I thought today I’d get off the topic of the SF giants to talk about a NFL Mock draft. The author Robert Ferrigno analyzes what some of the hot draft picks are going to be and why. You can also at the end of the page go through a link to his insider secrets page.

Docsports.com offers a lot more than a NFL Mock draft picks too. He offers picks on all the other major sports too. Go through the link and read more about the NFL Mock draft. I think he does a good analysis of each player. Check out docsports.com it looks like a great site for sports picks.

The Giants signed the big unit for 8 million. You can read more here.

I love how the article starts off “Reflecting their intent to vault back into contender’s status immediately .. ”

Really? This is news to me. So all that talk about getting rid of Barry Bonds and starting the team over from the bottom up with youth and that they didn’t expect to be in contention for a few years was just a LIE? Well the truth comes out and I’m not surprised at all. I been saying all along that the Giants derailed Barry and it wasn’t because of the reasons they were saying. This is why I no longer go to their games. The Giants got rid of Barry not because they simply wanted to build the team back up from scratch. No, the acquisition of Johnson proves that. They wouldn’t have spent 8 million dollars on a player with no long term future if they were looking to truly rebuild the team.

Their only objective was to get rid of Barry after he broke the record. Once they got their cash from the record, they wanted to discard him like a used rag. They didn’t care about him. It was all just a money making scheme for the Giants management. They just paid 8 million dollars for a 45 year old pitcher near retirement, but couldn’t even pay Barry Bonds the minimum MLB wage he offered of just 325,000. I got nothing against Randy Johnson. My problem is the hypocrisy and lying by the Giants management is disgusting. I certainly won’t be going to the Giants games this year. The management sucks and the tickets are overpriced anyways.

Congratulations to Tim Lincecum. I had previously wrote a post weeks ago on why he should win it. You can read it here. The only ironic part of it all is that Tim Lincecum might have priced himself out of the market for the Giants a couple years down the road. The giants can’t afford Barry Zito and Lincecum both. That means the pitcher that was supposed to have been the best (Zito) is ironically going to cause one of the best pitchers the Giants ever had (Lincecum) to go elsewhere.

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The Union has proof that Barry Bonds was blackballed by multiple owners.

You can read the official story here: Union says teams acted in concert against Bonds

This is something that I suspected all along and is why I have been vehemently against going to another baseball game ever again. The way they blackballed Barry Bonds is a shame and they certainly won’t be profiting from my ticket dollars ever. Bonds is one of the best players in all time, it was obvious some managers wanted to sign him including Larussa, but were getting pressure from the owners not to do it. They wouldn’t even sign him when there were offers for the minimum wage at only 390,000! The Giants pay everyone on their staff more than that. There is no way the Giants couldn’t have brought him back! What a load of crock. Yet, these are the same dirty owners at the same time outsourcing 3rd rate players from 3rd rate countries because they are cheaper to pay and they can threaten to ship them off back to their country if they complain.

Truly a sad state of affairs for baseball.

This year Tim Lincecum has not only met all the expectations buzzing around him for years, but he has far succeeded it. Lincecum has brought new energy to the SF Giants and has already reached superstar status. He is now a serious contender for the National League Cy Young Award after only his 2nd year. Among the people considered as possible Cy Young contenders are Sabathia, Santana, and Webb. While an argument could be said for all 4, Tim Lincecum has the best all around arguments with no holes. This year Tim Lincecum has 18 wins 5 losses, leads the entire majors in strikeouts 265, has the 2nd best win loss percentage in the majors among the top pitchers (best ratio in NL), has the 2nd lowest ERA in the (national league) at 2.53. He also pitched the most pitches among all pitchers in one game this year, two different times this year(132 and 138) and now holds the SF Giants record for most strikeouts in a season.

Sabathia has done very good in the National league, but hasn’t been in long enough to really deserve it. He also has a lower ERA and win loss record. Santana has a lower ERA than Lincecum by a little, but he didn’t win games he should have on a team that had the capability to win more than the Giants and now the Mets are out of the race. Santana also has far less strikeouts and has been in the league for many years, so should be given less slack. Brandon Webb has done great getting 22 wins, but his win loss is not as good as Lincecum, his ERA is much higher than Lincecum, strikouts are much less, and Arizona has a much better winning record to give Webb more opportunity for wins.

There are some other factors to consider why Lincecum should be Cy Young. First off he has got the 2nd best win loss ratio among the top pitchers in the major, yet he is on a LOSING team. It’s much easier to win a game when you have a team backing you up offensively. I’ve witnessed 2 different games where the Giants defense did some very careless mistakes costing runs. Lincecum lost the game not because he should have, but because of bad mistakes. In another game a balk was called on him costing a run directly and a win. The call was obviously a bad call. Out of the over 20 games Lincecum has started, probably only one was a game where it wasn’t a very low scoring game that any team could have kept close and had the opportunity to win. We must also consider that this is only Lincecums second year and his first actual full year of pitching. The odds are against him naturally, he is shorter than average pitcher at 5′11, less experienced than most pitchers and yet the guy overcomes this by being the best in the majors. And he knew how to end the season perfectly. In his final game, Lincecum struck out 9 in a row (not done since 86) and got a win, allowing only 1 run after 7 innings.

Well rumours had been flying that Durham would be traded to the Brewers and it came true. You can read more detail here

If a player is on a team for more than 5 years or in the MLB for 10 years than he has to agree to the trade. Durham agreed to it for a $200,000 assignment fee. I personally am sad to see Durham go, he is a really likeable guy and besides Aurillia is the longest playing Giant on the team. But he agreed to the deal, so at least he was ok with it. It’s a major sign the Giants are in a rebuilding phase and that this season is officially over. Im surprised anyone showed up this year after what they did to Barry anyways.

Don’t forget to vote for Tim Lincecum on the All star ballot. I believe Tim Lincecum is one of the best pitchers to ever be drafted by the Giants and maybe even become the giants 2nd ever Cy Young winner this year. He has the 2nd best ERA in the N.L, Highest winning percentage (.875), and 2nd in strikeouts. Don’t let Zambrano beat this kid out, he deserves the all star win. Lincecum has a 7-1 record on the Giants who are doing terrible!

Rowand and Molina are low right now on the current all-star voting tally. They have done outstanding in the batting average and getting clutch hits and it can be aruged that they also deserve a spot on the all-star game.

Well it’s official. 2,584 games that vizquel has played as shortstop, passing Luis Aparicio. Wow, what an accomplishment. It’s amazing how long Vizquel has been doing this and yet he is still able to play better than the majority, if not the best of shortstops, even at 41. Most shortstops are gone by their early to mid 30’s. Congrats to Vizquel and let’s hope there will be many more games left in him.

Here is the news article:

MIAMI — At the start of the bottom of the sixth inning, when players normally take the field, Omar Vizquel found himself all alone at his position for the first time.

It was fitting, considering that Vizquel was playing in his 2,584th game at shortstop, which gave him sole possession of first place, passing Luis Aparicio on the all-time list.

In the second game of a doubleheader against the Marlins on Sunday, when Vizquel went out to short, the teleprompter at Dolphin Stadium flashed a note of congratulations, a crowd of 14,674 rose to its feet in applause and the 41-year-old shortstop mildly tipped his cap.

Then the rest of the Giants took the field and individually congratulated Vizquel, who for 20 years in the Major Leagues made playing his position an art form.

“I felt very emotional out there,” said Vizquel, who struggled at the plate, going for 0-for-7, and committed his first error of the season in the doubleheader before leaving the contest in the seventh inning of Game 2.

“My teammates didn’t want to come out, and I didn’t know what was going on,” Vizquel said. “I was very happy when they finally did.

“I just thank God he was able to keep me healthy enough to [set the record].”

Fellow Venezuelan and left-side-of-the-infield partner Jose Castillo wanted to be the first to congratulate Vizquel when he finally set the all-time record. So in the sixth, Castillo ran out and gave his fellow countryman a big hug before taking his position at third base.

“He deserves it,” Castillo said. “He’s a companion who is always there if you need him. I know he will be in the Hall of Fame one day.”

Vizquel’s 2,584 games is a lot for a 5-foot-8, 175-pound guy who is playing one of the most demanding positions in baseball.

“It’s a historic moment,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s excited, and we are, too. I’m proud of Omar, and I’m proud to say I’m here for [the record].”

But Vizquel’s career has been about a lot more than quantity. He owns 11 Gold Gloves — second only to Ozzie Smith’s 13 — and he sports a career .274 batting average. He’s also first among all shortstops who have played in more than 1,000 games with a .984 fielding percentage, and he has been a part of an all-time-leading 1,658 double plays.

On top of that, Vizquel is one of only four shortstops in history — and the only Venezuelan — to have played 20 seasons in the Major Leagues.
Super shortstops
Most career games played at short
Rank Player Games at SS
1. Omar Vizquel 2,584
2. Luis Aparicio 2,583
3. Ozzie Smith 2,511
4. Cal Ripken 2,302
5. Larry Bowa 2,222
6. Luke Appling 2,218

“I wish I could be healthier [this season] to be able to enjoy it more,” Vizquel said recently. “But at this moment, my knee and being able to play all season is most important.”

Vizquel’s record-setting year started off a bit unsettled. He missed all of Spring Training after arthroscopic left knee surgery on Feb. 27, and then sustained a bone bruise that delayed his recovery.

Since then, however, Vizquel has played in 12 of the past 13 games — starting 11 of them — and he’s hitting .275.

“I feel fortunate more than anything to have been able to stay healthy and have the talent to play for so long,” Vizquel said.

Source:MLB.com

Zito entered todays game at Florida Marlins Ballpark, with a 0-8 record. No SF Giant had started a season with a 0-9. Luckily, Zito pulled off a win in a blowout game for the Giants. It was 7-1 when Zito left the game in the 7th. Perhaps, this win can help build Zito’s confidence. This isn’t mentioned much, but Zito has one of the worst run support in the league this year(the same thing that plagued Matt Cain last year), so Zito’s performance has actually not been as bad this year as his 1-8 record implies. Sure he is no ace right now, but if he got better run support he wouldn’t be losing every game.

In other news, tommorrow Vizquel will tie Luis Aparicio for most games (2,583) played at shortstop.