Merry Christmas!

Here's a stocking stuffer guaranteed to please:

 

We'll be watching the games over the next several days. Should be fun. Comcast is showing The Parade this morning at ten o'clock. Sounds like a great way to spend Christmas.

Have a wonderful holiday!

--M.C.

 

A Sign of Life - Romo Returns!

Apparently, acquiring Justin Maxwell & re-signing Travis Ishikawa weren't the only moves that the Giants had up their sleeves this off-season.  Sergio Romo is coming back, & I am:

- Mighty happy about the concept.

- Mighty amazed about how much money they are paying him, although, given how much various other non-Closers are getting this year, I suppose that I shouldn't be.

I think that Romo has a lot left to offer & will continue to adapt his pitching style to his shifting physical skills ... for example, what would be more goofy than the goofiest guy on the Team starting to throw a knuckle-curve?

I was worried, when LA cut The Beard loose & were supposedly shopping Brandon League, that that dreaded Romo to LA signing was imminent, but no.  Now, we need to decide whether having Wilson pitch for us, while getting overpaid by LA is something that we should interested in.  Sounds worth a shot, doesn't it?  He's another guy who is young enough to learn a new pitch & become awesome again.

I welcome the return of Romo & look forward to some more wheeling & dealing (within reason) to fill in our other needs.

Sergio is back ... more ice cream endorsements ahoy!

Money, Money, Money

In case you were wondering about how baseball teams can spend $150-200M on one player, here's a graph:

Source: Forbes

Baseball teams are loaded with money. This article by Maury Brown at Forbes gives a breakdown of the details (h/t Baseball Musings). Even poor teams are rich. Mr. Brown points out that revenues have grown over 300% since 1995. Screw blue chips, I want a piece of that pie in my mutual funds.

The moral of the story, for me, is to stop giving a shit how much players cost. They cost what they cost and the money is there and the owners could spend a lot more and still be richer than God.

--M.C.

Duffy's Dash

I really hoped that sprint home with the tying run in Game Two of the NLCS would have resulted in a win and would have become part of Giants lore. Since they lost the game, the moment will fade and come to its resting place in the dustbin of history. But I won't forget! I'm high on Duffy and hope he gets to be the third baseman soon.

Every year I sponsor (on behalf of RMC) a page on Baseball-Reference. I use the site all the time, it's my baseball Wikipedia. Back when Matt Cain was a nobody his page was cheap. Now they want $220. Last year I got Brandon Crawford for, I don't know, $60 or so. This year it is $160! Yikes, too rich for my blood.

So, Matt Duffy it is. Only forty bucks! Makes me feel good to be a part of B-R and it is nice to have the RMC name out there. I hope the price goes up soon as that will mean the former Dirtbag will be climbing the ladder to stardom.

--M.C.

Catching, Buster, and Longevity

The only comp I can think of for Buster Posey is Joe Mauer. Every time I see Buster take another blow to the head I think "how long can that go on?" The Giants supposedly have no plans to move Buster to another position, but you have to think that will inevitably happen. After all, he is signed through 2021 at $20+M/yr. Head injuries, thankfully, are finally getting the attention they merit. This is near and dear to me as I suffered a concussion from a fall off my mountain bike in September of 2010. I was fortunate that I had no long-term effects, no cognitive issues, or anything other than a long, slow recovery. I was tired a lot, but regained my health in due time. There are still a few hours of my life that I cannot remember yet I was, according to reliable witnesses, walking and talking during that "blackout" phase. Scary, man. I don't want to whack my head ever again.

Here is a graph of Joe Mauer's "games caught" vs. "season." You can see the Twins finally stopped having him put on the gear. They have the DH option, of course. What do you guys think? Should the Giants have a plan for Posey? It seems like the obvious solution is to teach Brandon Belt to play left field! What would you do if you were Boch & Sabes?






--M.C.

Offseason Discussion II

We need a new thread.

Ishikawa? Yea/Nay.

Speak, and thus be heard.

--M.C.