Pat the Awesome inks himself into Giants/Dodgers lore! Great win against the dreck of southern California yesterday. Is it coincidence I write blogs during series with LA? Who knows? So the Giants get their first off day since the All-Star break tomorrow. Hopefully we can savor a home sweep of those deplorable Dodgers. And as we try for the sweep, it's going to take contributions from the guys we had on 7/30. That's because Sabean resisted the urge to trade Jonathan Sanchez and flat out refused to trade Madison Bumgarner. So because of that, the Giants are left with the team we had before the deadline. Well, except this equation:
Joe Martinez - Denny Baustista + Javier Lopez + Ramon Ramirez.
Sabean does what he always does at the deadline and that is get relief pitchers. Johnny Bowker and Joe Martinez got shipped off to Timbuktu (aka Pittsburgh) for Jason Christiansen, er, Javier Lopez. On the face of it, it looks like Sabean overpaid for a lefty specialist with a career 4.37 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. His WHIP this year is in line with his career at 1.47 but he's gotten out of more jams as his sterling 2.79 ERA suggests. In the end, he's holding lefties just over .200 while getting knocked around by righties. The Giants, with Runzler and Affeldt still weeks away, needed a lefty and Lopez fills that need. A lot of Giants fans are upset that Bowker was also traded for Lopez but let's face it, Bowker was never going to get a legit shot in SF. While Nate Schierholtz has been up the entire year, even he hasn't gotten a real chance to play everyday with the musical chairs rotation Bochy has going in th outfield. The organization thinks more highly of Nate and if he's not getting his chance, it's hard to imagine Bowker would ever get his. Sabean essentially confirmed this saying that instead of trading maybe lower level prospects that still have unknown upside, he rather trade JoeMa and J.B. because they felt they knew what they were getting from both of those guys and they just weren't long term options. I have no problem with that rationale. I don't think Martinez or Bowker could have been packaged for Scott Downs (the guy I really wanted) and I don't think they were in high demand in general. So shipping them out of SF for a piece the team needed seems reasonable enough to me. Besides, both Martinez and Bowker should get a chance to prove themselves as major leaguers in Pittsburgh.
That being said, was it truly necessary to get Javier Lopez when you had Alex Hinshaw and Geno Espinelli down on the farm? Espinelli has posted solid numbers this year in Fresno (2.61 ERA, 1.24 WHIP in 48 IP) and has been closing games for the Grizzlies. It's odd the Giants didn't give him an audition before deciding they needed to target help from outside the organization. Hinshaw has been relatively inconsistent and his numbers aren't very good down south but he has been relatively effective against lefthanders. There was a time I thought Hinshaw was a set-up guy or even closer in waiting. He has fallen off quite a ways in the organization's eyes and with Javier Lopez being arbitration eligible after this season, it's not hard to imagine Hinshaw being non-tendered in the winter. But, Sabean being Sabean, he probably looked at Lopez's "track record" and liked that Lopez has been part of playoff and World Series teams and decided to go with the lefty with experience. Again, I don't mind the trade at all but it wasn't an earth shaker.
I was much more intrigued with the 2nd trade the Giants made. The Giants need a consistent set-up guy. Romo has been good of late, but he has been scary in the role this season. Mota is a guy who has proven time and again that he folds in big pressure situations (yesterday's awesome 1-2-3 save not withstanding). Affeldt seemed to be rounding back into form then got hurt. Casilla has electric stuff but he too has been known to shrink the bigger the situation. And his command has been an issue as well. In the end, we needed a set-up guy and a lefty and I thought Sabean could get both in Scott Downs. Rumors had the Giants going hard after Downs right until the final bell but Toronto was being just too stubborn. Didn't Alex Anthopoulos not witness his predecessor JP Ricciardi get fired for bungling the trade of Roy Halladay? The Jays had decent reasons to hold onto Downs (draft picks) but there was no reason to hold onto Frasor or Gregg. Between he and the GM in Washington, they asked the world and wound up not doing anything. For team's out of contention, that's a cardinal sin. But I digress. With Downs out of the equation, Giants need to scurry and get a set-up guy. So they took a flier on Red Sox reliever Ramon Ramirez. Ramirez's numbers aren't spectacular but he has an okay WHIP of 1.29 both in his career and this season. His ERA is 4.46 but he plays in the tough AL East. Coming to the NL West, he should whittle down that ERA and he could be and will be given the opportunity to lock down the 8th inning. And being with the Red Sox, he too has that playoff experience Sabean craves. We gave up a decent prospect for Ramirez but not anyone we'll miss.
Both trades were decent. I won't miss the guys we traded and I do like Ramirez and Lopez was a void we needed filled. That being said, Sabean didn't make a blockbuster. He didn't even make a splash in the pond. He got 2 relievers. A bat was considered a luxury. I think the Giants might be playing with a house of cards regarding their offense. I don't think they can expect Posey to bat .350 all season or have 21 game hit streaks reoccuring, I don't think they can count on Huff continuing to match Pujols's season through the dog days, and I don't think they can count on Torres keeping up his torrid pace in his first full MLB season. It would have been a shrewd move to get a legit bat that could help carry the load when our guys eventually cool. Maybe we have that hitter in Sandoval, who's been cold all season. That's the consensus, that if Sandoval comes anywhere close to his last season #'s in the 2nd half, we don't need any other hitter. But watching Sandoval all season, I can't believe the Giants think he'll actually come around this year. He has seemingly made ZERO adjustments. I guess if things start heading south offensively, Sabean can attempt a waiver-wire deal. But it would have been a better bet just to go out and get that bat before the deadline.
The Padres restocked and the Dodgers filled some holes. It's going to be a dogfight down the stretch. We'll see what happens. For now, I'm off to watch Cain try to get win #1 against the Douchey Dogs from down south and the first home sweep of the Dodgers since either '03 or '04. Thanks for reading!
Joe Martinez - Denny Baustista + Javier Lopez + Ramon Ramirez.
Sabean does what he always does at the deadline and that is get relief pitchers. Johnny Bowker and Joe Martinez got shipped off to Timbuktu (aka Pittsburgh) for Jason Christiansen, er, Javier Lopez. On the face of it, it looks like Sabean overpaid for a lefty specialist with a career 4.37 ERA and 1.49 WHIP. His WHIP this year is in line with his career at 1.47 but he's gotten out of more jams as his sterling 2.79 ERA suggests. In the end, he's holding lefties just over .200 while getting knocked around by righties. The Giants, with Runzler and Affeldt still weeks away, needed a lefty and Lopez fills that need. A lot of Giants fans are upset that Bowker was also traded for Lopez but let's face it, Bowker was never going to get a legit shot in SF. While Nate Schierholtz has been up the entire year, even he hasn't gotten a real chance to play everyday with the musical chairs rotation Bochy has going in th outfield. The organization thinks more highly of Nate and if he's not getting his chance, it's hard to imagine Bowker would ever get his. Sabean essentially confirmed this saying that instead of trading maybe lower level prospects that still have unknown upside, he rather trade JoeMa and J.B. because they felt they knew what they were getting from both of those guys and they just weren't long term options. I have no problem with that rationale. I don't think Martinez or Bowker could have been packaged for Scott Downs (the guy I really wanted) and I don't think they were in high demand in general. So shipping them out of SF for a piece the team needed seems reasonable enough to me. Besides, both Martinez and Bowker should get a chance to prove themselves as major leaguers in Pittsburgh.
That being said, was it truly necessary to get Javier Lopez when you had Alex Hinshaw and Geno Espinelli down on the farm? Espinelli has posted solid numbers this year in Fresno (2.61 ERA, 1.24 WHIP in 48 IP) and has been closing games for the Grizzlies. It's odd the Giants didn't give him an audition before deciding they needed to target help from outside the organization. Hinshaw has been relatively inconsistent and his numbers aren't very good down south but he has been relatively effective against lefthanders. There was a time I thought Hinshaw was a set-up guy or even closer in waiting. He has fallen off quite a ways in the organization's eyes and with Javier Lopez being arbitration eligible after this season, it's not hard to imagine Hinshaw being non-tendered in the winter. But, Sabean being Sabean, he probably looked at Lopez's "track record" and liked that Lopez has been part of playoff and World Series teams and decided to go with the lefty with experience. Again, I don't mind the trade at all but it wasn't an earth shaker.
I was much more intrigued with the 2nd trade the Giants made. The Giants need a consistent set-up guy. Romo has been good of late, but he has been scary in the role this season. Mota is a guy who has proven time and again that he folds in big pressure situations (yesterday's awesome 1-2-3 save not withstanding). Affeldt seemed to be rounding back into form then got hurt. Casilla has electric stuff but he too has been known to shrink the bigger the situation. And his command has been an issue as well. In the end, we needed a set-up guy and a lefty and I thought Sabean could get both in Scott Downs. Rumors had the Giants going hard after Downs right until the final bell but Toronto was being just too stubborn. Didn't Alex Anthopoulos not witness his predecessor JP Ricciardi get fired for bungling the trade of Roy Halladay? The Jays had decent reasons to hold onto Downs (draft picks) but there was no reason to hold onto Frasor or Gregg. Between he and the GM in Washington, they asked the world and wound up not doing anything. For team's out of contention, that's a cardinal sin. But I digress. With Downs out of the equation, Giants need to scurry and get a set-up guy. So they took a flier on Red Sox reliever Ramon Ramirez. Ramirez's numbers aren't spectacular but he has an okay WHIP of 1.29 both in his career and this season. His ERA is 4.46 but he plays in the tough AL East. Coming to the NL West, he should whittle down that ERA and he could be and will be given the opportunity to lock down the 8th inning. And being with the Red Sox, he too has that playoff experience Sabean craves. We gave up a decent prospect for Ramirez but not anyone we'll miss.
Both trades were decent. I won't miss the guys we traded and I do like Ramirez and Lopez was a void we needed filled. That being said, Sabean didn't make a blockbuster. He didn't even make a splash in the pond. He got 2 relievers. A bat was considered a luxury. I think the Giants might be playing with a house of cards regarding their offense. I don't think they can expect Posey to bat .350 all season or have 21 game hit streaks reoccuring, I don't think they can count on Huff continuing to match Pujols's season through the dog days, and I don't think they can count on Torres keeping up his torrid pace in his first full MLB season. It would have been a shrewd move to get a legit bat that could help carry the load when our guys eventually cool. Maybe we have that hitter in Sandoval, who's been cold all season. That's the consensus, that if Sandoval comes anywhere close to his last season #'s in the 2nd half, we don't need any other hitter. But watching Sandoval all season, I can't believe the Giants think he'll actually come around this year. He has seemingly made ZERO adjustments. I guess if things start heading south offensively, Sabean can attempt a waiver-wire deal. But it would have been a better bet just to go out and get that bat before the deadline.
The Padres restocked and the Dodgers filled some holes. It's going to be a dogfight down the stretch. We'll see what happens. For now, I'm off to watch Cain try to get win #1 against the Douchey Dogs from down south and the first home sweep of the Dodgers since either '03 or '04. Thanks for reading!
Dodgers are almost out of the race now... I'm a bit more worried about the Rockies who almost come back every year... Pablo needs to have a bigger 2nd half for sure but he is really disappointing me... yesterday, taking a called third with men on base, another example
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