Kuzul

Spring Training is a time for hitters to get back into the swing of things, for pitchers to shake off the rust and for coaches and managers to figure out what their strategy for the upcoming year is going to be. 

Spring is also a time for non-roster invitees, mainly top prospects looking to make a splash and prove they can hit big-league pitching, journeyman major-leaguers looking to latch on with a team, or proven players coming back from injury.

Over the past couple years, the non-roster invitee pool has been a gold mine for San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean. Santiago Casilla was a vital part of the bullpen in 2010 after being a non-roster invitee who missed half of Spring Training with a visa problem. Two years ago Sabean took flyers on Juan Uribe and Andres Torres, and we know how much they meant to the Giants last year. 

In 2011, the Giants will be looking to add depth again, mostly up the middle and on their pitching staff. In addition to the 17 pitchers that they’re carrying on the 40-man roster, the Giants have invited 10 pitchers to Spring Training, including two hold-overs from last year in Guillermo Mota and Waldis Joaquin.

Here’s the low-down on the other eight:

Casey Daigle (RHP) — 6’5, 230 lbs

Daigle, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Diamondbacks, albeit ages ago in 1999. His major-league stats aren’t very comforting (3-4, 7.16 ERA, 1.97 WHIP), but his minors lines are a little better (64-71, 4.72 ERA, 1.54 WHIP). In the past couple years he has made the transition to a reliever, saving eight games last year for Houston’s AAA affiliate, but Daigle has started 131 games in his professional career. His strikeout rate has gone up over his career and his walk rate has gone down, but he gives up a lot of hits in the minors (almost 11/9IP in 11 seasons), which doesn’t exactly bode well in the majors.

Shane Loux (RHP) – 6’2, 235 lbs 

Loux, 31, also has big-league experience, pitching for the Tigers and Angels, including six starts for Anaheim in 2009. Like Daigle, his major league line isn’t impressive (3-7, 6.14 ERA, 1.62 WHIP). His last two full seasons in AAA produced opposite results. In 2008 with the Angels AAA club, Loux was on track for a major league call-up, hauling in a 12-6 record with a 3.98 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. But in 2010 with the Astros AAA team, he was less than impressive, posting a line of 6-12, 5.25 ERA, and 1.40 WHIP. The plus is that his walks have gone down, but the minus is, like Daigle, he gives up a lot of hits.

Felix Romero (RHP) – 6’2, 200 lbs

Romero, 30, joined the Giants organization in 2009, and pitched pretty well between AA Richmond and AAA Fresno last year, posting a line of 5-3 with a 3.62 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. His career K/BB ratio is very good (3.78), and he started 14 games for the Flying Squirrels last year. Romero has bounced from the Toronto farm system to Baltimore before settling with the Giants, and he could possibly be in the mix for a relief role. With non-roster relievers, the biggest asset is a low walk rate. Being a reliever takes a lot, but one thing that must remain consistent is the ability to control where the ball is going.

Jason Stoffel (RHP) – 6’2, 220 lbs

Stoffel, 22, was drafted out of Arizona in the fourth round by the Giants in 2009 and is the youngest member on the list. According to Baseball America, Stoffel is the 15th ranked prospect in the Giants system. The closer for the Wildcats, he has a mid-90s fastball and a good slider as his secondary pitch. Last year he saved 25 games for high-A San Jose, and he also posted an impressive 11.7 K/9. Although his ERA jumped to 4.80, he has the stuff that could move him through the Giants minor-league system quickly, a la Dan Runzler/Daniel Turpen.

Ryan Vogelsong (RHP) – 6’3, 215 lbs

If you’re any kind of Giants fan at all, you should know that Ryan Vogelsong is a fist-sized nugget of fool’s gold, given to the Giants so that they could package him with Armando Rios to get Jason Schmidt and Jon Vander Wal in one of the most lopsided deals in Brian Sabean’s GM career. Vogelsong last pitched professionally in both the Philadelphia and Anaheim systems last year after spending three years in Japan. His major-league stats aren’t impressive, but his 10.4 K/9 last year, and the fact that he has experience as a swing-man out of the bullpen, were enough to convince the Giants to give him another shot.

Wilmin Rodriguez (LHP) – 6’2, 211 lbs

Rodriguez, 25, has worked his way methodically through the Giants system, splitting last year between low-A Augusta and AA Richmond. Like all of the non-roster invitees, his stats don’t jump off the page. The ERA is pedestrian (4.02), the WHIP not bad (1.51). He’s a left-hander, though, and you can never have too many of those. But, as is the case, if these guys were top prospects, they wouldn’t be non-roster invitees at 25.

Ryan Verdugo (LHP) – 6’0, 195 lbs

Verdugo, 23, is getting an extended look because of his stellar season last year, when he went 8-1 with a 1.87 ERA between Augusta and San Jose. He also carried a 1.81 WHIP, and was extremely effective out of the bullpen. His K/9 is an outlandish 13.3 for his career, and his K/BB ratio is also very good (2.83). Verdugo is a little wild (six wild pitches last year), but he maintained his strikeout ratio over a pretty hefty workload of over 60 innings in 2010.

Matt Yourkin (LHP) – 6’3, 225 lbs

Yourkin, 29, spent his career in the Marlins organization before latching on with the Giants in 2009. He notched eight saves for AA Connecticut (now Richmond) in 2009 before making the move to the starting rotation for Fresno last year. His stats jumped a little bit, but he could be another one to add to the list of possible sixth starters if he impresses this spring. Yourkin has a low walk rate, a respectable WHIP, and although his strikeout rate isn’t that impressive, he’s still averaging almost a strikeout an inning.

Although nothing can actually be determined until these guys get out on the mound and perform, there is always a chance that one of them will go crazy on Cactus League hitters and make the Opening Day squad. With a Giants bullpen that was great down the stretch and through the playoffs, and with almost all of them under contract for 2011, it’ll take a little more than an impressive spring to bump someone out. But pitching is a commodity than can never be overstated, and if the Giants can stock up on some, they’ll be ready for another title run. 

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When pitchers and catchers report next month, the San Francisco Giants will still be world champions. And they will still be the defending champs for at least the next 11 months, which is comforting for all of us Giants fans. 

The front office has done their part to try and keep it that way in 2011, and with the exception of the heart-wrenching, bile-inducing, loyalty-destroying defection of Juan Uribe to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the roster that got the Giants to the playoffs will look very much the same as it did in 2010.

One part (the main part) of the team that got the Giants to the pinnacle of the baseball world was another outstanding year from the starting rotation. Granted, there were no brilliant standout performances like those Tim Lincecum produced when he garnered back-to-back Cy Young awards,but the consistency and quality up and down the rotation was remarkable.

The lowest ERA on the staff belonged to the rookie, Madison Bumgarner (3.00). The highest, to the oldest member of the staff, Barry Zito (4.15). The average ERA of that starting rotation was a highly respectable 3.35, and the fact that everyone was fairly consistent in this case meant that the Giants were always within reach of winning the game.

However, not one of the Giants’ front four starters missed a start due to injury. Each one of them pitched an identical 33 games. Madison Bumgarner took over for Todd Wellemeyer after his injury, but didn’t miss any games for the rest of the season (or postseason, for that matter). 

And even though San Francisco didn’t carry Barry Zito on any of the postseason rosters, his second-half collapse cannot be discounted. Basically, the Giants were very lucky, and to expect another season of injury-free starters isn’t exactly ridiculous, but careless.

Over the years, the Giants have had a bevy of pitching prospects waiting in the wings. More often than not, they were traded away in the Sabean days pre-dating the current prospect boom (more to come on that). Yet now it comes to pass that they’re all here in the majors, making up 80 percent of the starting rotation. 

There were the dark days of the fifth starter, when the fifth day was split between Brad Hennessey, Dustin Hermanson, Chad Zerbe, Ryan Jensen, Pat Misch, Kevin Correia and others, and when every few days a win was an amazing feat, and was usually due to the bullpen and some late-inning heroics.

Those were not good times.

Remember when Jonathan Sanchez was a swingman/emergency starter out of the bullpen? He’s now the No. 4. And when Tim Lincecum was a rookie phenom? He’s the ace. And remember when we were all itching for the day that Bumgarner would have a chance to crack the already stacked rotation?Well, he did.

And remember when Barry Zito was under contract until 2035? Me too.

The truth is, there’s no longer anyone waiting in the wings in case something happens. That’s not to say that the Giants are without legitimate pitching prospects. Not at all. They’re just all down in the lower minors, and none of them have the kind of experience needed to hop into an emergency role.

Gone is Kevin Pucetas, who was competing with Wellemeyer during spring training last year. Gone is Eric Hacker, who has spent seven years in the minors but recently signed on with the Twins. Denny Bautista had experience as a starter but is also gone. Joe Martinez and Ryan Sadowski aren’t around anymore. 

Dan Runzler has apparently been working on being a starter. With Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affeldt already presenting a southpaw-heavy bullpen, this might be his way to stick with the major league club.

There are still some free-agent starters out there, but I would prefer that the Giants find someone low risk, high reward, who is comfortable with a minor league deal but who can still perform against major league hitting.

The market for such a starter will clear up in the weeks leading up to spring training as clubs start making cuts. 

Again, all five of the Giants starters have a pretty solid track record when it comes to injuries. But you never know, anything can happen. Just ask Stephen Strasburg.

And the Giants have to be prepared.

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Perusing the internet as I do, I came across the latest piece by Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci, which was a very interesting read.

The best-selling author discussed young pitchers in the major leagues and claimed many have been overworked by their teams.

The game of baseball has changed drastically since the early 1900′s. Instant replay is part of the game, albeit minimally, steroids have been injected and the average salary is over a million dollars.

But pitchers haven’t changed. Way back when, if starters didn’t throw 200-plus innings they must have missed time due to injury. Rotations have expanded since the days two pitchers pitched a majority of the games, as five now make up every staff, but there are still 200 innings out there for young pitchers especially to throw.

Verducci notes that “Last year … 29-and-younger pitchers made 3,497 starts, the second most in the 13 seasons with 30 teams and a 21 percent increase from 1999.”

There is nothing wrong with this. Pitchers are paid to pitch, pitch effectively, and pitch deep into ballgames. Yet, only eight pitchers 25 or younger threw over 200 innings, while only 31 made 25 or more starts. So, despite the vast increase in the amount of starts made by pitchers considered young by baseball’s standards, overprotection is a big part of the game.

Despite giving many examples of young pitchers who increased their workload from the previous season and succeeded, Verducci “developed a rule of thumb that pitchers 25 and younger should not increase their workload by more than 30 innings.”

Why not? Building upon the previous season is called progress. Pitching more means they can handle more—that they are ready for an increased role. There were finesse pitchers and power pitchers in the early to mid-20th century, just as is the case now.

Pitchers are throwing the same speeds they did back then, twirling the same curveballs and baffling opposing hitters with the same changeups.

A pitcher’s goal every time he takes the mound should be to finish what he started. If it isn’t, why pitch? The emergence of the bullpen in the last 30 years has shortened the game drastically to the point that some pitchers may go into an outing thinking six or seven innings would be sufficient.

Nine would be better though, and even a solid bullpen shouldn’t keep this from happening at a prolific rate.

Young pitchers want to show what they are made of. They all want to be aces. They all want to make the Hall of Fame. How can they do that if they are held back?

The way they are treated by team’s is the same reason why some MLB-ready prospects are kept on the farm to control their future salaries and keep them under team control longer.

MLB Trade Rumors’ Ben Nicholson Smith wrote about this in April of 2010:

“If teams wait until late April to call on a player without major league service time, they can save considerably. Players who make their big league debuts after April 19th (that’s Monday) this year won’t spend enough time on a major league roster to earn a full year’s service time, so their free agency will be pushed back a year.”

Some teams abide by this, and some don’t. Top prospects excelling in the minors have been called up prior to April 19th before, with Atlanta’s slugging outfielder Jayson Heyward being a prime example.

Those teams chose not to wait, just like some teams let their young pitchers pitch without any restrictions. Split between the minor leagues and San Francisco Giants, 21 year old Madison Bumgarner increased his inning total by 73 this past season.

Verducci noted ten other pitchers 25 and younger who had increases of 38 innings or more.

Just as there is the hope that prospects will be promoted based on their readiness, I hope more teams let their young arms loose. After all, it was the norm in the 1920s.

There’s no reason it shouldn’t be again, no matter how much the game has transformed since then.

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Spring training is nearly two months away, and the Giants have been relatively inactive on the hot stove during the offseason.

With the exception of the Miguel Tejada signing, their other signings have involved bringing back components from the 2010 World Series championship season, such as Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff.

Although the free agent market has thinned now that Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth have joined other clubs, the Giants still have some viable options on available players, both in the free agent and trade markets.

Here are 10 potentially available players who could guarantee October baseball on the shores of McCovey Cove again in 2011.

This article was featured on the blog Talking Giants Baseball.

How many games will the Giants win in 2011? Vote here.

Follow me on Twitter @vintalkingiants.

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It’s a known fact for all SF Giant fans: Pitching is not a weak link.

But previous to last year’s World Series plight, it was undermined by a possible lack of hitting.

Oh, how we were wrong.

The Giants put together some moves that were at the time thought of as inadequate. As we look back, such moves have proved to be of the World Series MVP quality.

What moves could possibly benefit the Gigantes? I know it’s a story often told, but let’s discuss some trade talk that could benefit the Giants’ offensive potential.

Keep in mind, exercises such as this are purely interpretive. You probably won’t agree, but just remember that sometimes moves thought of as ridiculous do pan out.

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The AL West was one of the worst divisions in baseball in 2010.

Entering the season, projections were all over. Each team was picked to both win the division or finish in the cellar, depending on which prediction you read.

The shape of each club is a bit easier to tell going into 2011, but there are still several questions for each club and the players signed to them.

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Let me start by saying that, while it’s non-zero, the chances of Felix Hernandez being traded this winter are pretty small.

Felix has stated many times that he loves Seattle. He has a no-trade clause that we know includes the Yankees. We don’t know the other teams, but the team that may be the most willing to give up a huge package is probably out of the running.

Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik has also stated that he has no interest in trading the King. While that may be because he can’t due to the contract and ownership’s wishes, he still said it. This is a front office that traded for Cliff Lee without a soul knowing about it until it was done. They’re tight-lipped, and when they do say something, you can generally take it to the bank.

We also have seen one offer that the Mariners turned down. A couple summers ago, they didn’t feel Adrian Gonzalez, Clay Buchholz and their choice of a few more Red Sox prospects were enough. That would have been a pretty impressive haul, so to turn that down lets you know something.

This is baseball, though. It’s a weird game, and you never know what sort of surprise you’ll see. So here are 10 trade packages that could pique their interest.

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Every team is looking for the next breakout prospect that can join the team in the middle of the year and provide a spark to their lineup. Fantasy owners also look for these prospects who can lead their team to a championship.

Looking at this year’s prospects, there appear to be a few players who can follow in the footsteps of Buster Posey and have an immediate impact for their Major League club.

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Pitchers and catchers report in about two months, but that does not silence the baseball talk.

The winter meetings have come and gone, but it seems the Giants prefer to stand pat. They have publicly stated they aren’t going after any of the top free agents, and why should they? The team of misfits they put together last year achieved baseball immortality, so why should the team be assembled any differently?

So far, the Giants appear to be the favorite in 2011. They have retained most of their tremendous pitching staff, which was first in baseball in ERA and strikeouts in 2010. All they lost was Chris Ray out of the bullpen, but their whole Cy Young-caliber starting rotation remains intact for 2011 and beyond.

Even with Tim Lincecum’s August struggles, the Giants still have one of the best starting staffs in all of baseball. Matt Cain had a phenomenal year and competed against Lincecum for the ace status, but Lincecum showed why he was an ace during the postseason. Zito and Sanchez remain a question, but they are undoubtedly one of the best four and five starts in baseball, depending on how the Phillies‘ newly beefed-up staff does. Expect another solid year from the rotation.

As for the Giants bullpen, it should also be stellar in 2011. Brian Wilson, Javier Lopez and the rest of the staff are all back for next season. With the Giants re-signing Guillermo Mota, the Giants shored up the back end of their bullpen in case of injury or if mop-up work is needed. Basically, what got the Giants to the World Series in 2010 will return for the 2011 season.

The Giants offense only needs mediocrity to win the West, but anything less will not get the job done. In 2009, the Giants offense was abysmal, nearly the worst in baseball. Even so, they somehow won 88 games, but it was not enough to beat out the Rockies for the Wild Card.

In 2010, the Giants were closer to the middle of the pack in hitting, and they won the West with 92 games. Now that the Giants added Tejada, Cody Ross (mid-2010), Pat Burrell (mid-2010) and a healthier Pablo Sandoval (who lost 15 pounds in San Diego so far), the Giants offense is worlds better than on April of 2010. They also have a stronger bench, with Mark DeRosa returning in 2011. Don’t forget Buster Posey, who just jolted the offense in July.

In order to keep their bench strong, the Giants offered Edgar Renteria a one-year contract worth $1 million. I think it is fine to bring him back as a backup infielder, but for no more than the $1 million they offered him. He can fill a hole if, say, Freddy Sanchez or Miguel Tejada were lost to injury. He can be a short-term solution, since he is streaky, but is not ideal for a starting role. Still, he has a flare for the clutch as shown by the World Series, and his game-tying home run during the home opener.

Despite him feeling disrespected about the Giants contract offer, Renteria needs to realize the Giants did anything but that, considering they were the only team thus far to offer him a major league contract.

The one weakness I see for the Giants is athleticism. With the exception of Torres and Schierholtz, team speed is weak and so is their range. If Pablo Sandoval loses a few more pounds, I think he can give the Giants more athleticism as he did when he first came up in 2008. Watch any of his baserunning from ’08, and you would think he was Carl Crawford compared to the way he runs now. Any speedster who isn’t a loss at the plate (a la Eugenio Velez) will give the Giants another dimension offensively. Darren Ford can fly, but I don’t think the Giants trust him entirely at the plate yet.

That said, I pick the San Francisco Giants to win the West once again. Their pitching is just superb, and I think having Burrell, Ross, Buster Posey and Torres in the lineup for a full season will get them 95-100 wins. Imagine how many of those early-season 2010 games they would have won with these players.

This article was featured on the blog Talking Giants Baseball.

Be sure to take the poll here on how you think Renteria should have reacted to his contract offer.

Look out for the 2011 National League West Preview No. 2: Los Angeles Dodgers, Can Their Glory Days Return?

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Move over Cliff Lee, because this move will make more of an impact than Lee going back to Philadelphia. Zack Greinke was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday morning and this shifts the entire outlook of the National League.

The Brewers finished third in the National League Central last year, 14 games back of the Cincinnati Reds. Milwaukee was not light in hitting, but struggled mightily on the mound. They finished 12th in runs scored, but were 26th in ERA.

The ERA number should change drastically.

This move was made with the plan of revamping the starting rotation. Going into next season, the Brewers had Yovanni Gallardo (3.84 ERA, 200 Ks in 2010), Randy Wolf (4.17 ERA in 215 innings) and recently acquired Shaun Marcum (3.64 ERA, 1.15 WHIP in Toronto).

This makes them an immediate player in the NL Central and the National League as a whole. If you take a look at the divisions and really break down the rosters, there were only a few teams who could have competed.

In the West, it is San Francisco’s division to lose.

The Dodgers are picking up scraps from other teams and are in total dysfunction. Colorado cannot stay healthy and have to hope for another stellar season from Carlos Gonzalez to stay close.

The Diamondbacks and Padres have already mailed it in for 2011.

There is no legitimate contender for Philadelphia in the East.

The Mets are still trying to figure out their offense and have no stand out pitcher except for Johan Santana. Jason Bay needs to stay healthy.

Florida has a solid core of young players, but without Dan Uggla in the middle of the lineup, they are no match for anybody.

I wonder how much Bobby Cox retiring will affect the Braves. The more pressing issue is what they do for a closer.

Billy Wagner is retired and they may need a bullpen by committee at the beginning to figure that part out.

Atlanta’s offense is questionable as well. Sure, they have Brian McCann and Jason Heyward but after that, who?

Chipper Jones is a shell of himself. Matt Diaz is gone. Alex Gonzalez and Troy Glaus are another year older.

The Washington Nationals are not at this stage yet. They have a great deal of young talent, but they are not ready to make the leap yet, especially without Steven Strasburg.

This leaves the Central, which is now wide open.

It looks to be a three team race between the Brewers, Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The young Reds team received their first taste of postseason baseball, only to be swept away by the Phillies. The Cardinals did not have enough gas in the tank to make a September run.

For the Reds, youth is on their side. Their young pitchers, Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez, have another year of experience under their belts and for Volquez, hopefully a healthy season.

Joey Votto is one of the premier players in baseball.

The Cardinals have the best player on the planet in Albert Pujols and one of the best one-two punches in baseball (Carpenter and Wainwright) when healthy.

The Brewers now have front of the line pitchers to be able to matchup with the others in the division.

This is also a more complete team than the one with CC Sabathia in 2008. The rotation is deeper, the lineup is more mature and they have a solid guy at the end of the bullpen with John Axford (24 saves in 27 chances).

They will make a run at the playoffs and, if they get in, could be very dangerous.

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