Spring is just around the corner

Can you smell that ? Spring and baseball are just around the corner.  The SF Giants Locked up one of there star arms today in Ryan Vogelsong for two years with a option for 2014.  There has also been reports that there is active dialect between the Giants and Matt Cain.  With the Giants not being as active in the hitting market these are two key moves for them to stay in the race with Arizona for the NL West Crown.  The reports also state that there has been little or no contact with Tim Lincecum about a extension. The two sides are set to exchange arbitration figures in one week. If you remember last year this went right down to the wire final min before a deal was made narrowly avoiding arbitration.  There are several moves the Giants still have to make to solidify there roster not only for 2012 but for a long time to come.  With the moves that the Angels made this off season the reality of signing both Cain and Lincecum to long term deals becomes highly unlikely all though it can be done if both sides are willing to give a little to get the deals done. While the Giants have said they are done in the market there are still several free agents out on the market that could help not only the giants but any team for that matter.  Just a few at the top of the list Cody Ross who played with the giants last year gives you a outfielder who can play all three sports, Cody hit 240 with 14 hr and 52 RBI in a 121 games while being nagged with a Calf injury that he got in spring of last year. There is also a name that some people who are not die hard baseball fans may or may not know. Michael Schlact who was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 3rd Round of the 2004 Amateur Draft and played last year with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Independent League going 6-4 with a 4.61 ERA in 21 games could be a diamond in the rough for any team that's willing to invite him to there spring camp. Much like Ryan Vogelsong who had been drafted by the giants and never really given a chance Michal Schlact has never stopped trying to live out his dream of not only making the MLB roster but being extremely successful just as Ryan Vogelsong was last year.  Sure there are some more household names on the market, Jeremey Bonderman, Carlos Silva, Ben Sheets, Jarrod Washburn but the less known names are more likely to pan out if there just given the oppertunity.  I am not associated with any organization nor am I a expert on baseball but I am a huge fan of the game and a even bigger fan of the underdog. I believe if you have faith and give your all you will one day be rewarded and the two biggest examples of that I have seen in the past three seasons of MLB are Ryan Vogelsong and Michael Schlact.  I am looking forward to the upcoming season and like I said in the beginning Spring is just around the corner!!!!  God Bless and Go Giants

End Of the Off Season

The SF Giants appear to be at the end of there off season two days and two mediocre deals into the winter meetings.  Giants GM Brian Sabean has gone on record saying the team is "tapped out" and will not go after Cody Ross or Carlos Beltran.  According to multiple sources Cody Ross is deeply saddened by this saying the Giants never made him a offer.  The latest trade last night sending CF Andres Torres a fan favorite and Ramon Rameriez to the Mets for Angel Pagan is head scratching at best.  He hit 262. with 7 HR and 56 RBI in 123 games. He is a Carrer 279. hitter and a suspect outfielder in a park that has wide open spaces to cover.  Angel Pagan made the second most errors in the outfield (10) in the national league the only person to make more was Justin Upton (13) and with what he did offensivly those can be over looked.  The Giants have now gone and gotten two centerfielders leaving a huge question mark as to the future of Nate Shierholtz and Aubrey Huff being the fact reports say Brandon Belt is the first baseman.  The giants appear to be content with Brandon Crawford as there shortstop which defenseivly is great offense is another story.  With the revenue that the giants have produced they have sold out 70+ consecutive games fans flock to the park yet ownership refuses to spend any money to reward a loyal fan base.  Hopefully for the fans sake the management is not done and there will be another deal done prior to the start of the spring.  This was the lowest producing offense in MLB last year and the addition of Angel Pagan and Melky Cabreara is not going to make it a whole lot better.  I would like to say farwell to Anders Torres and Cody Ross two of my all time favorite giants and I hope that this does not come back and bite management in the long run.  We will see what March and April bring and look forward to another great season for the SF Giants.  

Winter Baseball Abroad

With the recent developments in Venezuela curiosity develops on weather owners and GM's are going to allow there young developing prospects to travel to play winter baseball. The question has to be does the benefit outweigh the fallout. Wilson Ramos traveled to hit native homeland of Venezuela to spend time with his family and play some winter baseball and prepare himself for the upcoming 2012 season. This is the first time a Major League baseball player has had something like this happen to themselves, However this is not the first time something like this has happened.  Yorvit Torrealba had his 11 year old son was kidnapped and Ugueth Urbina whos mother was kidnapped. Luckily Both of these players were fortunate enough to find there loved ones alive and mostly unharmed all though Henry Blanco was not as lucky he lost his brother to a kidnapping.  Wison Ramos was one of the lucky ones and was found but is it worth the 100-120 at bats these players are getting to put one of your superstars in danger?  Is there anyway to limit where your players can go in the off season? The SF Giants start Pablo Sandavol says he is still planning his trip home as are other players I am sure. The question is are the few at bats these players get is it worth just creating more leagues here at home like the arizona fall league ?  Does this prevent and protect the investments of major league teams and the safety of our stars ? You never want to tell a player where they have to be or that they cannot spend time with there family but something has to be done to protect are players because the people responsible for these crimes are getting braver and braver.  If I am a owner or GM in Major league baseball I have to find other ways to develop my talent during the off season rather than put them in danger and if they want or need to travel abroad then we have to educate them as how to stay safe.  The day will hopefully come that we dont have to worry about this and everyone can be free to travel where they would like to.  I cannot wait for that day  

The 100 Million dollar contract

There have been several 100 million dollar contracts given out over the past decade. Starting with the 7 year 105 million that Kevin Brown was given by the LA Dodgers. There has not been very many of these deals outside Jeter and A-Rod (original texas deal) that have been succesfull. There have been plenty that have been unsuccesfull or even worse. Lets start with Barry Zito in SF that deal has never panned out and at one point in time they were paying a guy 27 million dollars to sit in the bullpen. Lets not forget Ken Griffey Jr. Then there is Carl Crawford and well we all know how that has turned out. That deal has gotten one of the most succesful GM and a manager that I would hire intantly to run my team Fired.There are at least 3 possible candidates in this years free agancy pool that will be asking for this kind of money.  Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes The first question is weather there is a GM out there that even considers the idea of this. I am going to go on a limb and say that with the success or lack there of Boston had with Crawford and Lacky that the cubs wont be offering anyone a multi year triple digit contact.The next question is should these guys even be asking or expecting these type of deals when the back end of them puts them well into there 30's or even 40's. Albert Pujols to make 20-30 million a yr for this year and maybe next ok maybe, but he has declined in all 3 major offensive catagories in the past 3 years.  Prince well he had one good year and that just so happen to be his contract year and Reyes well lets not even get me started on that guy. Here is a guy who has missed 191 games over the past 3 years and expects a 100 million dollar multi year deal give me a break. This guy may fool the Miami Marlins into this kinda of deal because the GM in Miami aka Florida has no clue how to run a team.  Here is a guy that after winning 2 world championships reduced the budget the following year to NOTHING both times. Lets not forget to mention you have Ozzie Guillen as your manager a guy who cannot get along with himself let alone run a ball club. The bottom line is this there should be no room for these type of contracts in Any sport these athletes say they play the game because they love it. They say they have families to provide for thats why they ask for this amount of money. They say that they could have a carrer ending injury and never play again thats why they need this much. I have a news flash for them I also have kids to provide for I also served 10 years in the USAF and put my life on the line to defend the place they play a game. I never made anything close to 100 million dollars. I am a huge baseball fan and will be for the rest of my life even if  everyone of the players managers coaches and anyone in the orginaztion is overpaid. The annilitics of baseball is this putting 15-20% of your entire payroll into one player is just not smart and if all these guys really just want to win then they should prob take less money so that you can sign more big names and build a TEAM.  The Texas Rangers are a prime example of this they dont have the 100 million dollar man matter of fact they traded not 1 but 2 of them away when they started to get bigger than the TEAM concept. The Texas Ranger clubhouse is one of the tighest nit groups in MLB and all though leaking the tape of the game 7 pep talk given by Ron Wasington cost someone there job it may very well help the Rangers land a big free agent.  I know when I heard the tape I wanted to play for the Texas Rangers and Ron Washington.  Baseball used to be America's pastime I am hoping that one day all of the Big money and flashy cars go away and we just get back to the game.  The Say Hey Kid never got paid 100 million dollars and he still comes to the ballpark on the corner of third and King everynight to support the game he loves.  One day I hope we get back to all of that.  Go Giants

Giants Off Season

The San Francisco Giants started there off season with a semi splash yesterday with the trade of Jonathan Sanchez.  The Giants aquired Melky Cabrara for Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo.  Sanchez obviously wore out his welcome with GM Brian Sabean after bouts with wildness and not coming back from his ankle injury when the Giants were trying to make there final push at the Diamondbacks.  This move is ok but not great Melky Cabrara is not the second coming of Barry Bonds nor is anyone on the market that the giants are even thinking of obtaining. This move does free up space for a much needed piece the giants do need though a Shortstop. While I love Brandon Crawford (Bcraw) he has not hit the way he has needed to and is just too unreliable.  There are two names surrounding the giants and this spot. Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes Bare with me now giants fans because I know everyone is probably thinking the same as me seeing Rollins or Reyes in a giants uniform would be weird but I think there both a great fit.  Both of these guys would not only fill a void at shortstop but in the leadoff spot in the batting order. Sorry Anders Torres but production and consistancy is a must and you have neither.  One more thing the trade of Sanchez for Cabrera means is most likely the end of Carlos Beltran, Cody Ross and Pat the Bat's time as giants are over.  It should be a interesting season and a even more intersting 2012.  I believe the giants are commited to winning and winning for a very long time to come. The Return of Buster Posey and Freddie Sanchez and the new found Panda are all added bonuses to the 2012 season.  I look forward to the upcoming off season and the 2012 season I am a life long giants fan and hope that there are many more world championships to come for the city by the bay.