Not big on the Giants this year. This is actually a post (a rather sarcastic one) about why the Giants won't be good... the first part was saying Matt Cain wasn't a stud like some believe... Made this yesterday in the baseball forum.
"If he pitched anywhere else he'd be labeled a stud? The guy pitches in a pitchers park against the weakest hitting division in baseball. He's obviously an above average starter and a very nice #2 (who I complimented in a recent thread) but the guy still has work to do. He's a flyball pitcher who has most of his games in some of the biggest parks in the league... That helps his stats a ton. He has a great ceiling but still has command issues and his pitch counts are always high. He's a slightly above average #2 at this stage.
Randy Johnson can barely hit 92 on his fastball anymore. His slider is way down too plus he can't go deep in games. The guy is on his way out.
Sanchez is a guy who has upside for sure but he reminds me a little of Daniel Cabrera. Nice stuff and all but it's not worth crap if you can't control where it's going. Another guy with mechanical issues who had a 5+ ERA last season.
As for Zito... come on, seriously? His ERA was 5.15 last year. His stuff wasn't there last year and he's at a very old age for mechanical issues to be a problem.
You are excited about that? It's Lincecum and Cain and then guys with tons of issues.
That's not even taking into account the offense whose big signing was Edgar Renteria who lost 52 points on his average last year. Rowand can't hit HRs now that he's left Philly and for them to score runs this year, Sandoval better be all he's hailed to be.
Their #3-#5 pitchers are not going to go deep into games and that leaves the Giants with a closer who had an ERA at 4.62 who only has one freakin pitch that's any good. Their big relief signing was Bobby Howry and his 5.35 ERA last year and looks to be on his way out. Taschner might be 3rd on the relief depth chart and the guy had an 8.38 ERA last season. Are these the guys you want to count on since your starters don't go deep?"
Jake, any chance you are related to Branyan or maybe stocked up on a few thousand of his rookie cards a decade ago?
When I first read your list my first thought was 'there must be a new prospect named Branyan, cause he sure cant be talking about Russell Branyan." After I realized it was I thought "if the mariners are counting on him for anything at all they are in big trouble.
This guy has been a bust wherever he goes and it isn't because of injuries. He can't hit. Or do much else for that matter. He has good power but nothing to special.
At best you are looking at .250 with 25-30 hrs and 90 RBI (ichiro). And those glamour categories are where his numbers are best , if you start to look at the inrticate stats of players he is much much worse.
When I first read your list my first thought was 'there must be a new prospect named Branyan, cause he sure cant be talking about Russell Branyan." After I realized it was I thought "if the mariners are counting on him for anything at all they are in big trouble.
This guy has been a bust wherever he goes and it isn't because of injuries. He can't hit. Or do much else for that matter. He has good power but nothing to special.
At best you are looking at .250 with 25-30 hrs and 90 RBI (ichiro). And those glamour categories are where his numbers are best , if you start to look at the inrticate stats of players he is much much worse.
Oh I will be the first to say that Branyan is nothing special but Seattle had no bigtime power hitters on that roster and he's a good fit. If he stays healthy he can hit 40 pretty easily IMO. The guy is useless against lefties and is not a player I'd want on my team but the Mariners have a bunch of line drive hitters so I think he's a good fit just to mix it up a bit.
