Official 2010 San Francisco Giants Season Thread (92-70) NL West Division Champions!

[lazyj10]

So juiced for tomorrow...could meet Willie freaking Mays!

 

[eagle 0n]

I have tickets for tomorrow nights game. Anywhere I can check to find out if the game gets canceled due to rain?

 

[patrickcakes]

Tonights lineup. Pretty sure this will be the opening day lineup @ Houston.

CF Aaron Rowand

SS Edgar Renteria

3B Pablo Sandoval

1B Aubrey Huff

LF Mark DeRosa

C Bengie Molina

2B Juan Uribe

RF Nate Schierholtz

P Barry Zito

 

[patrickcakes]

Originally Posted by LazyJ10

So juiced for tomorrow...could meet Willie freaking Mays!

Lazy, if you're gunning to get Mays or McCovey's autographs tomorrow... last year they opened up the ball room/dining area twenty minutes before the program starts. While everyone is still trying to get sigs from the current players in the reception area, get in there early and those two should be sitting at their respective tables.

Last year was at the Hilton, so it might be different.

 

[TheGodFresco]

good ol Zito

 

[rcdp]

So I'm just wondering, where do people get the Panda hats/earmuffs?

 

[rcdp]

Zito

 

[patrickcakes]

ZitLOL

 

[dland24]

Zito always gets shelled by Oakland. I wouldnt look too much into tonight.

BTW.....how about that savage beast who catches for the Oakland Athletics? Get used to seeing performances like this all season long? Which smart fantasy owner picked him?

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

Kurt Suzuki

1 of the best catchers in AL or maybe in all of baseball

 

[lazyj10]

Originally Posted by patrickcakes

Originally Posted by LazyJ10

So juiced for tomorrow...could meet Willie freaking Mays!

Lazy, if you're gunning to get Mays or McCovey's autographs tomorrow... last year they opened up the ball room/dining area twenty minutes before the program starts. While everyone is still trying to get sigs from the current players in the reception area, get in there early and those two should be sitting at their respective tables.

Last year was at the Hilton, so it might be different.

Yeah this year it's at the Marriott.  If I get an autograph, cool, if not, I'll survive.  Just excited to go.  The silent auction begins at 11, not sure if I'll be able to get there that early....it is a work day still

 

[lazyj10]

Couldn't get there as early as I would have liked, but it's a pretty awesome event.

 

[patrickcakes]

[h2]Posey optioned to Fresno; Bochy all but names 25-man roster[/h2]

The Giants cut nine players today and plan to cut a 10th. With the moves that were announced, the Opening Day 25 are pretty clear.

They optioned catcher Buster Posey, infielders Ryan Rohlinger and Matt Downs and pitchers Alex Hinshaw and Kevin Pucetas to Triple-A Fresno. They also reassigned nonroster pitcher Felix Romero, catcher Steve Holm and shortstop Brandon Crawford to the minor-league camp.

By process of elimination, we now know that Eli Whiteside will be the backup catcher, Travis Ishikawa the only backup infielder and Andres Torres, Eugenio Velez and John Bowker the backup outfielders (unless Bowker wins the job and Schierholtz is the backup).

I can't tell you 100 percent this moment exactly what the pitching staff will be because the Giants were not ready to announce their minor-league contract purchases. Thus, Todd Wellemeyer will be announced the fifth starter tomorrow.

It appears the bullpen will consist of Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo, Dan Runzler, Waldis Joaquin, Brandon Medders and either Guillermo Mota or Denny Bautista. I'm guessing Mota, but if I find out for sure I'll let you know.

The Posey move was not a surprise.

"He had a good spring," Bochy said. "We just feel at this time that Posey needs to go down and continue to get playing time and get his at-bats. We told him what the plans are."

Pucetas had a fantastic spring until Friday night, but the organization wants him to start at Fresno and be an insurance policy for the rotation rather than get sporadic innings as a long
guy.

The Giants are at 29 players. Emmanuel Burriss, Freddy Sanchez and Fred Lewis will go on the disabled list to get it to 26, then down to 25 with the final nonroster reliever cut.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi...y_id=60527#ixzz0jztRjm9m
I agree Lazy, it was a pretty cool event. Way more people than last year. Some of the autograph lines were out of control.

 

[tim lincecum]

[h1]Rangers Claim Ryan Garko[/h1]
By Tim Dierkes [April 1, 2010 at 1:01pm CST]

The Rangers claimed first baseman Ryan Garko off waivers from the Mariners, according to a team press release.

The Giants non-tendered Garko in December, and the Mariners signed him in February for $550K with plans for a platoon with Casey Kotchman.  Instead Garko will be paired with Chris Davis in Texas, given the former's ability to crush lefties.  The move ends the Mike Lowell trade talk for now, which was never too serious during the spring anyway.

 

[tim lincecum]

I can see somewhere in the season Mota giving up a crucial hit against the Dodgers.

 

[chris82790]

John Bowker gets the starting job over Nate Schierholtz

 

[chris82790]

[h3]Bowker earns right-field job for Giants[/h3]Impressive spring lands lefty in Opening Day lineup
By Chris Haft / MLB.com

04/04/10 4:07 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO -- Reflecting the Giants' desire for dynamic offense, manager Bruce Bochy selected John Bowker over Nate Schierholtz as the team's Opening Day right fielder on Sunday.

Bowker entered Sunday's exhibition finale against the Seattle Mariners with team highs in home runs (six) and RBIs (22), placing him among the Major League Spring Training leaders. He also was batting .307 with a .384 on-base percentage and a .627 slugging percentage in 27 games. By comparison, Schierholtz was hitting .262 with one home run, seven RBIs, a .304 on-base percentage and a .507 slugging percentage.

In announcing the decision, Bochy noted that Bowker not only produced offensively but also displayed "a lot of discipline at the plate" -- laying off pitches he frequently has chased.

Bowker's impulsive approach during his 2008-09 stints with the Giants partly accounts for the discrepancy between his Minor League statistics (.301 average, .369 on-base percentage, 71 homers in 542 games) and his San Francisco numbers (.244, .291, 12 homers in 142 games).

Schierholtz had the position virtually secured as Spring Training began. He's still considered superior to Bowker defensively, explaining why many observers believed he'd win the job. But while Schierholtz endured a pedestrian Cactus League season at the plate, Bowker flourished -- most notably in a split-squad game against Kansas City on March 24, when he drove in seven runs.

"Johnny forced the issue with his spring, the way he swung the bat," Bochy said. "Nate got out of sync. ... Every time you put [Bowker] in there, he did something offensively. He's going to help provide some power."

Bochy also pointed out that Bowker, a left-handed batter, had some solid at-bats against left-handed pitchers. His two-run homer Saturday off Oakland's Gio Gonzalez served as a recent example.

Though Schierholtz was the No. 8 hitter in San Francisco's projected lineup, Bowker will occupy a loftier spot in the order when the Giants begin the regular season Monday at Houston.

"There's a good chance he will not be hitting eighth," said a grinning Bochy, who did not divulge specifics.

The Giants also made the following moves to reach the 25-man Opening Day active roster limit:

• Purchasing the contracts of right-handers Todd Wellemeyer and Guillermo Mota, who secured the final spot in the bullpen over right-hander Denny Bautista.

• Reassigning Bautista to Triple-A Fresno.

• Placing infielder Emmanuel Burriss (fractured left foot), second baseman Freddy Sanchez (left shoulder) and outfielder Fred Lewis (strained left side) on the 15-day disabled list. Burriss' and Sanchez's assignments are retroactive to March 26, while Lewis' is retroactive to March 27.

In choosing Mota over Bautista, Bochy cited the former's considerable experience in various bullpen roles. Mota has made 609 Major League appearances, compared to 100 for Bautista.

Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

 

[bruce waynee]

Interesting move with Bowker...I hope he can finally put it together at the big league level.

 

[what up]

Bowker has definitely earned the spot but I'd like to see Nate get a good amount of at-bats to keep him somewhat sharp.

 

[ezln1]

It's a shame that it's ultimately going to be a bowker vs. nate thing, regardless of how de rosa performs.
Both of them should be starting, with  worthless de rosa coming off the bench

 

[TheGodFresco]

good job John

 

[jumpmanfromdabay]

I think John Bowker is going to have a break out year......................i hope

 

[patrickcakes]

Worthless DeRosa? Come on now. It should be a Uribe/Schierholtz platoon with DeRosa playing 2B/OF depending who plays.

Go Giants

 

[lazyj10]

I like Nate defensively, and he admitted he was pressing early...Bowker just killed it w/ the bat during the entire spring training and hit w/ power...something we all know the Giants need.

Agreed with my dude 715, just get Nate some AB's so he's fresh.

 

[franchise 55]

What autographs did you guys get at the luncheon?