Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Guest Spots on Giants Preview Podcasts







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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

#SFGiantsMadness 2016 Thread

#SFGiantsMadness Championship




#SFGiantsMadness Final Four






"Stretch" Bracket: Elite 8



"Dominican Dandy" Bracket: Elite 8



"BARRY! BARRY!" Bracket: Elite 8



"Say Hey" Bracket: Elite 8



"Stretch" Bracket: Sweet 16





"Dominican Dandy" Bracket: Sweet 16








"BARRY! BARRY!" Bracket: Sweet Sixteen








"Say Hey" Bracket: Sweet Sixteen








"Stretch" Bracket: Round 2












"Dominican Dandy" Bracket: Round 2












"BARRY! BARRY!" Bracket: Round 2












"Say Hey" Bracket: Round 2












"Stretch" Bracket: Round 1




















"Dominican Dandy" Bracket: Round 1




















"BARRY! BARRY!" Bracket: Round 1




















"Say Hey" Bracket: Round 1




















Play in Games








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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Is Buster Posey Already an All-Time Great?



Buster Posey is 28 years old and is already considered by some to be one of the greatest catchers of all-time. Heading into his age 29 season, are we witnessing one of the greatest careers in baseball history? There are many factors when deciding whether or not someone is an all-time great. First and foremost is a comparison to others that play his position. So let's take a look at where Posey stacks up against the rest of his peers.

If you simply look at Wins Above Replacement, Posey is the 37th greatest catcher to ever play. Not exactly an all-time great. However, when you compare the number of games played versus the 36 catchers above him, it looks more impressive. Posey has played in 753 Major League games. By comparison, every other player above him has played at least 1,062 games and some have played over 2,000 like Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra.

Bench was a 14 time All-Star, a two time World Series champion, a two time National League MVP, as well as a Rookie of the Year, and ten time Gold Glove winner.

Berra was an 18 time All-Star, a 13 time World Series champion and a three time American League MVP.

When talking about all-time greats, Bench and Berra are head and shoulders above all other catchers. For Posey to come close to either, he would need to maintain his current level of success for another decade.

If you look at catchers who had a season of 4 WAR or above, Posey is 20th all-time. He has had four straight seasons with a WAR of 4 or more. If he were to have three more seasons at that level, he would be tied with Berra for 6th on the same list. This not only shows how rare a 4 WAR season is for a catcher, but also how close Posey is to be in the conversation with the all-time greats.

Posey has a NL Rookie of the Year award, an NL Most Valuable Player award, a batting title, as well as being a three time All-Star among other accolades. He has also won three World Series. When you start looking at other catchers with similar resumes, the number shrinks even more.

Roy Campanella was an eight time All-Star, a World Series champion, as well as a three time NL MVP.

Gary Carter was an eleven time All-Star, a World Series champion, as well as a three time NL Gold Glove winner.

Mickey Cochrane was a two time All-Star, a three time World Series champion, as well as a two time AL MVP. He would have gone to more Midsummer Classics, but they weren't created until the end of his career.

Carlton Fisk was an eleven time All-Star, an AL Rookie of the Year and one time Gold Glove winner.

Joe Mauer is currently a six time All-Star, an AL MVP, a three time batting champ, as well as a three time Gold Glove winner.

Yadier Molina is currently a seven time All-Star, a two time World Series champion, as well as an eight time Gold Glove winner.

Thurman Munson was a seven time All-Star, a two time World Series champ, as well as an AL MVP and a Rookie of the Year. He was also a three time Gold Glove winner.

Mike Piazza was a 12 time All-Star and a NL Rookie of the Year.

Jorge Posada was a five time All-Star and a four time World Series champion.

Ivan Rodriguez was a 14 time All-Star, a World Series champion, an AL MVP as well as a 13 time Gold Glove winner.

You could argue that Posey is already among the ten greatest catchers of all-time. You could argue that other catchers like Gene Tenace, Ted Simmons, Joe Torre and others are still better than Posey. Wherever you place Posey on an All-Time list, it is clear that he is knocking on the door to be a part of the conversation and we are currently witnessing one of the greatest careers of all-time.

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Monday, March 7, 2016

Which Non Roster Invitee Makes the Giants in 2016?



The San Francisco Giants have several non roster invitees who have made the team in recent years. Juan Uribe, Andres Torres, Guillermo Mota, Ryan Vogelsong, Joaquin Arias, Gregor Blanco, Juan Gutierrez and Brandon Hicks all have World Series rings despite not being guaranteed a roster spot heading into camp.

The Giants have had at least one non roster invitee make the team in each of the last 7 seasons. So which non roster invitee will force the issue and make the 25 man roster in 2016?

Giants camp has several players fighting for what appears to be very few opening day spots. At the moment, it looks like the only jobs even available are a utility infielder, a fifth outfielder, one relief pitcher and maybe a battle at backup catcher.

As we look at the Giants recent history, however, it is clear that the Giants front office will use Spring Training to let players earn those spots. That is why so many players like Uribe, Torres and Vogelsong have found their way onto the Giants roster.

So let's look at who might have a shot this season:

Kyle Blanks: The former San Diego Padre has enormous power, and has already homered twice in Spring Training. He has played both outfield and first base at the big league level. In an interview with Andrew Baggarly, Blanks said his main focus right now is his health.

“I’m confident that if I’m out there, I’ll be able to contribute." Blanks explained. "My past medical history is like a book. So I literally try to feel as good as I can every day and put my best foot forward.”

Conor Gillaspie: A former Giants 1st round pick in 2008, Gillaspie is back with the club looking to make the team as a utility infielder. His spring got off to an interesting start, making an error at third base and hitting a mammoth home run in the same inning.


The Giants liked Gillaspie enough in 2008 to make him a top pick and might look to him once again to fill the backup third base role they need behind Matt Duffy. Giants fans, including baseball writer Wendy Thurm, describes what it would be like for Gillaspie to come full circle back to the Giants.


Grant Green: Green was the 13th pick of the 2009 draft by the Oakland Athletics. He made his Major League debut on July 8th, 2013 and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim three weeks later. Green played several positions for the Angels, and his versatility may be his best shot at making the club.

Ricky Romero: Another former 1st round pick, Romero was the 6th overall pick in the 2005 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. The 2011 All-Star owns a career 51-45 record in the big leagues with a 4.16 ERA and 622 strikeouts between 2009-2013. Injuries ended his time with the Blue Jays, and Romero was signed last season by the Giants. He pitched in Sacramento, the Giants Triple-A affiliate, with an eye on coming to camp with the club in 2016.

Romero spoke to Giants beat writer Alex Pavlovic about getting a second chance with the Giants.

“I’m happy to be here,” he said. “To be able to get another shot with a team like this is humbling.”

Romero will most likely start the season for the Sacramento River Cats, but his Major League experience should help him if the team needs a starting pitcher at some point during the season. Manager Bruce Bochy also talked to Pavlovic about what having a guy with a track record like Romero means for the Giants.

“He knows how to pitch, he gives us depth,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Anytime you have a guy with his success and experience, that’s intriguing. The fact that he’s left-handed made us bring him back to see what he has.”

Other long shots include catcher George Kottaras, infielder Ramiro Pena and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez.

The beauty of baseball is someone in this group will have a major impact on the Giants in 2016. We just won't know who until April.

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Wednesday, March 2, 2016

What the Kolten Wong Extension Means for Joe Panik



The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that Kolten Wong will be signing a 5 year extension to stay with the club through 2020 with a club option for 2021.


Baseball Essential writer Corey Adams (@corey_adams) wrote about the Wong extension earlier today.

So what does this mean for the San Francisco Giants homegrown second baseman Joe Panik? Panik went to his first All-Star game in 2015 and won a championship with the Giants his rookie year. A back injury limited his 2015 season to 100 games. That means Panik will be heading into his 3rd different season in the Major Leagues, but he hasn't actually played a full season yet. However, the former 1st round pick has been impressive from the day he joined the Giants during their World Series run in 2014.

Panik had a slashline in 2015 of .312/.378/.455 with an OPS of .833, an OPS+ of 131 and a Wins Above Replacement of 3.3. He also played Gold Glove level defense at second base, and had he not been injured, may have been in the running for the award.

Wong, who played in 150 games in 2015, with a slashline of .262/.321/.386 with an OPS of .707, an OPS+ of 92 and a Wins Above Replacement of 2.2. Wong had a small sample size in 2013 and played in 113 games in 2014. Wong's career WAR is 3.9, which is only slightly higher than Panik's production in only 100 games in 2015.

The Giants recently gave an extension to Panik's double play partner Brandon Crawford earlier this off-season. The Giants also have long term deals set with Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and newly acquired Jeff Samardzija. Johnny Cueto, another off-season acquisition, can opt out of his deal in two years, but could possibly be another long term fixture for the Giants.

Will Panik be the next player to get an extension? The team may also consider extensions for Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy as well. The Giants has shown a willingness to be patient with their extensions. Wong's deal certainly sets the bar for negotiations, so the question will be how much higher will the bar go for Panik?

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