel Pagan?

Giants trade Torres and Ramirez to the Mets for Angel Pagan.  Other than Pagan being five inches taller than Torres not much will be different. Both are about five-year veterans in the league and haven't had a close to all-star breakout year yet.  Yes, Pagan's career stats are somewhat better than Torres', but Torres' defense put him a  leg up on Pagan in that department.  Not sure what Sabean is thinking here.  Not only do you get rid of a guy for just about the same person, but you also include a solid right-handed relief pitcher.  A lot more is lost with Torres not being a Giant.  If you could get him to take his adderall, he would throw it all out on the field every game.  Off the field the guy was a legend in the community.  If Sabean and company want to keep this team together and in the winning column he better start making some better moves or just no moves at all.  That being said, I still believe the Giants can be a better team with just a couple additional pieces.  Let's see what Sabean and company can dial up.  We can afford to put multiple players on the chopping block so let's sit back and watch what happens.  The only thing is that history tells me the Giants will not make a splash of any significance.  Oh well...

Here's a link to the news break from SFGate:

http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2011/12/06/sf-giants-acquire-angel-pagan-for-andres-torres-ramon-ramirez/


Cheers,

Mr. A

P.s. What the deal with this Poopholes deal?  The guy is 31 years old and they want to offer him a ten year deal?  This sport is getting out of hand.  Players like these and players in general are getting way over paid and the dollar value just sets up them up for disappointment.  Good luck to who ever gets this guy.  His body will start to disintegrate in a few years from the roids and or supplements he has been taking along with every other player in his era.  I really hope the Marlins get him.  St. Louis is too good of a franchise to pay that type of money to someone like Poopholes!

Anyway, GO GIANTS!

Cliff Harris: Smoked up all his chances at the University of Oregon

Well Cliff, can't really say anything now.  The people in charge gave you enough chances.  Now it's time to grow up and try your luck in the big boy league.  All I got to say is good luck and thanks for not making your team better when they needed you most.  You had all the talent in the world with a clear path to do something positive for a great University and you blew it.  Why don't you think about that and roll it up and smoke it because that's about all you can do these days!  Here's a link to the report from the Oregonlive.com home page.

http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2011/12/oregon_ducks_dismiss_cliff_har.html

RIP #13!

Looks like the big brother's big brother needed to teach him a life long lesson!

Ah oh, look who's back! Tyyyyyges!!!

Hey @TigerWoods fans check this one out.  About an hour after Tyges won this weekend he was so pumped he went back to some old school cuts....

https://twitter.com/#!/tigerwoods/status/143502695783870464

"Who's ready for some LL Cool J?"  Ha!  I am Tyges, Fo Shizzle!

Anyway, glad to see he's officially back up in it.  Not sure what's gotten into him lately?  Maybe he's found a a new girl..... or 10!  BOOM!  Can't wait to see if Tyges can keep it rolling through the holidays in preparation of next season's kick off tournaments in Hawaii.

Happy Monday,

Mr. A

Changing of the guard and the status of the PAC-12

Here in the land of the PAC-10, I mean PAC-12, the changing of the guard at the head coaching position has been the news over the past couple weeks.  First it was Arizona hiring Rich Rodriguez who failed at his last two stops with the most recent mess at the Big House in Ann Arbor.  The next coach to fall was just down the road in Tempe, AZ.  ASU has yet to fill the void and doesn't seem to be in a rush to make a move.  Not soon after that Washington State called it quits on some random and hired the controversial loud mouth Mike Leach who left Texas Tech in a storm a couple years back.  Finally, it's UCLA.  They must really hate Rick Neuheisel down there.  I mean you can't even wait a couple days and then let the guy go?  Rick not only knows this is his last game, but he now has to take his 6-6 Bruins up to Eugene to get stomped.  I am not sure what the Bruins are going to do in the future or who they are going to turn to as head coach but they have a steep hill to climb.

Spinning from there is the PAC-12 championship game featuring Oregon and UCLA. This couldn't have turned out worse for the PAC-12.  The Reggie Bush scandal at USC that has forced UCLA to play Oregon on Friday and has not only lost the conference tons of money, but it has also lost the conference a chance to shine.  Can you imagine the hype of an Oregon/USC match up?  The tickets sales would have sky rocked and ESPN and the rest of the nation would actually care about and watch the PAC-12 championship game.  Instead, ticket prices have plummeted  and people are practically giving them away online.  Even the MAC conference championship game is a hotter ticket for tomorrow night.  What a joke!  Thank you USC and the Bush family.  I hope you are enjoying yourselves in your mansion with a handful of Escalades parked out front.

That being said, cheers to the Ducks!  They are on the brink of a 3rd straight PAC-10 conference championship and hopefully a 3rd straight BCS bowl berth with a win tomorrow night.  Look for the Ducks to come out trying to make as big of a statement as possible.

Cheers,

Mr. A