Knuckle Curve » san_francisco_giants

Giants Sign Rowand

Geoff Young — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:19:40 +0000

The San Francisco Giants have signed outfielder Aaron Rowand, previously with the Phillies, to a 5-year, $60 million deal. He’ll take over in center field for Dave Roberts, whom the Giants inked to a long-term contract last winter to play the position despite the fact that he wasn’t really a center fielder.

Rowand isn’t a bad ballplayer, but it seems to me that San Francisco is buying high. Rowand hit .309/.374/.515 in ‘07 while playing half his games in a bandbox. (His line was a brilliant .319/.380/.557 at home, and a merely respectable .299/.368/.475 on the road.)

The main problem I have with this deal is its length. Rowand is a guy coming off a great year, but before that, he’d had two underwhelming seasons. And he’s always getting hurt.

Like I said, Rowand isn’t bad. I just think that maybe if you’re going to lock someone up for five years, you’d like a little more consistency. His offensive numbers are likely to take a hit on moving out of Philly, he’ll have to cover more ground in the spacious NL West outfields, and he’ll be 34 at the end of the contract. Not a brutal signing, but not one I’d like to see my team make.

Other Voices

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Deconstructing Lincecum

Geoff Young — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:47:10 +0000

Over at Hardball Times (full disclosure, I contribute to THT), Josh Kalk analyzes San Francisco Giants right-hander Tim Lincecum using PITCHf/x data. Josh likes the movement on Lincecum’s fastball, and compares the youngster to Milwaukee’s Ben Sheets (hopefully without the injuries).

I find the discussion of Lincecum’s offspeed stuff particularly interesting:

Lincecum appears to locate his change well while hiding the pitch and offering a huge speed difference from his fastball. Sounds like a plus plus pitch to me. So why isn’t he throwing it more often? He still must not feel completely comfortable with it or he might be leaning on his fastball a little too much. If he does start to throw his changeup more often, look out.

Sounds like analysis a team can use…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Bonds, a Giant No More

Geoff Young — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:27:52 +0000

The San Francisco Giants will not bring back Barry Bonds back in 2008. Now that he’s passed Hank Aaron as the all-time home run leader, and given that the Giants desperately need to rebuild, this can’t come as much of a surprise to anyone.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Giants Extend Sabean

Geoff Young — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 00:18:56 +0000

The San Francisco Giants have extended GM Brian Sabean’s contract through the 2010 season. As a fan of one of the Giants’ division rivals, I’m very pleased with this. I look forward to seeing more aging defensive specialists and #3 starters sign for too much in the near future…

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Bonds Homers, Giants Edge Closer to Fourth Place

Geoff Young — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:11:20 +0000

Barry Bonds hit the 747th home run of his career on Monday night to help the San Francisco Giants defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3. Bonds’ two-run shot off Josh Towers came in the fourth inning and landed beyond the fence in right-center, some 438 feet from home plate.

The Giants, meanwhile, improved their record to 29-34 and pulled to within two games of the Colorado Rockies for fourth place in the National League West. In related news, a Dallas-based auction house has removed the $1 million bounty it had placed on Bonds’ 756th home run ball.

Trying to muster the energy for actual commentary. Nope, not happening…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Giants Need Drink, Trade Benitez

Geoff Young — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:24:22 +0000

Citing extreme thirstiness, the San Francisco Giants traded right-hander Armando Benitez on Thursday to the Florida Marlins for right-hander Randy Messenger and a glass of water to be named later. What’s in it for the Marlins? Quoth skipper Fredi Gonzalez: “We’re getting a guy that has that experience and our people think he can still do it.”

(Careful readers will note that Gonzalez didn’t specify what “it” is.)

If there’s anyone who can make Marlins fans forget Jorge Julio, it’s Benitez. As for folks in the Bay Area, no doubt they’re ecstatic over the departure of Benitez. At the very least, we can be reasonably well assured that they won’t shoot the Messenger.

Swiftly exits room without apology…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Aaron Watches His Back and the Rest of Tuesday’s Games

Geoff Young — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 17:26:25 +0000

Wow. After all those great pitching matchups on Monday, the season’s second day is kind of a letdown. Your best bet is probably the Padres vs Giants, and I’m not just saying that because my Padres are one of the teams. Here’s what I’ll be watching:

National League

Padres at Giants, 1:35 p.m. PT – Jake Peavy vs Barry Zito? Barry Bonds’ pursuit of history? Manager Bruce Bochy facing his old team? Tons of story lines in this one. If teams are smart, they’ll hit balls to left-center field all year against the Giants. Dave Roberts can’t play center, and you know about Bonds. San Francisco pitchers will lead the big leagues in triples allowed.
Mets at Cardinals, 5:10 p.m. PT – This is sort of a default pick. The pitching matchup (Orlando Hernandez vs Kip Wells) could be brutal. Still, these two teams did meet in the NLCS last year.

American League

Rangers at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT – Honestly, I’m not real enthusiastic about this one either. Vicente Padilla goes against Kelvim Escobar. The Angels are a fun team to watch, though; that right side of the infield, with Howie Kendrick and a presumably healthy Casey Kotchman, is real young and real talented. The more I look at the Angels, the more I like their chances. Guess that’s why I pegged them to win it all.

Happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve