Results tagged ‘ Andres Torres ’

Lineups Posted: Cliff Lee comes back, Delmon Young’s in RF, WS highlights ready to go

Cliff Lee has been a stellar pitcher for many years, and he was the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae that was the “Those pitchers the Giants will face aren’t going to lose to them,” and we all remember what went down. Or do we?

Yes, yes we do. That run really was something else. Lee certainly is more than the 2010 World Series though, and he’ll look to remind the Champs tonight at AT&T.

Anywho, the lineups for today’s Phils-Giants game. Remember when they had those “Four Aces” and people wanted to tab that rotation as something unstoppable? Times sure have changed for the Fightins. The visitors will bring this out:

Delmon Young is playing Right Field tonight, which kind of reminds me of a certain play by him in LF in a certain postseason series…

The Champs, winners of six a row, bring out an Angel Pagan-less lineup:

I’m really not a big fan of the “you’re fast, so you lead off” thing that managers fall in love with, especially for a guy in Andres Torres, whom only has a better OBP than Brandon Belt right now (.306-.283). Not saying you should bat team leader Buster Posey first, but you do have other guys on the roster I’d be better with and have Torres at 7th or 8th in the lineup.

Here’s what Cliff Lee’s pitch usage looks like for the 2013 season:

Screen shot 2013-05-06 at 3.18.41 PM

Fastball-slider-curve to LHH, and then adds the change for the RHH, with a lot of confidence in each of his pitches in nearly any situation but that curveball in batter ahead scenarios. Clifton Phifer Lee has gone at least six innings in all but one of his starts this year, although the offense has already given him two starts of zero run support.

Meanwhile, at the farm:

Screen shot 2013-05-06 at 3.18.31 PM

Madison Bumgarner really likes to establish his dominance with that two-seamer, and hitters have to be ready for the curveball, cutter, or even the change in addition to that fastball when Bumgarner gets ahead. Like Clifton, Madison K. has gone at least six innings in all but one start, but the run support has always been between 2-4 runs for him.

Game time is at 7:15PM PST as the Giants begin their homestand against the Phils, then the Braves of the NL East.

Lineups Posted: #SFGiants look to avoid getting swept, lose five in a row

Last night was a nightmare for Andres Torres and his fans after he whiffed on a soft line drive to him in the 4th inning, Barry Zito couldn’t get back on track, and the Padres were leading the Giants 6-5, putting up that many runs in that fourth inning. Painful, so very painful, and that doesn’t even include the grounder to Marco Scutaro that you’d expect would have started a 4-6-3 sending the game to the 13th inning. This leaves us wondering why Gregor Blanco never played last night, how long Torres stays with the big club, and some calling for Casper Wells to be had by the Giants after he was DFA’d by the Athletics. Thank goodness Jean Machi was able to throw 3 innings last night to save Sergio Romo or Jose Mijares from doing more work than they needed to, but certainly Ryan Vogelsong will probably be given a little bit longer of a rope today, even though the bullpen is still relatively well rested.

The lineup for the visitors:

Giants fans everywhere relieved to see Gregor Blanco in the lineup even though it’s a righty on the mound and he should be in the lineup.

How it lines up for the home team looking to sweep:

You will probably hear a bit about how pitcher Jason Marquis has a 2.94 career ERA against the Giants that goes all the way back to 2001. He had a 2.03 ERA against them last year in 13.1 IP, so you might hear the word “ownage” tossed around on the broadcast. Neither Ryan Vogelsong or Padres starter Jason Marquis have faced the Giants this year, although Vogelsong got to see the Padres four times last year and in 22.0 IP he sported a 2.05 ERA, 21 K’s, 6 BB, but we’re still kind of wondering what Vogey we’re getting this year after some inconsistencies and bad luck hurt his box score. Vogelsong has lasted seven innings in each of his last two starts. I’m sure the Giants would be more than happy with that, especially as they get ready to go to Phoenix to play the Diamondbacks on Monday for a three-game set there.

Looking at the four game losing streak, people are going to have questions for certain stats that are pretty telling for why a team lost a game. The stats for each game of the stretch:

Errors: 3 (Crawford, Sandoval, Belt), 1 (Scutaro), 0, 2 (Torres, Scutaro)

Team LOB: 7, 10, 6, 5

RISP: 2-for-9, 0-for-10, 0-for-5, 3-for-7

The Giants have also scored first in three straight games, but haven’t been able to hold on, so like Scutaro was saying yesterday, the team is having trouble getting the offense, defense, and pitching in sync right now, and I’d say that’s a fair analysis, although plenty of positive signs with the bats yesterday. Hopefully that continues today against Marquis and the Padres.

Game time is 1:10PM PST, MLB.tv is having a free preview day, so as long as you’re not in the respective team’s markets, you should be able to catch the game for free today.

Lots of Future in MLB settling in, but for #SFGiants, their “Future” is very much now

With Spring Training happening now, prospect lists are coming out, from Baseball America and MLB most notably, fans start to compare farm systems and search within themselves how much that farm system matters to how they feel about their team. If you’re the Cardinals, you take pride in knowing the club you have at the major league level is of very good quality, and your farm provides plenty of promise. If you’re the Padres, you hold out hope for the future, because your farm has been good for some time while fans in San Diego have been left with a 2010 rush but not much else recently. If you’re a fan of the Giants, you’ve been given proof in postseasons and parades that the team at the major league level is worthy of being taken seriously, while the system may not be as top-heavy as it has been in the past, so you wonder how long the current MLB club can hold on until you will need reinforcements from the farm, not just on journeymen AAAA players.

While many of the Top 10 prospects of national lists have an estimated time of arrival in 2013, the MLB should expect to see plenty of new, highly-touted arms and bats before the end of the season, we’re not sure who from the Top 10 lists (or really any list) of San Francisco Giants minor leaguers that haven’t had their shot will crack the 2013 rosters AND be a useful piece.

The Outfield

Sure, Francisco Peguero could be useful here and there if one of the corner outfielders find the disabled list, but I haven’t seen a recent report that suggests he has the profile for an everyday spot. Gary Brown, the former number one prospect of the Giants could be that guy, especially with his strong second half he put up in Double-A Richmond. Roger Kieschnick‘s name got whispered last year by some fans, and he’s on the 40-man.

The Infield

Conor Gillaspie has 48 PA across three different seasons, and you just hope he’ll be a good backup when the time comes, and you hope the same for the featured Fanfest kid Nick Noonan. All we’ve heard about Kensuke Tanaka is from Marty and his “Japanese feet.” Brock Bond has a cool name. That’s pretty much it when it comes to Giants prospects and who makes their living on the dirt.

The Rotation

The big names are all years away, although Chris Heston could be of use if one of the five go down. If he’s no good, then the Giants will probably draw from the AAA well, none of the others being prospects, mmmmaybe before checking in on Michael Kickham. Eric Surkamp is the wild card in all this, who says he’ll start resuming activities in July. Keep all this in mind as you consider whose contracts and service time with the Champs could be coming to a close after 2013.

The Bullpen

If there’s anything we’ve seen with Sabean in the last few years, it’s that he’s got this, and this year he may not have to even trade any fringe major leaguers to shore up the ‘pen. Prospect Heath Hembree, still thought by Jonathan Mayo to be a potential closer, could start the year in Fresno and then force the issue after the first month of the season if someone in the bullpen goes down or gets consistently lit up. Perhaps Bochy sees that the front office calls up son Bret Bochy. Jason Martinez of MLBDepthCharts (who also wrote a “window of opportunity” article for ESPN that you should read) also has minor leaguers Jake Dunning and Fabio Castillo as other names to watch that haven’t had a taste of the Major League coffee yet.

Whose Swan Song Might 2013 Be

The Giants have about $70MM of their nearly $140MM budget committed to their rotation this year, but this could be the last year San Francisco pays to have two guys in Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito on their roster. Unless Ryan Vogelsong magically disappears this year, his $6.5MM option will be picked up, and the Giants will still be left wondering who to fill in to the 4th and 5th spots of the rotation with Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner still leading a formidable 1-2 punch out of the gates. Do they commit the money that comes off the books to pitching? Posey? (<–the right answer. your argument is invalid.) Other offense?

The Giants got Hunter Pence for his bat, but his price tag is also very high, but one wonders how much it goes down if he continues what he did as a Giant in the regular season in 2013. If it doesn’t, though, do the Giants put out? Andres Torres, Javier Lopez, and Jose Mijares might also be tipping their caps to SF when the last game ends.

The Future is, and has been, now

Since the Giants have had a stable of young arms (plus Zito), people wondered what would happen if a team drew San Francisco in a best-of-series. 2010 was pretty much what some thought could happen, even if it did with a group of misfits. 2012 was a different set of happenings because the Giants went from three guys they could rely on with Jonathan Sanchez either walking everyone or finding his release point in ’10 to now in three guys and omg what about Lincecum and Zito? Still though, if you have a good to great rotation, and a strong top three for the playoffs, life might not be so bad for you (part of the reason why teams like the Nationals and Tigers should scare you). After this year, the questions arise: Who will be that #4? #5? Who will pick up the offense for an aging Marco Scutaro? (I’m pretty certain he isn’t going to be hitting what he did from acquisition & playoffs throughout his contract time.) Can Gary Brown be an answer?

This doesn’t mean that this is the very last year the Giants will compete in forever, but I believe if Lincecum is let go (which could be the right move in the long-term), and another offensive piece is not found/brought on, 2014 will be a difficult year with some of the top prospects starting to knock on the door for 2015. Therefore, if any big injuries happen to the rotation, or to the offense in 2013, Giants fans could find themselves grumbling for a couple of years before they can realistically start dreaming of parades again. Hopefully, health will be on their side, and everyone’s side, for that matter.

Selective Perception could make you think 2010 and 2013 #SFGiants are the same

The job-less life leaves me to do whatever I want, when I want. Naturally, I’ve set up a routine to do the things I want to do, when I want to do them. I’m in a phase now where I exercise at the same time cable television decides to air their Japanese TV dramas, because where else am I going to get my language practice these days (put your hand down, internet). So today, after my usual set of things, I assume nothing happened in baseball, and especially nothing with the Giants when all of a sudden:

Of course he did. Re-live the old glory, maybe he’ll get a 2012 WS ring for being a part of the Pagan trade. Speaking of…

Ha! Take THAT Sandy Alderson. Now the Giants have Angel Pagan for 4/40, Andres Torres for a year and $2MM, and now a non-major league deal for Ramon Ramirez, what do you got to sa–you know what, let’s move on. I don’t need you mentioning anything else from here about what you hav–

ISAIDSTOP! Always with the Wheeler wheminders.

Nineteen pitchers and twenty-three offensive guys threw pitches or had at bats for the Giants in 2010, so with the gang “all back together,” you might be wondering how many 2010 guys are still sporting some black and orange. Assuming we answer that using Jason Martinez’s projected 25-man roster for the 2013 Gigantes, the answer is twelve. Twelve out of the forty-two 2010 players are still there for a whopping 28.6%, with nine of them coming from the pitching side of things. Can’t remember which starter from 2010 still isn’t there anymore? Shame on you:

So, while there may be a sizable minority in terms of bodies (I didn’t calculate in terms of games played or innings pitched), I guess as long as there are guys like Buster Posey, Matt Cain, and Pablo Sandoval around, there will always be a little 2010 in the SFG, no matter the year. In the February 2013 squad though, you should definitely be seeing more 2012 than 2010, and that’s not the worst thing in the world.

Everybody’s Favorite Gentleman is Coming Back

CSN’s Andrew Baggarly with the breaking news to start off your Thursday:

Screen shot 2012-12-13 at 7.38.35 AM

The stories of Andres Torres are well known by now, of him being an incredibly hard working, and just as sweet of a man, so you can understand why everyone is pulling for him. After a magical .358 wOBA, 6.9 fWAR season in 2010, Torres couldn’t repeat the magic, going .292, .297 and 2.2, 1.7 in wOBA and fWAR in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Andres is a speed guy and will be on the bench possibly platooning with Gregor Blanco, or being a defensive replacement, getting his pinch hitting opportunities as the season goes on. He was traded in the 2011-2012 offseason with Ramon Ramirez for current CF Angel Pagan and cash considerations, so in the end, the Giants traded one year of Ramon Ramirez for Angel Pagan, cash, and a one year loan of Andres Torres. Nice.

Update: He will make $2MM this year and has signed a Major League deal, per Baggs. 

I’m guessing this for sure will put Francisco Peguero back in Triple-A Fresno, while the Giants could continue to search for a RHH bat to come off the bench to maybe find a better option than the lighter hitting Torres. There have been whispers of Brandon Belt playing LF when Buster Posey plays 1B, so if that were true, the Giants would be done shopping for their MLB OF. 

As for wondering how you should feel about this move? As for me, I am happy, from both a baseball, and personal level.

The Seven Best #SFGiants Moves for the 2012 Season

To celebrate the seventh World Series title by the Giants — five happening in New York and two now in The City by the Bay — I thought we’d look at the best seven moves before and within the 2012 baseball season. You’ll probably have your own list, the rankings being a little different than mine, perhaps. I’ll start backwards from the honorable mentions, then from number seven and move on to what I see as move number one.

Honorable Mention (in no particular order)

Skipping Madison Bumgarner’s NLCS start

Chris Stewart for George Kontos

Jose Mijares pickup

Finally giving Belt a chance

“Closer by committee”

Extending control of Matt Cain

——————

#7 — The Spring Training Invites

Namely, that of Gregor Blanco and Joaquin Arias, two guys that were merely names on a roster for those of us looking at the invitees, and admittedly, not taking them very seriously. This team would not have been the same though without these guys in 2012. Gregor Blanco replacing Melky Cabrera, Joaquin Arias being a decent replacement for when Pablo was out and Crawford was struggling. Both of these guys also have highlights where they have been immortalized into Matt Cain’s perfect game: Gregor Blanco’s diving catch which not many other people make, and Joaquin Arias fielding the final out with that shuffle to his right and then gunning it over to Belt for the end of that wonderful game.

#6 — Jonathan Sanchez for Melky Cabrera

So Melky Cabrera wasn’t a part of the last third of the baseball season, but maybe more importantly Jonathan Sanchez was not a part of the Giants rotation this season. How long would the Giants have put up with Dirty in the rotation or in the bullpen before possibly dumping him for nothing? Jonathan Sanchez became the problem of the Royals, then the Rockies. It wouldn’t be fair to say Dirty’s horrible performances for both squads would have been exactly the same for the Giants, but some had a feeling the intangibles would start to catch up with him. He will always have his part in 2010 lore, but like our next subject was for his old team, it was time for Jonathan Sanchez to go.

#5 — Ramon Ramirez and Andres Torres for Angel Pagan and cash considerations

Angel Pagan had worn out his welcome in New York, and to give them two 2010 heroes for someone they wanted out seemed like a fair deal for both squads. Angel Pagan with his sometimes odd routes to the ball, had his contract year, and Andres Torres played like 2011 Andres with Ramon Ramirez being much less effective than during his time with his previous three clubs. Sometimes a change of scenery can do good for a player, and for Angel Pagan, I think it’s fair to say it worked out here.

#4 — Setting of the 25-man roster at the beginning, and the end of the regular season

People worried at both the beginning and end of the season that the rosters would not utilize all the talent an MLB roster had to offer, and the Giants much to the relief of bloggers, felt the same way we did in who was the best 25. There was a feeling that the best 25 were on the roster when all was said and done at both the beginning and end of the season, with the only question mark being Melky Cabrera. If we had it my way (boy that sounds snobby), Melky would’ve been on the bench at the very least, but I’m not going to go on a criticizing spree since everything worked out.

#3 — Signing Ryan Vogelsong to an affordable 2-year contract with a 3rd year option

Two years and eight million, with a $6.5MM option for a third year to the deal or a $300K buyout for Vogey. Taking a gamble on the Rally Enchiladas has been good since 2011, and if he keeps this up, he will be an even bigger steal of a pitcher. Here are some names that had worse ERA and FIP than Ryan Vogelsong in 2012: Tim Hudson, C.J. Wilson, Yovani Gallardo, and Edwin Jackson to name a few. All four are names you’d rather not go up against, and all four are getting Paid. I guarantee Ryan Vogelsong would cost more than $5MM for 2013 if the Giants had only gone one year on him going into 2012.

#2 — Putting Tim Lincecum in the bullpen

This could be a potentially ground-breaking move for the Giants, since Timmy could not really find his stuff in 2012 but in the Postseason all of a sudden the Cy came back. The Giants unfortunately really don’t have a candidate in-house to take Timmy’s spot in the rotation right away and $22.25MM is a lot to pay for a super-reliever, but if that’s what it takes to get him back, I believe he can still have incredible value easily leading the league in games appeared.

#1 — Charlie Culberson for Marco Scutaro

Sure Jonathan Mayo loves Culberson, but most people don’t love him enough to say he will definitely be the everyday infielder for the Giants, and thus, Sabean and co. made what ended up being the trade of 2012. Dodger fans mocked the deal, thinking that Sabean reacted to the Dodgers making a blockbuster trade of their own. You don’t just do trades to do them, the Giants clearly had a hole at 2B, and Scutaro was one of those “lightning in a bottle” candidates for the Giants. For now, the crow on the plates of Dodger fans in their mouths is hot and fresh, and “Blockbuster” helped carry the Giants to their second title in three years.

Sorry I couldn’t put this in slideshow format if that’s your thing. Feel free to put your top 7 in the comments or tell me on the twitter or FB or whatever!

Series Preview: #Mets (49-53) vs. #SFGiants (55-46)

Old friend Andres Torres has been getting warmed up with the bat just in time for his AT&T homecoming

I shouldn’t need to remind you about the weekend that was, and Ryan Vogelsong even is suggesting the Giants should play a little angry, which I agree would work better than playing defeated, which is what they looked like in the last halves of the last two games they played. Not lost though on Giants fans will be the homecoming of RHP Ramon Ramirez and all-around nice guy OF Andres Torres, whom everybody was sad to see go from a personality perspective. From a baseball player perspective, I thought it was time to move on and agreed with Sabean’s move for Pagan. The ovation fans give to Torres today in the 1st inning should be nothing less than moving. After all the tears though, the Giants need to get into a winning-the-series mindset with their rivals to the South in a hey-this-winning-thing-isn’t-that-difficult thinking. The Mets have 3 SP on the DL (Johan Santana, Dillon Gee, Mike Pelfrey), which is why you might see guys with not that many IP under their belt this year.

Monday, July 30th: RHP Jeremy Hefner vs. LHP Madison Bumgarner

One sentence summary: Hefner just put in 6 against Washington for his first start since June 6th and struck out 7 while only seeing 2 Nationals crossing the plate while he was out there, giving his team a very real chance for victory.

Tuesday, July 31st: RHP Matt Harvey vs. RHP Tim Lincecum

One sentence summary: Matt Harvey baffled the DBacks hitters, and hopefully the Giants have seen the video on this guy, especially since the adrenaline for Harvey shouldn’t be there as much as it was for his MLB debut.

Wednesday, August 1st: LHP Jon Niese vs. RHP Matt Cain

One sentence summary: The only other healthy Mets SP with over 100 IP (R.A. Dickey the other) has had a rough July with these ER per each start in that month: 7 (CHI), 1 (WSH), 3 (LAD), 6 (AZ).

Thursday, August 2nd: RHP Chris Young vs. LHP Barry Zito

One sentence summary: If you’re excited to see these two pitchers duke it out, you’re the only one.

How about some offense?

The Mets as you might remember, were hanging around the top half of the NL East for a while, but then injuries and regression set in and here they are at four games under. Interesting to note that some of their colder guys for the season are the ones that are doing their best to carry the team. Ike Davis (.484 wOBA & 6 HR Last 7 days, .305 wOBA & 20 HR overall) is the scariest bat right now, and Andres Torres is even doing his part (.403 wOBA & 21.7 BB% L7, .303 wOBA & 14.4 BB% overall). It wouldn’t be right if a Hairston wasn’t doing well, and Scott has a little somethin-somethin going (.403 wOBA L7, .349 wOBA overall) and as you see, is actually having a pretty decent season as well. They have four guys with double digit HRs — Ike Davis (20), David Wright (16), Scott Hairston and Lucas Duda (12), but only two guys with double digit SBs in David Wright (11) and Andres Torres (10). David Wright also had a crazy high BABIP and AVG to start the year off but has predictably fallen and now stands at .332 and .365, respectively. Oh by the way, the Mets are also 2-8 in their last 10 games.

The Giants however are a remarkably better 4-6 in their last 10, with an offense that got shut out in two straight games, in case you hadn’t heard. To nobody’s surprise, the Giants only have one guy with a wOBA over .350 in their last seven days, and two above .300 — this is the time where you incorrectly guess the two: Buster Posey (.385, .374 wOBA overall), and Brandon Belt (.336, .318 wOBA overall). I would’ve got half the answer wrong, too, don’t worry. The Mets may be just the trick to awaken the Giants bats with their being prone to being lit up, or you know, this could be where the Mets get closer to .500 due to facing a cold set of bats. This should be a series the Giants can at least split, but science says that if the Giants continue to score 0 runs for their pitching, they will not win any games. You’re welcome for that hard-hitting analysis.

Series Prediction

Monday: Giants win (While fans shed tears for Andres Torres, Mets shed tears watching their hitters get beat by Bumgarner)

Tuesday: Giants win (Harvey’s 2nd start goes nothing like his 1st; Giants only add a reliever before the deadline)

Wednesday: Giants win (Closest game of the series shows the fans something can bounce their way)

Thursday: Mets win (Zito-Whiteside connection doesn’t work)

I’m an optimist, I know.

Andres Torres: The #Mets Pretty Good 5th OF

Teams all want OF depth in their system. What’s great about the game is we all have our own opinions on different athletes. Andres Torres is an interesting case. I don’t need to tell you his story, because you know it. But Jon Heyman took a break from talking about the line at Delta to talking Torres, the nicest guy in the history of nice:

To which big man Dave Cameron of Fangraphs quickly responded:

So I thought that I would look around a little bit for some stats from 2009-2011 about Andres Torres and how he compares to the rest of the league, mostly because that’s what Mr. Cameron did in a later tweet. Here’s how Andres ranks in the last 3 years:

wRC+ — tied for 34th at 113

WAR — 19th at 11.1

Fangraphs’ Fld metric — 4th at 39.7

wOBA — tied for 40th at .342

ISO — 36th at .184

SLG% — tied for 45th at .436

OBP — 60th at .332

SB — 33rd at 51 total

I’m not saying Andres Torres is an All-Star, and these stats don’t suggest that either. I’m not saying he has to start for you — we all saw 2011. But 5th OF? Come on, Heyman.

Is the Offense in the OF Better At All? #SFGiants

Going through my Twitter feed tonight and it’s not like tonight was unlike any other night — people calling Pujols a “traitor,” with talk of CJ Wilson nowhere to be found — but there was a thought put out that the Giants offense going into 2012 isn’t going to be any better. Immediately I thought of it as just more whining but then I wondered if I could see using 2011 numbers what we can possibly forecast to determine how much better, worse or the same the offense could be in 2012. It’s December 8th right now and the season doesn’t even start for another 4 months. Minus Aubrey Huff, here are the people that played the OF for the Giants as well as the two new additions to the OF. I’ll let you sink some of this in:

*There is no average for wRC+ listed since I was noticing inaccuracies with AVG and OBP and I decided I only wanted to keep the number of stats I could butcher at 2 at the most. Those numbers put together and averaged is 96, but I don’t know how accurate that is.

Keep in mind that Pagan is probably now the top of the order guy. He also stole 32 bags last year, which is 15 less than that group did in 2011 (Andres had 19 of them). I did recalculate the average Batting Averages and On Base Percentages so it’s possible the SLG and wOBA for the group might be off by a little bit. What’s notable is the two newbies don’t walk all that much, which might be OK for Melky, but Pagan will need to step that up especially since his OBP is right in line with what the OF was doing in 2011. His OBP was worse than Cody’s and for some reason it seemed to me like he was never getting on. Both of them strike out much less though, which is a very welcome sight after watching Rowand and Torres just get murdered out there (and as the numbers show, so did Burrell, Belt and Ross).

Going into 2012 this list will be without the names of Ford, Beltran, Burrell, Rowand, Torres and Ross and hopefully at the end of 2012 when you look up “Giants OF” Brandon Belt’s name doesn’t show up alongside with it. The big name of the group though is Beltran who had the biggest offensive impact and it is a shame the Giants won’t be able to scoop him up this offseason with the acquisitions of Cabrera and Pagan. Without Carlos’ contributions all the averages look pretty gross and so it’s easy to say that the 2012 Giants will be better than the 2011 pre-Beltran Giants. Of course, all this assuming the Giants don’t get hit with the DL bug as bad as they did last season.

But what about the 2011 with-Beltran Giants? I’d say they’re a little better because you have someone that can get on base more in Pagan, someone that can protect Posey and Panda in Cabrera and you have a Baby Giraffe that has grown up more and hopefully won’t get the lights abused out of him this year. It’ll be interesting to see how things will be different, but I’m comfortable with saying and hopeful that the group in 2012 will be better than the groups put out in 2011.

So long, Andres. So long, Ramon. Welcome, Angel. #SFGiants

Andres celebrating. His career at the apex.

This is what I said about Andres Torres earlier today:

Apparently the Front Office thought so, too. In 2011 he wasn’t 2010 Andres Torres. Instead, he regressed to what clubs expected out of Andres Torres: .221/.312/.330 when given the nearly 400 PA he was given. Speculation of his medication not being as effective or whatever it may have been abounded. But we all knew he was a good guy. He was working his ass off. He’d be pumping iron after games, whether it was an 0-for-4 or the rarer 4-for-4 that he had after a game. He was a hard worker, the guy not just Giants fans, but human beings in general love to watch succeed. His bat couldn’t stay with him from 2010, and he will join the New York Mets. Look, he may not break any records there, but the clubhouse will love him. What a classy guy. I will miss him.

The only thing missing here is Eli Whiteside

You know, this might be the thing I remember most about Ramon Ramirez. It might not be, but it might. His plunking of the scary-eyed Shane Victorino. Ramon from what Kruk and Kuip talked about was a good guy and a family man and I had no reason to speculate otherwise and he did a good job for the Giants. In 25 G for the Giants in the regular season in 2010 he had a 0.67 ERA. That’s nuts. I don’t care if you hate ERA, that’s a superb number. He did have a 8.7 K/9 and 66 K’s in 66 G which were quite good for his career line so the Giants did sell high on him. He was a good guy. I will miss how good he was.

The most interesting name in the world

This is who they traded for: CF Angel Pagan of the New York Mets. There is an article that talks about how him and Andres were nearly included in the deal that sent Beltran to SF but gosh that could be saved for the Winter Meetings gosh darnit. For whatever reason, this guy went sub-Mendoza in April and July and had most of his ABs in the 1st and 5th spots even though it was noted by some that he doesn’t like batting leadoff. Since he has 32 SBs in 2011, that’s kind of important because well sir, YOU HAVE LEADOFF SPEED. NOW EMBRACE IT AND STOP WHINING. The last thing the Giants need is a clubhouse cancer especially after dealing with losers like Rowand and Tejada. I don’t care to look up more stats on him mostly because of my mourning but he could be OK out there for us. Oh, what’s that? 10 E in CF 2nd only to Chris Young? And he’s moving to AT&T Park? Ah, crap.

But you know, April 19th-21st when the Giants go to New York will have a different meaning for Giants fans. And so will July 30th-August 2nd when they play at home. If Andres is still with the Mets then, he will get a standing ovation from the fans. And rightly so. Ramon Ramirez, too, but Andres’ will be louder. And longer. Like the bat Andres wields. We’ll miss you, Andres Torres. Ramon Ramirez, you too. Can’t wait to stand and applaud my admiration for your contributions soon.

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