Giants Hot Stove

With all that has been going on of late, I have been lacking the time to catch up on the San Francisco Giants actions at the Winter Meetings.
I still have plenty from the inbox and still other things that I wish to write about soon, but before I fell too far behind, I wanted to finish this.

The San Francisco Giants biggest loss occurred after the Winter Meetings when Madison Bumgarner signed with fellow NL West member Arizona.
Bumgarner signed a five-year contract in Arizona worth 85 million choosing it over a four-year agreement to stay with the Giants that was competitive in dollars, but lacked the extra year that the Diamondbacks were willing to offer.

The Giants signed two pitchers to one-year contracts in an attempt to strike gold with pitchers that have disappointed in their chances in the majors.

Soon to be 30 year old Tyler Anderson started five games for the Rockies last season and didn't pitch well in his twenty innings as he finished with a record of 0-3 and an ERA of 11.76.
Anderson did strike out 23 in those innings if you are looking for a silver lining, but there isn't a lot of silver in those numbers.
After those five starts, Anderson was demoted to AAA Albuquerque, but his season was over, due to continuing knee problems.
Anderson was taken by Colorado 20th overall in the first round of the 2011 draft and Anderson has a career record of 18-24 with an ERA of 4.69.
Anderson will receive 1.75 million in base salary with a chance to take home another 850,000 dollars in bonuses.

Kevin Gausman will turn 29 before the season starts and the former 2012 first-rounder by Baltimore is the more interesting pitcher of the two signees.
Gausman split last season between Atlanta and Cincinnati, combining for a record of 3-9 between the two teams with an ERA of 5.72.
Gausman made 17 starts with all but one for the Braves, but also made 14 relief appearances for the Reds after he was claimed from the waiver wire.
Gausman was a disappointment for Baltimore, who took him fourth overall in 2012 from LSU, but still won 11 games in 2017 for the Orioles and combined for another ten wins between Baltimore and Atlanta in 2018.
Gausman's career numbers are 47-63 with an ERA of 4.30 and still throws in the mid-90s and if you are looking for the type of candidate for revitalization in a pitchers ballpark such as Oracle Park, Kevin Gausman could have the type of arm that might be a good fit.
Gausman is far more expensive than Anderson at nine million with a few performance bonuses, but Gausman is durable and doesn't miss starts, so I'm more comfortable at the cost for the former LSU Tiger.

There aren't many deals that are made to save "cap space" in baseball, since there isn't a true cap, just a "luxury tax", but give the Giants credit for making a trade that gained them a solid prospect for taking on salary.
The Anaheim Angels needed to save some cash for their signing of third baseman Anthony Rendon from the Nationals and considering that Rendon would be replacing Zack Cosart as the regular third baseman and Cozart was going to be making 12.6 million to sit behind Rendon, it only made sense for the Angels to try to find a place for Cozart.
The Giants became that place as they took Cozart and that 12.6 million commitment for 2020 in a trade to help the Angels out a bit.

It was not out of the goodness of their heart though as the Angels added their 2019 first-round pick in shortstop Will Wilson to the deal.
Wilson was the 15th overall pick from N.C. State, where Wilson hit .339 and 15 homers along with being named the ACC defender of the year.
Wilson was paid a signing bonus of 3.5 million by the Angels, so the Giants essentially added a first-round player for paying the final season of Cozart's overpaid contract.
The righthanded hitting Wilson hit  .275 with five homers in 46 games for Orem of the Pioneer League and considering his college experience, my guess is that he'll be assigned to High A San Jose, although he could go to Low A Augusta to start the 2020 season.


As for Zack Cozart, the Angels signed him to a three year, thirty-eight million dollar contract after the 2017 season.
Cozart had his best season in 2017 for the Cincinnati Reds, hitting .297 with 24 homers, but in two seasons in Anaheim Cozart hit only .190 with five homers in 96 games and last season Cozart played only 38 games without hitting a homer with a tiny average of  .124.
Cozart injured his left shoulder in 2018 and reaggravated it in 2019, undergoing surgery on the shoulder in both years.
At 34 and with injury problems, the Giants likely will either use him as a backup or could also decide that Wilson is more than enough of a return and release Cozart.

The Giants sent right-handed pitcher Garrett Williams to the Angels as the "return".
The 25-year-old Williams appeared in 29 games with 20 starts for AA Richmond last year finishing with a 7-8 record and an ERA of  3.60 in his second season with the Flying Squirrels.

Moving to the Giants in the Rule 5 Draft, the Giants took one player in the major league portion and another in the AAA portion.

In the major draft, San Francisco tabbed righthander Dany Jimenez from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Jimenez is a 26-year-old righthander that split last season between the Blue Jays High A affiliate at Dunedin and then was promoted to AA New Hampshire.
Jimenez blossomed after the promotion with tremendous numbers of  2-2 with a 1.87 ERA with six saves and striking out 46 in 33 innings.
Jimenez sits in the mid to high 90's and has an excellent slider, but there are concerns about his command.
The selection of Jimenez is the second rule five pitcher in two years that San Francisco took from Toronto after picking Travis Bergen from the Blue Jays last year.
Bergen appeared in 21 games for the Giants before they offered him back to Toronto for $50,000, which the Blue Jays paid for his return.
Jimenez will have to stay on the Giants roster all season or the Blue Jays will have the chance to return him to Toronto for that fifty thousand dollar sum.


In the AAA half, the Giants picked catcher Bryan Torres from the Brewers organization.
The 22-year-old backstop hit .283 last season for the Rocky Mountain Vibes of the Pioneer League without a homer in 67 games.
The Caguas, Puerto Rico product stole a surprising twenty-one bases for the Vibes, which is a huge number for a catcher period, let alone in 67 games.
Could the Giants be considering a position change for Torres?
It's not often that a catcher has this type of speed and staying behind the plate is a good way to lose some of that speed fairly quickly.
I would imagine that Torres would be assigned to Low A Augusta, but should the Giants decide to change his position, Torres could be left behind in extended spring training to start the 2020 season.

Still so much more to catch up on, so stay tuned and enjoy the Holiday festivities,

Cleaning out the inbox- Sports version

It's been a busy time here at TRS when I'm able to post that is and the result is an inbox that's straining to keep itself in order with items from sports, non-sports, and passings.

We'll start with a Terry Pluto note on an upcoming appearance in Cleveland for Rocky Colavito.
The 85-year-old "Rock" will appear Thursday with a few former teammates at an All-Star fan week event as well as promote an upcoming book about the former Indian slugger.
Colavito, who I place firmly in the "Hall of Very Good" hit 374 homers in his fourteen-year career with 190 of them in his eight years and two stints with the Indians has been struggling with health issues in recent years that cost him his right leg (below the knee) from circulatory issues and diabetes in 2015.

The Athletics Tom Reed writes a tremendous article on former Browns tight end Gary Barnidge and Barnidge's life after football, which is a template for players today on how to prepare for their post-career.
Barnidge, who put up the best two seasons of his NFL career with the Browns, was then released in 2016 and would never play again in the league, will turn 34 before this season and could very easily still be playing football.
The article looks at Barnidge's various interests including studying the Bible and Koran as an agnostic, living in a home twenty minutes from almost anything in any direction and his friendship with wrestling legend Jerry "the King" Lawler among several interesting items on the former Cleveland tight end.

ESPN is working on a recurring series during the college basketball season titled "Chasing Ghosts" that looks at programs that possess plenty of tradition, yet for various reasons have struggled and slid from once-exalted status.
The edition that caught my eye was the N.C. State version ( I also had interest in the UNLV article as a fan of the Runnin' Rebels of the Jerry Tarkanian years) that looks at the peak of the program, coaches that contributed to the decline and the chances of the program returning to prominence.
I have written before of my fondness for the Wolfpack, who ranked behind only Maryland in my college basketball fandom under the late Jim Valvano and even today (since the sad defection of the Terrapins to the Big 10) battles with Wake Forest as my favorite school in the ACC and I do not completely agree with the article where they don't believe the Pack can ever return to past status.
Where there is a commitment to winning, there are possibilities of glory, it simply comes down to making the correct hire for your program and as the article notes, N.C.State hasn't been able to land that coach since Valvano's departure.

The Athletic makes the inbox again with an article on just what the San Francisco Giants would be losing when the likely trade of Madison Bumgarner at the trade deadline goes through.
Bumgarner's the type of old school pitcher that guys like me love and would have fit right in with the past eras of baseball.
He's grouchy, cantankerous and everything that modern baseball is not, which is exactly why the Giants and their fans will miss him so much.

Deadspin discusses a new pro wrestling promotion that has jumped the first hurdle that infant wrestling promotions have placed in the path to success- gaining a major television outlet.
The new All-Elite promotion that is funded by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan has agreed to a deal that begins in the fall with TNT.
Wrestling was a major portion of the success of the "Turner" networks from the early days with Georgia Championship Wrestling to their time with Jim Crockett Promotions and then World Championship Wrestling after the network bought the promotion from the Crockett family before selling the library and assets to the WWE and folding everything else.
This is an excellent article that covers the history of Ted Turner and his network's involvement with pro wrestling and even offers a piece of information that I never knew.
In 1970, Turner's then WTCG did not televise the local Georgia promotion which was on another network but wanted to televise wrestling.
What program did WTCG broadcast for a year before GCW moved over to them?
Capitol Wrestling- the WWF show promoted by Vincent McMahon Sr.
The WWF didn't run shows there, but this shows how long the Turner networks and their current descendants not owner by Turner have owned a relationship with wrestling.

We wrap up with the oldest item in the inbox from May as SI.com takes a deep look over two articles (found here and here) at the short life of the Alliance of American Football.
As some of you remember we covered the leagues and (mainly) the Arizona Hotshots and the league not surviving was a disappointment to me.
However, when you read these articles (and two podcasts that I'll mention soon in a podcast post), it is easy to see how the mistakes of the league sealed its doom.

I'll be around later with another inbox version with either recent passings of note or cleaning the non-sports version of the inbox.

Giants bullpen ruins Bumgarner's bombs

I had planned on working on team previews for the Indians,Giants and Pirates,but a very early night at work and a family development (illness/hospital) made time short,so instead I'll be doing game coverage of the Giants opener,since they opened today and I'll be doing my best to some coverage of the Indians and/or Pirates openers tomorrow.
I'm hoping to get those previews finished later this week,but if not,I may do a post with just my best guesses as far as predictions.

Madison Bumgarner didn't allow a hit for five and a third innings and slugged two home runs and looked to be on his way to a spectacular opening day.
Instead the bugaboo from last year bit the San Francisco Giants from the bullpen and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied for a 6-5 win over the Giants in the ninth.
Mark Melancon allowed three hits in a row after retiring the first two batters in the ninth to pick up the loss (0-1) in his initial outing as the Giants closer.
The Giants get tomorrow off before returning Tuesday with Johnny Cueto against Arizona's Patrick Corbin.

Giant Steps

1) Madison Bumgarner was dominant.
His fastball sat in the middle 90's (I'm sure the off-season helped with that a bit) and his breaking stuff was sharp.
Striking out eleven without walking a batter says more than I can write.
The easy thing to say that this sets up another strong season and it is just one start,but in this case-I'll bet on it..

2) Bumgarner was taken out in the 7th after 88 pitches and later in the season,Bruce Bochy might have left him go a bit longer.
I understand the reasoning and it didn't cost the game,but it is interesting from an old school boss like Bochy.

3) Bumgarner's two homer related numbers;
Now all time home run hitter among Giant pitchers with 16
1st pitcher to ever hit two homers on opening day.
4th Giant ever to hit two homers on opening day-joining Matt Williams,Willie Mays and Barry Bonds.
The two homers were the two hardest hit homers off bat (112 MPH) by a pitcher in the Statcast era.
The two previous hardest? Both by Madison Bumgarner.

4) Derek Law surrenders the lead in the 8th without obtaining an out.
The Giants are to have to get more out of a setup crew than that,if the horrors from the pen from 2016 are going to be avoided.

5) It was encouraging with runners on in the eighth and after Law left that Ty Blach and Hunter Strickland were able to get the three outs without further damage.
Try to not be too down or too low-it still is just one game.

6) I'll try not to worry too much about Mark Melancon either.
The Giants newest (and highly paid) closer didn't allow a run in spring training and all relievers have bad days,but relievers never fail to worry me-their effectiveness (for the vast majority) can vary wildly from year to year.

Bumgarner shutout gives Giants Wild Card win

The best big game pitcher of this era continued to dominate when the chips are down and when an unlikely hero (Conor Gillaspie?) crushed a ball into the seats in the ninth inning to give the San Francisco Giants a 3-0 win over the New York Mets in the wild card game in Flushing Meadow...

The Giants will travel to Chicago for game one of the NLDS Friday night..
Between the Giants advancing and the Indians in the American League,I'm looking forward to having some game coverage from baseball for a change!

Giant Steps

1) I posted this on Twitter,but I think it's worth repeating-there are quite a few pitchers that can be tossed into any debate for best pitcher in the game,but when your season is on the line-there is no pitcher better than Madison Bumgarner.

2) Another shutout in a big game and the Mets really didn't seriously threaten to score other than an leadoff double for the Mets in the bottom of the fifth by T.J.Rivera.
Rivera would be erased breaking to third on a grounder to Brandon Crawford and the Mets were never able to get a runner to third-let alone score..

3) Denard Span was thrown out stealing in the fourth inning on a throw that resulted in a high tag that I thought replays showed Span reached the bag before being touched.
If replay isn't going to correct things that were called wrong-I'll live with the old days of human error.

4) The Giants have had a history of late of unusual heroes in postseason play-Cody Ross,Marco Scutaro,Travis Ishikawa and now Conor Gillespie.
The original Giant farmhand had left the team in 2015 to the White Sox,but returned (Like Ishikawa) to play a utility role.
The Giants have used several players at third base this season,considering that and that Gillespie only once has hit double digits in homers,Conor Gillespie might have been pretty low on the non-Bumgarner list of potential heroes entering this game...

5) Quite impressed with the Mets young starter Noah Syndergaard in this one.
Syndergaard allowed two hits in seven innings,but walked three and showed a lack of command when pitching from the stretch,
After seven innings and 108 pitches later,the Mets pulled him,which leads to....

6) Pitch counts.I know I've occasionally made some scoffs at the number before,but if there is ever a time to let the horse run,wouldn't the playoffs be the time?
Syndergaard didn't seem to be struggling or tiring and yet Terry Collins stopped him at seven innings and 108 pitches.
One team believed in the numbers,the other in the player....

7) I still hate the wild card one game format.
This is the second time that the Giants won this game and there is little doubt that these games can be quite thrilling as both this one and the Baltimore-Toronto AL version was.
However,it still doesn't make them "fair",so lets offer a way to make it that way and do it that it still benefits you to win your division and avoid this altogether.
What about a best of three with the 4th seed having the option to host game one or games two and three?
Oh,time becomes an option,you say-with the playoffs already running into November.
Instead of skipping Monday,both leagues game ones are on that Monday,added wear and tear from travel.
Want to really add more,you could have game two the next day (more wear and tear) or (this will never fly) the possibility of a doubleheader on Wednesday (if needed) to decide the series.
Imagine the strategy and the wild card team would enter the postseason weakened as they should-winning your division would finally give you a tangible advantage....

8) Finally,as Robert Kennedy once uttered "it's on to Chicago and let's win there".
The Cubs with the best record in the league,but keep in mind the Giants had the best record in the league for the first half and might be one of the rare teams with Bumgarner,Cueto and Samardjza that can compete with the Cubs Jake Arrieta,Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks in the starting rotation.
The Cubs are the better hitting team and deserve to be the favorite in this one,but don't count the Giants out.

No Doubt Who's the Best-Bumgarner finishes Kansas City! Giants World Champions!

The San Francisco Giants did enough against Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie to overcome the Royals bullpen and Madison Bumgarner entered the game with most expecting him to give two or three innings of work coming off a complete game just two days ago.
Instead, they got five innings of shutout pitching to earn a save and the result gave the Giants a 3-2 win and the World Championship in the game seven win...
Jeremy Affeldt was the winning pitcher after entering the game in relief of Tim Hudson in the second and pitching two and a third innings and keeping the Royals off the scoreboard.
The Giants started the second inning with consecutive singles by Pablo Sandoval, Hunter Pence, and Brandon Belt before scoring two runs on sacrifice flies by Michael Morse and Brandon Crawford.
Kansas City would even the game in the bottom of the inning off of Tim Hudson, who was sent from the game with two out with Alex Gordon bringing home one run on a double and Omar Infante scoring Gordon on a sac fly to tie the game up.
San Francisco would score the series-winning run in the fourth inning as Michael Morse singled home Pablo Sandoval for the deciding run against Kelvin Herrera and tagging starter Jeremy Guthrie with the loss...

Giant Steps

1) What more can be said about Madison Bumgarner?
Five shutout innings and only two hits on two days rest.
The first pitcher in World Series history to record a five-inning save.
That is called being a gamer and the Giants are going to have this throwback pitcher for a long time to come.
Madison Bumgarner might be the most deserving MVP of a World Series in a long time...

2) Key play of the game?
Joe Panik's diving stop of Eric Hosmer's seemingly up the middle base hit, flipping the ball to Brandon Crawford with his glove to force the mercurial Lorenzo Cain and then Crawford getting Hosmer at first (after a replay appeal) to end a Royals threat in the third.
Panik's callup from Fresno was the addition to the Giants lineup that they needed to solidify after running through everyone from soup to nuts all season before Panik...

3) Hosmer might have been safe had he ran through the bag instead of trying to slide into first.
Didn't he learn anything in Little League?
Where have you gone, Jason Hamby???

4) Key play number two-Pablo Sandoval tagging up to move to third on a Brandon Belt flyball to left.
That allowed Sandoval to trot home on Michael Morse's single instead of trying to score from second for the run that won the series.
You don't expect slow runners to tag at second on a flyball to left, but hustle won this day,,,

5) Give plenty of credit to Jeremy Affeldt for getting the Giants to Madison Bumgarner.
Affeldt closed the door on Tim Hudson's mess in the second with no further damage and added two more innings.
Don't forget to give Affeldt his due for pitching more than he is used to and doing so effectively in the clutch...

6) The scary play was the Alex Gordon hit in the ninth.
Juan Perez and Gregor Blanco were playing back in the "No Doubles" position, but Blanco forgot to keep the ball in front of him and the ball rolled to the wall. Perez then kicked it and I thought there was a chance that Gordon would try to score.
The play would have certainly have been close and what a play to possibly end a series on!

7) In most other World Series, the MVP would have been Pablo Sandoval, who had three hits in game seven, hit well, and played strong defense.
Sandoval is now a free agent and either the Giants or someone else is going to have to pony up at the bargaining table to bring home the panda

8) Bruce Bochy might have punched his ticket to Cooperstown as a manager. Three world titles and the tenth to do that feat.
All of the other nine are in the Hall of Fame...

9) You can make the argument that this one has an asterisk because of the wild card and I might agree, but you play by the rules of the game at the time they are played.
Bochy frustrates me at times, but he's in when he's ready to quit...

10) People have been critical of Ned Yost's tactics all through the post-season and the SABR crowd kills him and I think it's deserved, but you cannot deny his class as he was extremely gracious and kind after such a tough loss.
I might not want Ned Yost as my manager but as the face of my organization? Anytime...

11) Very happy for former Hagerstown Suns on the team, but especially Michael Morse, who was a Sun for two games a few years back.
Morse didn't big league anyone on his Hagerstown rehab stint, spent time with the fans inside and outside the stadium and I'm very happy for him...

12) Now Bud Selig is officially gone and I'd like to thank him in Battlin' Bob style.
Thanks for screwing up everything that you touched!

13) I'll take the championship, but I still hate the wild card.
I know the Giants are nowhere to be found without it and I'm happy about the title, but the wild card still feels wrong to me...

14) Give some credit to Bruce Bochy for playing Juan Perez in left for Travis Ishikawa,
The Giants lost some hitting, but Perez's long-running catch in Madison Bumgarner's first-inning saved a run and changed the complexion of the game.
I doubt Ishikawa makes that catch in the massive Royals outfield and that might have saved the game.

15) Finally, I'm happy.
I'm happy because I've become invested in this franchise over the last ten years and I feel even more a part of it than in 2012 and especially 2010.
That said, a Giants title is joyful, but I don't know if I could keep it together if the Indians ever won one.
I like the National League game better and watch more Giants games, but the Indians still rank as number one in my heart even though dull rosters, boring uniforms, and prepping to kill off Chief Wahoo.
Maybe someday.....

Back later with the Cavaliers season preview...

Bumgarner is Giant in Wild Card win

Madison Bumgarner just needed his offense to score one run.Brandon Crawford took care of that and more with one swing  and Bumgarner took care of the rest with a four hit shutout as the San Francisco Giants silenced a loud crowd at PNC Park with a 8-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Crawford's fourth inning grand slam off Edinson Volquez  ripped a scoreless game wide open and there was no looking back after that.

The Giants would continue to add to the lead in the sixth,seventh and eighth innings as they would plate four more runs in the rout.
The Giants move onto Washington Friday for a NLDS showdown with the Washington Nationals.

Wild Card Wonderings

1) I wrote yesterday that if the Giants and Pirates played a five game series,I'd pick the Buccos,but in a one game matchup,I liked the Giants due to Madison Bumgarner and he was dynamite.
10 strikeouts and the wideout slider baffled the Bucs all evening.
Madison Bumgarner may not be the best pitcher in the game or even his own division (Clayton Kershaw unfortunately resides there),but at 25 years of age,I might pick him to pitch a big game over anyone else...

2) I have never heard a crowd that loud go quiet that fast in all my years of watching sports.
When Brandon Crawford's homer disappeared over the right field wall,the crowd sounded like someone had muted the entire stadium.
A very unusual sound or lack thereof.

3) In all the years of postseason baseball,Brandon Crawford's grand slam was the first ever hit by a shortstop.
I would have never guessed that fact...

4) Pablo Sandoval showed his surprising athletic ability at 245 pounds with his catch of a Russell Martin popup that saw him tumble over the rail and into the Pirate dugout.
Sandoval then landed on his feet as he turned himself in mid air.
Quite a feat for a big man!

5) I did have concern in left field as former Hagerstown Sun Travis Ishikawa started in left for the Giants.
Ishikawa had played 29 innings in his career in left field and PNC Park is noted for its tough left field on defensive outfielders.
There weren't any difficult plays for Ishikawa to make,so the Bruce Bochy gamble paid off.

6) I planned on a mixed post,but the Pirates just didn't offer much to write in a shutout that saw them never even truly threaten to score.

7) Wrapping up,the Giants travel to Washington and the waiting Nationals.
Washington won five of the seven games between them this season and will only have to face Bumgarner once.
My prediction? Nationals in four.
But-Go Giants.