Three More Weeks!

Well Cardinal Fans we have three more weeks till the start of Major League Baseball. Personally I am looking forward to the 2009 Season. For some reason I still have a nagging feeling about our hometown team. Today in a game against Boston Schumaker makes his 4th error at 2B. The sports radio stations here in St.Louis were all a buzz about the Schumaker experiment will come to a end. The front office believes that they can fix this internally. The players they have in mind are Joe Thurston, Tyler Greene, and Branden Ryan. I have a feeling the Cardinals will have to trade to bring in a second-basemen that would help this team to become a contender. Someone that comes to my mind and Cardinal Insider Joe Strauss is Blake DeWitt. The Dodgers middle infielder that can play Thirdbase and Secondbase. The Dodgers are looking to unload him.


Here is the skinny on Blake DeWitt. He was born in Sarasota, FL but raised in Sikeston, MO. In High School he batted .558 with 15 home runs, 11 doubles and 48 RBI. He was also named to Baseball Americas High School All-America first team. DeWitt is one of the few players in Missouri baseball history to be named first team all-state four times. In addition to his hitting prowess, DeWitt was an effective pitcher, winning a Missouri high school record 27 consecutive games and losing only one. In 2008 DeWitt made the team due to injuries to Nomar, LaRoche and Tony Abreu. In 2008 Blake had 368 At Bats, 97Hits, 9HRs, 52RBIs, .264BA and a .383SLG average. Thats not bad.
So if the Cardinals are to trade for him who would we trade? One name comes to mind is Chris Duncan, but that would never happen due to LaRussa's man love for him. Here are a few names that come to my mind that have no future with the Cardinals. Allen Craig, he is hitting over .500 during Spring Training but has no future since he only has experience at 1B. Nick Stavinoha is another player that can be moved, along with Bryan Anderson.


Picture of the Day


















OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Picture Submitted by Steve Klutho

2009 Giants Preview and Predictions

I wanted to break away from the spring training jargon for a bit and I wanted to go ahead and do more of an in-depth preview of what the Giants will look like come opening day. I also am going to predict some of the key stats for the players. With our annual MLB team/divisional preview just around the corner, and opening day less than a month away, now is as good a time as any to take a closer look at the San Francisco Giants. Some of the final roster moves aren't set yet (as there still is 3 weeks of Cactus league to go still) but I'm going to go with my best guess.

Lineup:
1. RF- Randy Winn ( .288 avg, 11 hr's, 57 RBI, 89 runs, 21 sb's, .776 OPS)
2. SS- Edgar Renteria (.282, 12 hr, 64 RBI, 79 runs, 9 sb's, .759 OPS)
3. LF- Fred Lewis (.301, 17 hr, 76 RBI, 84 runs, 26 sb's, .817 OPS)
4. C- Bengie Molina (.280, 15 hr, 77 RBI, 43 runs, 0 sb, .756 OPS)
5. 3B- Pablo Sandoval (.277, 15 hr, 70 RBI, 62 runs, 5 sb, .786 OPS)
6. CF- Aaron Rowand (.281, 16 hr, 74 RBI, 64 runs, 9 sb, .782 OPS)
7. 1B- Travis Ishikawa (.270, 15 hr, 68 RBI, 44 runs, 2 sb, .778 OPS)
8. 2B- Emannuel Burriss (.285, 4 hr, 41 RBI, 63 runs, 31 sb, .759 OPS)

Rotation:
1. Tim Lincecum (19-8, 2.81 era, 217 IP, 242 k's, 1.12 WHIP)
2. Randy Johnson (14-9, 3.35 era, 184 IP, 172 k's, 1.26 WHIP)
3. Matt Cain (13-11, 3.79 era, 211 IP, 181 k's, 1.29 WHIP)
4. Barry Zito (9-15, 4.74 era, 188 IP, 113 k's, 1.42 WHIP)
5. Jonathan Sanchez (11-12, 4.26 era, 190 IP, 175 k's, 1.37 WHIP)

Bullpen:
CL: Brian Wilson (2-5, 67 games, 42 saves, 3.62 era)
SU: Bob Howry ( 4-3, 77 games, 2 saves, 3.31 era)
LH Jeremy Affeldt (4-4, 80 games, 1 save, 3.79 era)
RH Merkin Valdez (2-3, 61 games, 0 saves, 3.12 era)
LH Alex Hinshaw (1-4, 70 games, 0 saves, 4.36 era)
RH Brandon Medders (2-4, 65 games, 1 save, 4.14 era)
RH Joe Martinez* (2-5, 47 games, 7 starts, 4.67 era)

DL- Sergio Romo (mid-April, replaces Medders or Martinez)

Bench:
IF Juan Uribe (.252, 254 ab's, 11 hr, 31 RBI, 3 SB)
IF Rich Aurilia (.283, 275 ab's, 8 hr, 36 RBI)
OF Andris Torres* (.272, 142 ab's, 3 hr, 22 RBI, 11 SB)
OF Nate Schierholtz (.297, 340 ab's, 11 hr, 45 RBI)
UT Eugenio Velez (.272, 300 ab's, 7 hr, 27 RBI, 25 SB)

*denotes player who starts the year on 25-man roster, but isn't expected to finish season w/team.

Again, this is just pure instinct on how I think things will turn out as of March 11th. I haven't taken any other projection sites into account and this is assuming all stay healthy and on the team all season, which we know won't happen. It should be interesting to look back at this in September though, and see how close (or likely how far off) I was to predicting some of these numbers. I also am reserving the right to change them any number of times before opening day and finalize it once the roster has been finalized. I will revert back to this post at least once a month during the season to see how things are going.

2009 Record: 80 W-82 L

Giants' Varsity Handle A's

The Giants had their first split-squad games of the spring on Sunday, and Bruce Bochy kind of divided the teams into A and B teams, or what I call the Varsity and JV squads.

The Varsity, or the A team, shut down the Oakland Athletics as they were led by another Randy Johnson gem. The 6'10" lefty went 3 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on 2 hits and striking out 3, leading the Giants to a 10-1 victory of the A's. In that game, the Giants played most of the players who will be in the opening day line-up. Offensively, the Giants got solid outputs from Fred Lewis (2/3, 2b, 2 RBI and a run), Bengie Molina (1/2, hr, RBI) and Pablo Sandoval (1/3, RBI). They also got a nice game from Matt Downs, who started in right field while Randy Winn got the day off from the field and started at DH. Downs is another guy who has the versatility to play both the infield and outfield and should start the season in Fresno after hitting a combined .294 with 20 home runs and 82 RBI in 523 at-bats split between San Jose and Fresno. The soon to be 25-year old (March 19th) is starting to hit that final phase of true prospect eligibility, hopefully he takes that next step this season and can maybe contribute to the big league club at some point in '09. One more interesting tid-bit from this game was that Bochy decided to play Emmanuel Burris with the varsity team as their starting second basemen while Kevin Frandsen played with the B team. I'm not sure we should take too much out of this, and there still is plenty of baseball to be played before the decision needs to be made, but apparently Burris could have the leg up on Frandsen at this point.

The Giants bullpen arms are starting to look a lot better over the last few days as well. There weren't many positives that came out of the JV 8-1 loss to the Angels, but one was the outings of Jack Taschner and Alex Hinshaw. Both threw scoreless innings, and both got their spring era's back into single digits. With Jeremy Affeldt on board and the Giants possibly leaning towards carrying an 11-man pitching staff, it would appear that Hinshaw and Taschner are fighting it out for one spot. They both could end up making the team, but I'd doubt it. As I've said earlier, I'd lean towards Hinshaw. Both guys are very similar at this point in their careers, but Hinshaw is a few years younger and I think he'll end up being better than Taschner. A bullpen arm that has had a good spring and is fighting both Hinshaw and Taschner for a roster spot himself is Brandon Medders. The former D-back continued to extend his spring scoreless-inning streak by throwing another uneventful inning. Medders leads all Giants relievers in innings pitched this spring with 6 1/3, and is really making a case for himself to make this team out of spring. If Merkin Valdez and Sergio Romo are both healthy and throwing like they can before the end of March, then chances are against Medders. However, Romo may not be ready to start the season as he's had continuing stiffness in his elbow which has required a few MRI exams. After Brian Wilson, Bob Howry, Affeldt and Valdez, there will be either 2-3 spots to be had. One of those spots will go to another lefty, leaving 1-2 open spots for either Romo, Medders, Justin Miller or Luis Perdomo and I think that Medders has a slight edge on the others right now.

In other notes from the weekend games, Matt Cain had his best outing of the spring on Saturday, throwing 3 innings, while allowing 1 hit and striking out 3....Edgar Renteria, the only projected opening day starter that didn't play Sunday for the Giants, has played a little better of late and has raised his spring average to .261 after a very poor first week at the plate....Jesus Guzman, a guy who has been a huge bright spot for the team offensively, played his first game of the spring at 1st base vs. the Angels Sunday and played it beautifully... Buster Posey continues to get time in big league camp and went 1-2 Sunday, improving to 3/8 on the spring with 2 RBI.

Perdomo and Guzman Impressing

We're only a week into March, but a few Giants' youngsters (and a few guys who have been getting a lot of pub at this particular blog) that are really making some noise so far are infielder Jesus Guzman and reliever Luis Perdomo.

Heading into Saturday's game, Guzman is tied for the team lead in both home runs (2) and RBI (5) and leads the team in extra-base hits as well. The amazing thing about this, is that he's had only 12 at-bats compared to most of the other big leaguers who are at or around 20+ at-bats. Not only is he roping the baseball, Guzman has also played better defense at third than people thought he would coming in. He's still not flawless there, and has one error this spring to show, but he's definitely improving. I don't think there is any question that his bat is ready to be tested in the bigs, the only problem will be finding him a roster spot. With Dave Roberts' recent release (more at the bottom of the post), it does open up another potential bench spot, but Guzman is still a long shot to make the club out of spring. He's taken grounders at first and flyballs in the outfield as well, so he may see some action at some other positions before the the team breaks north, just so the Giants can get a feel of how versatile he can be. I still think he will open up as the Grizzlies starting third basemen, but he should be amongst the first call-ups in 2009, much like Jon Bowker was in '08 after his impressive spring.

The other young Giant fighting for a roster spot, rule V draftee Luis Perdomo, has also continued to excel this spring. What really helped his case was the recent demotion of Keeichi Yabu. Most likely, the Giants felt Yabu was expendable because Merkin Valdez is finally back and healthy (he threw 1 scoreless/hitless inning in relief of Tim Lincecum's flawless start on Friday), but Perdomo is definitely in the mix. Speaking of Merkin, Perdomo's spring so far this year has reminded a lot of how Valdez threw last spring before dominating in April and May then going down for the year with an arm injury. If Luis Perdomo doesn't make the squad out of the gate, I have a feeling that the Giants are going to do their best at trying to work a deal with the Indians in order to keep him Perdomo. There have been whispers of possibly going with a 11-man pitching rotation which would open up another bench spot for someone like Guzman or Bowker, but also make it would be pretty tough (espesially if Valdez stays healthy) for Perdomo to make the team. If Sergio Romo comes back strong in a week, that also would work against Perdomo's chances. If the Giants are planning on carrying only 6 relievers than that would leave about 2 possible spots as Brian Wilson, Bob Howry, Jeremy Affeldt and Merkin Valdez are all essential locks if healthy leaving Perdomo, Alex Hinshaw, Jack Taschner, Sergio Romo and Justin Miller battling for those last 2 spots.

As I mentioned in the post, the Giants made few roster moves over the last couple of days, releasing Dave Roberts, and demoting Keeichi Yabu to Triple-A. They released Dave Roberts, deciding to eat his 6.5 million dollar salary and let him play somewhere else for free. This is a bittersweet move because it does rid the roster of an aging vet that doesn't really have a role here and allowing a younger player to take the roster spot. At the same time, the front office just basically admitted they made a huge mistake by signing the left fielder in the first place. I don't know many fans that were happy about the Roberts signing, and while I fully expected him to become a bench guy before the end of his deal, I didn't think it would get to the point where the Giants would release him, but they do have Velez and Bowker who both have some upside and both are actually better than Roberts at this point anyway. So no, this move didn't surpise me in the slightest, but I was really hoping they'd at least get a low level prospect in exchange for him. The same can be said for Yabu. There are a handful of younger, better pitchers who are itching to fill Yabu's role from a year ago, and the 40 year-old just isn't the better option here. I am glad Yabu will be staying in the organization though because he's a good veteran to have in case you need a quick call-up.

Cardinals Sign Dennys Reyes

(AP)—Pitcher Dennys Reyes had agreed to the Cardinals offer of 3Mil for two years.

The 31-year-old, 32-32 with a 4.28 ERA, is joining his 10th team. He spent the last three seasons with Minnesota and was 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA in a career-high 75 games last season, the most by a lefty in the AL. Left-handed batters hit .202 against him, and opponents overall just .235.

Reyes is currently with Mexico’s national team ahead of its World Baseball Classic opener Sunday against Australia.

In addition to his salary, Reyes could earn $500,000 over the deal in performance bonuses.

Cardinals Looking at Pedro?

Cards GM John Mozeliak is scheduled to meet today with Tony La Russa and his coaches to discuss the camp's progress. The discussion might include discussion of free agent Pedro Martinez as an option at closer. La Russa suggested in November that the club should expand its consideration to include veteran starting pitchers. Martinez has a recent history of shoulder problems but said Tuesday he would be open to the possibility of closing.

Is It Possible that Pedro would

wear Cardinal Red?

Man Ram Becomes A Dodger, Finally

BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT (TICKER) — Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers agree to a two year 45mil deal according to ESPN.

The Dodgers have been going back and forth with Ramirez and his agent, Scott Boras, since the 2008 season ended, with Ramirez and Boras rejecting each of Los Angeles’ first four contract offers.

After helping Los Angeles reach the National League Championship Series last season, Ramirez had burned the Dodgers on several offers, turning down arbitration at the start off the offseason and a two-year, $45 million deal at the winter meetings before dismissing a one-year, $25 million offer earlier in the month and another one-year deal with a player option for a second year last week.

It is not clear what makes the current pact different from the other offers.

Ramirez hit .396 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI in 53 games with the Dodgers, who acquired the 12-time All-Star from the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline last season.

The 36-year-old hit .332 with 37 homers and 121 RBI in 153 contests with the Dodgers and Red Sox in 2008.

Johnson, Sandoval Lead Giants

The Giants battled back for their first comeback win of the exhibition season on Tuesday, as they were led by a couple of guys who the team is expecting big things out of in '09.

Randy Johnson struck out 7 batters in 3 innings as he faced his former employer (D-Backs) for the very first time. The lefty has now gone 5 innings this spring, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 10 batters. Johnson made it very clear coming into spring training that he was feeling better than he had in years at that point and he was extremely excited to see how things were going to go because of it. I know it's only spring training, but the Unit has looked like the Unit of 5-10 years ago early on in spring. He had the place buzzing when he threw BP and bullpen sessions during spring practices, and apparently he isn't lying. Now I'm not expecting a full fountain of youth for Johnson here, and it's still kind of unclear how his back is going to take to pitching those cold nights on the water in San Francisco, but if he holds up for 180-200 innings, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with, just ask the D-Backs hitters that faced him Tuesday. You can also ask the D-Backs pitchers about young Pablo Sandoval, who was also a big part of Tuesday's come back victory. Sandoval hit his first home run of the spring, a 2-run shot in the sixth inning, part of a 4-run inning that helped the Giants tie the game. There has been some around the organization that have suggested moving Sandoval into the cleanup spot and Molina to the fifth spot, so it will be interesting to see what happens if Sandoval keeps on driving in runs.

While the starting pitching and offense continue to be bright spots, the bullpen and occasional spotty defense have continued to be a negative. The defense was atrocious a couple days ago for Matt Cain as they made 3 errors behind him in his 1+ inning of work. The starters have been good for the most part, but potential bench guys like Eugenio Velez, Juan Uribe and Jon Bowker, among others, have made some costly mistakes. In the bullpen, Jack Taschner, Keeichi Yabu, Sergio Romo and Alex Hinshaw have really dug themselves in a hole as far as making this team out of spring. All four, especially Taschner, Romo and Hinshaw, were favorites coming in, but Taschner has walked 5 batters and allowed 4 runs in 2 innings while Yabu has allowed 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks in only 2 innings. Hinshaw has allowed 2 jacks and has given up 4 runs in less than 2 innings pitched and Romo (who reported arm stiffness Tuesday and is being held out 10 days) has also given up 2 bombs while allowing numerous baserunners in just over an innings pitched. Now these guys are only going to get about 10-12 total innings this spring so they really are already behind the 8-ball here as some other guys are flourishing. Rule V draftee Luis Perdomo allowed a run on Tuesday for the first time in 3 outings, but he continues to look pretty good and is throwing strikes. Other guys who aren't favorites but could force the issue are Brandon Medders (4 IP, 0 hits/runs, 2 BB, 3 K's), Justin Miller (2 IP, 0 hits/runs, 1 K) and Osiris Matos (2.1 IP, 0 hits/runs, 1 BB/K). As a matter of fact, if I had to construct my bullpen today, on March 3rd, it would probably go like this: 1.CL Brian Wilson 2. SU: Bob Howry 3.LHP Jeremy Affeldt 4.RHP Brandon Medders 5. RHP Luis Perdomo 6. RHP Justin Miller 7. LHP Alex Hinshaw (I still take him over Tasch, and this pen carries two lefties). Although, I still would love to see Merkin Valdez assert himself and claim a spot, but he's yet to throw in Cactus League games and it's not clear when exactly that will happen. Merkin told me last August that there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to pitch before the end of the '08 season, so his injury issues are still very much holding him back.

Extras: I found it surprising that Juan Uribe led the team in at-bats through the first week of spring training while guys like Jesus Guzman (3/6 with 2 doubles, a triple and 2 RBI) are itching for opportunity but aren't really getting it....Randy Winn is still looking for his first hit of the spring while Travis Ishikawa is still looking for his first long ball and RBI since the Cactus League opener.... Also, Emmanuel Burris and Kevin Frandsen are really going neck and neck in the battle for the starting second base job so far this spring. I am not a big fan of ever going with a platoon, but if both of these guys are hitting over .400 all spring and playing good defense, then this battle might carry over into the regular season.