In a big "no kidding" kind of headline, we're reading that the Giants may be in the market for relief help. And in related stories: water is wet, dinosaurs no longer roam the planet, and Donald Trump is a blow-hard.
And of course, right after the lead is the qualifier, with Team VP Brian Sabean telling MLB.com that he doesn't know how it will "shake out." Doesn't that sound a lot like "We don't have a plan?"
They certainly didn't in April. Recent comments to the media pretty much said it all, the Giants were "getting by" with the worst bullpen in baseball if you use blown saves as a barometer. That's when everything was clicking. Now the other elements of the team, whether due to injury or disappointing performances or a combination thereof, aren't able to make up for the glaring weakness the Giants now clearly knew they had but didn't address.
The core four is gone. Jeremy Affelt has returned and the bodies of Javier Lope and Santiago Casilla have done the same despite still drawing paychecks. Only Sergio Romo remains, and he's been decidedly one-sided an unreliable since losing his closer job to the equally-unreliable Casilla in 2013.
In their place have been the likes of Hunter Strickland, Josh Osich, Cory Gearrin; all cut from the same mold. Each was jettisoned by another organization because the the same issues they've experienced with the Giants. Each has greater MPH but only a passing familiarity with the strike zone along with a propensity to make the balls that do cross the plate travel in a peculiar pattern: straight.
Uh, straight pitches get ripped at this level, son.
Sabean made it clear the Giants are looking for an upgrade. Fine, but what's an upgrade? Right now Jim Brower and Matt Herges look pretty good by comparison. This is a team that though Ramon Ramirez was a big get in 2010.
Anyone got Dan Runzler's phone number?
While Sabean indicated he might move a guy with major league talent, something he's been loathe to do since the Carlos Beltran debacle in 2011, Sabean wasn't called the "master of the dry hump" in Moneyball without reason. He moves slowly, and other teams take advantage of the delay.
Any substantial move needs to be made before the Aug.,1 deadline, and the sooner the better with Los Angeles now just four games behind. But with the addition of a second Wildcard team there are more buyers than sellers, It would have been more prudent to address this early on, especially since the Giants admittedly knew there was an issue.
So who can they get: Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, etc? Don't bet on it. The flashy acquisition in July is costly, and someone else is always willing to pay more. Besides, and much as we've lamented the closer role, the failure runs deeper.
In our opinion, the Giants need multiple arms. Worse, we don;t believe it really matters who they lose in the process. The guys they have now are interchangeable, and not in a good way. We're not advocating a "makes moves to make moves" philosophy, and a Chapman or Miller (or even someone like Atlanta's returning Arodys Vizcaino makes sense) would be welcome, but this bullpen needs depth every bit as much as it needs a finisher. With the rotation struggling, and Jeff Samardzija now joining Matt Cain and Jake Peavy in the What Are We Gonna Get Tonight club, they ned a go-to guy they can go to before getting to their go-to guy. Got that?
The deadline is a shade over a week away. The team we see a week from Sunday may be vastly different that the one we have now; and in some respects it needs to be.
And of course, right after the lead is the qualifier, with Team VP Brian Sabean telling MLB.com that he doesn't know how it will "shake out." Doesn't that sound a lot like "We don't have a plan?"
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| Chapman |
In their place have been the likes of Hunter Strickland, Josh Osich, Cory Gearrin; all cut from the same mold. Each was jettisoned by another organization because the the same issues they've experienced with the Giants. Each has greater MPH but only a passing familiarity with the strike zone along with a propensity to make the balls that do cross the plate travel in a peculiar pattern: straight.
Uh, straight pitches get ripped at this level, son.
Sabean made it clear the Giants are looking for an upgrade. Fine, but what's an upgrade? Right now Jim Brower and Matt Herges look pretty good by comparison. This is a team that though Ramon Ramirez was a big get in 2010.
Anyone got Dan Runzler's phone number?
 |
| Vizcain0 |
Any substantial move needs to be made before the Aug.,1 deadline, and the sooner the better with Los Angeles now just four games behind. But with the addition of a second Wildcard team there are more buyers than sellers, It would have been more prudent to address this early on, especially since the Giants admittedly knew there was an issue.
So who can they get: Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, etc? Don't bet on it. The flashy acquisition in July is costly, and someone else is always willing to pay more. Besides, and much as we've lamented the closer role, the failure runs deeper.
In our opinion, the Giants need multiple arms. Worse, we don;t believe it really matters who they lose in the process. The guys they have now are interchangeable, and not in a good way. We're not advocating a "makes moves to make moves" philosophy, and a Chapman or Miller (or even someone like Atlanta's returning Arodys Vizcaino makes sense) would be welcome, but this bullpen needs depth every bit as much as it needs a finisher. With the rotation struggling, and Jeff Samardzija now joining Matt Cain and Jake Peavy in the What Are We Gonna Get Tonight club, they ned a go-to guy they can go to before getting to their go-to guy. Got that?
The deadline is a shade over a week away. The team we see a week from Sunday may be vastly different that the one we have now; and in some respects it needs to be.
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