SF Favorite Pat "the Bat" Burrell retires.

With with two World Series rings, 292 homers, the former 1st overall pick of the 1998 draft calls it quits.

By Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY

Pat Burrell returned home with a battered reputation when he joined the San Francisco Giants in early June 2010.

Once a feared slugger and one of the top run producers in the National League, Burrell had been summarily dumped by the Tampa Bay Rays, who got a tiny return (a .218 batting average) on their $16 million investment in him and didn't care for his sour attitude.

A change of scenery clearly did wonders for Burrell, who attended high school in San Jose and was reunited on the Giants with old buddies Aubrey Huff and Aaron Rowand.

Burrell, who announced Monday he was retiring at 35 because of a chronic foot injury, teamed up with then-rookie Buster Posey to energize the Giants' sluggish offense, helping them clinch the NL West title and win their first World Series since moving to the West Coast in 1958.

"Pat the Bat'' delivered 20 homers and 64 RBI in two-thirds of a season for the power-starved Giants, repeatedly coming through in the clutch. Just as significantly, he became a clubhouse leader and a unifying presence, a prime example of the "castoffs and misfits'' manager Bruce Bochy said formed his tightly knit club.

Burrell also gained cult status of sorts as the suspected man behind the mask worn by the character Brian Wilson identified as "the Machine,'' a big fellow clad in a bondage outfit who appeared on the background as the Giants closer was doing a national TV interview. Burrell has never publicly acknowledged playing the role.

He certainly played a bigger role in the Giants reaching the World Series than winning it, as he went 0-for-13 with 11 strikeouts against the Texas Rangers, making him 1-for-27 in his two trips to the Fall Classic.

But his one hit was a seventh-inning double that turned into the winning run of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, the clincher for the Philadelphia Phillies as they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays.

Burrell hit 251 of his 292 career home runs with Philadelphia to rank fourth in the history of the club, which drafted him No. 1 overall in 1998. He played nine of his 12 seasons with the Phillies, and though he never was an All-Star, Burrell was a key figure in turning what was a last-place team when he arrived in 2000 into a perennial power.

"Congrats Pat B for a great career!'' Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino tweeted. "It was amazing being your teammate for all those years in (Philadelphia).''

Miami Marlins sign Aaron Rowand

The Miami Herald reported on Tuesday that Aaron Rowand was signed to a minor league contract with an offer to Spring Training.  This contract, should Rowand make the Marlins Big League team, will pay him $480k reducing the Giants $12m obligation to him to just north of $11.5m.  With all of that room now in the budget the Giants can, well do almost nothing.  Oh well, it is less than it was.

2012 Roster

The debate seems to be in full force about the line up and the roster moves necessary to make the offense productive this year.

With the trade of Jonathan Sanchez to KC, the lead off spot (and Torres as a starter) seems to be nailed down. Then come the assumptions, If Freddy Sanchez and Buster Posey return to full health and form, the questions fall to Short Stop and a backup Catcher. If the Giants sign Carlos Beltran, the backup catcher position comes into play, as the Giants have to make room for him on the 40-man roster. I think it spells the end of the road for Eli Whiteside and the Giants.

I like Eli, he's tough and has worked hard to stick around and be there behind Bengie and now Buster, however, the big question is "who provides the best option as a backup catcher, Eli or Chris Stewart?". Hector Sanchez is promising but needs more time in the minors, Stewart and Eli both are weak at the plate, though Stewart appears to hit for better power and that Arm! Stewart's quick release and canon of an arm put him in the lead, add to that the fact that Eli need more rest as the season went on, looking tired and unable to move well behind the plate.

I read an interesting comment to a similar question on Bleacher Report today.  The commenter asked the question, "why don't the Giants have Pablo as the backup catcher?"  The question is interesting, if you look behind the "are you crazy?" gut reaction.  Pablo was a solid catcher for a long time.  If he only comes in to give Buster the occasional rest, either out or at 1st base, then why not?  The team does not loose either bat and the options for a backup 3rd baseman with Gillispie or possibly DeRosa (at significantly less money than the last few seasons, say $1, if he can do it.).  This way the lineup does not weaken and the team can have Stewart come in late in the game for Pablo with fresh legs and that cannon.

The last issue is Short Stop.  My feeling is that Crawford, has shown improvement and will continue to get better, along with his stellar defense, I would gladly give up a few BA points for his glove in the hole.  If he can hit .250 or better, then we're in.  If no, then the Giants can look for someone to add at mid season.

I doubt that Beltran, looking at a lineup consisting of:

1 - Cabrera
2 - F. Sanchez
3 - Beltran
4 - Sandoval
5 - Posey
6 - Schierholtz (if improved as last year)
7 - Huff or Belt
8 - Crawford
9 - Pitcher

will consider this offense any less than significantly improved, with a nasty heart of the order.  Then add a consistent Sheirholtz and Huff/Belt and the Giants should blow through the West.

Giants sign Lopez, pick up Affeldt's option

By Chris Haft / MLB.com | 10/31/11 12:51 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants retained their left-handed bullpen complement and thus addressed one of the biggest issues facing them this offseason Sunday by signing Javier Lopez to a two-year, $8.5 million contract and picking up Jeremy Affeldt's $5 million contract option for 2012.
Lopez, 34, would have become a free agent after midnight Sunday. His effectiveness overall and as a left-handed specialist in particular made him among the most highly ranked performers eligible to go on the open market.
"I wrestled with wanting to test the waters, but ultimately trying to get back to the playoffs with these guys really made the decision easy," Lopez said in an e-mail response. "The pitching staff from top to bottom is special and being able to be a part of that excited me, too. Knowing the coaching staff and how [manager Bruce] Bochy and Rags [pitching coach Dave Righetti] use us helped as well. Getting Buster [Posey] and Freddy [Sanchez] back will really be nice. Both guys can only add to our offense and they were really missed."

Lopez's possible free agency apparently wasn't the only factor influencing the timing of the agreements. Affeldt said that his agent, Michael Moye, was attempting to negotiate a multiyear deal with the Giants. But, Affeldt said, "There were some logistical things to work out that didn't make sense for both sides."
Affeldt shared the widespread assumption that the Giants would retain either him or Lopez but not both. The Giants still must ponder decisions regarding six free agents and 13 salary arbitration-eligible players, which will strain their payroll. So when he learned of Lopez's deal, he figured that his three-year tenure as a Giant had ended. He then would have received a $500,000 buyout and entered free agency.
"So when they told me they were going to pick up my option, I was like, 'That's awesome,'" Affeldt said. "I enjoy being a Giant."
Aside from Affeldt and Lopez, the Giants' most experienced left-handed reliever is 26-year-old Dan Runzler, who was 1-2 with a 6.26 ERA in 31 appearances (one start) in 2011. Moreover, none of the potential replacements likely to test free agency (Mike Gonzalez, John Grabow, Damaso Marte, Trever Miller, Darren Oliver, Arthur Rhodes, J.C. Romero, George Sherrill, Brian Tallet) represents a significant upgrade over Lopez or Affeldt.
"As of last year, I think we did a pretty good job of making ourselves known as some of the better left-handers in the game," Affeldt said. "For them to bring us both back instead of one, it shows how much respect they have for me and Javy."
Lopez, who earned $2.375 milllion this year, enjoyed one of his best seasons in 2011, finishing 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 70 games. Opponents hit .221 off him, while left-handed batters mustered a mere .163 batting average.
Since joining the Giants from Pittsburgh in a 2010 Trade Deadline deal, Lopez has made 97 appearances without allowing a home run. This year, he and Brad Ziegler were the only Major League relievers who pitched at least 50 innings not to yield a long ball. He also permitted six of 43 inherited runners to score -- a 14 percent rate that was tied for third lowest in the National League.
"Anytime you win a World Series with a club, that automatically puts them at the top of the list," Lopez said in his e-mail, referring to the Giants' 2010 title. "SF is a great city and a great place to play. The fan support is amazing and it's a place where I feel comfortable playing."
Affledt, 32, finished 3-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 67 games before Sept. 8, when he accidentally cut his right hand while trying to separate frozen hamburger patties and was sidelined for the rest of the season. He limited left-handed batters to a .144 average, third best in the Majors behind Jonny Venters (.127) of the Braves and Koji Uehara (.130) of the Orioles and Rangers.
A Giants spokesman announced the deals' completion, which club management is expected to address officially Monday.
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

No playoffs, but I can still find 10 positive things about the 2011 Giants

Tim Kawakami breaks down the 10 positive things to take from the 2011 season and looks to 2012.  I'm not sure I agree with the Zito position, but his lack of mention to Vogelsong, may mean that he believes Vogie will ask fro a few bucks as a free agent next year.  Either way, the prospect of J. Sanchez and Zito as the 4, 5 pitchers isn't what I would be rejoicing about.  I want Vogelsong back in the 4 spot and let the money and spring determine the 5 spot.  Vogelsong has earned the spot.

POSTED BY TIM KAWAKAMI ON SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2011 AT 2:37 PM

-Many of us–yes, even a sweet & kind writer like me–have focused almost wholly on the Giants’ faults for the last several months.

Because there are faults. And because winning the World Series last year elevated the way the 2011 were–and had to be–judged.

Hey, the Giants owners themselves cut loose their managing general partner this season, so you know it’s a harsh time.

But after last night’s Arizona clinching, and with the Giants a few hours or days away from total playoff elimination, I figured it’s time to remember that there were, indeed, real bright spots to this season.

All was not lost. In fact, on balance, facing what the Giants faced and with the extra pressure of trying against hope to repeat, I’d say it was not a bad effort, realistically.

Not great, obviously. But not terrible.

* Here’s my list of the 10 most positive developments for the Giants in 2011…

1. They didn’t quit, when they could have done exactly that four or five separate times, starting in late-May when Buster Posey went down and continuing through just a few weeks aago.

Of course, the pitching is what kept the Giants churning, day after day, even in the lowest times. But it’s a credit to the entire roster that, when they all could’ve checked out, time and again, they didn’t.

Well, not all of them, anyway.

It was, in many ways, keyed by Bruce Bochy’s persona–stoic at times, but steel-eyed and determined to keep moving forward, if possible.

The most recent and perhaps most impressive example is the 8-game winning streak that started immediately after the Giants basically fell out of the NL West race and kept them in it mathematically, at least until the D-Backs started splashing in the outfield pool.

Bonus: The late run might’ve given Carlos Beltran something good to remember about his time in SF.

The Giants won’t get into the big free-agent bidding, but if Beltran doesn’t get a monster offer, he could be searching for a fallback, and maybe the Giants are a third-tier fallback for him.

-Conclusion: Bochy still has control of the clubhouse.

2. The Giants’ pitching was fantastic once again, and, even more importantly,stayed healthy despite carrying the whole burden.

Look at the injuries to Boston’s staff. Look at Atlanta’s staff. Look at the A’s.

Good pitching can be fragile and good pitching in back-to-back seasons of high-stress can absolutely get ravaged.

Yet, the Giants’ top starters were as good or better than they were in 2010–they got 30+ starts out of Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner.

That’s AFTER all those extra innings last October.

Plus, with the addition of Ryan Vogelsong (basically subbing in for Jonathan Sanchez, eventually), the 1-through-4 rotation was more dependable than ever.

And nothing is a better predictor for future health than past and current health. Especially for young pitchers.

No rotation ever goes forever without some injury issue, but these are excellent signs for the sustained long-term health of the Giants’ rotation.

Bonus positivity: None of the top four starters are eligible for free-agency this off-season. (Lincecum and Vogelsong are slated to hit arbitration, Cain has one more year before he’s a F/A, Bumgarner has more year before he gets to arbitration.)

Double-bonus positivity: The Giants seem to have finally given up the ghost on Barry Zito. He should comes to camp with less than a 10% chance of winning a starting spot in 2012.

What they do with Zito after that, I don’t know, but if they want to win, they can’t ever pencil him in as a regular starter.

-Conclusion: The Giants’ big three of Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner are long-term horses, and that alone should keep the Giants in contention into 2012.

3. Buster Posey is on track to return as a catcher for 2012.

Clearly, this still has to be proven once Posey gets to spring training and shows his ankle can take the day-after-day grind behind the plate.

But everybody knows that Posey is much more valuable to the Giants as a catcher than at first base or anywhere else he might have to be moved to.

There are a lot of guys as good as Posey at 1B in the NL. There are none who play catcher, except him.

Posey might never catch 140 games again, and might move to 1B eventually, but it’s a positive sign for the Giants to be talking solely about him as a catcher six months before Opening Day 2012.

-Conclusion: Posey is still odds-on to be the Giants’ most important player for the next decade, and teams with great catchers usually win consistently.

4. The Giants re-signed (and wasted some money on) Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell partly to maintain the good vibes of 2010, but they avoided over-committing to Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria.

I thought Uribe was a big, big loss, but he had a horrendous season with the Dodgers–2010 might’ve been his last flash. And it’s not like Miguel Tejada made anybody forget about Uribe or Renteria’s 2010 contributions.

And OK, the team’s commitment to Huff partially blocked Brandon Belt, but Belt had his own struggles this season. (Burrell doesn’t count as a big bad deal because he only cost $1M.)

But the reality is that the Giants could’ve gone nutso to bring back their 2010 heroes in free-agency, and all they really got stuck with is an extra year of Huff.

-Conclusion: The Giants’ payroll in 2012 isn’t looking good, but it could’ve been A LOT worse if they’d tossed money at two more aging infielders last off-season.

5. Pablo Sandoval re-emerged as a true middle-order hitter.

Really, until Beltran kicked it into gear a few weeks aftter his acquisition, Sandoval was the Giants’ only dangerous hitter.

The Giants sure need him. But they had better keep monitoring his weight, because it went back up as the season wore on.

-Conclusion: Sandoval and Posey are the core of the Giants’ lineup, and should be for many years. Now all they have to do is find three or four more solid hitters–which is better than having to find five or six.

6. The Giants ate up another year of the horrendous Zito contract(two more to go!) and cut loose Aaron Rowand (with one year left) and Miguel Tejada.

The problem is that, together, the money owed to Zito and Rowand still basically makes it impossible for the Giants to go after a huge free agent for another two years or so.

-Conclusion: Any year where the Giants are in semi-contention with the Zito and Rowand deals weighing them down is a pretty good year.

7. The Giants probably have found something in Brett Pill.

I was as skeptical as most were about a 27-year-old, six-year minor-leaguer, but all Pill has done is hit–1.019 OPS in his first 10 games–in his brief time in the majors.

Nobody should write him in for 500 plate-appearances next season, but given the Giants’ need for power bats, Pill has to be somebody they look at for time at 1B.

I think he goes into 2012 spring training slightly behind Belt in the 1B derby (and Belt can also play LF), and on almost equal footing with Huff. That’s being realistic. 

-Conclusion: When somebody’s hitting in the high-minors, the Giants’ can’t afford to pooh-pooh anything about him, at any time.

8. The Giants have a budding closer-of-the-future in Sergio Romo.

Forget the triple to Goldschmidt last night–Romo has been incredible almost all season and did one of the toughest things in baseball: Followed up a good set-up season with a great set-up season.

-Conclusion: Brian Wilson is the guy, but he might not have to be the only guy in 2012, especially if his elbow keeps barking at him.

9.  The Giants didn’t burn service time and rush OF Gary Brown to the big club in September.  

A mid-season jump from A-ball to the big leagues is too much for a young hitter.

-Conclusion: Brian Sabean and his staff stuck to their guns on this one, and they were right. Justin Christian did everything Brown might’ve, and probably more.

10. They could win almost 90 games while also scoring the fewest runs in the National League.

-Conclusion: How many games can they win if they move into the middle of the offensive pack? Answer: They could have another parade if that happens soon.

Not a bad season, considering!

I have hashed this season over with a bunch of people and what I come away with is, how many wins this team achieved considering:

The lack of offensive production
The lack of a regular lineup
The massive use of the DL
The significant players lost for huge portions of the season
The lack of contribution by significant veterans
The revolving door that was the 5th starter position.

and
The loss of our closer for the last quarter of the season

Considering this,
The Giants managed to be competative, or at least mathamatically in the hunt, until the 153rd game of the season. Not to shabby.

Consider this, the Padres lost 103 games...so far!

Hope is good...

I hope that the Giants can sweep the Diamondbacks, but the West clearly belongs to Arizona, its theirs to win or loose.

I hope that the Giants can, baring the west, win the wild card, but it would require a continued collapse of the Braves AND the Cardinals.

I hope the 2011 season for the Giants is not over, but I am glad that it was more exciting over the last two weeks than I thought it would be.

I hope, going in to the winter break, that the unhealthy get healthy and are ready to go next year.

I hope something can be worked out with Lincecum, I would prefer long term, but I doubt he wants to leave any money on the table,  Also, a short term contract lets him put some pressure on the GM to upgrade the offense.

Lincecum cannot be happy to be leaving wins on the table, he wants a few 20 game seasons.  Here are a few of his comments"

"I just don't know how I'm going to feel five years from now, or three years. That's why I'd kind of like to take things step by step and why I liked the deal I got last year."

"It's just easier for me mentally not to have to put that kind of pressure on yourself [...] when you're signed to a long-term deal, it's like saying, 'I'm going to live up to every expectation."


"That's why I like going year to year, so I can improve on it and not sit on what I've done."


Lincecum's two year deal was for $24 million, which is what Cliff lee is going to make next season.  He could easily walk into the Arbitration and ask for that as a starting point, settling for another two year deal worth $40 to $45 million.

I hope that the Giants can sign Carlos Beltran.  He has indicated that he would like to be back in SF; however, his agent the notorious Scott Boras, has indicated that at 34, Carlos may be looking for his last "blockbuster deal".

Take from that what you will.  Carlos may also be looking for a three to five year deal at $75 to $150 million.

Either way, with the injuries, the Giants didn't leave anything on the table and made quite a run for it considering.  I don't know what the change in CEO will mean to the payroll for 2012, we will see!

I will be looking forward to the spring.

Go Giants!