Why does this sound familiar?

From the C.C.Times:

"The Giants didn't pull any players off the field or announce any deals Wednesday, but there were plenty of preoccupied minds on the eve of the non-waiver trade deadline.

The most substantive rumor had Rich Aurilia headed to the Minnesota Twins, who are looking for a third baseman. Twins scouts have followed the Giants in recent weeks, and according to ESPN's Jayson Stark, they are dangling former Giants No.1 pick Boof Bonser.

Told of the rumor, Aurilia laughed. "No, I heard I'm going to the Seibu Lions," he said.

The deadline is at 1 p.m. PDT today. After that time, players must clear waivers before they could be dealt. For a team that entered play 18 games under .500 Thursday, the Giants are an anomaly. None of their veteran players want to be traded to a contender. Catcher Bengie Molina said he even breathed a sigh of relief when the New York Yankees acquired Ivan Rodriguez from Detroit. Molina had been rumored to be a trade target of the Yankees, who would have reunited him with his brother, Jose.

"I'm where I want to be," Molina said.

Giants GM Brian Sabean spoke with his Dodgers counterpart, Ned Colletti, but there wasn't a match between the clubs. The Dodgers are desperate for a competent shortstop, yet it appears Omar Vizquel isn't going anywhere.

Sabean denied that infielder Jose Castillo was being showcased"

Boof Bosnar? How about Joe Nathan?! lol. You gotta love this, Sabes getting Boof back. The irony. Where would the Giants be today if they had kept Bosnar, Liriano and Nathan? The old rent-a-player karma. Other than that the fact that no veteran players want to leave speaks well of the leadership and direction this team is heading in. Some Giant fans are going to be getting their orange and black undies in a bind watching the Dodgers get Man Ram but they can have him. We've been there and done that. This team currently does not cow tow to the whims of a "superstar" and his ego. In fact, I'd encourage the Dodgers to sign Brett Favre while they are at it! Spend all you want L.A., I boldly predict right now, the Dodgers WILL NOT WIN THE WORLD SERIES and I'm not convinced they'll win this division. Signing Man Ram also means that crowded outfield will be seeing some changes. I say get rid of Matt Kemp. I can spot a Giant Killer a mile away so send him to Baltimore. Ethier also! Trade away your future as quickly as possible so that in a few years you'll be left with an aging squad with no power and........wait.....was I talking about the Giants?

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trade talk

From the Merc:
"The Giants brought their brain trust to Dodger Stadium. General Manager Brian Sabean, vice president Dick Tidrow and special assistant Felipe Alou watched the club from a broadcast booth.But there was little action on the trade front. And Thursday's deadline isn't a firm date for players such as infielder Rich Aurilia or outfielder Dave Roberts, who almost certainly would pass through waivers and could be traded in August.Published reports linked Bengie Molina with the Florida Marlins, but the Giants' stance on their veteran catcher hasn't changed. To a slightly lesser extent, the same is true for outfielder Randy Winn. The Giants would require a premium prospect who is close to major-league ready, and they don't plan to send cash in return.Winn has a limited no-trade clause and said team officials haven't brought any proposals to him.Molina has no such protection, but he hopes to stay in San Francisco. He even prefers staying to the rumored prospect of joining his brother, Jose, with the New York Yankees."The Giants committed to me, and I want to stay committed to them," said Molina, who also has been linked with the New York Mets. "I have a job to do here.""

To me this is a good sign. Sure the Giants aren't going anywhere but why sell the milk when you have the cow for free. Or, is it sell the cow? Whatever. The Giants are showing restraint for a change. They have served notice that contending teams will have to pay for Molina and Winn and thats the way it should be. The Giants are in a position to demand prospects, after all, teams wanting to beef up the bench or in Molina's case, stand in for injured catchers (Yankees, Marlins) will have to look at our guys who, despite a crappy team have provided some consistency, Molina at least. And Molina has proven he is a clutch guy. And if nobody takes them? These guys are standup guys that the younger guys can learn from. Keep your ManRam's. I'd rather have Fred Lewis learning from Winn any day!
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Fresno Grizzlie in the Clink

Fresno Grizzlies pitcher Julio Mateo was arrested in Albuquerque today after passing a counterfeit $100 bill to a cab driver who realized the money was fake. When contacted by FBI agents and BEFORE he was told what it was in regards to Mateo stated that he had not passed any funny money. Nice. Mateo signed with the Giants in January of 2008 after stints in Seattle and Philadelphia. No word on where the money came from but the fact that the cabbie spotted it impresses me! I wonder what gave it away?

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This Dude is Buffed!!!!!

I can't quite put my finger on it but theres something different about Alex Smith this year.....Seriously, Hulk Hogans kid has got a serious gun there. Sign him up and put em in the bullpen. The Giants could use him.

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Durham and more rumors

Well the fallout begins. ESPN's Keith Law considers Durham a useful addition for Milwaukee, albeit only offensively. He considers the prospects received by San Francisco to be "close to a zero return."
This shouldn't surprise Giant fans who long ago realized Brian Sabean is adept at renting players, but when it comes to building or rebuilding a squad, you'd have a better shot at wrestling a KitKat bar from Rosie O'Donnell. Of course getting anything for Durham after his crappy year last year might have been a tall order but what the Giants got basically was cap room. Even a straight swap for Weeks would have been an even swap and Weeks sucks! I'm curious to see what Winn brings or what the Giants settle for him. In the case of Durham I think the Giants should have settled for a player to be named later, this being Ray's last year on his contract and his history he would and will produce. MARK MY WORDS. As sure as theres a Starbucks next to Britneys house Ray will produce. In a perfect orange and black world Winn will bring SOMETHING back from, say, the Mets. A PROSPECT. Aurilia maybe a decent project type player and Dave Roberts......a vat of Icy Hot. The main goal is to get Shierholtz and the others up and figure out what to do with them. Borrow Billy Beanes "What to Expect When Your Restructuring" and go from there. The Giants have the pitching to build around and thank God Sabean,at least verbally, has made it clear the young arms are off limits. I've been rooting for Castillo to make the best of his chance but realistically the Giants need to focus on that position. Bring Velez up soon and give him a shot. If Bowker continues to improve I say let Velez have a cup of coffee. Obviously he's not quite ready but what do the Giants have to lose?
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Fire Sale !!!!

Well Ray Durham is gone and the Giants basically got a twelve pack of Keystone in return. Not Bud or Coors, Keystone. Whatever. Not sure exactly what Durham is worth but it does make room for Velez, Burriss or Frandsen when he returns. The youth movement begins. Finding someone to take Dave Roberts might be asking too much but Winn and Aurilia should get some higher prospects if there is a contending team needing help on the bench. Winn in particular would be a nice asset. Heres a portion of the article on the Giants website:

The Giants made it clear they'd be open to moving their other veterans, Rich Aurilia and Winn in particular, if suitable offers present themselves. Taschner, who was originally rumored to be part of the Milwaukee deal, has drawn substantial interest, too.

"We will be as active as we can," Sabean said. Regarding possibly obtaining a player who might help immediately as well as in the future: "You have to listen. You never know what is going to get thrown your way and that kind of a deal would be attractive."

No potential deal, though, would include any of the club's young pitchers, Sabean said. The Giants also have no interest in acquiring a "rent-a-player."

With this deal, San Francisco adds to its increasingly formidable farm system. Neither Triple-A Nashville lefty pitcher Steve Hammond nor Class A Brevard County center fielder Darren Ford are top prospects, but adding them while clearing salary made it easy for the Giants to pull the trigger.

In four starts at Triple-A, Hammond has struggled, allowing 14 runs in 17 innings. But the 26-year-old Vallejo native was decent at Double-A Huntsville, maintaining a 3.45 ERA in 88 2/3 innings.

Noted for his speed, Ford, 22, is the more heralded player. Baseball America rated him the fastest baserunner and the best defensive outfielder in the Brewers' Minor League organization. He has 48 stolen bases, currently second best in the Minors. Ford's offense is his downside -- he's batting just .230 with 88 strikeouts.

It's more than likely the players won't help the Giants this season. The significance of this trade, though, reverberates beyond 2008 -- it's another step towards rebuilding the club during what has been a bumpy beginning to the post-Barry Bonds era.

So Hammond won't help the bullpen and Ford can't hit. Nice. Nice going. When I imagine Brian Sabean building a team from scratch why does it make my schpincter itch? In other Giant news Bruce Bochy formally declared Taschner as the setup man comng in on the 7th inning, followed by Tyler Walker in the 8th and finally, in theory, Brian Wilson to close. Anyone see anything wrong with this? I guess I would feel a whole lot better if, say, the Rays came calling, needing a body, any body, for the starting rotation and we gave them Barry Zito! That would make my schpincter feel real good.

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Game OVER.....

Yabu out, Taschner in. Fielder hits a three run shot. Switching over to Walker, Texas Ranger.

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Game Thread 3.....

In whats sure to be filed in my "WTF" files, Yabu comes in, hits the batter, then gets pulled.....WTF?!

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Game Thread 2......

Wotus out to the mound. Cain done for the night. Ah the futility....

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Game Thread.....

Matt Cain pitches out of the inning leaving man on third. Thats strikeout #500 for Cain. Bochy got the boot. This game is pretty ugly. Umps really suck. Sabathia pitching pretty well and Cain is too but what have I been saying! The Giants couldn't score even if they were invited to a slumber party at the Spears' house. Cain will get....well, lets wait and see.

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Rumors out there....

"Chase Utley says he's paying attention to trade rumors that could affect the Phillies. “You want to know what the possibilities are out there,” Utley said Tuesday before playing in his third All-Star Game. “I know our organization wants to win, and if they can find a piece that will fit into our puzzle to give us a better chance, they'll do that.” The latest has the Phils hoping San Francisco, an NL West pretender, will shop 23-year-old right-hander Matt Cain. Word is the Giants might part with Cain, who is 5-7 with a 4.06 ERA in 20 starts, if offered an intriguing package of young talent.

I think this might be good but the Giants better get a buttload of young prospects. In a league where a solid young potentially dominant pitcher like Cain is available, then the Gigantes need to hold the high ground and use the Dallas Cowboy/Herschel Walker template and go for quality AND quantity. Especially when you trade with a team loaded like the Phils. Otherwise I say keep Cain. You've got potential Cy Young contenders at three starting pitching spots and some Buster Posey, Villawhateva and Gino Velez to name a few coming up soon. It's not time to sell the entire farm yet, just the old nags out in the pasture.

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About damn time!!!

Well Mr. Obvious must have finally had a sit down with Boch and Rags because it was announced that after the All Star Break the starting rotation will look like this:

Matt Cain is the ace, Sanchez is the #2 man, LinceStud is #3, Zito is #4 and Correia still stuck at 5.

If theres one thing I've been beating daily (besides THAT that is) it's that Zito needs to drop down. And Barry Zito will benefit the most from it. Don't go thinking Zito has finally got it together. He'll win more games going againts other teams #4 guys. Thats where he'll be able to give up those dingers and give the Giants the best shot at picking him back up. Trying to catch up when Zito gives up five runs against the Peavy's was not the winning strategy. This one makes sense. Of course now my man Matt Cain is back to being the Hard Luck Ace. His losses will pile up once again but eventually the Ace tag will fall on the "chosen one" himself. It's just a matter of time. Bruce Bochy says Lincecum doesn't need the stress on his arm after playing in the All Star game and I agree. The Gigantes are going nowhere this year. Cain is getting in a groove as of late and hopefully the offense can give him a shot at a win or two. Of course Zito has been looking a little better which, again, will help his cause. Whenever Lowry comes back and depending how he does....well, I'll save that blog for later. Look for the Giants to start moving players but while we possibly say goodbye to Aurilia, Durham, Winn and I wish Dave Roberts, the season will still be worth watching because of this starting rotation. Lincecum, Sanchez and Cain and pray for rain. The future is coming fast!!!

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BRING HIM UP FOR ZITO!!

More hope for the future:

Mike Loree must be wondering what a guy needs to do to get a win.
The 21-year-old right-hander struck out seven over seven perfect innings for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes on Friday, but the Yakima Bears rallied with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-1 victory.

Over 21 innings in his last four starts, Loree has retired a remarkable 62 of the 63 hitters he's faced. He has just one win to show for a stretch during which he has been close to unhittable.

"It's the most phenomenal pitching I've ever seen in my life," said Salem-Keizer manager Tom Trebelhorn, who has spent four decades in baseball as a player, coach and manager. "I don't know if anybody's ever pitched this good. I don't care if you're talking about the Northwest League, the Gulf Coast League or the Major Leagues.

"He has good command of his fastball, he pitches ahead in the count. If someone exposes a weakness, he exploits it. I don't know that anybody's ever pitched this good."

Loree's streak began June 25 when he retired the final two batters he faced against Tri-City, a 6-5 loss in which he got no decision. On June 30, he hurled six perfect frames to beat Eugene, 1-0. Five nights later, he retired the first 20 batters but surrendered a solo homer to Leonardo Reyes in a 4-1 loss to the Emeralds.

Selected by the Giants in the 50th and final round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, the Villanova product and New Jersey native retired the final Eugene hitter in that contest before carving up the Bears on Friday.

"He's been unhittable," Trebelhorn said. "Looking at his stuff, you wouldn't think he could pitch like that, but he's just been throwing strikes.

"I saw Luis Tiant throw two no-hitters in the Pacific Coast League and I saw Sam McDowell do the same. But I've never seen anything like this."



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White Flag is up?

Off the Chron.:

"The White Flag Trade has some relevance for the 2008 Giants because general manager Brian Sabean might move potential free agents such as Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham and Omar Vizquel, and perhaps some relief pitchers, for prospects in deals that could benefit the team for the future at the expense of winning a weak National League West. Foxsports.com reported Monday that the Brewers, whose farm system remains loaded even after the Sabathia deal, are interested in Durham and lefty Jack Taschner. Schueler, now a senior adviser to Sabean, believes the White Flag Deal not only helped the White Sox win their division in 2000, but set in motion a rebuilding of the farm system that his successor, Kenny Williams, used to help build the 2005 World Series championship team. Older potential free agents such as Aurilia, Vizquel and Durham probably would not attract prospects labeled as future stars, but even mid-level prospects could help. For the Giants to attract the kind of power hitter they desperately need, they probably would have to dig into their store of prospects."


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Still in shock...

Well, the Giants lost again and looked pretty sloppy in doing so.....but I'm still in shock Zito won yesterday!

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the winning formula!

Okay, let me preface this by saying I am a big Matt Cain guy. That said, Tim Lincecum needs to be the ace. There is no other way. If the Giants want to win, Timmy needs that spot. Heres why. Matt Cain would be the ace on most other staffs. He will be on all star but he needs to stay at number two. Cain vs. any no. 2 in the league works to our advantage. Sanchez will be a dominant no. 3 guy. The upside to him is huge once he shows some consistency the wins will pile up for him. Zito belongs at the 5 spot. Going against other number 5 pitchers will be more forgiving for him as the Giants will be able to afford giving up those runs as they will have an easier time getting them back. So now, what about #4? Well, I would be inclined to give Lowry a shot when he comes back and possibly Correia who is still a good pitcher. That brings me back to Lincecum. While he still has lots to learn, the kid already creates a buzz when he takes the mound. He has shown he can win those 1-0 games that so many times found Cain on the other end. Even the other teams are almost star struck when Lincecum pitches. At this stage he can afford a few losses while I'd like to see Cain get more wins. He's taken enough lumps. Of course there is that contract issue with Zito. A number five guy isn't supposed to make a gajillion dollars. (I rounded that figure up a bit). In any case the rotation needs tweaking. In a short series if the Gigantes were to, say, make the playoffs wouldn't you rather see a best of five with the Giants trotting out LinceCainchez? Whats the number to Sabes red phone???? Oh oh. It's busy. HE BETTER NOT BE ON THE PHONE WITH BOSTON!!!!!!

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