Reaction to Melky Cabrera

     I had heard the rumors a few weeks ago, but once quelled, I pushed them to the back of my mind. I didn't worry or think about it at all. Until yesterday. The updates came through on my cell phone that Melky Cabrera had been suspended for testing positive for a banned substance. Effective immediately. He'll be out for fifty games. The Giants have forty-five left. The Melkman is done in San Francisco for the 2012 regular season. There are so many ways that this affects the entire organization and the fan base. People will be angry, some will be sad, and some will be defiant and still root for their Melkman. But the many problems are there. I know that I am one of the angry ones, for a few reasons.

I am angry for the fan base, and the betrayal they feel. Unlike Barry Bonds, another steroid-linked Giants left fielder, Melky Cabrera seemed like a very nice guy. He was always friendly to the reporters and the fans. His carefree manner and attitude earned him the love and respect of the fans. He had the Melkmen, who showed up in their old-fashioned milkman uniforms to support him. We all saw him tie the Giants hit record for a single month. Voted for him to be in the All-Star game. Watched the touching moment when he received his All-Star MVP Award with his mom and grandma on the field with him. We went through the joy of all of these moments, only to find that it was all a fraud. As a fan, I felt cheated. I was there when Melky tied the hits record for a single month (I have the ticket stub and newspaper article on display). I cast at least a thousand All-Star votes for him. I made my "Got Melk?" sign to take to the ballpark. And now he's gone, having made a selfish decision to take a substance for personal achievements. A substance that he knew could get him suspended, resulting in a huge loss for the team. But he cheated anyway.

As angry as I am for what Melky did to the fans, what he did to his teammates and the organization makes me even more angry. The Giants have now been counting on Melky. He and Buster were the offensive forces that carried the lineup. They needed production from every one of their players to reach the postseason. They needed to do it as a team and Melky has hurt the team's chances of doing that because he made a decision to use a substance for individual performance. Now the team has to regroup from losing one of their best players, as well as losing an essential clubhouse presence. There are people in that clubhouse that deserve to be playoff contenders. Buster Posey. Matt Cain. Ryan Vogelsong. Brandon Belt. The list goes on. But Melky betrayed them.

Not only has he let down his teammates, but he has caused the organization to regress in its efforts to eliminate the steroids rap it gets. They had several players involved in the BALCO scandal, most notably Barry Bonds. Jose Guillen and Miguel Tejada were linked in the Mitchell Report and they signed reliever Guillermo Mota, who received a fifty game suspension in 2005. After the 2010 Championship, though, the Giants looked ready to move past that. But Mota received another suspension this year and is now joined by Melky Cabrera. This makes the organization look bad, even though the core of their team is not involved in any steroid suspicion.

Perhaps the most infuriating thing about Melky's suspension is something that hasn't been talked about as much.  Most people are primarily upset for the reasons above, as well they should be, but what makes me so irate is how Melky made Andrew Baggarly (reporter and Jeopardy! extraordinaire) look bad. About three weeks before his suspension was officially announced, Baggarly had heard rumors that Melky had tested positive for PEDs, so he went to ask Melky about it. Melky informed Baggarly that he and his agent had heard NOTHING about this. He told Baggarly that he had absolutely no idea where the rumors came from and that Dodgers fans could have even made them up as a distraction. Baggarly is one of the best in the business and said that bringing that question to Melky was poor journalism since he had no basis to the rumors. He felt terrible about it and even went on to write an incredibly long and sincere apology to Melky. Melky's comments seemed perfectly believable at the time, until I found yesterday that the day Baggarly asked Melky the question, Melky was in the middle of his appeals process. It's perfectly acceptable to not tell the reporter what is going on. But to make excuses up as to where the rumor came from? That seemed pretty low to me. Baggarly put his reputation on the line for the fans inquiring and Melky made him look bad. As it turns out, Baggs was asking a very reasonable question, one that Melky could have handled better.

(*Even after Baggarly heard the news of Cabrera's suspension, he stood by his apology, saying it was the right thing to do. He still says that is was poor journalism on his part. I think this incident shows who had the better character...)

Melky Cabrera's suspension will handicap the Giants, both in their on-field production and their morale. Team leader Buster Posey has already spoken up, saying, "We have to approach the rest of the year with a chip on our shoulders. I'm happy with the guys we've got here." (reported by Alex Pavlovic via Twitter). It's important that the Giants focus on that for the rest of the season and not the cloud of doom that has started to cast a shadow on them. They need to use this as a chance to unify the team. It's now going to take production and contributions from everyone if they want a shot to reach the postseason. A postseason berth that is now making itself harder and harder to obtain.

Picture of the Week- 2/26/12



And Molina gets it right in the face...where he deserves it.

I said I would post a picture of this and I don't lie, so here you go. I'm not sure why he decided to use that as his stance. They say if a guy is comfortable with it, just leave him alone. But this stance OBVIOUSLY doesn't work. Unless he's trying to go for the distraction effect. Try and make all of the fielders feel like they have to go to the bathroom...

Random Rants

As we kick off Spring Training, I have several thoughts floating around in my head. Some are baseball relevant. Some are not. But I felt like sharing them, anyway.

-Brian Wilson needs to shave the beard. In 2010, he said that he was going to grow a beard and not shave it until the Giants lost and went home. Well, they lost and went home in 2011. But I still see a beard and I think the thing is cursed now. Walking into Scottsdale Stadium with it still on was a bad, bad, bad idea. Vogelsong strained his back and is out for around 10 days...Charlie Culberson dropped a weight on his finger and broke it...Vogelsong was sent home sick today...I just have a really bad feeling about this.

-Jeremy Affeldt's hand is completly healed from his ridiculous frozen burger patty accident. Why would you ever think it was okay to cut something in your hand? We'll be okay this year. Matt Cain was kind enough to buy Affeldt a Slice-o-Matic.

Timmy has some pretty awesome shades.

-Is it just me, or did Vogelsong lose some hair in the offseason? I was watching the Town Hall Meeting video and Vogey seemed just a little thinner on top.

-For 2012, it would be only fitting for Buster Posey to use Phillip Phillips as his walkup music. Both are from Leesburg, Georgia. It's a very small town, so it's pretty rare that two super talented people can come from there. But if Buster uses him for his walkup music, I want to see Phillip Phillips give Buster some credit, too! Like wearing a Posey jersey one day.

Picture of the Week- 2/19/12

No comment. There's not much you can say to that.

Thank You, Brian Sabean!

Dear Brian Sabean,

      I want to tell you how thankful (and relieved) I am. Worries were creeping over me that you were going to have to battle for Timmy's contract before an arbitrater. And let me tell you, that would be dis-as-trous. Need me to spell that? D-I-S-A-S-T-R-O-U-S. You would have to list the reasons why you feel Timmy doesn't deserve the contract he actually deserves and you would have to say those in front of Mr. Lincecum. And something tells me he wouldn't be too happy to hear that from his team. Which means he would express his displeasure when he hits free agency by leaving.
But, for once, you made a very educated decision with that small brain of yours. You signed Timmy to a two-year contract, eating up his last two arbitration years. For that, I thank you.
Now, you need to use that kind of brain power ALL OF THE TIME! Think of how incredibly dominant we could be if you did that. Stellar on the field and in the front office. So I expect more of this from you in the future, Mr. Sabean.

Until next time,
Mady

Picure of the Week- 1/15/12

It's almost time for Spring Training! It's been too long without baseball and waaaaaayyy too long without Buster. Pitchers and catchers report on Febuary 18th and everybody else arrives on the 23rd.

Classroom Boredom: Falling Stars and Predictions

In a few previous posts I had talked about my version of the Giants' 25-man roster for the upcoming season, as well as how they should manage Barry Zito. I had come up with all of that after my health exam because I was so bored. The last few days of physical science have been pretty brutal. Physics is not the most interesting topic, (although it beats the heck out of cells, which is what we're doing in biology) so while I was taking notes, I also came up with a "Falling Stars Team". My dad inspired me to make the list when we were watching the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game. He commented that they should have a Falling Stars Team and that Barry Zito should be the starter. So with my mind wondering from velocity and average speed calculations, I produced this.

 

"Falling Stars Team"

(as of 2011 rosters)

C- Jorge Posada

1B- Todd Helton

2B-Chase Utley

3B- Alex Roderiguez

SS- Miguel Tejada

LF- Pat Burrell

CF- Carlos Beltran

RF- Ichiro

SP- Barry Zito

Manager: Tony LaRussa

General Manager: Brian Sabean

Honorable Mention: Bruce Bochy

There may be some arguments there, mainly with Tony LaRussa and Chase Utley. But I feel that Chase Utley is declining in his production. I also believe very strongly that Tony LaRussa is NOT a good manager. His poorly managed Game 5 in the most recent World Series is a perfect example of this. He makes moves to be "intelligent", but he's really just being dumb. He can't pronounce his own players' names correctly and watching a media session with him is absolutely brutal. Unless, of course, you hate him, like me. Then they're very enjoyable to watch.

So a few days after I created my Falling Stars team, it was lecture day again. And it was super boring. Again. So in the margins (when I wasn't taking notes. I still payed attention to the lesson. Don't worry!) I listed my division standing predictions for 2012, along with the two Wild Card winners (assuming that starts this season) and my picks for the AL, NL, and World Series Champions.

AL East

1. Rays

2. Yankees

3. Blue Jays

4. Red Sox

5. Orioles

AL Central

1. Tigers

2. Royals

3. Indians

4. Twins

5. White Sox

AL West

1. Rangers

2. Angels

3. Mariners

4. A's

Wild Card

1. Yankees

2. Angels

Champions: Angels

NL East

1. Phillies

2. Marlins

3. Braves

4. Nationals

5. Mets

NL Central

1. Reds

2. Brewers

3. Cardinals

4. Pirates

5. Cubs

6. Astros

NL West

1. Giants

2. Dodgers

3. Diamondbacks

4. Rockies

5. Padres

Wild Card

1. Marlins

2. Dodgers

Champions: Giants

World Series Champions: Giants

*I, as the creator and the writer of this blog, reserve to right to edit the standings of the NL East if Prince Fielder goes to the Nationals.

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.