McCovey Chronicles (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009
I'm almost okay with the Giants acquiring another second baseman and moving Freddy Sanchez to third. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to pay a bunch of money for a player whose worth is completely intertwined with his ability to play a good defensive second base, but at least I wouldn't have to wince when 75% of the infield came up to the plate. The idea doesn't make a lick of sense, but I could...
Lone Star Ball (Free subscription) | 11/22/2009
More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP 4 months ago: Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus gets the force out at second of Los Angeles Angels' Kendry Morales after Howie Kendrick hit into a double play during the second inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, July 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) Browse more photos » One of the things we've talked about is how Elvis Andrus...
McCovey Chronicles (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
Supposedly, the easiest position at which to find a hitter is first base. Alas, we are Giants fans. It's a little disingenuous to say there's a post-Will curse on the organization -- J.T. Snow did provide a couple of fantastic years to bookend the meh -- but there hasn't been a lot of offense from first base since Will Clark left. The Sabean-led Giants are the kind of organization that can look at...
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
Once the Braves acquired Mark Teixeira before the 2007 trade deadline, they started thinking of themselves as a World Series contender. They were 4.5 games behind the division-leading Mets and 3.0 games behind the Phillies, but there was still a sense of excitement when GM John Schuerholz made the move. "We've got the team to win the World Series," Brian McCann told the AP. Tim Hudson and...
The San Francisco Giants Blog (Free subscription) | 11/16/2009
It's been a couple of weeks since the start of free agency filing, and the Giants apparently are wasting no time making contact with potential help for their ball-club. The team is apparently interested in free agent Johnny Damon, and have had talks with the Marlins about a potential Dan Uggla trade. The Giants have been interested in Uggla, it seems, for the better part of the last two years. The...
Bless You Boys (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
What would be a worse gift idea for a Detroit Tigers fan this holiday season? An Edgar Renteria bobblehead or a Gary Sheffield bobblehead? (I'm kind of impressed by the Sheff bobblehead's likeness. Usually, these things look nothing like the actual person.) What, no Todd Jones bobblehead? Maybe a Jacque Jones model on super-clearance? These are among the offerings available through MLB.com " Gift...
More Hardball...... (Free subscription) | 10/31/2009
After a long absence, I am back for another addition of This Week In History. Although we are late into October, and the days of regular season baseball are well over, some of baseball's most memorable and monumental events occurred during this week of Halloween. Let's take a look at these events and see if you can remember watching, listening, or reading about some of 'em. October 25 : 1986- With...
The San Francisco Giants Blog (Free subscription) | 10/28/2009
MLBTradeRumors .com posted and interesting piece today regarding the different players around baseball that are being vastly overpaid. After looking at the list, it makes me feel a little bit better about the Rowand , Renteria and Zito contract disasters, and it also got me thinking of how to possibly get one of these guys, most likely Rowand , off the Giants hands. Now, this is mostly just speculation...
The Mighty Quinn Media Machine (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
1,827 days ago. It sure doesn't seem like five years. I was in the Riviera Cafe and Sports Bar that night when Keith Foulke grabbed Edgar Renteria's grounder. It set off ten minutes of sheer pandemonium and joy like I had never experienced before. Here's a tribute to that wonderful team. Happy Anniversary everyone.
Capitol Avenue Club (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
Straightforward. With a bit of possible bias (see NL ROY, though my NL Cy ballot is straightforward, no bias whatsoever). NL MVP 1. Albert Pujols 2. Chase Utley 3. Hanley Ramirez 4. Ryan Zimmerman 5. Prince Fielder 6. Troy Tulowitzki 7. Adrian Gonzalez 8. Derrek Lee 9. Pablo Sandoval 10. Matt Kemp NL LVP 1. Garret Anderson 2. Alfanso Soriano 3. Emilio Bonifacio 4. Jeff Francoeur 5. Edgar Renteria NL...
Fake Teams (Free subscription) | 10/25/2009
ESPN's Buster Olney on the Cubs Starlin Castro Starlin Castro, the Cubs' exceptional shortstop prospect, won't turn 20 until March, but it appears he will have a legitimate chance to climb to the big leagues sometime next summer. "He's a big strong kid, not a little flea," Cubs GM Jim Hendry said Friday. "He reminds me a lot of what Edgar Renteria looked like when he was coming up."...
The Spot Starters (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
Below is part six of this ever-expanding series. This is the final post. Enjoy. Edgar Renteria: We all know that the Tigers gave up Jair Jurrjens to bring Renteria to Detroit for the 2008 season. He was supposed to help put the Tigers over the top and back into the postseason. Things just didn’t work out. [...]
The San Francisco Giants Blog (Free subscription) | 10/19/2009
With so many people expressing mixed emotions about the Bochy / Sabean extensions over the past couple of weeks, I wanted to take a little bit more of an in-depth look at what these two have done here during their time in San Francisco. It's no secret that Sabean has made big time mistakes over the past couple of years through free-agency. He signed Aaron Rowand and Barry Zito to multi-year deals that...
MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com (Free subscription) | 10/18/2009
Ever since the Red Sox traded Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubs at the 2004 trade deadline, they've been looking for a long-term solution at shortstop. They've gone the big name free agent route with Edgar Renteria and Julio Lugo, tried the scrap heap approach with Nick Green, and gave a youngster like Jed Lowrie a shot as well. In total, they've used 19 different shortstops since the Nomar deal, including...
Beyond the Boxscore (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
In 2007 and 2008, Upton posted wOBA’s of .387 and .354, respectively. This year, that mark has plummeted to just .298. Among batters taking at least 500 trips to the plate, Upton has the fourth-worst wOBA in the game. Only light-swinging middle infielders Edgar Renteria , David Eckstein and Orlando Cabrera have provided less value with the lumber. Per Batting Runs (a park-adjusted measure of...
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