Prospect Discussion

FantasyBaseballHotStove caught up with me yesterday and had some questions about some young Giants' farmhands. Here is a transcript below:

FBHS: What are the chances of Tim Alderson getting called up this season? What about Madison Bumgarner? How excited are you for the point in time where the name "Madison Bumgarner" is a household name?

TC: There is a very slight chance they come up in September when the rosters expand, but I wouldn't hold my breath. With the Giants' current starting pitching depth, there is really no reason to rush them either. If I had to guess as far as when they'd make their major league debuts, I'd say we're probably looking at June 2010. That said, they've been doing all they possibly can to fast-track themselves at the minor league level. Bumgarner's gone 4-0 in four outings since his promotion to AA Connecticuit. He's also striking out over a batter an inning, good for a 4:1strikeout/walk ratio, while carrying an era of 0.78. Alderson is 2-0 in his four games, while carrying a 1.89 era. He's demonstrated even more control than Bumgarner though, as he's walked only 1 in 19 innings of work, compared to 21 strikeouts. Both of these guys have tremendous command for their age and I think that once they get up to the bigs, they're here for good.

Bumgarner looks like he's going to be something special. Not only does he throw 94-96 with ease, he's got ridiculously good command for his age. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him come up and have the type of success Tim Lincecum did when he was brought up. Think Clayton Kershaw, but with more command, and maybe a little more polish, and that's what you have in Bumgarner.

FBHS: Who is going to get on the lineup card more and why. Kevin Frandsen or Emmanuel Burriss?

TC: Well, Frandsen is in Fresno right now while Burriss is starting at second base for the Giants, so Burriss is the answer to that question. Manny's been a little inconsistent this year, but is currently swinging a pretty hot bat (11 hits in his last 27 at-bats) and is hittin .271 overall. He's also playing sound defense at second and leads the team with 11 stolen bases. Frandsen got a brief call-up last week and didn't record a hit in 16 plate appearances. I think the Giants are going to stick with Burriss at second for the foreseeable future. Edgar Renteria is signed through 2010, at which time Burriss may move over to short. Until then, unless Burris tanks offensively and Frandsen starts tearing up the PCL, don't look for much to change at second for the Giants.

FBHS: Travis Ishikawa didn't hit his first home run until May 25, but the word I'm hearing is that he is the first basemen for the Giants. One home run from the first basemen is pretty bad it's almost like they are better off hitting the pitcher twice. Would you prefer Jesus Guzman or someone else?

TC: Guzman got a handful of at-bats when the Giants played in Seattle and may get another call-up when the Giants need a DH again in a couple of weeks. Ishikawa has been hitting a little better of late, but you’re right, he's nowhere near where he needs to be offensively. The Giants have moved Pablo Sandoval over to first for the time being because he's nursing a sore right elbow, and they don't want him making the cross-diamond throws from third to first. Right now, the Giants have Juan Uribe at 3rd in place of Sandoval and he's hitting over .300 at the moment. I don't think the Giants are totally ditching the Ishikawa experiment yet, but he's definitely running out of time. If Uribe continues to hit, or Guzman comes up in the Oakland series and rips the cover off Check out the ball, then Ishi's time could be up. The Giants are also exploring the trade market, especially corner infielders. They've been linked to Nick Johnson, Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Hank Blalock.

From FantasyBaseballHotStove.blogspot.com

Giants Notes: The Giants' bullpen got roughed up on Tuesday for the first time in a while. They were unable to hold the game for Tim Lincecum as both Bob Howry and Merkin Valdez were charged with 3 earned runs in only 1/3 of an inning. The Giants' pen had been pretty through most of the first 2 months of the season and Tuesday's meltdown was something that hasn't happened a whole lot this year so I wouldn't worry too much about it. It does suck that Timmy couldn't reel in win number 5, but they've still won five of their last seven ballgames so expect them to get right back on track tomorrow night.... Speaking of tomorrow night, the Giants will send Randy Johnson to the hill in effort to collect win number 300 so defenitely tune in Wednesday night to possibly witness some history!