Did this guy really throw a no-hitter for the Giants?!
[audio http://torturecast.podomatic.com/enclosure/2014-03-18T00_20_45-07_00.mp3]
Willie couldn’t make it tonight, so we brought in Jen Cosgriff to talk about her 6 days in Arizona for spring training. We talk about the 27 inning scoreless streak by Giants starters, then freak out about the pummeling of Sergio Romo and aforementioned starters. We can’t wait until the Dodgers melt down from their Australia series!
Man, we’re gonna miss his outfits…
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The boys are back in Episode #56 to talk about Ben and Chad’s experience interviewing players at Media Day, how Chad gave a 3 hour behind-the-scenes tour of the Monterey Bay Aquarium to Matt Cain and his family, early domination by the starters in Spring Training, how many wins we think Tim Hudson will get, our favorite tweets, and the first “Why’ll we’ll win it all” of 2014. Come join our Michael Morse swooncast!
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We break out 2014 with Episode #55. It’s been 3 months, so the rust is there; consider this spring training for podcasters. (image: AP)
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Ben and Chad kick off TortureCast’s first podcast of 2014 by reviewing all of the transactions for the offseason, and talk about what is left on the Giants’ shopping list before spring training starts in a month. We also fear Tanaka’s arrival in LA while we powerwash our brain stems to shake off the ‘ole cobwebs from baseball hibernation.
Also, remember that Giants FanFest is a mere two weeks away, February 1 at AT&T Park. Let us know if you’re planning to attend; perhaps we’ll have an impromptu get together.
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Not sure why we signed this guy
Here’s a nice summary of all transactions that occurred in the second half of 2013 through today, January 2, 2014. Certainly the Giants haven’t lost any significantly notable players, but I did miss Moscoso signing in Japan. I will also miss saying his name on our podcast. Wait, maybe I never said it on air? Nevertheless, they have gained a quality veteran starter in Tim Hudson (at least now I can say “Huddy” on the podcast) and hopefully a little pop with Michael Morse, if he manages to stay off the DL from his various hot tub and mangina injuries.
Don’t let the door hit ‘ya where the sun don’t shine:
|
Player |
POS |
Former |
New |
Transaction |
Notes |
|
OF |
SF |
|
— |
Released |
|
|
SP |
SF |
|
— |
|
|
|
RP |
SF |
|
— |
Minor league free agent |
|
|
C |
SF |
BAL |
Nov 30, 2013 |
Traded for cash |
|
|
SP |
SF |
|
Dec 27, 2013 |
Signed with the NPB Yokohama Bay Stars |
|
|
OF |
SF |
BAL |
Dec 7, 2013 |
One-year contract |
|
|
RP |
SF |
|
— |
Non-tendered |
|
|
OF |
SF |
TEX |
Dec 20, 2013 |
Minor league contract |
|
|
OF |
SF |
|
— |
Club option declined |
|
|
SP |
SF |
|
— |
Club option declined |
*I will miss saying his name….
Newly painted black and orange:
|
Player |
POS |
Former |
New |
Transaction |
|
SP |
ATL |
SF |
Nov 18, 2013 |
|
|
SP |
SF |
SF |
Oct 25, 2013 |
|
|
RP |
SF |
SF |
Nov 26, 2013 |
|
|
OF |
BAL |
SF |
Dec 17, 2013 |
|
|
C |
SF |
SF |
Nov 13, 2013 |
|
|
SP |
SF |
SF |
Dec 4, 2013 |
Unfortunately, this team is only slightly better (on paper) than the 2013 version which saw them sink to below .500 in an unsuccessful defense of their second World Championship in three years, and with the Dodgers opening up their wallets to a whopping $211.5 million (and that could still go up with Tanaka (no, not Kensuke!) or perhaps a new dinosaur with laser beams for a new mascot), the status quo won’t suffice.
As fans, we can always chirp at Giants’ ownership to spend more, but they have committed $143.2 million to 16 players for 2014 (they still have to pin down salaries for the remaining roster). They also have continually increased their monetary commitment year over year. In fact, the payroll during their first championship run in 2010 was a mere $97 million. It was $118 million in 2011, $132 million in 2012 and $137 million last year. Here’s a fun pie chart that I took entirely too long making in between bathroom breaks, which breaks down of the Giants’ budget by the obligated 16 players:
Notably, Matt Cain accounts for 15% of the budget, followed by Timmy, Hunter, and then Posey. Although we all breathed relief that Zito is off the books, his buy-out is still reflected here, at 5% of the payroll, which is more than Scutaro, Affeldt, Morse, Romo, Vogelson, Casilla, Lopez and Bumgarner (yes, MadBum has a lucrative future salary).
So, with assumedly little money left to spend, can they stretch their dollar for another outfielder? Perhaps clip a coupon from the local circular? Nelson Cruz has been rumored, but will command a mighty salary, and with the acquisition of Morse last month, it makes it unlikely that they’ll pursue anyone other than utility players and middle relievers. Think, clearance racks at the MLB player store.
Let’s just hope that Tanaka doesn’t end up somewhere else in the NL West (well, it’s okay if Kensuke does).
Chad
PS – After taking a couple of months off after the World Series, we’ll be heating up in the coming weeks. Look for new podcasts and articles from myself, Willie and Ben. We’re looking forward to another exciting (hopefully) season of San Francisco Giants baseball and post-game bonusodes at Zeke’s.
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Giants signed Tim Hudson to a 2-year, $23 million deal yesterday.
The Giants announced yesterday that they had signed 38-year old veteran right-hander Tim Hudson, to a 2-year, $23 million deal to shore up their starting rotation, which is currently comprised of Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, and Tim Lincecum. This is a great move for the Giants. He doesn’t come cheap, but when you consider his salary and performance compared to what Zito and even the last two years of Lincecum have given the team for their salaries, it’s most likely going to be a better deal. Hudson may also be a mentor to Lincecum, with a similar fastball velocity and having learned to pitch to his strengths and hitters’ weaknesses. Hudson owns a career 3.44 ERA, and the last 3 years his ERA has ballooned (3.22, 3.62, 3.97), which may be cause for some concern, although last year’s freak ankle injury cut short his season. Even a 3.97 ERA puts him ahead of 2013 Lincecum, Vogelson, and Zito.
That just leaves the 5th starter for a team that has won 2 out of the last 4 World Series (one reason Hudson signed with SF, he wanted to get past the first round, an affliction of the Braves). Within the organization, they only have Yusmeiro Petit to look towards, but they can still reach out and, for relatively cheaply, sign Chad Gaudin and/or Ryan Vogelsong. Now, there are rumors that Vogey is quite miffed by the Giants declining the $6.5 million option, but after last year’s disappointing season, you can’t blame the team. They still can sign him for a smaller amount, but it remains to be seen whether or not he would accept that or similar dollars elsewhere. Bronson Arroyo has also been rumored to be quite interested in signing with the Giants, but is looking for Lincecum-type salary ($17 million/yr) and has been quite vocal at only entertaining a 3 year deal, not 2. This is a stretch for the Giants. They have the cash for him, but it may not be wise to extend it to 3 years, and the cash may be better suited to a free-agent outfielder acquisition or later for a mid-year trade/cash deal. Arroyo’s ERA hovered near 4.00 the last 2 years, and was a stratospheric 5.38 in 2011.
Giants’ Assistant GM Bobby Evans has indicated that they may not make a move for an outfielder this offseason, but both he and Sabean have been clear about acquiring another starting pitcher. This is not for a lack of cash, they have about $140 million committed so far for 2014, and can spend a bit more, but there is currently a lack of outfielder supply. They may be better served waiting for a mid-season trade to pick up a hot outfielder for cash and prospects. Sabean has also said that Posey will not make the move to first base this year. This nullifies some fantasies of Posey moving to first base and Belt to left field. This may happen on an occasional basis, of course, but not as a permanent solution. I personally think it’s a bit too early to move Posey. He’s too valuable behind the dish, and has melded quite well with the staff. He may be just an average first baseman, both statistically and defensively.
Of course, they could always sign Brian McCann to don the tools of ignorance, and then make the Posey/Belt shift. Hmmmm…..
Hot stove is heating up!
Chad
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It’s only fitting that the Giants’ closer titles our 2013 season-in-review
Click the player above to listen to the Episode!
Hey, it’s not a Bonussode! (which are totally great, btw, you should probably listen to them).
Willie, Ben and Chad wrap up the disappointing 2013 season to talk about why they “didn’t win it all,” what they need to do in the post season, and our playoff predictions.
Don’t worry, we’ll have occasional podcasts and blog posts during the off-season, especially has the hot stove gets a bit warmer. The Giants brass has a lot of work ahead of them to fill the rotation, address bullpen depth, and get a solid left fielder, and we’ll be here to talk about it.
Chad
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Zito has way more than 75 million reasons to smile
Originally, we thought we’d witness Lincecum’s possible final start in the orange and black, but Bumgarner has been shut down for the year, and Timmy’s start was pushed back. Instead, we’ll be witnessing Zito’s final curveballs tossed in a Giants uni.
His contract was highly criticized, even back in 2007, but more so in the latter years. Sure, he didn’t live up to the Scrooge McDuck-sized pile of money, but he had key starts down the stretch in 2010 that helped them secure the West on the final day of the season, and of course, his proverbial highlight as a Giant is NLCS game 5 in St. Louis. As Giants fans, I think we can all agree that it’s certainly probable that the Giants wouldn’t have two titles, and possible they wouldn’t even have one if it weren’t for Zito. That is worth $126 million to any Giants’ fan.
Ben, Willie, and myself will be up in the press box tonight and Ben and Willie will return to the box again this Saturday against the Padres. Tweet us a line @TortureCast.
See ya at the yard!
Chad
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Pence should try and squeeze every dime he can out of the Giants, wouldn’t you?
We all know Hunter Pence is ridiculously hot. Well, the ladies may also think he’s “hot,” but of course I’m referring to his unbelievable production at the plate in the second half, specifically over the last two weeks. He absolutely crushed the Dodgers, hitting 5 home runs in the 4 game series. He’s also hit 6 in his last 6 games and 7 in his last 10, in which he’s also hitting .450 with 20 RBI…and that includes two games where he went 0-4! About the only thing he hasn’t done is somehow gain the ability of flight to catch that Chavez sinking liner that would have preserved Petit’s perfect game.
He’s hitting .421/9/25 for September, and .352/11/44 after the All-Star break, lifting his average to in impressive .295/25/92. Just a few weeks ago it seemed impossible that Pence could reach .300/25/100, but it’s absolutely within his grasp now (heck even 30 HRs), and although it’s been great for the Giants on the field, I wonder how it will affect their pocketbook.
It’s widely reported that Pence loves SF and wants to re-sign, but an extension wasn’t in the works before the trading deadline, and there was speculation that he might be traded. After his elation as the deadline passed, Giants fans took to Twitter to push for such a deal.
A few days ago, Pence himself confirmed that he’s talking with the Giants, telling Hank Schulman that there have been “conversations.” While this is encouraging, what does his recent hot streak do to his market value? No doubt it’s gone up, and if he hits those magical numbers in his slash line, Pence may cost quite a bit more than his assumed $13-14 million per year. He’d be an idiot, though, to NOT test the market, no matter how much I personally want him to resign. Why wouldn’t you? You don’t know what you’re worth until you have offers, and I assume that’s what his agent is pressing him to do. Other than the rare outlier who takes a hometown discount (Jared Weaver), most players want validation, if not the money. Even if his ultimate goal is to stay in SF, he can use other offers as leverage to force Sabean and co. to throw a few more simoleons, if not years into the deal.
Sabean and Baer have repeatedly acknowledged that they need a left fielder with a stick, but they would suddenly need two such outfielders should they let the market consume Pence. If these conversations progress, the Giants will have until five days after the conclusion of the World Series to lock him up, otherwise, he’ll find out what he’s truly worth.
Chad
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The weather in San Francisco was gorgeous today. A Giant win would have just capped this day off kindly. Not that it actually matters at this point, but losing to the Rockies always feels like losing HORSE to that younger, smaller, less-talented kid down the street. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Lincecum didn’t pitch poorly, nor did he pitch superbly. Somewhere in the middle. Two earned runs in 8 innings ain’t bad, but when you forget to cover home plate on a 2-3 putout with a runner on second, well, that’ll cost you a run. And tonight, it cost the Giants the game. Yet, it doesn’t go as an error, but rather, an earned run. I really do think MLB should introduce a new stat category for brain farts…except they should be more politically correct in that classification; perhaps ME for mental errors? Maybe a middle ground between earned and unearned runs, like SER (sort-of-earned runs)?
Regardless, the Giants offense continued to be perplexed by Chacin. Granted, he’s putting up the Rockies’ second-best ERA in the club’s 20 year history, but he feasts particularly on the Giants. Then again, the league feasts particularly on the Giants, who are we kidding. The Giants only had two real threats. The first was in the 6th with runners and first and second and Panda at the plate. Unfortunately, he flied out routinely to center field after making Pagan and Posey run twice on a 3-2 count with 2 outs. With Belisle in relief of Chacin with one out in the eighth, Pagan dribbled one to third, and Arenado barehanded it nicely but threw wide of first, allowing Pagan to advance to second. After Scutaro grounded out to second, most of the 30,000+ (it was a sellout, but the stadium was certainly not at capacity), Belt came through with a double down the right field line to tie the game at 2. Posey worked a full count, but uncharacteristically waved at a slider outside to end the inning.
Romo relieved Lincecum in the 9th (to a much more subdued “El Mechon” crowd) and promptly retired the side in order. Lopez was the beneficiary of a blown call at first; after a single, pinch hitter Herrera attempted a sacrifice bunt that went about 2 feet, where Posey pounced on it and threw to Crawford at second, and then relayed it to Scutaro at first, where Herrera beat it out by a step. Alas, a double play was called.
The bottom of the 10th began with a Pagan single that just made it through the right side after an Arias strikeout. Scutaro finally got of the shnide with a single to left center, sending Pagan to third. That brought up Belt, already with heroics in the game with his game-tying single. After going down 0-2, he went with an outside pitch and drove it into the left center field gap past a drawn-in outfield to secure the walk-off win for the Giants on the same night they were eliminated from the NL West just moments earlier with the Dodgers win.
Not much else to break down. But, the baby giraffe hat manufacturer might want to increase their production.
See you at Zeke’s.
Chad
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Our interview with Tim Lincecum last February
Warning, your Twitter account will once again produce a bit of smoke this evening as Willie, Ben and Chad will be in the press box for Rockies vs. Giants tonight. It’s strange, but this will be the third game this year, out of 5, that we’ve seen Lincecum pitch. Not trying to line it up that way…just happens.
This could be Lincecum’s second-to-last start in a Giants uniform at AT&T. Strange to ponder that possibility, but looking at the schedule, he’ll have 4 more starts; tonight, in LA, in NY, then back at home for a final start against the hated Dodgers. Wait…holy weed, Batman…I just realized that if the rotation keeps that way, our next game in the box will be that Lincecum start, and potentially his final for the Giants.
Let’s hope it isn’t.
Tweet you tonight.
Chad
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The TortureCast 