Money Bags will have to wait

Tonight was a tough decision. I have a lot of fuel to add to the Mando fire, but I also want to delve into one of the few trade possibilities batted around recently. Assuming people will continue to bash Mando and that the suck will still be there when I get back, I opted for the trade bait. Which brings me to:

Craig Wilson

Playing time was expected to be harder to come by this year after the Pirates signed Jermey Burnitz and traded for Sean Casey. He's always kinda been the odd man out in Pittsburgh, and BaseballProspectus speculated before the season that he would gone by the trade deadline. Then this week he was mentioned as a possible Giants target in a Rich Draper mail bag.

I've had my eye on him for a while, but not neccesarily for the Giants. Every so often I just start following a player for no good reason. And also for no good reason I had in my head that he is a productive player that could blossom in San Francisco. Not very left-brained, but it worked while his being a Giant was only theory.

He's always been a lefty-masher. Since 2003, his OPS against lefties has been .188 higher, and it's even more exagerated so far this season. Mays field plays pretty even towards right-handed hitters for homers, leaning towards favoring them with that short porch in left. But even that would be a huge improvement over PNC Park. The Bill James Handbook park factors had Mays at 96 for the last three years, compared to 79 for PNC. So hopefully a change of scenery will help, right?

Not necesarrily. Wilson's home numbers are much better than his road numbers, so maybe that whole park factor thing isn't the problem. Wilson also has a high strikeout rate and only decent power numbers for a corner hitter. But then again, the Giants don't give him a lot to live up to on the corners. Pedro Feliz has a better K% by almost 10% this season, but still has a lower BB/K and RC/G.

So what I see in Wilson is basically a player better than any other option we have at first right now. And he can also play in the OF as those guys drop of this season and the next. He is 29 already and has had injury problems, but he will be a definite upgrade, even playing everyday against RHPs. His power numbers are similar to Feliz, but Wilson can take a walk. I think he would instantly make the Giants a better offensive team, and unless he is too expensive or a better option is found, they should go after him. And I always love a good trade.

When Will It End?

I apologize for taking so long to post again. Since I last wrote I've graduated from the University of Oregon, moved from Eugene to Salem, and started an internship at the Statesman Journal. For the first time in my life I'm getting paid to write. Hopefully it won't be the last. But that's my excuse for not writing as much (if at all).

Reading over ESPN’s recap of tonight’s 5-3 win over the Rangers, I noticed this little nugget:

Bonds was intentionally walked again in the fourth, and walked leading off the seventh to reach base safely in 11 straight plate appearances -- going 3-for-3 with eight walks during that stretch.

Twice tonight Barry Bonds was intentionally walked. And even though he hit a double and scored a run, it’s not like he’s the Bonds of old out there, or even the Albert Pujols of now. Still, he has 26 intentional walks this year, almost as many as Pujols and Miguel Cabrera - the second and third place finishers, respectively – put together. And that’s with 30 fewer at bats than the injury-struck Pujols.

Bonds has the same number of XBH as Ray Durham, 21 (tied for 132nd in the majors), yet is slugging .525, nearly 100 points higher than Durham. And that little consecutive plate appearances on-base streak of 11? It’s only four away from Bond’s own major league record of 15 set back in 1998.

I haven’t been a fan of Bonds for a long time, but it amazes me how a man with two water balloons for knees can remain a somewhat productive and even feared batter in the MLB. He still has an OPS of 1.010 despite not being able to use his legs and constantly being taken out of the lineup. And it amazes me that a man who is getting fooled much more than he used to and still has a batting average of only .256 is getting so much deference from his opponents

Barry has found a way to use what little strength he has left and what fear he can still conjure up to remain a force on the course of any given game. I just see all of his at bats going like this.

Prince Milwood: I think your bluffing.
Barry: It's possible, Pig, I might be bluffing. It's conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I'm only lying here because I lack the strength to stand. But, then again... perhaps I have the strength after all.
[slowly rises and points sword directly at the prince]
Barry: DROP... YOUR... SWORD!
[mouth hanging open, throws four balls]

Or maybe not. He’s not the same player, but he’s still useful. No matter what he looks like in the field.