Anyone want ot talk SF Giants baseball?

check out this article in the Contra Costa Times. you kinda get the same feeling from Nenn that he is not sure what his status will be for this year...or even for his career.

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Padres closer Trevor Hoffman finally had a chance to hear his trademark entrance song, "Hell's Bells" on Thursday night after more than a year. Hoffman was out most of last season after undergoing two shoulder surgeries.

Hoffman hopes he listens to another song played over a stadium public address system in the near future.

"I really can't wait to hear 'Smoke on the Water' when we get to San Francisco," Hoffman said before Sunday night's game.

Hoffman was referring to the signature song of Giants closer Robb Nen, not played since the 2002 World Series at Pacific Bell Park. Nen missed all of last season after undergoing three shoulder surgeries within a seven-month span. The two pitchers are close. They both had rotator cuff problems, grew up in Southern California and have spoken during the three-game series.

Hoffman hinted that Nen may need more medical attention.

"I think in Robbie's case, he's just looking for someone to tell him, 'This is what's wrong with you and this is how we can fix it and this is the path you need to take.' He hasn't been told that since this process started. He feels he's on the right path and then gets derailed by discomfort. That's as deflating as knowing you can't throw in the first place. He's grinding away, doing all the necessary things. You hope the doctors can fix it to the point where they can put it back in his hands."

Nen said of Hoffman: "He's my inspiration. To sit and watch him after what I've gone through, I'm happy for him. It's a great feat for him to come back from what he has. Hopefully, I'll be the next story."

Nen threw off a mound for the first time since he was shut down near the end of spring training. Although thoughts have crept into his mind that he might not pitch again, he's confident he'll be back in April.

"I'm not that far away," Nen said. "It's a matter of getting everything right."

 

An update on the giants.

an article in an Oakland newpaper last week quoted a couple of Giants pitchers as saying that AJ Pierzynsky was a clubhouse cancer and that they would like to see him traded. the following link is an article written by Skip Bayless about the situation:

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/baseball/mlb/san_francisco_giants/8584373.htm?ERIGHTS=1441911187520947700mercurynews::[email protected]&KRD_RM=1iilmhkqijkjhhhhhhhhilhqqq|Ed|Y

also, Ray Durham is on the 15 day DL with a strained Patela Tendon. He is eligible to come off the DL sometime late next week, but will probably be shelved until the first or second week in June. Brian Dallimore, a career minor leaguer, has stepped in nicely with Ray on the sideline.

Heading over to Shea Stadium tonight to check them out though. hopefully they will keep up the winning streak.

edited to add the text of the story. gotta register for this site:

Giants didn't need to gamble on Pierzynski

By Skip Bayless

Mercury News Staff Columnist


I wouldn't have traded for a catcher with a big mouth and little power. I would have awarded the job to farm-system product Yorvit Torrealba. But I wasn't baseball's executive of the year last season.

I would have resisted the temptation to bid for arbitration-eligible A.J. Pierzynski, a 2002 All-Star. But Giants fans should be thankful I'm not General Manager Brian Sabean.

To me, Torrealba made so much more sense because he makes only $334,000. Torrealba has a quicker, more accurate arm. Torrealba's slick glove work and pitch-calling have earned the trust of the Giants' pitching staff. Torrealba might hit 15 home runs if he played 140 or so games.

So why risk tossing the 6-foot-3, 245-pound stink bomb that could be Pierzynski into the clubhouse? Why trade pitchers Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano for a catcher who often rubbed Minnesota's pitchers the wrong way? With an ownership-imposed salary cap of $82 million, why not save $3 million or so to pursue Greg Maddux, who wanted to end his career in the pitcher's paradise that is SBC Park?

But of course, this is a cheap-as-Torrealba second-guess after he did something Sunday that Pierzynski might not do all season at SBC -- hit a home run. A grand slam, no less. Torrealba also ended the game with a drive that bounced against the wall in left-center. So why was he playing after Pierzynski's boo-quieting breakout game as a Giant on Saturday?

Because, after being lauded as a ``hard-nosed'' player by Manager Felipe Alou, Pierzynski took himself out of Sunday's lineup with what was announced as a sore right shoulder. Strange. By game's end, he was ``feeling fine,'' Alou said. In fact, he was standing on deck as a pinch hitter when Torrealba sent many fans home wondering why Sabean traded for ``clubhouse cancer'' Pierzynski.

Sabean did so for the same reason he didn't save millions by handing the third-base job to Pedro Feliz last season or right field to Todd Linden this season. After former manager Dusty Baker said Feliz ``is going to be a star,'' why spend $26 million for four years on Edgardo Alfonzo? Why waste another $1.5 million on Michael Tucker when the switch-hitting Linden has shown 20-homer potential in the minors?

Because, as Sabean said Monday, ``the bar has been set awfully high here. You want to win and develop players at the same time. But the margin of risk for a younger player is much steeper.''

Translation: Sabean's mandate is to maximize his team's chances of winning now. He bets his job on what might turn out to be overpriced veterans instead of what could be cheap young flops. Young Pedros get robbed to pay older Pauls.

But I can't help wondering if Sabean could have created the budget to sign a proven power hitter to protect Barry Bonds or a starting pitcher who scares opponents more than Giants fans if he had successfully gambled on Feliz, Linden and Torrealba.

The organization's consensus on Torrealba: He would get exposed offensively if he played every day. Maybe so. But in 115 games at Triple-A Fresno in 2001, he did hit .274. His power numbers weren't impressive -- only eight homers in 394 at-bats. But though he's only 5-11 and 190 pounds, he always brings a big-hit, big-throw spark to the lineup.

Then again, Sabean is right about this: ``It's not every day you have a chance to get a catcher who made the All-Star team when he was 25 and who hit .300 the last two seasons.''

The Giants outbid several teams for Pierzynski, including the Chicago Cubs. The Giants took what Sabean calls ``a calculated risk'' and lost the arbitration case to Pierzynski, who won $3.5 million this season.

Sabean also said ``we knew exactly what we were getting'' personality-wise. As a team source said: ``If we could survive Jeff Kent, we can handle A.J. Pierzynski.''

As Kent did, Pierzynski has a weekly show on KNBR, and Pierzynski is a favorite guest of Jim Rome's on his national TV and radio shows. But Kent played nice guy on the air, then turned into a moody, fit-throwing loner behind closed clubhouse doors. On or off air, Pierzynski is always the same rude, crude, cocky, prank-playing, straight-out-of-``Ball-Four'' ballplayer who has no idea he's annoying or offending those around him.

Pierzynski was genuinely shocked and offended by last week's Oakland Tribune story anonymously quoting pitchers saying he was a ``cancer.'' When Alou said Pierzynski ``isn't the kind of man who gets disturbed by too many things,'' he nailed his catcher's best and worst trait. He doesn't think much.

This spring, several Twins pitchers said they wouldn't miss his pitch-calling. Yet in Minnesota, he was considered the clutch-hitting spirit of the 2002 team that upset the A's in the first round. Giants insiders believe he's the best candidate to handle the pressure of hitting behind Bonds. The problem is, he'll be hitting mostly singles.

But the shock was how many Giants fans immediately demonized Pierzynski as the here-comes-another-double-play symbol of owner Peter Magowan's penny-pinching profit-making. After all, Pierzynski hit only .247 in April last season, but .332 after the All-Star break. After changing leagues, he deserves until the break before he's branded a cancerous blunder.

I would have gone with Torrealba. And by July, I might wish I had Pierzynski. It's almost as hard to bet against his track record as it is Sabean's.

 

Great article!

Looks like another disappointing year for Edgado Alfonso. Bring back Bill Mueller.

JT Snow off to a slow start.

Durham hurt, AGAIN!

I'm not sold on Neifi Perez. I'd rather have Rich Aurillia.

Marvin Benard could do better in RF than the other two that play there now.

Starting pitching is killing us.

We need someone besides Bonds and Marquis Grissom to produce at the plate.

Bring back Benito!

Bring back Dusty!

Go Giants!

 

On a SF Giants note. I got my tickets to see the Giants play at Camden Yard on June 13th :xyzthumbs

 

well, i mentioned in this thread about AJ's reputation. I never knew he had problems in the clubhouse though.

Just got back from Shea Stadium and a fan had a sign that asked the Giants to give back Alfonzo. I told him he could have him back in a hearbeat.

 

That was a heck of an article by Bayless. I completely agree with him. Way too many "band-aid" free agent moves and not enough real devlopment or killer acquisitions. After reading that I'm surprised they stuck with Jerome Williams through his recent struggles. I guess they just had no choice.

It makes me just sick to think they could have signed Greg Maddux. Plug him into that rotation (instead of aged hack Brett Tomko) and its suddenly solidified as respectable. Let Feliz DH during interleague and get that bat going. Play the young kids more.

 

actually williams has been doing quite respectable lately. feliz will get plenty of time now with durham out.