Game Preview: Giants vs. Diamondbacks

Diamondbacks:
Doug Davis (5-8, 4.16), taking the hill for the Diamondbacks tonight, has had a rocky month of June. He has had a couple of good starts mixed in amongst three poor starts, in which he gave up four or more runs over five or fewer innings. The Diamondbacks, however, have been doing relatively well lately and have the added motivation of being only half a game behind the Padres for the division lead entering the game.

Giants:
After a short three game winning streak, the Giants are again discovering novel ways to lose ball games. Even good pitching and decent hitting could not win the game for the Giants last night, as a single dropped ball by Dave Roberts led to an extra inning defeat. Noah Lowry (7-6, 3.61) has looked good in two of his last three starts, and is coming off of a win. He appears to be slowly putting his recent troubles behind him, and should give the Giants a good start tonight.

Predictions:
It is unlikely that Lowry's good pitching will be enough, as the Giants have almost no momentum and have rarely looked like a match for even an average big league ball club over the past month. The Diamondbacks will probably look distinctly average at bat and on the mound, but should come away with a win. Nothing short of a blowout against Davis will be enough to make up for the Giants' lack of momentum and poor ninth inning pitching.

Sabean Saturday: Rebuilding

Sabean Saturdays will be the Giants Baseball Report's first weekly section, and will run at least until the trade deadline next month. It will detail what the Giants' management should be doing, and compare that with the decisions that the management is making.

In order to reverse the direction that the team is heading, the team management first needs to admit that the team is bad. It's not fair to blame Sabean for not yet realizing this; he's acting like a GM who has never been in a selling position at the trade deadline. This is probably because, well, he's never been in that position, which speaks volumes about his talent as a GM. However, in July 2007, the Giants will be sellers. The Giants won't win the division, and certainly won't succeed in the post season because they just aren't as good as the other teams in the division, let alone the rest of baseball.

So, what should the Giants do? Sell, but be wise. Trades should focus on areas where young players could receive experience for the rest of the year in place of a veteran, and should bring young talent into the farm system. These trades would also open up more money next season, when the Giants will again be in the market for a star hitter. Here are a few of the options the Giants could trade:

Ray Durham:
While Durham is having a sub-par year, he will probably finish with decent numbers. Last year, he was one of the top hitting second basemen in the league, and as such, he would probably take a decent price on the trade market. In return, the Giants can expect some mid-level prospects. This will also give Kevin Frandsen an opportunity to prove whether or not he can play well everyday at the big league level.

Ryan Klesko:
Klesko has been one of the better hitters on the team, highlighted by yesterday's impressive splash hit. In only 171 at bats this year, Klesko already has about half of his 2005 RBI total; given that this comes on a team like the Giants, Klesko could probably produce well on a club looking for offense at first or third. In return, San Francisco would probably receive a few average prospects.

Noah Lowry:
Lowry is having another good year, and there are plenty of playoff contenders that need good starters, let alone good left-handed starters. Lowry would net a good price in the trade market, potentially sending some higher level hitting prospects to the Giants. If coordinated well, these prospects could immediately enter into daily starting roles in holes made by previous trades. While the Yankees are supposedly looking for bullpen help, Lowry has done at least as well as most of the New York starters, and could replace the struggling lefty Kei Igawa in the rotation. Furthermore, the Giants have lefty Jonathan Sanchez, who has repeatedly been named as someone that will be a starter in the future. And if he doesn't work out, the Giants have a safety net in Russ Ortiz.

Randy Winn:
With outfield talent like Schierholtz, Ortmeier and Lewis, the Giants should have at least one young outfielder starting every night to give them big league experience. Randy Winn is having a good year with the bat, features some speed, and can play well at any outfield position. In addition to giving valuable experience to the young San Francisco outfielders, this trade could bring several more mid-level prospects into the organization.

Vinnie Chulk:
With top teams like the Yankees looking for bullpen support in exchange for prospects, the Giants will certainly be listening. The Giants have almost no hope of making the playoffs this year, but sport plenty of set-up type pitchers (Correia, Hennessey and Chulk). As Sabean has been burned on more than a few trades involving young pitchers (imagine the Giants with one pitcher out of Francisco Liriano, Joe Nathan and Scott Linebrink), Chulk seems the most likely candidate in the bullpen to be traded. He, too, could bring at least one mid-level prospect into the organization at little longterm cost to the Giants.

Game Preview: Giants vs. Padres

Padres:
The Padres' pitching staff leads the majors in ERA by a large margin. However, they have featured a much higher 4.33 ERA over the last week, leading to a 2-4 record on their home stand and two series losses. The San Diego starter for game one is Justin Germano (5-1, 2.63), a young starter who has been finding success so far this season.

Giants:
The Giants begin the first game of this series 11 games out of first place and 10 games behind San Diego. This series is a key moment in the season. If there is any hope at all left for the Giants, they absolutely need to win this series. Taking the reigns for the Giants is Tim Lincecum (2-2, 5.88), who has struggled mightily over the last month. After making a sensation upon arriving in the majors, Lincecum needs to make some adjustments. However, his velocity and stuff have been incredibly consistent with all three of his pitches. Once he regains confidence and control, there will be no stopping him.

Predictions:
No pressure, but this game appears that it will be won or lost by Tim Lincecum. If Lincecum continues his struggles, the Giants have little hope of winning. Their struggling offense has yet to prove that it can consistently score runs, and the Padres bullpen can preserve a lead as well as any group in baseball. However, if Lincecum pitches well, the Giants have the upper hand in this game, as they are coming off of two important wins against the Yankees and playing a team that lost behind Jake Peavy yesterday.

The Decline of the Giants: Old Hitting, Young Pitching

This post is the third and final part of a series detailing the Giants' decline, starting in 2004.

As the Giants' first losing season in almost a decade was largely attributed to injuries, Brian Sabean made only one major acquisition before 2006. Sabean believed that, with Bonds, Schmidt, Alou and Benitez healthy, the Giants would be a competitive team. However, Bonds was no longer in MVP form, and both he and Alou missed time to rest and injuries throughout the season. With their best two hitters missing significant portions of the season, the Giants could not produce offensively. Furthermore, the bullpen continued to struggle, blowing 22 saves over the course of the 2006 season.

The single major addition to the team, starter Matt Morris, did not help either. He silently suffered through an injury for much of the season, posting a 10-15 record, with an ERA of 4.98. With Morris a flop in 2006 and a combined 48 home runs between Bonds and Alou, the Giants starting pitching and offense could not make up for the lack of a bullpen. Thus, 2006 became the Giants' second losing season in as many years.

By the end of the 2006 season, the Giants were in a very deep hole. As a twice-losing team, the Giants found it difficult to obtain what they needed before the 2007 season: star hitter. Even Carlos Lee, who was offered more money by the Giants, decided to sign with Houston instead. Rather than signing a star hitter, Sabean signed the only star willing to come to San Francisco: Barry Zito, who came along with the most expensive pitching contract in baseball history. He also opted to resign Bonds and Durham, and added Molina and Roberts. Not surprisingly, this combination of veteran hitters and an unimproved bullpen is showing the same results as the similar 2004-2006 teams.

The major difference with the 2007 Giants team is the young pitching. Barry Zito, Tim Lincecum, Noah Lowry and Matt Cain are great starters who will likely be with San Francisco for years to come. In addition, the Giants have promising young relievers such as Brad Hennessey and Kevin Correia. The three first round draft picks taken by the Giants in the 2007 draft round out the picture of hope. With a good, young pitching staff and a replenished farm system, the Giants are only a few hitters away from once again being a winning club.

Giants Win Second in a Row

The Giants beat the Yankees for the second day in a row. The final score was 7-2, although the game looked much closer until the late innings. Noah Lowry finally got back on track after weeks of poor starts, giving up a single earned run over 5.2 innings. Although he walked five hitters, he only gave up two hits. In a key moment in the ninth inning, Lowry retired Alex Rodriguez in a bases-loaded spot, giving up only one run and preserving the Giants' lead.

Sloppy Yankee defense in the eight inning extended the Giants' lead to 7-1, allowing the Giants' to bring in Jack Taschner in the ninth, rather than closer Brad Hennessey. The game also featured a sight unseen since 1984: Roger Clemens made only his second major league relief appearance, giving up a hit, a walk, and an earned run over a single inning. His only other relief appearance came in 1984 against the A's.

R.I.P. Rod Beck

Former Giants reliever Rod Beck died alone in his Arizona home on Saturday. Beck was only 38, and the cause of death is unknown at this time, but police do not suspect foul play. Rod Beck is 22nd on the all time saves list, at 286. He began his career in San Francisco, where he played from 1991 to 1997. He was the team's closer all of those years except his rookie season and the end of the 1997 season. During his time with the Giants, Beck saved 199 games with a 3.05 ERA. Rod Beck will undoubtedly be sorely missed by players and fans alike.

R.I.P. Rod Beck

Giants vs. Yankees Preview

The Giants face a struggling Yankees team at 1:05 PT tomorrow afternoon. Mike Mussina (3-4, 5.10) takes the mound for the Yankees. Despite his poor record and high ERA, Mussina has been pitching well in his last few starts. The Giants' starter, Noah Lowry (6-6, 3.74), has struggled over the last month. In his last five starts, he has given up fewer than four runs only once. Meanwhile, the Giants' offense has been in a slump recently, and it is not clear whether Bonds will be playing.

Predictions:
The New York lineup features much more run-scoring potential than the San Francisco lineup. Also, Mike Mussina has been pitching adequately in the last month, while Noah Lowry has been wracking up losses. Unless Lowry's struggles end abruptly tomorrow afternoon, this Giants' win streak will come to an end at one.

The Decline of the Giants: Injuries and Veterans

This post is the second part of a series detailing the Giants' decline, starting in 2004.

With the Giants facing considerable criticism for the rather disastrous 2004 campaign, Brian Sabean made many moves during the off season to attempt to return the Giants to their 2003 form. However, the Giants were weak in so many areas by this time, and paying so much money to stars Jason Schmidt and Barry Bonds, that the club did not have enough money to hire stars. Instead, Sabean went with a trusted formula: fill the struggling positions with veterans who are cheaper, but still able to produce. He signed shortstop Omar Vizquel, outfielder Moises Alou, closer Armando Benitez, and catcher Mike Matheny. Vizquel and Alou were stars who were past their prime, but were still upgrades from previous years, while Matheny brought better defense to replace the unpopular Pierzynski.

The idea of hiring veterans to replace previously weak positions is certainly not a bad one. However, the aging players that were signed in 2005 only added to an already old team, with JT Snow playing first base, Barry Bonds in the outfield, Ray Durham at second base, and Marquis Grissom in center field. This combination of adding older players to an already aging team led to a season in which all of the Giants' best players spent time injured. Armando Benitez and Barry Bonds were both out before the first month was over, and would not return until very late in the season. Ray Durham, Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom and Jason Schmidt would all miss time due to injuries throughout the season. Without a closer once again, and with three top hitters missing significant time, the Giants simply could not win.

A team built to win the division instead became the first losing team ever fielded by Brian Sabean, and set a dangerous precedent of signing veteran players.

Giants 6, Yankees 5 in 13 Inning Contest

After losing eight straight games, the Giants finally won on Saturday afternoon. Pedro Feliz hit a solo homer to start a seventh inning rally that gave the Giants the lead. However, Alex Rodriguez tied the game with a solo shot off of closer Brad Hennessey. The game then remained tied at 5-5 until Nate Schierholtz hit a bloop single into center, scoring Ryan Klesko from third in the thirteenth inning. Despite the final score, both teams struggled offensively during the game. The Yankees stranded runners throughout the game, while 10 consecutive Giants batters were retired by the Yankee bullpen. Here is a link to Yahoo's boxscore.

The Decline of the Giants: 2004

There isn't a more fitting way to start the Giants Report than to explain how it is that the Giants got to where they are today. The Giants have more wins than any other North American sports franchise, and General Manager Brian Sabean has led the Giants to eight winning seasons out of his first ten. So, how is it that the Giants are hopelessly out of first place?

When Brian Sabean took over the team in 1997, it had been a losing club for 6 of the previous 7 years. In short, the Giants were horrible. Brian Sabean immediately built a winning ball club around young star Barry Bonds, and enjoyed quick success; the Giants won their first NL West division title of the decade in his first year as GM. The Giants did not suffer a losing season under Sabean's watch until 2005, but their decline actually started with the 2004 season.

The 2004 season was the first season in which the Giants did not have an adequate closer. With the loss of Robb Nen in the 2002 World Series, Tim Worrell filled in rather well for the 2003 season. Unfortunately, the Giants did not believe that Worrell was worth his high free agency price tag, and he was let go. With these moves, the best bullpen option appeared to be Joe Nathan. However, Brian Sabean did not feel that Nathan could handle closing, and proceeded to make one of the worst trades in recent history. Sabean traded Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano to the Twins for A.J. Pierzynski. Nathan immediately became a top tier closer, leaving the Giants to try various relievers as closers, all without success.

This moment in recent history is important for two reasons. First, the loss of Robb Nen, Tim Worrell, and Joe Nathan left the Giants with no viable ninth inning options. Without the three would-be closers, the bullpen blew 28 saves in 2004, compared to only 17 each of the previous two seasons. The Giants only lost the division by 2 games, and the wildcard by 1 game; with a closer, the Giants would have gone to the playoffs for the third straight season. As well as keeping San Francisco out of the playoffs, the trade deprived San Francisco of much needed young talent. With the loss of star Liriano and the starter Boof Bonser, the Giants lost an important opportunity. Liriano and Bonser could have been traded for young hitters, something which the Giants need badly, or the Giants could have had cheap, young, and good pitching for years to come. This, however, was just the beginning of the bad things to come for San Francisco fans.

Welcome to Giants Report

Hello everyone,
Welcome to Giants Report, found here at giantsreport.blogspot.com! Giants Report will update you with news and rumors about the San Francisco Giants, as well as offer analysis about the way things are going. I hope this will be a long and enjoyable ride for everyone involved!
-GR