Catching Prospectives Aren't Too Exciting

With day two of the MLB winter meetings winding up, there really isn't much new to talk about on the Giants front.

The new name of the day Tuesday was Kevin Kouzmanoff, as apparently the Giants and Padres have discussed a possible deal that could land the third-basemen in San Francisco. The names being discussed on the Giants end have been Fred Lewis and Kevin Frandsen, neither of whom appear to be much in the Giants plans heading into 2010. That said, Bruce Bochy did shoot down the Kouzmanoff rumor during his media session, saying any deal of any kind, not just the Kouzmanoff rumor, is not immanent. Bochy also said Tuesday that he expects both Andres Torres and Eugenio Velez to play big roles with this team in 2010, and adding more outfielders to the mix is not necessarily a sure thing. Since there isn't much new talk to discuss today, I figured I'd take a little bit closer look at the top-4 free agent candidates to be the Giants opening day catcher next April.

Miguel Olivo: Probably the top all-around option on the FA market. Hits for power, with a .250'ish average and . Good defender, solid arm and has a good rep as a receiver (caught AL CY Younger Zack Grienke). Only thing is that he may be seeking a 2+ year contract, and as the second best catcher on the market, he'll likely find some team that will give it to him. Although he's not quite as good as Bengie is, he's probably the closest thing to Molina in this class of catchers.

Yorvit Torrealba: Former Giant has ties here, and is still highly respected by those in the Giants organization. Very good receiver, pretty good defender with a solid arm. Hit .291 as a part-timer last year and shined for the Rockies during their World Series run in 2007 as he had a knack for coming up with the clutch hit when needed. He just wouldn't replace the power that Molina brought like Olivo would and the Giants need that pop in the lineup. He'd be my second choice behind Miguel Olivo.

Rod Barajas: Barajas has hit some home runs over the past few seasons (has averaged about 15 per year since 2004), and even drove in 71 runs for the Blue Jays last year, but he just doesn't do anything else for you. He's not an especially good defensive catcher, although he's serviceable, and isn't know for his receiving abilities, although he's worked with Roy Halladay over the past few seasons. Torrealba and Olivo are both better all-around players, but as I said, there aren't many catching options this year, and if someone is going Torrealba or Olivo multi-year deals, Barajas might not be a bad fallback as option #3.

Jason Kendall: Much more defensive minded than offensive these days, but still will get on base at a respectable clip and even steal a base here and there. His average has plummeted the last 2 seasons while playing in a hitters yard, which doesn't bode well for his offense going forward, but in this market, this winter, Kendal is still among the top options available and will be starting for somebody next spring. If the Giants can't get any of these 4 guys, I'd rather just see them go with the Steve Holm/Eli Whiteside/Jackson Williams combo until Posey is ready.

MLB Winter Meetings Underway

Baseball's annual winter meetings got started on Monday in Indianapolis, and the Giants have been talked about just as much as any other teams as they search for ways to improve their meager offense.

The Giants enter the meetings in need of a couple corner outfielders, a corner infielder and a catcher who can bridge the gap from Bengie Molina to Buster Posey. Brian Sabean stated before he left for the meetings that the Giants would not get involved in the bidding for the top dogs on the free agent market, Jason Bay and Matt Holliday. Not only would those guys cost the Giants their top pick in next Junes amateur draft, they're also both seeking deals in the neighborhood of the 100 million dollar range. Instead, Sabean is likely focusing on outfielders such as Jermaine Dye, Xavier Nady and Johnny Damon. I was a little surprised at the interest in Damon at first, but after looking at it a little longer, I've begin to see some logic in adding Damon. The Giants need a leadoff hitter, and Damon can do that and do it well, even if his power numbers wouldn't be as good in SF as they were in New York. As it stands now, they're leadoff options would be Edgar Renteria, Freddy Sanchez and possibly Fred Lewis. Eugenio Velez ended the year as the leadoff guy for the Giants and did a respectable job, but I don't think the Giants envision Velez as an everyday guy. So, looking at the free agent market, the best remaining leadoff option now that Chone Figgins has signed (4 yr., $36 million with Seattle) is Johnny Damon. Damon is coming off a solid season in which he hit 24 home runs, drove in 82 runs and scored 107 times at the top of the World Champion Yankee lineup.

If the Giants could get Damon on a reasonable deal, then I then it would make some since, especially if they can still manage to get a power hitter or two to fill out the rest of the lineup. I really like Xavier Nady and the potential numbers he could put up in this park. I'd take him over Jermaine Dye because Nady's younger and better defensively. Nady also could provide Bruce Bochy the flexibility to play him at first base when needed, and his best seasons are still ahead of him. The only question mark I have with Nady is his ability to play a full season. He's only played over 125 games in a year one time, and the one thing the Giants cannot afford to do is add a player to a long-term deal who's going to hit the DL a couple of times per year.

There's a sleeper in the outfield mix that I think could help the Giants out, and that sleeper is Rick Ankiel. He's a left-handed bat which means his power numbers would take a bit of hit playing in SF, but he's a guy who's now entering his third full season as a MLB outfielder, and I think he could be primed for a breakout. He pulled an Aaron Rowand and crashed into the outfield wall at full speed which cost him a portion of his 2009 season. It was apparent that he wasn't quite the same player after coming back from that. His '07 (.285, 11 HR, 39 RBI in 171 AB's) and '08 (.264, 25 HR, 71 RBI, .843 OPS) seasons showed a player on the rise. He's also a sound defensive outfielder with one of the better arms in the game. He could spell, or platoon with Aaron Rowand in center field and can play either corner outfield spot.

As far as the infielders go, there are some options out there for the Giants. I'm sure most Giants fans have heard or read about their teams interest in Dan Uggla, and I apparently Sabean is working night and day to figure out a way to get the second basemen without parting with Madison Bumgarner, who the Marlins apparently covet. Adding Uggla to the mix while also adding a few outfielders could really turn the Giants offense. If the Giants can't swing a trade with Florida, some free agents who they may turn to are Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa, Miguel Tejada, Felipe Lopez, Nick Johnson and Adam LaRoche. Tejada, Beltre or DeRosa would play third, moving Sandoval over to first, or Johnson and LaRoche would play first, keeping Sandoval at third. Lopez is an interesting player because he could play both short and second. I don't think the Giants are really looking at him too closely, but he could hit leadoff for them if acquired, and provide insurance for the fragile and aging Edgar Renteria. The only guy I really like out of that bunch besides Uggla though is Adam LaRoche, and I know how left-handed power hitters shy away from coming to SF. Whether they make a move or not, I think we'll have a much clearer perspective on who the new additions could be after the Winter Meetings end on Thursday.

Daily Winter Meetings Postings: With the winter meetings in full-swing and running through December 10th, we'll likely be posting something each day throughout the meetings. We'll be having daily updates, monitoring the the happenings at the meetings. So check back tomorrow for more news and a look at some catchers that could be in the Giants' plans!

No Arbitration Offered to Giants' Free Agents

After a few weeks of silence, their is finally some real Giants news to talk about. Earlier this week, Brian Sabean and the Giants front office decided not to offer arbitration to the teams' free agents, meaning the Giants cannot receive any compensation for their players signing elsewhere.

Now, there aren't many free agents coming off of this team that I would have liked to see offered arbitration anyway. The only guy who did make some sense though, was Bengie Molina. Molina's agent has supposedly been in serious contract talks with the New York Mets, discussing a 2 year contract for the 35 year-old backstop. I think that it's pretty safe to say, that in this free agent market (extremely thin in the catching department) Molina's a commodity, and I think it would have been smart on the Giants' part to have offered it to him. If worse came to worst, then you have Bengie Molina back for another year to help Buster Posey along in his development, and I don't think anyone around the Bay Area would be too upset with that scenario. Best case, he signs with the Mets or someone else and lands the Giants a fat compensation pick at the top of the 2010 amateur draft. The other prominent Giant over the past few years who also didn't receive arbitration is Randy Winn. Winn has been a Giants since the middle of the 2005 season, and although he was a solid Giants throughout his stay, he never did match that ladder half of the '05 season he had with San Francisco (.359, 14 hr, 22 2B, 231 ab's, 1.071 OPS), the half that really got him his big contract that just expired.

One Giants' free agent that I'd like to see return, and really the only one besides Juan Uribe and possibly Molina on a 1 year deal, is Brad Penny. And after seeing his season, and to a lesser extent his career, revived in San Francisco, I'm sure he's got some interest in doing so as well. In his one month stint in San Fran, he was legit, going 4-1 over 6 starts, with a 2.59 era, and a 0.96 WHIP. Granted, it was only 41+ innings pitched, I think he proved that he's a well above average pitcher here in the NL, and especially in the NL West. I'm just really curious as to what kind of deal he and his agent are looking for. I'm not sure the strong finish with the Giants was enough to get him a big multi-year deal, and I don't think many AL teams will come calling, so I really don't know what kind of market there will be for him. Some wealthy NL team with a need in their rotation may be able to offer him a more lucrative deal (Cubs, Mets?), but you gotta like the Giants' chances if they're serious about bringing him back. The Giants interest in Penny will ultimately come down to what they do with Jonathan Sanchez, and whether or not they're planning on using Madison Bumgarner for the majority of the 2010.

Offseason Starting Quietly

Although the Major League Baseball off-season isn't quite a full-month old yet, I'm pretty surprised at how quiet things have been. As far as the Giants are concerned, the only news to come from them in recent weeks, besides Tim Lincecum winning his second consecutive Cy Young award, has been Brian Sabean hinting that they'll steer clear of the top offensive free-agents, Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, this offseason.

Now, this shouldn't come as a surprise to Giants fans, the team hasn't added a big time offensive player in decades, but for a team that has a need for offensive as much as the Giants do, I am a little surprised that Brian Sabean is already dismissing the idea of pursuing either of them. I made a post here a couple weeks back comparing Jason Bay and Matt Holliday here, so I'm not going to be comparing them as players today, but I'm just not sure what the Giants are waiting for in terms of building their offense? One bat like Holiday's or Bay's would certainly give this team an offensive boost, maybe even make them the favorites in their division. They have such a good pitching staff, that even a league average offense would probably be good enough to keep this team atop the NL West. Now, I understand that Bay and Holliday are far and away the best offensive players in this free agent market, and whoever gets them will wind up spending some serious dough, but that doesn't mean the Giants should completely remove them from their plans.

The Giants pitching staff is on the rise and is one the best in baseball, but they're not going to have Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Jonathon Sanchez, Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt ect... all together forever. When these guys become free-agents, they're not going to want to stick around if the Giants are still hovering around .500 and struggling to score runs. At some point they're going to have to figure out whether they'll need to deal from within or use free agency in order to get some offense, cause they're going to need it. I'm not talking about dealing for a Ryan Garko or Freddy Sanchez, I'm talking about making a play for a Prince Fielder or Adrian Gonzalez. They need someone who will come in and anchor their offense, much like Barry Bonds did during his 16 year stay in San Francisco. I think Matt Holliday is that type of player and could impact the team in a way that Gonzalez or Fielder could. Is he the best player in baseball? No, he's probably not even in the top-15, but he's a legit middle of the order hitter who is going to be good for a while, and he would allow the Giants to hold onto Cain, Bumgarner and Wilson.

Lincecum Wins Consecutive CY Young Awards

Tim Lincecum has done something that no other Giants pitcher in history has done, win two consecutive Cy Young Awards. In fact, the only two NL pitchers to ever win the award in consecutive seasons were Randy Johnson and Sandy Koufax.

It was definitely a close call though, and by no means did the 25 year-old ace run away with the award. Adam Wainright, who led the NL in wins with 19 and innings pitched with 233, received 12 first-place votes, one more than Lincecum's 11. However, Lincecum received more second place votes and more total points. Chris Carpentar finished second in the voting with Wainright coming in third. Atlanta's Javier Vazquez and Arizona's Dan Haren also received votes. Lincecum only finished the year with 15 wins, but his 261 strikeouts, 1.05 WHIP and his .206 BAA made up for the lower win total. The lanky one who most call "The Freak", but I call "The Franchise", struggled a bit down the stretch and went just 1-3 with a 3.60 era in September. I thought at the time that his slow finish may hurt his chances for the award, but he did enough in the first half of the year (10-2, 2.33 era before all-star break) to allow some sputtering towards the end. The scary part about this kid is that he's still getting better and better and probably a couple of years away from his peak.

I think all Giants fans knew there was something special about this kid when he first started dominating in the minors after the Giants drafted him, but I don't think anyone could have predicted 2 Cy Young awards within his first 2 full-seasons at the major league level. The future of the Giants pitching staff is about as bright as it can be at this point. Matt Cain didn't get any Cy Young consideration this year, but I really think this is the year the Cain broke out and realized that he could be a dominant pitcher in this league. He's been well above league average over the last couple of seasons, and has never been an easy assignment for opposing batters, but this year he seemed to really learn more how to pitch rather than trying to just throw the ball by every batter. Between Cain and Lincecum, the Giants have a duo of right-handed power arms that should contend for Cy Young award for the next 10 seasons. They'll also soon be joined by a left-handed phenom as well, as Madison Bumgarner could do in 2010 what Linceucm did in 2007 (become a full-time member of the rotation by May-June). And these 3 guys could form the best young rotation in all of baseball.

Giants Showing Interest in Uggla, Damon

It's been a couple of weeks since the start of free agency filing, and the Giants apparently are wasting no time making contact with potential help for their ball-club. The team is apparently interested in free agent Johnny Damon, and have had talks with the Marlins about a potential Dan Uggla trade.

The Giants have been interested in Uggla, it seems, for the better part of the last two years. The Marlins are always looking for ways to cut payroll if they can, and Uggla is entering the expensive phase of his career. He's got 2 more years of arbitration left and then will be a free agent after the 2011 season. The Giants desperately want and need his power, but they'd need to do some shifting in the infield if they were indeed going to make a major play for Uggla. Yahoo Sports reported yesterday that Uggla doesn't want to change positions if he's dealt, which means the Giants would have to move Freddy Sanchez to the hot-corner, while placing Pablo Sandoval over at first full-time. Although, I would have my questions about how that infield set-up would play defensively. Uggla isn't a very mobile second basemen, and Edgar Renteria is declining quickly, so they'd lack range up the middle. I think Sanchez would be OK at third base, he's played there for long stretches of time at few different points in his career and handled it well. I also think Sandoval would be a fine first basemen full-time, although he doesn't have ideal size for the position. I also wonder what the Marlins would want for Uggla. I think the Giants may be able to start a package around Jonathan Sanchez, but the Marlins would probably want a young positional prospect as well, possibly Emmanuel Burris. We'll definitely keep our eye on the Giants/Marlins discussions over the next few weeks to see if anything becomes serious.

On the Johnny Damon front, I haven't seen too much out there that links him to San Francisco, but KNBR did report over the week that the Giants have interest and plan to speak with Damon's agent. The Damon report kind of had me scratching my head a little bit. I don't know why the Giants would want to spend big dollars on a 36 year-old outfielder who hits left-handed and doesn't posses the type of power they're seeking. Don't get me wrong, Damon is a fine player, and would definitely help any team that he lands on, but if this Giants team is planning on spending big money on an outfielder, why not just go all the way and get Matt Holliday? So take the Damon rumor with a grain of salt, because I'm hoping Sabean won't continue to make the same mistakes. In this free agent market, the only outfielder the Giants should be considering giving multi-years to is Matt Holliday. Jason Bay was really struggling for Pittsburgh before being dealt to Boston, and I just don't think he'd be a good fit back in the NL in the spacious AT&T Park. Holliday knows this division all to well, and no, I don't think a dropped line drive in the NLCS vs. the Dodgers last month should detour the Giants from pursuing the .318 lifetime hitter who's averaged 30 homers and 110 RBI over the last 4 seasons and hasn't even had his 30th birthday yet.

Note: Angel Villalona has had his US Visa taken away by Domincan Republic officials and won't be allowed to join the Giants even if he does avoid prison. This situation continues to look worse and worse for the 19 year-old, but we'll keep an eye on it and relay any new info as it comes.

Off-field Issues Surround Giants

The Giants organization has been in the news quite a bit lately, and it's not the kind of news that you hope for. I'm sure most Giants fans are aware of the trouble that "The Franchise" got into a couple of weeks back after being caught with an illegal substance, as well as the tragic news out of the Dominican that involves Giants' elite 19 year-old infield prospect, Angel Villalona.

Now, these two issues are drastically different and on completely different levels, but both seem to be making news each day over the past week or so. The Lincecum news isn't something that is going to get him into any kind of legal trouble, or get him any suspensions from the MLB or the Giants, but it is something that will likely follow him wherever he goes in the immediate future. I'm not in anyway comparing steroid use to marijuana smoking, but I'm expecting the same type treatment from road fans towards Linceucm as Barry Bonds got after the steroid scandal. Obviously not to the extent Bonds got, as Lincecum is generally well-liked in opposing cities, but you'll definitely be seeing some signs and hearing some rants, and he's going to have to keep focused. I can't wait to see what the fans at Dodger Stadium, or in New York have to say to Timmy once he takes the mound in there yards. Again, this is not something that is going to hurt Lincecum's status as an elite pitcher or anything like that, but I guarantee you that this is going to be something that won't go away as quickly as I'm sure he's hoping.

As far as the Villalona case goes, things are starting to pick-up in the investigation and it's not looking pretty for the 19 year-old. Andrew Baggarly reported yesterday that two new witnesses have come forward and are set to testify against Villalona, the main suspect in a homicide in Santo Domingo in September. However, Villalona apparently has reached an agreement with the victims family in which Villalona will pay them 150,000 to drop charges. Even if they do drop the charges though, Villalona is still facing trial and the possibility or 20 years in prison if convicted. This situation really cannot end up well for the Giants no matter what happens in the case. If Villalona is found guilty, his professional baseball career will be finished and he'll be incarcerated until he's 40. However, if he's found not guilty and avoids prison, then what do the Giants do with him? I'd hate to speculate on a case I know very little about and accuse Villalona, but how on earth do you employ someone in his situation if he does manage to get off? I guess only time will tell, but my feeling is that Angel Villalona's career has ended before it really got a chance to start, and it's such an unfortunate situation in all aspects.

AFL Stuff: The Arizona Fall League has been going now for a few weeks and the Giants have a few prominent youngsters getting some action in. SS Brandon Crawford, OF Thomas Neal, C Buster Posey, as well as pitchers Joe Martinez, Daniel Turpin and Scott Edlefson are all playing for the Scottsdalle Scorpions. Neal and Crawford are both having respectable offensive showings. The 22 year-old Neal, who tore up the California League for San Jose in '09 with a .337 avg, 22 HR/90 RBI season, is hitting .288 with a homer and 7 RBI and leads the team with 8 stolen bases for the Scorpions. His play over this year has put him on the map as one of the Giants' top outfield prospects. Crawford, who had a terrefic start in A and a solid finish in AA in '09, is hitting .309 with a .845 OPS with a home run and is second on the team in runs scored and walks. Both of those guys have played much better than Buster Posey, who's hitting just .224 with 2 homers and 8 RBI in 15 games. On the mound, Joe Martinez has looked pretty good, sporting a 1-0 record with a 4.32 era and 17 k's in 16 2/3 innings spread over 5 starts.