SF Giants: 2009 Champions! Then what?

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4/7/2009

In 2009 the San Jose Giants finished first going 86-54. Unfortunately this record meant nothing come playoffs, where they lost. This team does not project to be nearly as good this year.

Pitching



None of the pitching staff, at this point, is much of a prospect.

Offense



Nick Noonan needs to have a good year if he wants to remain a good proepect. Oscar Tejeda and Abner Abreu have some nice potential as well. Roger Kieschnick, though not rated well by scouts, is an interesting name to watch this year.

We'll see what the other teams in the league look like, but I don't expect this roster to be a first place team.

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4/7/2009

The Greenjackets were 104-36 last year. Sheer domination. Even so, they did not join their parent club by winning the title. Like San Jose, this team looks to be a serious step down this year.

Pitching



Sosa and Rodriguez have quickly become ex-prospects.

Offense



Stanton is the real deal and will be exciting to watch. Purce and Morban look to improve their standing with good years.

Other than Stanton, it'll be interesting to see if any future big leaguers come from this roster.

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4/8/2009

Minor leagues opened today. Let's see how the Giants affiliates fared.

Fresno Grizzlies
The Grizzlies (1-0) lost the opener, on the road, to the Salt Lake City Bees. The final score was 6-5 in 10.

Bumgarner struck out 8 in 6 innings, allowing 4 runs in the no decision.
Morlan (0-1) took the loss.

Lou Marson powered the Grizzly offense going 3-5 with 2 HR's (2) and 5 RBI. Moustakas and Heyward both got 2 hits, and both doubled.

Conneticut Defenders
The Defenders (1-0) also started on the road and faced the New Britain Rock Cats. Defenders won 4-2.

Alderson (1-0) got the victory giving up both runs in 6.2 innings.
Lebron got the save (1) in a perfect ninth with 2 K's.

Crawford got 2 hits, and got 2 RBI's. Villalona showed great patience at the plate going 0-1 with 3 BB's.

San Jose Giants
The second team to lose 6-5 in exrta innings, though this game took 11 innings. The Giants (0-1) opened on the road at Visalia Rawhide.

Chaffee gave up 5 over 7 and Wilson (0-1) took the loss.

Augusta Greenjackets
Augusta (1-0) shut down the Bowling Green Hot Rods, in Bowling Green and won 2-0.

Loree (1-0) pitched 8 shutout innings.
Perdomo got the save (1) in a 1 K perfect ninth.

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4/9/2009

Fresno Grizzlies
Lou Marson hit 2 more HR's (4) as the Grizzlies (1-1) win 7-4. This is the right way to try and earn your way onto the big league roster. Moustakas also homered (1) and got 2 hits. Viciedo and Guzman both got 2 hits as well.

Martinez (1-) pitched 8 and Morlan got the save (1) walking 2 and striking out none.

Conneticut Defenders
The Defenders (1-1) lost 6-3. Crawford got 3 more hits, including a HR (1), and Villalona got his first HR. Posey is still hitless, and I am hoping he isn't off to an atrociously slow start like last year.

San Jose Giants
The Giants moved to (1-1) with a 8-2 victory. Ciriaco and Tejeda both had 2-hit games and Kieschnick went deep (1).

Kauffman (1-0) gave up 0 ER over 7.

Augusta Greenjackets
Start off 2-0 with a 6-3 win. Purce got 2 hits including a HR (1) and Gomez was active on the base paths swiping 2 bags (2) but getting nailed once (1).

Casilla gave up 2 in 8.1 innings. Perdomo came on with the bases laded and allowed 2 runs (none to him) before closing the door and getting the save (2).

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4/10/2009

The season starts tomorrow though the Giants don't open until Monday the 12th. The Giants are putting out a very strong team this year and I am truly hoping/expecting us to make the playoffs. With this strong of a rotation, I like our chances in the post-season as well, but anything can happen.

I'm actually going to skip the preview as most of these name s are pretty well known. I'll just reiterate that I like our chances this year.

Pitching



Offense



The reserves are Steve Holm C; Allen Craig 1B, 3B, Eugenio Velez 2B, LF, CF. Brian Horwitz LF, RF, and Brian Bocock SS.

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4/10/2009

Fresno Grizzlies (1-2)
Grizzlies take the loss 2-1. Heyward got 2 hits and Hammond (0-1) pitched a CG. Viciedo committed his first error in LF.

Connecticut Defenders (2-1)
The Defenders won 6-2 though Posey is still without a hit. Viallalona and Wallace both collected 2 hits and 1 HR in the win. For Villalona it was his second, it was Wallace's first. Crawford got another 2 hits and is hitting .500 over the first three games. Smith pitched 8 innings of 2 run ball.

San Jose Giants (1-2)
San Jose lost 5-3. Ziegler hit his second HR and Noonan hit his first.

Augusta Greenjackets (2-1)
Augusta lost 2-1 in 10. Stanton is still hitless. Bucardo pitched 7.2 strong innings giving up 1 run in the no decision.

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4/11/2009

The Giants have to wait until tomorrow but the season has officially started as the Marlins opened the season with a win over the Nationals. The owner is only expecting a .500 season. This makes me wonder if I'm overly optimistic. The Giants (according to Baseball America) have the strongest farm system, with 5 players in the 30.

The top 10:


And the Giants top 20:

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Fresno Grizzlies (1-3)
The Grizzlies lost another extra inning game. Moustakas had 3 hits and his second homer. Viciedo got 2 hits and his first home run. Morlan got the blown save (1) and Joaquin (0-1) got the loss by walking in a run.

Connecticut Defenders (3-1)
The Defenders won 7-5. Posey banged out 2 hits and stole a bag. Lebron got his second save.

San Jose Giants (1-3)
The Giants dropped this game 10-9 by giving up 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth. Ciriaco had 3 hits, Tejeda 2, and Noonan 2 including a HR (2). Joe (0-1 BS 1) gave up all 3 runs without getting an out.

Augusta Greenjackets (3-1)
Took this game 8-1. Adrianza hit his second HR. Purce got 3 hits, and Stanton got his first two hits including a double. Sosa only gave up 1 run over 6.2 innings.

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4/12/2009

Giants (1-0)
The Giants opened at home against the Rockies. Colorado scored the first run, the last run, but the Giants scored 5 in between and won 5-2.

Lincecum (1-0) pitched 6 innings giving up a run in the first and striking out 8. Wilson pitched a stress free ninth for the save (1).

Holliday walked and stole a bag in his first AB. He also opened up the scoring with a 2RBI single.

Witter played (and started) in his first big league game. He went 3-4 with a double, the out coming on his last AB.

A nice, clean win, but there were a lot of ground ball hits for the Rockies. Uggla and Frandsen are not a good defensive MI combo. I'm anxious to get Burriss back.

Street is now a starter and pitched opening day for the Rockies.

Fresno Girzzles (1-4)
Grizzlies lost again, in 11, 7-6. Marson hit another HR (5) and Joaquin (0-2) took another loss.

Connecticut Defenders (4-1)
Aaron King (1-0) pitched a 2 hit shutout as the Defenders won 8-0. Villalona went yard (2) and Posey went 1-4.

San Jose Giants (1-3)
Off day.

Augusta Greenjackets (4-1)
They won 7-1 in 14, scoring 6 runs in the top of the 14th inning. Mithcell Lively (1-0) got the win but hurt himself in the outing. he will be on the DL for 3-4 weeks. Ryan Verdugo has been called up from SA to take his place in the bullpen.

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4/13/2009

Giants (2-0)

This game was not close. At all.



Cain was sharp. Who knows why Bochy took him out after 92 pitches but who cares. Craig made his MLB debut, walking in his first AB, and Witter got his first major league RBI. Holliday, Uggla, and Ankiel (the newest Giants) combined for 7 hits and 7 RBI's.

In a classless move, De la Rosa hit Cain shortly after the game got out of hand. No one was hurt, and the umpires issued a warning to both teams. Hopefully this doesn't spill over to the series finale. I'm thinking sweep.

Fresno Grizzlies (1-5)
The Grizzlies struggles continue. O'Malley (0-1) pitched a complete game, but the Grizzlies only got one run. morrison and Jackson are off to terrible starts.

Connecticut Defenders (5-1)
Defenders win this shootout 14-11. Villalona gets 3 hits, including his 4th HR. Wallace also got 3 hits. Nice to see Posey going 2-5 and Lebron nothced his 3rd save striking out the side in teh 9th.

San Jose Giants (2-3)
Joe bounced back from a tough outing to get the save and Kieschnick got 3 hits in this 5-4 win.

Augusta Greenjackets (5-1)
The Greenjackets coast to their fifth win 12-4. Stanton, who has been struggling early, got 2 hits including a triple.

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4/14/2009

Giants (3-0)
Ishikawa hits a grand slam as the Giants sweep the Rockies winning the final game 9-2. Sanchez (1-0) gets the win. This team is pitching well, showing good patience at the plate, and hitting the ball hard. Frandsen has been below average at short, but he got three hits today and is holding his own.

Day off tomorrow, then the Dodgers at home for three.

Fresno Grizzlies (1-5)
Bumgarner shelled and the Grizzlies lose 11-0. Viciedo made his second error in LF.

Connecticut Defenders (6-1)
D'Alassio hits a pinch hit grand slam and a 6 run 7th propel the Defenders to a 10-7 win. Lebron got his 4th save and is yet to give up a run.

San Jose Giants (2-4)
Lose this one 3-0.

Augusta Greenjackets (6-1)
Loree (2-0) pitches 7 more shutout innings and the Greenjackets win 2-0.

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4/15/2009

Off day for the Giants.

It was announced this morning that Manny Ramirez has received a contract extension with the Dodgers. It is a 2 year extension paying over $6M each year. Quite a pay cut considering in 2010 he is making $20M.

Fresno Grizzlies (2-6)
Martinez (2-0) has accounted for both Grizzly wins, today by the score 2-1. Morlan gave up 1 run in route to his second save.

Connecticut Defenders (7-1)
The Defenders scored 5 in the 8th to win 9-8. Villalona had another 3 hits including his 5th HR. Apparently he doesn't want to play in the NE and is trying to get to Fresno. Posey got 2 hits and is hitting over .290.

San Jose Giants (2-5)
Shutout again, lose 2-0.

Augusta Greenjackets (7-1)
Greenjackets win 4-0. Stanton collects 2 more hits and is approaching the Mendoza line.

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4/16/2009

Giants (4-0)
The Giants win this one 2-1 with Ankiel hitting the go ahead RBI in the 7th. Hinshaw got the win in relief for Harden who left with a sore Hamstring after running the bases. All indications are that he should make his next start. Always a little worried when Harden and injury are in the same sentence though. Wilson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the save (2). Couldn't ask for a better start to the season.

Grizzlies (2-7)
The Grizzlies continue losing, and this game wasn't close. Morrison hit his first HR of the season. Pichardo pitched 3 shut down innings, but left with shoulder tightness. He is expected to miss 1-2 weeks and was placed on the 7 day DL.

Defenders (7-2)
The Defenders scored 5 over the last 3 frames, but it wasn't enough as they lost by 1 run. Posey is hitting .321, easing concerns that he is a slow starter. Mike Wilson hit 2 HR's (2 & 3) in the loss. Daryl Jones is going to miss 6 weeks with a strained elbow, and Brett Wallace left after being hit by a pitch. This may take a couple days to heal though he is available to pinch hit, if not start. Val Majewski got the promotion and will begin starting in LF to replace Jones.

Giants (2-6)
Another loss for the farm system. The 6-9 hitters accounted for 0 hits. Kieschnick went yard (2).

Greenjackets (7-2)
Every affiliate lost today as the Greenjackets only mustered 2 hits. Even worse is that Wilber Bucardo will miss 3-4 months with a shoulder injury and has been moved to the DL. The Greenjackets are switching to a 5 man rotation.

Around the League
Ichiro recorded his 2000th hit. He is truly a very special athlete. Congratulations.

This slipped through the cracks but Vladimir Guerrero signed a minor league deal with the Astros on 4/11/2009. Wow! He fell quickly. It's unclear if I will get compensation for this signing as Selig has not informed me either way.

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4/17/2009

Giants (4-1)
Eric Bedard gave up 4 over 4 but a 2-run shot from Ankiel, and 2-out RBI double by Uggla tied the game. Brian Wilson (0-1) blew his first save giving up 1 in the 9th, and took the loss giving up 1 in the 10th. In the bottom of the 10th Holliday struck out to end the gane with the bases loaded.

Can't win them all. But I sure would like to against the Dodgers.

Grizzlies (2-8)
The Grizzlies scored 9 on the back of 2-HR's by Botts (2 & 3), but still lost 10-9.

Defenders (7-3)
The DEfenders were shut out 4-0.

Giants (3-6)
A win in the organization. It was feeling like it had been a while there. Noonan hit his 3 HR.

Greenjackets (8-2)
Stanton had 3 hits including his first HR in the win. Perdomo pitched the ninth for the save (4).

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4/18/2009

Giants (5-1)
The Giants won the series beating the Dodgers 9-6. This game wasn't as close as the score indicates, which was nice to see after each of the first two games were only decided by 2 runs. Holliday had 3 hits, including his first HR as a Giant, Uggla had 3 RBI's. Lincecum got the win but gave up 3 over 5. He threw 105 pitches in only 5 innings as he gave up 6 hits, 3 walks, and 10 K's. Romo gave up 3 in the 9th inning.

Manny Ramirez hit safely for the 2500 time this game. Impressive.

Grizzlies (3-8)
Moustakas had 3 hits, Morrison hit his 2nd HR, and Pucetas pitched 7 strong for the win.

Defenders (8-3)
Villalona had 3 hits in the win.

Giants (3-7)
Noonan had 3 hits in the loss. Tanner was suspended for 7 games for his role in a bench clearing brawl.

Greenjackets (9-2)
Stanton got 3 hist, and Henry Rodriguez struck out 10 in the win.

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4/19/2009

Great first week, sweeping the Rockies at home, and taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers at home. Nice to start strong against division rivals.

Who's Hot
The Starting Rotation (minus Bedard). The starting pitching was impressive in 5 of the first 6 starts.

Combined Hinshaw, Affeldt, Howry, and Soriano have pitched 8.2 scoreless innings.

Holliday .476/.607/.762
Sandoval .423/.483/.654
Uggla .304/.385/.652

Witter has started every game and is hitting over .300.

Who's Not
Sergio Romo has given up 3 runs in 2 innings.

Allen Craig has 5 AB's and is still looking for his first major league hit.

At the top of the order Ackley is only hitting .259 with 0 SB's but has been caught twice.

Minor Notes
Bumgarner has an ERA of 9.58 over 2 starts.

Perdomo got 4 saves in the first week and is yet to give up a run.

Villalona and Noonan are off to hot starts.

Austin Jackson is really struggling in AAA.

Marson has 5 HR's and only 8 hits.

Villalona also has 5 HR's but 17 hits.

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4/19/2009

Giants (5-2)
The Giants were cruising to a 4-1 victory over the series opener against the Cubs until the Cubs scored 3 in the top of the 8th to tie the game. Brian Wilson (0-2) pitched a scoreless 9th before giving up the game winning run in the 10th. The bottom of the order struggled toady. I'm hoping to win the next two games. I always look to win series, especially at home.

Grizzlies (3-9)
The Grizzlies fall again. More concerning is that Heyward got hurt for a week. He had two injuries that required him to miss time last year. Hopefully this is not becoming a pattern.

Defenders (8-4)
Villalona got 3 hits including a HR (6) in the loss.

Giants (3-8)
Tejeda got the only hit as the Giants were shut out 2-0.

Greenjackets (10-2)
Tyler Chatwood pitched a complete game shutout giving up only 1 hit and striking out 13! Stanton hit his second HR of the year.

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4/20/2009

Giants (6-2)
The Giants coast to an easy 9-2 win over the Cubs. Sanchez is now 2-0, Frandsen had 4 hits, and Holliday hit his second HR. Now, tomorrow we send out Harden to try and win the series. Ackley has stolen 3 bags off Soto without being caught.

Grizzlies (4-9)
Bumgarner comes back to form with a CG SO giving up 1 hit, striking out 10. All of the offense was provided by Moustakas who went deep twice providing all the offense on two swings in a 3-0 win.

Defenders (9-4)
The Defenders win on a strong performance from Alderson (3-0), and Crawford racks up 3 hits, and Villalona tacks on another 2 RBI's (17 & 18).

Giants (4-8)
Scott Barnes (1-1) pitched well in the win.

Greenjackets (11-2)
It took 15 innings but the Greenjackets got the win 3-2.

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4/21/2009

Giants (7-2)
Rich Harden (1-0) was able to keep his emotions in check as he pitched 6 scoreless innings against his former team, to help the Giants win the game and the series. The final score was 6-0. Holliday hit his 3rd homerun, and over the 9 game old season is hitting an astounding .545. Tomorrow is a day off.

Grizzlies (4-10)
Joe Martinez (2-1) pitched a complete game in the loss. Weglarz went 0-4 in his first game back from the DL. Viciedo made another error (4) in LF, then tore a quad and is out up to a month.

Defenders (9-5)
Wallace had his second HR, Crawford got another two hits, and Villalona was in the lineup, not in prison on suspicion of murder. This was, however still a loss.

Giants (4-8)
Off Day.

Greenjackets (12-2)
The Greenjackets continue to tear through the South Atlantic League with another win, this one 3-1. Perdomo got another save (5).

Around the League
Berkman continues his fine career hitting HR #300.

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4/22/2009

Giants (7-2)
The first road trip of the year and we don't have to leave the state but simply go to sunny San Diego. They are also 7-2 and therefore share the lead in the division. Bochy and I talked about skipping Bedard and going straight to Timmy, but it is too early in the season to make those types of moves.

Grizzlies (5-10)
It took a run in the 8th, 9th, and 10th but the Grizzlies pull out the victory. Weglarz had 3 hits and Jackson has hit better as of late raising his average to .200.

Defenders (10-5)
Jordan Smith (2-1) was 1 out from a complete game, only giving up 2 unearned runs in the win.

Giants (4-9)
The off day didn't help as the Giants lose 11-3. A lot of these guys look lost on the field, like they aren't ready for high A. At this point, no one else is ready for a promotion so I'm going to have to go with a bit of sink or swim here.

Greenjackets (12-3)
1B Richard Martinez got hit by a pitch and will miss 6 weeks. We had more hits but less runs than the Sand Gnats.