Giants Add Reliever

After deciding not to splurge on more expensive relief pitchers, the Giants signed veteran Scott Williamson to a minor-league contract. Williamson was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1999, when he saved 19 games with a 2.41 ERA for Cincinnati. Since leaving the Reds in 2003, he's bounced around a little, playing for the Red Sox, Cubs, Padres, and Orioles. He had a 4.40 ERA in 16 games in Baltimore last year. Seems like a pretty low-risk move. Williamson joins an already crowded bullpen, consisting of right-handers Brian Wilson, TylerWalker, Brad Hennessey, Vinnie Chulk, and Randy Messenger. He can still strike guys out (16 Ks in 14.1 IP last year), so he could turn into a decent set-up option.

Fake Tales of San Francisco

Judging from these photos from FanFest, Tim Lincecum is not only going to show up at Spring Training with a new pitch, but with a little more hair as well.


Maybe it's just me, but with his new look, the much-hyped Giants pitcher seems to bear a striking resemblance to Alex Turner, the singer of the much-hyped British band Arctic Monkeys.
Expect the Tim Lincecum backlash to start very soon.

Lessons Learned From Fanfest 2008

It was a beautiful summer's day in San Francisco (in February) - perfect to attend KNBR's annual San Francisco Giants GeekFanfest ... whixh is how I decided to spend my yesterday. After getting my haircut, I headed over to AT&T Park in hopes of meeting my hero Barry Zito, as well as to get a feel for the Bonds-less 2008 Giants.

I started by just wandering through the stadium. There were players signing autographs, but the prospect of waiting upwards of an hour to meet Jack Taschner and Nate Schierholtz wasn't all that enticing.

The field is all tore up - as you can see - from a recent motorcross tournament, but the stadium still felt like home. Mostly I found myself stationed behind home plate, listening to the live KNBR broadcast that included interviews with Tim Lincecum, Rich Aurilla, Jon Miller, Duane Kuiper and Randy Winn.


What I learned is that everyone is really excited about this new pitch Lincecum will be adding to his repertoire. Also, Miller has been learning about the OPS stat and informed the crowd that Aaron Rowand's was exceptionally high last year. In more frivolous news, Gary Radnich considers Aurilla to be the best looking guy on the team this year.

Hitting up the concession stands, I realized that as much as I miss baseball in the off-season, I really miss garlic fries. It would appear I was not the only one.

Even though the Giants have said goodbye to the "Barry Bonds Era," they have not said goodbye to the "Barry Bonds 756 Merchandise Era." They're still milking the hell out of those t-shirts and pennants. While I shopped around for merch, I found myself tempted by the $20 mystery grab which seemed to include a DVD and bobblehead amongst other paraphernalia. I actually had my wallet out and was ready to ask for one when I heard a recent purchaser say, "Look, a Matt Morris bobblehead." A Matt Morris bobblehead! This is how you treat loyal fans who are sticking through the steroid saga, the lack of exciting offseason deals, and this recent cockfighting controversy. You repay us with Matt Morris bobbleheads concealed in paper bags that sell for $20. I love you, Giants, but you are starting to make it very hard to.

So, no Zito sightings in my time there, though it appears he was there. The closest I came was this dude in a Zito shirt.


Time to get excited again, Giants fans!

Another Lefty On the Move

Ending weeks of speculation, the Mariners and Orioles today finalized a deal sending lefty Erik Bedard to Seattle for five prospects, most notably outfielder Adam Jones. Bedard was probably the best pitcher in the American League for the first five months of last season, until an injury sidelined him for September. He went 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA and 221 strikeouts in just 182 innings. The deal gives the Mariners a very solid 1-2 punch with Bedard and Felix Hernandez. Expect them to challenge the Angels for the division title. The Orioles are clearly in rebuilding mode. They may be the worst team in baseball next year, but they got a very good young outfielder in Jones to go along with Nick Markakis.

Will Cain's Luck Change?

Buster Olney's blog today features several scouting reports about none other than Matt Cain. There is near universal praise for Cain's stuff, but as I read, I noticed another common theme.

- "He could be a No. 1-No. 2 type of starter, but it'll be interesting to see what that environment in San Francisco does to him, with all that losing."

- "Even though he benefits from the friendly confines of San Fran's park, his lack of run support may be a problem this season."

- "He's been a hard-luck pitcher."

- "He's an absolute workhorse, and the problem is, he seems to always be pitching in games when the score is 0-0 or 1-1."

The Giants offense was bad last year, and will likely be worse this year, but what happened to Cain was a total fluke. I did a little research and found that all other Giants starters had a combined record of 44-42. The four pitchers who will likely join Cain in the rotation in 2008 - Barry Zito, Tim Lincecum, Noah Lowry, and Kevin Correia - were 35-27. Cain's problems last year went beyond poor run support. He was far superior to both Lowry and Zito, who had 14 and 11 wins, respectively. Cain may not be a 20-game winner, but I find it hard to believe he will suffer the same kind of shitty luck. This possibility combined with the hope of a better bullpen gives me some reason to believe the Giants will not be 100-game losers in 2008.

Is This Really Necessary?

Fox Sports' Dayn Perry runs down the worst players at every position, including three Giants in Ray Durham, Omar Vizquel, and Rich Aurilia. I'm not that familiar with Perry, but word on the street seems to be that he is a notorious Giants hater. First off, maybe he would be right about Aurilia, if he actually were the starting third baseman. That job currently belongs to Kevin Frandsen, and within the next few weeks, likely Joe Crede. Second base is a tough call, and Durham certainly had a terrible year last year. But it's hard to justify calling him the worst second baseman in baseball after just one year, especially when he had a career year in 2006. There's also no guarantee Durham will be the opening day second baseman, especially if the Giants acquire Crede. Lastly, while Omar Vizquel may not be the gold glover he used to be, he still plays well above average defense. I can understand making a list of the best players by position, but this just seems like a dumb idea.

Santana Traded to Mets

After months of back-and-forth negotiations, the Twins traded two-time Cy Young winner Johan Santana to the Mets for four prospects, most notably outfielder Carlos Gomez. At one point it seemed certain Santana would be traded to the Yankees. At another point, the Red Sox seemed to have a deal ready. It seems to me the Twins should have taken one of those deals when it was on the table, instead of pushing for more. The Yankees were prepared to part with Phil Hughes, while the Red Sox were willing to give up Jon Lester or Jacoby Ellsbury.

This deal makes the Mets clear frontrunners in the National League East. New York has been seeking an ace starting pitcher for the last couple years. Santana now leads a solid staff including Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Orlando Hernandez. The prospect of Santana pitching against weak NL lineups is a scary one. The bullpen remains a big question mark, but the Mets have finally done something to make fans forget about their historic season-ending collapse. They could be very good in 2008.