Oakland Park Baseball

So I'm watching the Giants game and rooting for them against the Rockies, and once again Eugenio Velez is being used in left field. Is this part of the Giants' efforts to get people to forget about Barry Bonds? Did the Giants say to themselves that in order to help the fans get over Bonds they would need a left fielder who wasn't actually a left fielder by trade, who didn't hit homers or take walks, slug and drive runs in?

Naw. Velez might not be refined by any standards, but he is the only lead-off-style hitter we have.

I don't think anyone is trying to make anyone forget about Bonds. No other team is trying to wipe out their past over PEDs.

I was mostly kidding about any conscious attempt to get people away from Bonds' memory. But don't you think a left-fielder in this day and age should be able to hit a few home runs and take a few walks? I would say between Sanchez, Lewis, Winn, Schierholtz, etc. they have enough potential leadoff hitters.

True, true. Actually, that's what I said when we got Dave Roberts a couple years ago: "oh, speed, no pop. another one, but this time for $6 million!"

However:

Winn can't take a walk, or really hit at all anymore
Sanchez: too little speed, no walks, perfect in 2-hole
Lewis: Poor man can't play defense.
Schierholtz: Best pick, but has power potential on a team with very little, so leadoff isn't his best suit.

But your point is taken!



By the way, finding out that BJ Upton is likely to be traded. MMmmmm. OBP, pop, speed. Mmm. Makes me think:

LF BJ Upton

2B Freddy Sanchez

C Buster Posey

3B Pablo Sandoval

RF Nate Schierholtz

CF Arron Rowand

1B Ishikawa/Garko

SS Edgar Rentaria



P Tim Lincincum

P Barry Zito

P Matt Cain

P Brad Penny

P Johnathan Sanchez

Because what the giants need is another low average hitter whose only upside is speed.

Just saying. You need the other Upton, not BJ.

How wrong you are!

The Giants are actually average when it comes to batting average. We have the league's second best hitter. Average isn't the problem.

BJ has four major upsides besides speed:

1) OBP
The Giants make a lot of outs. I'm no big sabermatrics fan or whatever, but taking a walk is key, and the Giants are terrible at it.

2) Power
Giants don't have power. That's kinda clear. Even with BJ only getting around9 this year, that would be very valuable to this team, who plays a guy (winn) who hasn't hit a HR since April. If BJ ever gets close to his 20+ seasons again, all the better

3) Versatility
He can play outfield and the infield. He's not the best infielder, but with Freddy Sanchez's injury problems and Edgar's, well, problems, knowing BJ could spell them on occasion is important.

4) Base Stealing
The Giants have speed, but speed is different that baserunning ability. BJ has both, and in high quantities.

And of course Justin is better... he's just not being traded, and if he was, he'd cost more. There are not many good free agent options that every other team isn't going to over bid for, so this might be a good option.

I guess I'm just not very sold on BJ. He's got decent speed, good enough for ~40 SB's a year (and keep in mind that his numbers come from a team that LOVES to run), but I just don't see him hitting 20+ homers again. He only had 9 last year, 10 so far this year. I'm not sure if he's a power hitter after all. Yes yes, injuries this, injuries that, but wouldn't that be even worse? Hell, Jose Reyes was supposed to be the hottest shit for a long time and he's been dead for what, 2 seasons now?

I suppose there's a reason to get excited about either Upton, but I just have question marks all over BJ.