The Giants and Rockies took my advice

I like to think that most GMs like to read Sully Baseball on a daily basis and they take my suggestions to heart. And it seemed that the Giants and the Rockies may have done just that.

Last May I gave the Giants some advice in what looked like a potential playoff run.

Brian Sabean listened to some of my advice (recalling Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey sooner than later and giving Pat Burrell a shot) and ignored others (signing Jermaine Dye and seeing if Eric Hacker could handle long relief).

One thing I suggested was dealing Zack Wheeler for a bat. I figured that while you almost never deal young pitching, this was the exception if it would bring a difference making bat. Now as it turned out, they didn't need the difference making bat last year. There is no way that even bringing Albert Pujols onto the 2010 Giants would have improved anything.

Put away the calculators and getting ready to show me Pujols' OPS+ and Base/Hit to Contact Adjusted ratio. (I just made that up, but I am sure it is being used by SOME stat head.)

If you put Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton on the 2010 Giants, the end result would not have improved... because the end result was a World Series Championship.

Well I for one gave a big grin when I saw Wheeler was dealt for Carlos Beltran, a deal that screamed "No Brainer" for me.
Sure Wheeler has a chance to be a big time pitcher for the Mets. Beltran has a chance to help cement the Giants as a national brand.

People are noticing the Giants, and as I suggested in the video we made last January, they are slowly becoming an alternative bandwagon to the ultra serious and competitive Red Sox and Yankees turf wars.

Another October run with this cast of characters could solidify them as a big time franchise and destination place for free agents. Ask yourself, 4 or 5 years ago was Philadelphia considered to be a desirable landing spot for star players?

If the Phillies could make that kind of turn around based on a World Series title, some more post season appearances and a dash of cool, why not the more extroverted Giants?

A nice pitching prospect is a small price to pay for helping build a national brand, especially with Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, Volgelsong and Sanchez all still in the rotation.

I know the Giants are only 2 games up on Arizona. No part of me is worried. They are heading back to the playoffs and have as good a chance of anyone to get to the World Series.

Meanwhile the Rockies did EXACTLY what I told them to do. A few weeks ago I begged them to deal Ubaldo Jimenez while people still thought he was an ace pitcher.

I don't think he is. I think he is a good pitcher who had a great half of a season. He's not an ace. He's an ace flavored product.

And if the Rockies dealt him while he still looked and felt like an ace, they would get more in a haul for him then if they waited for Ubaldo to reveal that he isn't a true #1.

While I admire the Indians for going for it and picking up a guy who clearly isn't a rental, it's unlikely that Cleveland would have parted with four players including highly touted prospects Drew Pomeranz and Alex White, if Jimenez started piling up .500 seasons with mediocre ERAs in Denver.

Yeah Jimenez was a popular member of the Rockies. So was Matt Holliday. The Rockies dealt HIM when he still had a "potential MVP" aura about him and wound up getting Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street in the deal.

I think before long, the dealing of Matt Holliday and Ubaldo Jimenez, as unthinkable as it may have been when they were contending for big awards, might be the best thing that ever happened to the Rockies franchise and could lead directly to another pennant very soon.

Just glad they took my advice.

The Giants need to be creative

This Thursday Jonathan Sanchez pitched 8 innings, let up 3 hits and 1 run against the first place Padres.

The result?

LOSS.

The Padres came into San Francisco with a mere 1/2 game lead.

They left with a 3 1/2 game lead. The Giants scored a grand total of 4 runs in the whole series.

And Tim Lincecum was lucky to get a win out of the bullpen yesterday.

I know the Giants have climbed back to 1 1/2 games behind the Padres, but there's still stuff that needs to be done. The Giants need to shake some things up without blowing up everything.

I already talked about how they need another bat and a bullpen arm.

But let me throw a few more specific suggestions at the Giants.

1) Give Jermaine Dye a shot.

This idea is already being kicked around and it is all reward and no risk.
It wasn't that long ago that Dye was an All Star and an MVP contender.

Now all he has to do is outhit Mark DeRosa.

And if it doesn't work, it didn't cost the Giants any players.


2) And while you are at it, give Pat Burrell a shot.

Pat Burrell was dumped by Tampa and could be done. But then again, a player as talented as Burrell might be could get a jolt of incentive to show up his old employer.

Besides, he's only a couple of years removed from being a 30 homer guy.

And if it doesn't work, who cares? Tampa is paying the bills.


3) Just recall Buster Posey already!

It is insane that he is still in Fresno. The Giants have no offensive attack and they have a phenom batting .349 and a .999 OPS in AAA.

Look, he can hit. Why not see if he can hit big league pitching?

Oh yeah, he's working on his catching skills. Fine, stick him in the outfield or at first and have Bengie Molina take him under his wing. I am going to go out on a limb and say Bengie knows a thing or two about catching and could teach Buster... all the while the Giants, and not the Fresno Grizzlies, benefit from his swing.


4) While you are at it, recall Eric Hacker.

The guy is putting up terrific numbers in Fresno and yet at age 27 he's a little too old to be a prospect.

Why not throw him in the bullpen and see if he can get big leaguers out an inning at a time.



5) Make Madison Bumgarner the lefty out of the bullpen

Along with Posey, Bumgarner is the Giants top prospect. But he should be helping the parent club instead of toiling in Fresno.

Now Bumgarner is only 20 years old, so no doubt the Giants are going to baby his arm.

Well why not cut down his innings while facing lineups that don't know him yet? Lots of pitchers were broken in during the rookie year as relievers. before making the transition back to the rotation the next year. Jim Palmer, Jimmy Key, Orel Hershiser, Mark Buehrle, Adam Wainwright and Pedro Martinez all cut their teeth as relievers.

Bumgarner would love to have any of their careers (and so would the Giants!)



6) Consider trading top prospect Zack Wheeler for offense

I know you can never have enough pitching... but I think the 2010 Giants are in a unique position.

They have tons of solid young arms and they need a bat more than anything. And teams in the trade market looking for prospects want pitching more than anything.

I think the Giants can afford to part with a top pitching prospect if it means it can bring an impact bat to AT&T Park.

The Giants could sacrifice Dan Runzler, who looked good in early call ups. 23 year old Waldis Joaquin could also get some attention. But I thought dangling young Zack Wheeler could get the most back. The #6 pick in last year's draft was one of the top high school arms and has a big upside. And yeah, parting with a talent like that could bite the Giants in the behind a la John Smoltz with the Tigers.

But this could be one of those perfect storm years where the West AND the National League are both winnable and a pennant could be won. Sometimes a big prospect needs to be sacrificed to make the final push (think of the Red Sox parting with Hanley Ramirez and others to get Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell... they let go on a future MVP but won a World Series.)


Nothing I just wrote is outrageous and nothing involves tearing apart the rotation as it currently is set up.

Giants fans have waited 52 years for a World Series title.
This is a time to go for it.