Giants Notes

The Rockies magic number for clinching a wild card birth is down to just 1 with 6 games remaining, so the Giants should be mathematically eliminated either today or tomorrow. And, although the season ends in a week, there are still some things I'd like to see happen with this club before the book closes on the 2009 season.

We talked a bit in the last post about giving Buster Posey some playing time behind the plate to see if he may be ready to take reigns of the Giants catching position at some point in 2010. Posey has actually started 2 of the last 3 ballgames, but hasn't done much with the bat yet. He's just 1-10 in his first 10 big league ab's. This is exactly why I wish they would have started playing the kid a couple weeks ago. If he finishes off the season struggling, it could very well mess with his confidence level coming into spring training next year. I don't think that will necessarily happen with Posey, but it's no secret that a positive showing in September breeds confidence heading into the next season. A prime example to look at is what happened with Pablo Sandoval last season. He tore up every minor league level he stopped at, and was thrown into the mix immediately with the Giants and didn't miss a beat. He hist .345 to end the year and set himself up for a very successful season in 2009. I'm not saying these things go hand-in-hand, but again, I'd much rather see Posey playing everyday and racking up at-bats than spot starting and struggling to get into a rythm.

It's not just Posey they should be taking a long hard look at either. There are numerous roster decisions that will arise when the season ends, including what to do with some of the teams' key free agents. Bengie Molina, Randy Winn, Randy Johnson and Brad Penny are all potential free agents after the year, and Freddy Sanchez has an 8 million dollar team option. Out of that list, the only guy who I'm really pulling for to be re-signed is Brad Penny. He showed his capabilities and his ability to pitch in the NL West over the final month of the season (3-1, 3.31 era in 32 innings in September) and he's been a very nice fit behind Cain, Lincecum and Zito. Randy Johnson is likely looking to play another season, but I think I'd lean towards Penny, who'd likely be cheaper than Johnson anyway. The three real tough decisions will revolve around Randy Winn and Bengie Molina, who've been mainstays in the Giants lineup over the past 3-5 seasons, and of course whether or not they'll pick up the option on Freddy Sanchez.

As much as I appreciate what Molina and Winn have done here over their tenure's, I think now would be a good time to cut ties with each player. Winn saw his power numbers completely fall of the charts this year, and his average and run production suffered mightily as well. It was by far his worst season in San Francisco. Molina has also struggled through most of the year in 2009. Take away his terrific April (.325, 4 hr, 18 RBI) and his numbers would be atrocious. In fact, Bengie has just 7 home runs and 25 RBI after the all-star break, and remember, this guy is the Giants clean-up hitter when he's in the lineup. Freddy Sanchez has ended up being a colossal mistake by Sabean, as he cost the Giants their #2 pitching prospect and didn't do anything to help their playoff push this year. I can think of many ways they could use the 8 million he'd cost them in 2010, including re-signing Penny and super-utility stud, Juan Uribe. We'll have much more on the Giants potential player movement when the season ends.