Across the Seams

Letter Notes

"Beginning August 27, the Giants had the fourth-best record in the National League (20-15)..."
That's two  against the Mets (83-79), six against the Rockies (67-95), six against the Diamondbacks (77-85), seven against the Dodgers (71-91), four against the Cubs (79-83), seven against the Padres (82-80), and three against the Nationals (81-81).

"While the young players served notice that they’re going to push to have higher impact roles on the club next year, we need to find some veteran depth..."
I guess the team isn't old enough already. Seriously, this infatuation with veterans -- which in Sabean-speak means someone well over 30 -- is frightening.

First and foremost, we’re going to take the next few weeks to address our own players who will be free agents after the World Series – Scott Eyre, Jeff Fassero, J.T. Snow and Brett Tomko. We are going to use our right to arrive at some conclusions with our own free agent players before other teams can even approach them.
This is semi-neutral from Sabean, but I really hope he can look beyond the last three's "veteran-ness" and not hand out some more bad contracts.

... we will need to improve our production against right-handed pitching – an area where we struggled all year long.
To me, that means a left-handed bat that's not wielded by J.T. Snow.

We will also look to greatly improve our bench strength in case of injury or the need to rest our veteran players.
I just liked that "in case of."

From the Desk of Brian Sabean

Dear Marty,

While we all had hoped that I could have waited a few weeks to write you this end of season letter, I want to outline for you our plans for the 2006 season. The 2006 season starts this morning as we try to improve our club so that we can all enjoy October baseball here in San Francisco next fall. Most importantly, I want to thank you for your loyal support this year in what has been a roller coaster of a season.

While Felipe and I addressed the media yesterday, I want to make sure that you hear my thoughts firsthand about our just-completed season and how we plan to move forward over the next few months to get back to the type of team we all expect.

Diamondbacks 7, Giants 3

Randy Winn is out of his head, it's as simple as that. His second homer was the first one I remember seeing hit the right-field pole, which is kind of weird.

McCracken dang near killed someone in our section tonight with a line-drive foul ball. It came in so fast that you either got the heck out of the way or you weren't paying attention. Luckily, Lisa just got a glancing blow after some guy got his hand whacked.

Burning question of the night answered: Mantle 536, Murray 504, C Davis 350, C Jones 330, R Smith 314, Sierra 306. That's just crazy.

Padres 1, Giants 0

So did Felipe make out his lineup cards last week? The Giants have a few meaningless games left and a few guys who could use some major-league at-bats. So what’s the lineup look like?

Ellison, Snow, Alfonzo, Durham, Alou, Feliz, Chavez and Haad.

I guess that’s not bad for the bushers, but what does Niekro have to do to get some at-bats? I think we’ve seen quite enough of Alfonzo this season, thank you. Naturally, the hitting sucked, outside of Durham.

On the other hand, the pitching was great. I can’t tell you how thankful I am that Lowry isn’t in the bullpen. Felipe is like the Grim Reaper when it comes to the bullpen. Munter had surgery, and it’s getting harder to find healthy arms down there. Taschner better look out.

What’s the bullpen looking like for next year? Benitez, Munter, Taschner, hoping to keep Eyre, and … and … Hawkins holds his option, not the Giants. Brilliant. Think his agent will exploit that at all? If Hawkins departs, the Giants will have gotten a partial season of a semi-setup guy in return for a young, decent starter and a prospect. Such a deal.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Lowry is excellent and Cain looks like he can do the same. Merkin Valdez is still a work in progress, so he’s probably not a big player for a rotation spot next year.

Argh, I’m babbling. So you think the Mets want Alfonzo?

Padres 9, Giants 1

Mercifully, it's over. Now we can get on to worrying about 2006 and bury this awful season.

I hope that Schmidt didn't mess up his arm compensating for his groin. The Giants need him to be healthy even more now that they've dealt many of their young starters and are looking thin in the rotation. Don't even try to say "Matt Kinney" to me. It's Schmidt, Lowry and Cain right now. Everything else is up for grabs.

I hope Barry's knee heals up.

I hope Scott Eyre sticks around.

I don't know what to hope for with Alfonzo. A few days ago he said he expected a trade, but I can't think of a team that would want him without the Giants paying his bloated salary. K&K cracked me up tonight by saying that the Giants didn't sign Alfonzo to hit homers. They also didn't sign him to hit like a 38-year-old shortstop. Wait, he's not even doing that: Vizquel is outslugging him.

Can we get Niekro some at-bats, please?

Padres 9, Giants 6

You see, Brett, this is why we don't give you runs. You just waste them.

Ramon Hernandez. Sheesh. (BTW, I think Kuiper was just a little too happy announcing that the Angels had clinched.) I didn't see the grand slam in the fourth live. There was this air of inevitability cutting down on the oxygen in the room, see, and I had to run to the store for some Ibuprofen before 9.  I just had to laugh when the guy who opened the door with an error was none other than J.T. Snow. Bad hop, I know.

Bonds' knee is killing him, and he looked weak against Peavy the night before. Apparently in batting practice tonight he was practicing going the opposite way, seeing as how the Padres were pitching him outside. So he comes in and hits a three-run shot the other way in the first inning. No effing way. Best hitter ever.

That guy behind the plate is becoming more annoying than the white-sleeved Mets lady of 1986.

Giants 3, Padres 2

I'm still having a hard time believing the Giants won that game. Giles had the last out in his glove, game over. That he even made it to that ball was a great play, it might have even been a home run if he hadn't gotten in the way.

The odds are still against the Giants. Aside from practically having to win out, the injuries continue to mount, as you would expect with such an old team. Barry is scaring me. He's said he won't have any more surgeries and he was limping badly in this game. He can't continue to play with his knee like this, so I'm watching every at-bat as if it were the last. It's not out of the question.

Nationals 2, Giants 0

With Bonds out of the lineup, the Giants bats revert to form. Four measly hits, one by the pitcher. Tomko has been pitching in hard luck all season, this game just being the latest edition. The Giants never even got to a point where using Bonds was a realistic threat.

Tomko brings a lot of hardship on himself, too. We all are too familiar with his mental meltdowns, which are really the only things holding him back. You could see it even today. A little bloop hit has Tomko talking to himself for two or three at-bats afterward. He should just stick that self-pity in his pocket and move on. If he were a rookie, you might have some hope that he could change. At this point in his career, it seems to be more a facet of his character than a correctable habit.

Matt Kinney starts Friday in Colorado, which tells me more than I need to know about the state of the back end of the rotation.

Giants 5, Nationals 1

Bonds is back. Which to me is a good thing, but it sure ties the judges of all that is pure and right in sports batty. I'm still wrapping my head around Dayn Perry's rant in the Baseball Prospectus. His logic is twisted into some serious knots, somehow convincing himself that it's OK for Bonds to pass Ruth, but the line is drawn at Aaron. And there's the by-now typical straw-man argument for "competitive integrity," whatever that's supposed to be. Perry's bottom line is that Giants fans are either dupes or morons for cheering Bonds.

You can't win this type of argument, and I have no real interest in pursuing one. But sheesh, open your eyes, laddie. What Bonds does at the plate has not been matched in the history of this great game. If you can't appreciate an at-bat like the one he put on John Patterson Wednesday night, maybe you should quit watching baseball and take up golf. It wasn't that he hit the pitch out of the yard, so much that he kept the thing fair. Everybody else on the planet jerks that thing foul if they get their bat on it.

What I'd really like is a DVD box set of every Bonds at-bat. Ever.

Giants 4, Nationals 3

So that's how it was supposed to work!

Moises Alou's three-run shot was bittersweet for me tonight. It was a great capper on the game, but man, too bad the Giants didn't have this combo all season. It's pretty scary to think what those two would have done together in the lineup.

I can't watch Benitez. I can barely stand to listen to it. Is he still hurt? Must he put baserunners on every freaking time?

I haven't seen Linden's catch to end the game, but it sounded spectacular. Could have just been the circumstances, though. Speaking of Linden, I noticed on Saturday that he stopped that silly flipper-kick when he's hitting. Hope it speeds his bat up a little, but it's the thought that counts. It's nice to see him make an adjustment at this level, as not a lot of guys are willing to change. I think it bodes well, as it's obvious the guy has the physical skills to be a serious player.

Hey, Livan Hernandez pitched pretty well. What did the Giants get for him? Brower? One day I'm going to have to track down all the pitchers the Giants have disposed of and see what the heck they got in return. Not saying that the Giants should have kept him (he was pretty much doomed here), but it still rankles when he does well.