The Giants Baseball Blog

Finally, on December 19th, the Giants have found their third basemen for the 2015 season. It wasn't a big deal like for David Freese, Pedro Alvarez or Ben Zobrist. Not even a Trevor Plouffe or Lonnie Chisenhall, who would have been at least interesting in a new league. Instead, the Giants sent low-level minor league arms Kendry Flores and Luis Castillo to Miami for Casey McGehee. The 32 year-old third basemen hit .287 with 4 HR, 76 RBI and a .712 OPS in 2014, which won him NL Comeback Player of the Year honors. That's a higher average than Pablo Sandoval provided last year, but a huge fall-off in the power department. McGehee does have a track record of showing more power, including a 23 HR/104 RBI year for Milwaukee in 2010. The good part of this deal is the Giants didn't have to really part with any of their elite prospects, and that's probably what ultimately pushed them in the direction of McGehee. He does at least provide a better option at third than Arias and...

The offseason seems to really be heating up and despite all the action that's gone on over the last couple of weeks, one of the biggest markets in baseball and the reigning World Series champs have been one of the last to get going. They did make their first notable moves of the offseason this week though, bringing back one of the most important components to their bullpen in Sergio Romo, and the guy they traded for last July, Jake Peavy. They re-signed Romo, to a 2 year/$15M deal. Romo is coming off a bit of a down year, as he started out strong in the closers role, but relinquished the gig part-way through the season to Santiago Casilla. Romo did start thriving again in the set-up role, and likely could have taken back over as closer had Casilla got into any kind of trouble, but it was never an issue. Romo will enter 2015 as the primary set-up man once again, but will be first in line should anything happen to Casilla. I like this deal a lot as Romo is still one of the best rig...

Well, so far, it's been a tough offseason for the Giants as they've failed at retaining Pablo Sandoval and came up short in the bidding for the top left-hander on the marker, Jon Lester. In fairness to them, money was not an issue in either case, as they outbid both the Red Sox and Cubs for Sandoval and Lester, but the two just chose to take a different course. In Pablo's case, he wanted the bright lights and the challenge of playing for an East Coast powerhouse. I'm not quite sure why Lester choose Chicago over San Francisco though, as he's from the North West (Washington) and the Giants were supposedly offering more money than the $155M over six years that he signed for. But, instead of pondering what could have been, the Giants better get busy with plan B, cause they still have a lot of work to do and I expect the Lester signing to kick-start the starting pitching market. The other top guy out there, and the guy I originally wanted over Lester, is Max Scherzer,...

With Pablo Sandoval visiting Boston this week, it caused quite a stir on the East Coast and has every media outlet predicting the free agent third basemen will land with the Red Sox. Now, the Giants are certainly not out of the running, but based on every indication being made from Pablo's camp and the Giants' behalf leads one to believe that the headlines are most likely true. The San Diego Padres have made a late push here as well, and although they're likely third in line behind Boston and San Francisco, their interest likely jacks up the price just a little bit. My guess is that whatever he decides, his decision will likely come sooner than later, and as much as it sucks to admit, I really do see him departing for Boston on a deal in the neighborhood of 6 years and $115M. With the ability to DH him when the time comes, the Red Sox should have no hesitation giving him an extra year or two than what the Giants will offer and you can't really blame the Giants in thi...

Just as expected, in the two weeks of offseason there's been since the Giants won the World Series, their primary focus has been on retaining postseason machine, Pablo Sandoval. However, as they try diligently to persuade their incredibly popular third basemen into returning, they've also begun to ponder over some of the outfield options that are on the market. I don't think the market for Sandoval was quite as big as The Panda was anticipating, but apparently their is at least one other team who's interest is rivaling the Giants, and that is Boston Red Sox. He's scheduled to visit with Boston in person sometime early next week, and my guess is he's probably gonna sign somewhere sooner than later. I don't see this thing really dragging out past Thanksgiving. I've always felt that if Pablo leaves San Francisco, he'd wind up in the AL East somewhere, and both the Red Sox and Blue Jays have shown interest and although they've been quiet, you can...

After winning their third World Series Championship in five seasons a week ago, celebration time has wound down for the front office and Brian Sabean as they have multiple big decisions ahead of them. First of all though, I wanted to just say a couple of final words about the World Series. It was an incredible battle between the Royals and Giants, coming down to the final out of Game 7 with the tying run just 90 feet away, but the Giants' grit and experience paid off as Pablo Sandoval (fittingly after the postseason he just put up and quite possibly playing his last game in the orange and black) reeled in the Salvador Perez foul pop-up to end another epic run by San Francisco. The Giants, underdogs in every postseason series they played in this October, just don't wilt under the pressure of the big stage, and actually seem to thrive on it. It also helps when you have one of the best pitchers in postseason history basically win three games for you in one series. They've ha...

After the Royals came into town and took the first game at AT&T Park Friday night for their second straight win, games 4 and 5 became the real momentum changers of the series so far. Through the first three innings of Game 4, it looked like KC was gonna run away with this game and take a 3-1 series lead, but the Giants showed why they've won 2 tittles the last 4 seasons and came up with an impressive comeback to not only win the game, but completely blow KC out of the water, 11-4. I think that was the big turn of the series, or at least I'm hoping it was. Had the Royals held on to win that game, they take a commanding 3-1 lead and would have forced San Francisco to win the last 3 games in a row in order to take this thing. However, with the comeback, the Giants sapped all the momentum KC had been building off the back-to-back wins and completely swung it in their favor with that thrilling Game 4. It seems like everyone got involved a little in Game 4, with Pablo Sandoval ...

Both the Giants and the Royals have pretty much steam-rolled their way into the World Series as the obvious two best teams in their league during the playoffs. While the Royals have gone undefeated to this point in October, the Giants have lost just two, and both teams have plenty of momentum heading into Tuesday night's game one. There's been so much breakdown of this series over the last few days, and I'm sure we've heard just about every body's opinion at this point, so I'm just gonna keep it short and simple. Each team will send their ace to the mound in game one, with Madison Bumgarner facing James Shields, giving the edge in the pitching match-up to the Giants. That should be the theme of the series, as the Giants' starters are stronger and more experienced than KC's. However, when we get into the bullpen, it's a whole different story. The Giants' pen has been nails, for the most part, this postseason, though they've been prone to giv...

Well folks, this is a feeling I can certainly get used to, and if your reading this blog, most likely your in agreement. For the third time in five seasons, the San Francisco Giants will represent the National League in the Fall Classic after a thrilling game 5 win over St. Louis at AT&T Park Thursday night. In what was a series that was determined by who played the better situational, team baseball, the Giants ran away with it. It was a bit closer than the 4-1 series win would indicate as the Cardinals flexed their muscles on multiple occasions with big home runs while the Giants manufactured runs, put pressure on the defense and forced their way across homeplate, so to speak. It was two different styles of play clashing, and the Giants superior pitching, defense and timely hitting won out. The Giants didn't hit any long balls in the series until game five, but they got them at the opportune time when they needed them the most. Madison Bumgarner's performance was brilli...

Two years ago, the Giants downed the Cardinals in the NLCS and eventually cruised to their 2nd World Series tittle in 3 seasons. After winning a tight NLDS Game 4 over Washington at AT&T Park Tuesday night, they'll have a chance to do it again. Ryan Vogelsong showed up in yet another crucial October start and did exactly what he had to do and that was throw up some early zeroes. In fact, he was so sharp tonight it took Washington a few innings to hit him. Vogey kept to the script in what has been an extremely well-pitched October, not just on the Giants behalf, but on both the Nationals as well. The Giants put pressure on Washington in this one, and although they couldn't quite come up with that big multi-rbi hit, they were able to set themselves up to take advantage of Washington's mistakes. The Nationals would have had to play a perfect baseball game in the field Tuesday night in order to beat the Giants and they couldn't quite do it. There were a lot of Giant...

After a torrid start to the season, and a very sluggish middle of the summer, the Giants have really turned things up of late. They're the top team in the NL Wild Card race and moved to within a game of the NL West-leading Dodgers with Friday night's victory. With a soft schedule and an improving squad, they look primed for a strong finish. Last post, we talked about the steadiness of the offense, and how they've really done a complete 180 since the emergence of Joe Panik in that two hole and Andrew Susac as Posey's backup. Each rookie's success has given Bochy freedom with the lineup and in turn, this team in hitting and scoring runs like they were in May. Most importantly though is their best hitter has started to look like their best hitter again. Buster Posey was having a steady, yet unspectacular season up until the latter part of August, at which point he's really kicked it into another gear. He's hitting right around .450 with 7 homers and 22 RBI ov...

A little over a month ago, the Giants were in desperate search for a halfway decent second basemen as they seemingly failed with every guy they trotted out there in Marco Scutaro's absence. Then all the sudden they found themselves in the need of a catcher after concussion issues with multiple players opened a major void behind the plate and Buster Posey. Enter Joe Panik and Andrew Susac. The Giants top pick from the 2011 draft, Panik had a quiet start to his professional career before a solid season in AA Richmond last year and a torrid start at AAA Fresno this season. He's really been the story of the second half of the season and he just reached the 150 at-bat plateau making 2014 his official rookie year. It's not like his success has been a little 2-week lucky streak either, as he's shown he belongs. The 23 year-old second baseman has thrived in all aspects of the game since taking over the everyday job at second base August 4th. Since that date, he's hit .391...

With the way things are going, it's hard to imagine the Giants aren't more than five back in the West and still right near the top of the NL Wild Card race. Nevertheless, after they've failed to turnaround a miserable end to the first half, they're still very much alive in the playoff race and have plenty of baseball left. First of all, if they're going to get things back on track, they have to start taking advantage of the soft schedule they have coming up. They wound up splitting the mini two-game set with Chicago, but now is the chance to really get going. Their next 6 games are against the sinking Phillies and rebuilding Cubs, and if they cannot manage to muster up a winning record vs. those two, then maybe it'll be a tell of what's to come. To finish off the month, things are going to get harder as they have a trip to Washington on tap and then a showdown with the NL Central leading Brewers to close out August. Obviously, in order for them take adva...

The Major League Baseball trade deadline came and passed Thursday afternoon, and although there were a flurry of moves in what was one of the busiest deadline day's in recent years, the Giants were one of the clubs that stayed quiet. They did make the deal to bring in Jake Peavy just 5 days prior, so the sense of urgency to get something done wasn't there and apparently Brian Sabean didn't like any offers that were out there as he scoured for second basemen and outfield help. The Rays did end up dealing David Price, but there was no deal for Ben Zobrist, who was probably the most intriguing name linked to the Giants over the last week or so leading up to the deadline. The guy who I was monitoring as a plan B to Zobrist was Chicago's Emilio Bonafacio, but he was dealt to Atlanta for one of the Braves' lower level prospects instead. That being said, I'm not surprised at all the Giants ended up standing pat. I don't think they really loved any of the trade op...

With under a week to go until the non-waiver trade deadline, the Giants urgent needs have become apparent. On Saturday, they made a move to attempt to tackle one need, but they shouldn't be done quite yet. With Matt Cain's uncertain health status and off year to this point, another veteran starter that can be used in the rotation while Cain is on the mend was something Brian Sabean felt was a necessity. The one guy that was linked to them early and made some sense was Boston's Jake Peavy and on Saturday evening, the Giants went out and obtained him from the Red Sox for two of their more prominent minor league arms. He's no stranger to the NL West either and a move to the spacious AT&T Park  should probably work wonders for the 33 year-old. Just look how well it's worked out for Tim Hudson. Peavy certainly hopes it boosts his production, because his season to this point in Boston has been downright dreadful (1-9, 4.79 ERA). That's where there's some cau...

As a team limping into it, the all-star break couldn't have come quick enough for the Giants after their downward spiral that started in early June. Over the last several weeks, they've demoted their closer, lost their leadoff hitting center fielder and have gotten next to nothing offensively from the second base, shortstop, center field and left field positions over the last 4-6 weeks. That's 1/2 your lineup vastly underachieving so it's easy to see where the chunk of the Giants' downfall blame should lay. Hunter Pence has been about as steady as they come after a quiet week or two to start the year, and he earned himself a trip to Minnesota because of it. I'd say, that despite his major slump and lack of production since the team started losing, Michael Morse has been a plus. His surge early in the year helped the Giants build that record and lead in the NL West, so I'd say when all things are considered, you have to  be happy with what you got from Mors...