Travis Denker was waived and claimed by the Padres. Obviously he was not in the Giants plans for second base.
A quick look at his stats on B-R:
574 games in the minors (started as a 17-year old!), 556 hits, 124 doubles, 73 homers, 310 RBI, 320 walks, 391 strikeouts. An .830 career OPS with a .276/.376/.454 slash line. (Only 42 major-league plate appearances so I skipped that.)
In about half as many minor-league games, Kevin Frandsen sports an .849 OPS, his line is .327/.391/.458. This has translated into a .254/.318/.363 in the bigs, a .681 OPS, about 100 points lower than the league mean over the last three years. To be fair, he has yet to see a full season. He's 26--time to fish or cut bait. (Denker is 22.) The Giants have invested a lot of time and energy in Frandsen and seem poised to hand him the job in 2009. His competition, now whittled to just Eugenio Velez, who is also 26, a shit-or-get-off-the-pot number. Velez' main attribute seems to be his blazing speed. Let's look at his lines:
Minors: .295/.342/.450 (.792 OPS in over 400 games)
Majors: .262/.303/.392 (.695 OPS in 112 games)
I have to say I'm damn underwhelmed.
Maybe that's why there's a rumor the Giants are interested in Dan Uggla.
So, me buckos, who's on second for 2009?
4 comments:
Ummm.....what about Jorge Cantu? Second basemen we got. Third basemen, not so much. And Matt Cain is too much to give up for Uggla. Uggla and Cantu, maybe. Another pitcher plus a minor league prospect for Cantu - that I could see. Well, the world of speculation is on us - of course, trade speculation does not, I believe, have a very good track record. Sabean usually plays it close to the vest until it is done. Maybe the vast spread of information, rumors and just plain made up stuff on the internet makes that less so. I hope not. I cannot imagine anything less helpful to a GM than telegraphing about whom you are interested.
Here is what Derek Lee means: 20 hr, at $15,000,000 per year minimum for at least three years, kiss Kung Fu Panda goodbye (not much of anywhere to play him), part with a name pitcher, say Matt Cain and watch him age (33 currently). Jorge Cantu - 29 hr last year for $500,000, age 26. Can play a position at which we actually need a player. Would not cost so much in money or pitching currency. Please. I have enough to worry about watching my retirement money evaporate, don't add to it.
And I'm not so sure it was a great idea to give up on Hennessey, either. I know that it was about money. Hennessey started four games for us in September, gave us 23 innings and 11 earned runs that look like this: 6/1, 8/3, 3/5, 6/2. Not real exciting, but not quite worth giving up on yet. Think of it like this: who is more likely to contribute on a forty man roster, Noah Lowry or Brad Hennessey? I wouldn't bet one way or the other.
I'm not happy with Uggla or Lee rumors, despite the fact that both are "upgrades." I'd rather fail with youth. I'm OK with losing if we are shipping out the dead weight and building a new team from within.
Jorge Cantu is certainly a better "value" than either of the stars mentioned. My fear with guys like him (big pop, low OBA, high K) is "regression to the mean." They'll age poorly--lots of HRs but less hitting. That's a fear, not scouting or analysis. Cantu is a free agent, though, so no trade would be needed. According to Cot's he's only signed through '08 with the FloMars.
Speaking of trades, trading Matt Cain is nuts. Who, pray tell, is our #2 starter? Zito? Sanchez? Our strength at this point is Lincecum, league-best starter, and Cain, a league-above average starter. Everybody else on our team is average or below average.
Post a Comment