Picture of the Week: 1-1-12



UPDATED







Aaron Rowand even said that he's probably the only baseball player to ever break his face twice.

I was also reading an article on Bleacher Report (MLB Power Rankings: 23 Quirkiest Batting Stances in Baseball). Rowand's stance was ranked number two, for obvious reasons. The reporter had this to say about his stance:

"Every time I see Rowand come to the plate, I find myself checking to see if he brought the newspaper and some toilet paper along with him.
He definitely appears to be unloading something—and it sure as heck isn't the baseball."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

New Year's Resolutions

The holidays are over and it's time for the Giants to get down to business. They still have a bit more work to do before they all head out to Arizona in a month and a half. However, just because Christmas and New Year's Day have come and gone doesn't mean it's too late for them to make some resolutions!

Brian Sabean, Larry Baer, and Bobby Evan's Resolutions for 2012

1. Get Cain locked up before he goes to Arizona

Cain is the unheralded ace of the Giants' staff and it would be disastrous if he were ever allowed to reach free agency. He would be a number one starter almost anywhere else and teams can lure him in with promises of big bucks and big bats. The Giants cannot let that happen. When Albert Pujols went to the Angels, we all saw what happens if you don't lock up your stars.

2. Do Not Panic About Linceum

At some point, the Giants are going to need to lock up Lincecum, as well. They have time to do this, though, as Lincecum does not reach free agency until after the 2013 season. People are starting to panic because there are reports that Lincecum contract talks aren't getting anywhere right now. They say that the Giants don't have the money Lincecum wants and aren't willing to give the years that Lincecum wants. Some reporters are even saying that trading Lincecum now, while he's at top value, is the way to go. Everybody just needs to stop and take a DEEEEEEEEEP breath. The money will be there by the time Linceum reaches free agency. Rowand comes off after 2012 and Zito can be bought out after 2013. Trading is a bad, bad idea, too. I can just see Brian Sabean's mouth watering at the thought of how many AARP-eligible players he can get for Lincecum. The contract will come eventually and people should be encouraged that talks are already starting.

3. Do Not Stomp on Poor Brandon Belt's Morale Anymore!

Poor Brandon Belt. After the 2011 season, he could probably make the drive from Fresno to San Francisco with his eyes closed. He was sent up and down and up and down and up and down some more. He must have been confused as heck, too. He got sent down on his birthday and was told that he'd have a spot next time he came up. So when Buster gets hurt, he comes back up. Then he gets hurt, so they send him down to Fresno for a rehab assignment and just decide to keep him there. When they finally bring him back up again, he plays in a game against the Dodgers and hits a monster home run over the right field wall (not easy to do in AT&T).  Later, with the game on the line, he hits the game-winning, go-ahead double and knocks in two runs. So, naturally, the next day he started. WRONG! He got to sit on the bench for the next few weeks, relieved Aubrey Huff for two days at the end of July, sat the bench some more, and then was sent back down to Fresno. What a nice reward. He was finally called back up just before roster expansion and did a nice job. He had a very impressive two-homer game against the Marlins which showed that he has promising power. The only way he'll become consistent, though, is if he's allowed to stay in the lineup. Permanently.

4. Do Not Sign/Trade for Any 35+ Year-Old Dinosaurs

Just don't do it. It's that easy.

Gary Brown: What He Could Bring to the Giants

Gary Brown was the Giants' first round pick in the 2010 Amateur Player Draft, coming out of Cal State Fullerton. He's a very good defensive center fielder, and hits for average as well. He was named Class A Advanced Best Hitter in 2011, hitting .336 with an OPB of .407. His speed is what seperates him from the other prospects, though. He stole 53 bases and had 13 triples. He also has a knack for stretching singles into doubles. He projects to be the Giants' leadoff hitter and the future, and will help them tremendously with his hitting ability and speed, which the Giants currently lack.

He was selected to participate in the 2011 Futures Game, and was the starting center fielder. He hit ninth in the order and got a base hit, a stolen base, and scored a run.

Here is the link to Gary Brown's pregame interview with Mychael Urban and Oakland prospect (as well as one of Gary's friends) Grant Green.

Along with his talent, Gary Brown will add to the clubhouse chemistry. He has tons of energy and loves to have fun with what he's doing. While having fun, though, he takes his work seriously. He comes from a humble background and appreciates every opportunity he gets, knowing that he's fortunate to be in the situation that he's in. During the All-Star break, he was interviewed by MLB and he also filmed his All-Star experience for them. The video shows his serious, hard-working side as well as his fun-loving, playful demeanor. The video also includes footage from the MLB All-Star festivites, as well.

Giants' All-Star Video

Brown will most certaintly recieve an invitation to Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona, as he recieved one last year. If the Giants struggle during the season, Brown may be the answer to their woes. Until then, he waits patiently down on the farm. But watch out, Major League Baseball, because his day will come. And this kid has a lot to offer.

Dream Team of Young Men

My brother decided to have the two of us put together a "dream team" of sorts. The players have to have five or less years of service in the major leagues. We also have to include at least two minor league players. We're putting our teams together in confidentiality, and then comparing. Sabean may want to take a look at this to get an idea of what the word "young" means.

Catcher- Buster Posey

Age: 24

Team: San Francisco Giants

First Base- Eric Hosmer

Age: 22

Team: Kansas City Royals

Second Base- Danny Espinosa

Age: 24

Team: Washington Nationals

Third Base- Brett Lawrie

Age: 21

Team: Toronto Blue Jays

Shortstop- Starlin Castro

Age: 21

Team: Chicago Cubs

Left Field- Ryan Braun

Age: 27

Team: Milwaukee Brewers

Center Field- Gary Brown

Age: 23

Team: San Francisco Giants

Right Field: Mike Trout

Age: 20

Team: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Starting Rotation

1. Tim Lincecum

Age: 27

Team: San Francisco Giants

2. Clayton Kershaw

Age: 23

Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

3. Madison Bumgarner

Age: 22

Team: San Francisco Giants

4. Stephen Strasburg

Age: 23

Team: Washington Nationals

5. David Price

Age: 26

Team: Tampa Bay Rays

Bullpen

Closer- Craig Kimbrel

Age: 23

Team: Atlanta Braves

Setup- Sergio Romo

Age: 28

Team: San Francisco Giants

Others-

Tyler Clippard

Age: 26

Team: Washington Nationals

Chris Perez

Age: 26

Team: Cleavland Indians

Heath Hembree

Age: 22

Team: San Francisco Giants

It's getting kind of late and I'm really tired. Sorry if Chris Perez seems a little weird, but he was an All-Star. I was just pulling pitchers a relievers off the top off my head. I'd say it's a pretty decent bullpen. The rotation is exceptional, with the best pitcher in baseball heading the staff and the 2011 NL Cy Young following him. You can't get much better than that, even if I had to put a Dodger on here. It is a Cardinal-free zone, though! (Yes, Perez was drafted by the Cardinals, but he's not with them anymore!)

2012 25-Man Roster- My Version

As talked about in the previous post, I was extremely bored after my heath exam so I came up with the procedure on how to handle Zito when he starts. I also composed what I thought the Giants' 25-Man roster should look like next year. The picture was just a rough draft, so I'll fix everything up below.

*                   = Free Agent

Starting Lineup

1. Angel Pagan- CF- S

2. Freddy Sanchez- 2B- R

3. Pablo Sandoval- 3B- S

4. Buster Posey- C- R

5. Melky Cabrera- LF- S

6. Brandon Belt- 1B- L

7. Nate Schierholtz- RF- L

8. Brandon Crawford- SS- L

Starting Rotation

1. Tim Lincecum- R

2. Matt Cain- R

3. Madison Bumgarner-L

4. Ryan Vogelsong-R

5. Paul Maholm- L

Bullpen

Brian Wilson- R

Sergio Romo- R

Javier Lopez- L

Jeremy Affeldt- L

Guillermo Mota- R

Barry Zito- L

Santiago Casilla- R

Bench

Aubrey Huff- 1B/OF- L

Mike Fontenot- INF- L

Emmanuel Burriss- UTL- S

Chris Stewart- C- R

Options for the 25th Man

There's only one spot left on the roster. The bullpen is pretty full, but if they wanted to add to the depth they could bring lefty Dan Runzler or righty Steve Edlefsen up. Or they could add one more bench player. And there is only one person that I feel could fit the role that Bochy and Sabean want. They want a veteran righty to be a part-time platoon with Crawford. Now I know this is Sabean and Bochy, but there is one guy that could fill this role perfectly. He wouldn't play that much but he would be a good mentor for Crawford, and I personally think it would be cool to see him back in a Giants uniform.

Edgar Renteria.

He'd be really cheap, so he wouldn't be a budget buster. And if Sabean still wants to add another reliever, there's ways to do that. They can put Zito on the "DL" like they did at the end of the season in 2011. It keeps Zito away from the rubber and frees up a spot. That's a win-win situation for everybody!

Picture of the Week- 12-18-11

Knowing CPR will be very beneficial to Whiteside. He has to be ready when half the team starts to kick the bucket. Maybe then Sabean will learn what happens when you try to get a bunch of old men to play baseball. This also shows that he really can't do anything right. You're not supposed to lace your fingers together!!!! The lady is even trying to show him that. I guess you really can't fix stupid.

Anger Management Time: Eli Whiteside Contract?!?!?

He kind of looks like an alien... Maybe he should go back to his planet.

I cannot explain how tired I got of seeing this face in 2011.

He can't catch the ball.

I had some trouble finding pictures of him hitting. Because he doesn't.

He can't hit.

He can't slide. He gave himself a concussion trying to slide. It finally kept him out of the lineup.

Wait a minute. "Why would this man be in the lineup?" you ask. He can't hit, catch, slide, throw runners out, or keep an ounce of color in his hair. So why would Bochy play him?

Because Bruce Bochy just loves washed up, untalented old farts. Sure, Whiteside is only 32 years old. But his hair and athletic ability just reek of that old-manish aura that Bochy loves. So Whiteside got playing time after Buster went down. Even though Chris Stewart's catching abilities were far superior to Whiteside's, Whiteside got the majority of the time behind the plate. Even though Chris Stewart was used to the grind of catching every day while Whiteside was used to keeping his buns warm on the bench, Whiteside got the majority of the playing time. Whiteside was so terrible, that after a while, he wasn't even allowed to catch Lincecum anymore. Whenever Lincecum would throw one of his trademark change-ups, the pitch would be beautiful. It would come in right where hitters like it, only to die at the last second as they swung helplessly for it. Then the ball would go careening to the backstop. If there were runners on base, they would advance while Whiteside ran around trying to figure out where the heck the ball went. So Whiteside was kept very far away from Timmy. There was only one time after that where Whiteside was slated to catch on the same day Linceum was starting. It was July 26th. The Giant's first game against the Philles since they clinched to go to the World Series. I was super excited about that game. I wanted to see the Giants give the Phillies what they deserved. The fact that Lincecum was starting also meant that I would get to see him and Bumgarner pitch when I would watch them in Cincinnati.

And then Andrew Baggarly posted the lineup on his blog.

Lincecum was starting, and Whiteside was catching.

Not an hour later, MLB Network was reporting that Lincecum was scratched for that night due to flu-like symptoms. And I totally believed that he was sick. Thinking about having to pitch to Whiteside would make one nauseous. I also have speculations that Obama ruined him too, but that's another story.

Back to the present now. Just last week was the non-tender deadline, and to my great relief, the Giants non-tendered Whiteside. I was so happy. I had a Whiteside-free summer stretching out before me. No more runners stealing second with the throw getting there as they're dusting their pants off. No more dropped third strikes that lead to extra innings because he decides to turn around and argue with the umpire instead of throwing the ball down to first to get the runner out.

And somehow, he gets a NEW CONTRACT?!?!?!? This makes absolutely no sense. Buster will be starting again next year with Stewart as backup. Catching prospect Hector Sanchez will be waiting in AAA if they decide they want to use him if Buster needs frequent catching breaks. So why do they sign back a fourth catcher? They say that Whiteside will be "competing for a job" in spring training. But if he doesn't get a job (which he hopefully won't) that's just money they wasted on a fourth catcher that they are just going to let go.

I've said this a million times, but sometimes I wonder about Brian Sabean. Maybe I should just change that to, "Brian Sabean, you're an idiot."

The one good thing Whiteside did