Baseball

Bruce Jenkins' thoughts on yesterday's Giants game. Is it just me or is Bruce Jenkins turning into Andy Rooney?

Aaron Rowand had a tough second half of 2008 and a tough Spring Training 2009, but he came to life after some extra work before the game. I heard Rowand on KNBR yesterday, he brought up the impact Carney Lansford getting the guys into the batting cage right before the game and how much that helped them.

The Giants' opener was not what anyone expected. Duh, Ann Killion.

Matt Holiday was too sick to make it to the ballpark for last night's game, but the A's pulled out a win without him. Susan Slusser expects a better showing in Trevor Cahill's next start.

Schulman's notes on the Giants' opener.

Baggs' notes that yesterday was Lincecum's shortest stint as a starter and other notes.

Basketball

Janny Hu says Biedrins will be back for tonight's game. My question is, Why? What does he have to gain?

Hockey

The Sharks outlasted the Blue Jackts lat night, but all I could find was this AP write up. The Sharks are one point away or a Boston loss from wrapping up home ice advantage for the entire playoffs.

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by Koski

My thoughts and observations:

- Joe Saunders v. Dallas Braden, two middle rotation guys starting opening day. Really, these two guys are almost identical. Saunders has a larger build, but both are soft tossing lefties who rely on off speed and location to get outs.

- Braden looked uncomfortable in the stretch. He paid way too much attention to Jeff Mathis on first with one out and Chone Figgins batting in the third inning. Mathis is the Angels' catcher and he's got two career steals. Braden threw over to first at least twice and ended up missing inside and walking Figgins. Howie Kendrick then went the other way and drove in Mathis for the first Angels' run.

- I learned that Matt Holliday led the majors last year in going from first to third. 21 times in 2008.

- O-Cab made a boneheaded base running error on second with one out and Holilday sent a ground ball to short. O-Cab lurched forward before switching directions and getting caught getting back to second. [Battle of the Bay Area Colombian Shortstops: O-Cab -1, E-Rent 0]

- Even worse for the A's was what happened in the third inning. Jack Cust walks and then Mark Ellis ground into a fielder's choice. One out, Ellis on first. Ryan Sweeney hits a grounder to second and Kendrick misplays the ball leaving both runners safe. The very next pitch, the A's try a double steal and Ellis is thrown out at third. O-Cab grounded into 16 DP's last season(tied for tenth most), but Giambi and Holliday are up next? Cabrera popped out to end the inning.

- Matt Holliday looks good. He made a nice sliding catch in the outfield and looked comfortable at the plate.

- Can Ryan Sweeney get on base enough to be the leadoff hitter all year? He had a .350 on base percentage (pretty good) last season, but only 38 walks in 433 plate appearances. Last night, 0-4.

- Comcast's post game show. I like it. It's a work in progress and this year should be about fine tuning it, but I like where it's going. One exception, I'm not, a F.P. Santangelo fan. Never have been. One reason, his upper lip doesn't really move that much when he talks and it's really distracting. Maybe it's just me?

- Santangelo was making a big deal bout Jack Cust drawing two walks against Saunders. I didn't see it the same way. First, Cust is a hobo's Adam Dunn. Hits home runs, walks and strikes out. He's had over one hundred hits and walks the last two seasons, but he's also had over 150K's, including 197 last year. My analysis, Cust is a fastball hitter and Saunders wasn't throwing fastballs, so Cust chose not to swing at them. In the seventh inning, Scioscia brought in Jose Arredondo to pitch to Cust and Arredondo gassed him out.

- The A's relievers pitched well. Michael Wuertz got the Angels out in order and then Andrew Bailey made his MLB debut the next inning and did the same.

- Brian Fuentes looked good in his first action as Angels' closer, getting the A's 3-4-5 hitters in order.

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Basketball

- North Carolina was the best team at the start of the season and the best team at the end of the season. The most boring college basketball season ever is finally over.

- I am not asking for world, I am asking the Warriors to consider this guy.

Baseball

- No three run home run = No win for the A's. Welcome to the theme of the season.

- The only player to have any real success in his first season in NY in the last 25 years was Jeter. So Baggarly picks CC to win the Cy Young and Teixeira to win the MVP. Congratulations, you know nothing about east coast baseball. Stick with the mindless fans (Bay Area sports fans) that take your writing as gospel.

- Bruce Jenkins' thoughts on Opening Day. I half watched and then re-watched the A's game and I'll post my thoughts of the A's opening game later. Also, Bruce highlights the talent that will be playing for the San Jose Giants this year: Tim Alderson, Madison Bumgarner, Angel Villalona, Nick Noonan, Connor Gillaspie and Buster Posey. I will definitely head down to see those one of those games soon.

Football

- Jeff Garcia is likely to replace Jeff George (I mean JaMarcus Russell) as the starter if there is actually a competition. Will somebody please find me a person who thought JaMarcus Russell was going to be a good pro quarterback. Seriously.

- Garcia says he's here(or there) to help JaMarcus.

- Matt Williamson, of ESPN, thinks the Garcia signing is "great." I wouldn't go that fat, but I'd definitely rather have Garcia, even a 37(?) year old Garcia, as a backup instead of Andrew Walter.

- Cam Inman says, "It's all good." Really? So much gushing over a backup? If Garcia is starting games in Oakland next season it will be the equivilent of when Trent Dilfer was forced to start for the 49ers. Baaaaad news.

Hockey

- The Sharks look ready for the playoffs, not the Red Wings.

- Mark Purdy can smell the playoffs and he handicaps the Sharks possible opening round opponents.

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Baseball

Bruce Jenkins MLB Preview: East, Central, West. Jenkins also gets all, "Get off my dang lawn!" and wants maple bats out of baseball.

A look at the Giants/A's battle over Silicon Valley. It's picking up steam after A's owner, Lew Wolff, asked Bud Selig to look into stadium possibilities last month followed by the Giants buying 25% ownership in their San Jose single A minor league team.

Baggarly goes over the Giants' opening day roster. Plus, Zito has a new locker and other tidbits.

Kawakami's 2009 MLB predictions. RT, a staunch Rowand supporter, should love the first paragraph:

* Could Aaron Rowand become a $12M part-time player? Baggs doesn’t go that far (because he’s way smarter than me), but he points out that one reason the Giants could be keeping extra OFs on the roster is for late-inning defensive replacement possibilities. For Rowand. Who won a Gold Glove two years ago and was not very good in his first year as a Giant CF last year. And Rowand’s first year plus his lousy spring means there’s no reason to keep him in for extra ABs.

RT, I thought Rowand was all about defense? Kawakami also has the Mercury News "experts" picks, including four out of five picking the Red Sox to make the World Series with three picking them to win. Note: Boston winning the title was RT's BOLD prediction.

John Shea doesn't think it will be hard to get tickets to see the A's or Giants this season.

Giants fans have to wait until Tuesday for opening day, and the wait might get a little longer.

Cam Inman scouted the Giants and A's on Friday night.

NCAA Championship

Kawakami says the Tar Heels are too good to lose.

Hockey

The Sharks went 1-1 in the home-@home weekend with the Ducks. Mark Purdy says the President's trophy(awarded to team with best regular season record in NHL) is not what the Sharks really want.

Football

David White looks at various Raiders mock draft picks. Somebody's probably right.

Jerry Mac ponders a possible Jeff Garcia return to the Bay Area, but not to the 49ers.

Crotchety Lowell Cohn says Cutler would have been bad for the 49ers. Whatever. I'm pretty sure he'd be better than Hill/Smith.

Jason Jones participated in a couple mock drafts and ended up taking Andre Smith in both.

Bee-rows answers 49ers questions from lowly readers.

Ratto being Ratto

Ray Ratto looks at sports divas who have been recently pimp-slapped back into reality.

Basketball

Janny Hu wrote something I found mildly entertaining. The Magnificent Seven! Get it? Seven! BTW, Azubuike and Turiaf might have been the best Warriors' free agent signings I can remember.

Again, MT-II is the best Warriors beat writer by about 5 million miles.

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by Koski

(MLB predictions at the bottom)

What defines a successful season? A winning record? Making the playoffs? Success is defined by expectations. If the Pirates produce a winning record in 2009, it will be a huge success because their expectations have been lowered after so many consecutive losing seasons. If the Yankees make the playoffs, it still won’t be a success because the team expects to compete for a World Series title.

This brings us to the Giants. What are the expectations for this season? A better question might be “What should the Giants expectations be this season?” Giants’ fans expectations should be that the club finishes at or around .500. The club’s play this season should be compared to the play of last season with a focus on building to next season. 2008 was, essentially, season one of rebuilding, or retooling or whatever you want to call it. The organization took its lumps, the ball club took its lumps and the fans took their lumps, but we’ve made it through the worst part. This season will all be about progression and evaluation. Success won’t be found in the W-L record of 2009, but rather how the front office evaluates its assets and builds for 2010. The good news is the 2009 Giants will be many times better than the 2008 version.

Positives
+ The pitching staff. Lincecum should compete for the Cy Young, again, and they could have a rotation with four starters reaching 180 strikeouts, each. Is it foolish, moronic and idiotic to pay your fourth starter $18.5 million? Of course, but you can survive if you’re paying your Cy Young winner $650,000.

+ Pablo Sandoval. He’s the young, unknown, energetic talent who will be the everyday “face” of the new Giants lineup.

+ The NL West is The weakest division in baseball. Anybody has a chance to win it.

Negatives
- No power to be seen at this point.

- Barry Zito’s contract has five (5!!!) more seasons left on his contract. FIVE!

- If the young players struggle, it’s going to be a long season for everyone.

(My) Projected Batting Order

1. Randy Winn – RF
Meat and potatoes player. He’ll put up decent numbers, but nothing overly special. He’s in the last year of his contract and could be an attractive piece at the trading deadline.

2. Edgar Renteria – SS
The most panned deal of the off season. He’s definitely a question mark, but should rebound at the plate in the feeble National League.

3. Fred Lewis – LF
This is a big year for Lewis. He had foot surgery in the offseason and needs to prove he can start stealing bases. In addition, it is time he starts progressing at the plate or he’ll be relegated to being merely a place holder until the next prospect arrives.

4. Pablo Sandoval – 3B
He swings at EVERYTHING. He has a lot of potential and he’s only 22, but he’s going to be the backup catcher, at least initially, and he’s, ahem, a little hefty, which makes me anticipate a tough second half of the season.

5. Aaron Rowand – CF
Rowand was playing well, or well enough, until he injured his rubs or oblique diving for a ball in the outfield and then had a miserable second half. Maybe he felt like he had to earn his money and carry the team last year? The defensive lapse was actually more detrimental than his offensive flop. The staff depends of Rowand to patrol the large outfield and cut off the gaps. Rowand is supposedly a good “clubhouse guy” as well, which this young team will need. The Giants plan for success is pitching and defense, they need Rowand to provide the defense to help the pitching.

6. Bengie Molina – C
It’s easy to project Bengie Molina. About 40 runs scored, 80-90 RBI, 15-19 HRs, batting avg. between .280-.290 and won’t walk. A consistant performer in the last year of his contract, he’d probably be a good deadline trade candidate, but the Giants don’t have a solid backup catcher unless Posey is ready by the end of July, so I guess the Giants will be satisfied with the draft pick.

7. Travis Ishikawa – 1B
What happened to John Bowker? He was awesome for , like, five games. Remember? In reality, Ishikawa is the new Lance Niekro. The best 1B prospect available in the minors who is going to get a chance to prove if he can play 1B in the majors everyday. He is a huge question mark. He has struggled against lefties, so back away from the ledge Rich Aurillia fans, he’ll see plenty of action, too. Besides the trouble with lefties, Ishikawa hasn’t shown the power that is expected of corner infielders. This spring he has seven HRs, third most in all spring training. Bonus: Will Clark is with the club as a special consultant and the more Nuschler Ishikawa can get the better.

8. Emannuel Burriss – 2B
Burriss is what I would call and “Old School” second baseman. No power, good defense, bats eighth. If Tony LaRussa were the manager, he’d probably bat ninth. Burriss is another player, who is getting a chance to prove himself, whether he’s ready or not.

Projected Starting Rotation

1. Tim Lincecum
What else can you say about the guy? It’s been five losing season for the Giants and more importantly, Giants fans. The Barry Bonds HR record’s glitz and glam has been soured The Cream and The Clear. Lincecum is a new reason to bask in greatness. So let the basking commence (NL Rank):
W-L% .783 (2)
Hits Allowed/9IP 7.22 (1)
Stikeouts/9IP 10.51(1)
Strikeouts 265 (1)
ERA 2.62 (2)
Wins 18 (2)
Innings 227 (3)
Adjusted ERA+ 167 (1)

2. Randy Johnson
He’s not really a “#2” starter, but the R-L-R-L-L rotation beats the R-R-L-L-L and a month into the season it won’t really matter anymore.

3. Matt Cain
Make or break year for Matt Cain as a San Francisco Giant? I think so.

4. Barr Zito
Can he be league average? Only time will tell.

5. Jonathan Sanchez
His appearance in the WBC worries me because I want him to be healthy all season and learn as much as he possibly can from The Big Unit. Just not the mullet.

Bullpen

Brian Wilson– Closer
Not so much of a lights out closer, but has good velocity and is still young with room for improvement. He spent the offseason training/living with Barry Zito … Yikes!

Jeremy Affedlt/Bobby Howry – Setup
The Giants have had issues over the last couple of seasons bridging the gap from the starting pitcher to the closer and these two were brought in solely to fix that problem. Brian Wilson has had an infected finger for the last week or so and Affedlt might have to close some games early in the season., so we’ll find out what kind of pitcher he is very soon.

Prediction
The Giants are much improved over last season, but that’s not saying a lot. The Dodgers and D-backs have holes that make them vulnerable, but the Giants don’t have enough pieces to make up the difference. I’ll go with the bottom threshold of what the Front Office probably would deem as a success, 82-80.

Overall Predication for MLB
(Teams in Bold are playoff teams)

National League

NL West
1. Dodgers
2. Diamondbacks
3. Giants
4. Rockies
5. Padres

NL Central
1. Cubs
2. Cardinals
3. Reds
4. Brewers
5. Astros
6. Pirates

NL East
1. NY Mets
2. Phillies
3. Braves
4. Marlins
5. Nationals

American League

AL West
1. Angels
2. Rangers
3. A’s
4. Mariners

AL Central
1. Twins
2. Indians
3. Tigers
4. White Sox
5. Royals

AL East
1. Red Sox
2. Rays
3. Yankees
4. Blue Jays
5. Orioles

Postseason

NLDS
Cubs beat the Dodgers
Cardinals beat the Mets

NLCS
Cubs beat the Cardinals

ALDS
Angels beat the Red Sox
Rays beat the Twins

ALCS
Rays beat the Angels

World Series
Rays beat the Cubs

(Bold Prediction: RT says the 2009 Rays are the 2006 White Sox, a team that won 90 games while finishing third and missing the playoffs after winning the world series. I think the 2009 Rays will be the 2006 Cardinals. The Cardinals lost the WS in 2004 and the NLCS in 2005 before getting over the hump in 2006. A healthy Upton, Crawford, Longoria and Burrell with Kazmir-Shileds-Garza and Price, the only question is the closer, which can easily be solved July 31st.

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by RT

(MLB predictions at the bottom)

Similar to the Raiders, Giants and Warriors, the A’s have zero chance of going to the playoffs this season. The addition of Matt Holliday will make them a better team than they were last year but they are still far from ready to compete with the Angels. The lack of stability in the rotation and the complete reliance on the three run home run will not allow the A’s to be in the post season conversation in 2009. However, the A’s will be significantly more exciting than they have been over the past couple of years and the future does look bright for the team on the field, where ever that field may be. Notwithstanding the lack of any real chance to play significant October baseball this year, the A’s are an improved team that will be the class of Bay Area baseball in 2009.

Positives
+ The meat of the order (Giambi, Holliday and Cust) will strike fear in most opposing pitchers.

+ Ellis and Cabrera are the best double play combination the Bay Area has seen since Jose Uribe and Robby Thompson.

+ One or Two of the young pitchers (Braden, Gallagher, Eveland , Anderson and Cahill, ) will emerge as potential aces in the years to come.

Negatives
- The best guy to get on base and into scoring position for Holliday and Co. is … Matt Holliday.

- The sad story of Eric Chavez. Need I say more?

- No Home Runs = No Win. The A’s are still going to have a hard time scoring runs if they are unable to hit the ball out of the ball park.

Projected Batting Order
1. Ryan Sweeney – CF
Sweeney is a big key for this team as he needs to get on base for the guys behind him - tall order for a very young player.

2. Orlando Cabrera – SS
Cabrera is still a great defensive player but I would expect his numbers to decline in the ball park with the largest foul territory in the majors.

3. Jason Giambi – 1B
A complete nightmare with the glove and only hit .247 at Yankee stadium which is tailor made for his swing. A’s fans could start to get on him if he struggles early which seems likely.

4. Matt Holliday – LF
He will probably get off to a slow start because of the pressure of living up to a contract year and playing in the American League. He should find his groove by the start of the summer. I do not expect to see him traded this year because it will be a buyer’s market given the state of the economy and Beane would rather have the compensatory draft picks.

5. Jack Cust – DH
Mr. All or Nothing continues his run as the 21st century Dave Kingman.

6. Nomar Garciaparra / Bobby Crosby / Eric Chavez – 3B
One is too old, one has a bigger hole in his swing than Tom Selleck’s character in Mr. Baseball and the other will spend more time on the DL than on the field. Where is Carney Lansford when you need him?

7. Kurt Suzuki – C
If Cust is Mr. All or Nothing than Suzuki is Mr. Good not Great. These will be his stats every year for the next 10 years: .275 avg, 10 home runs, 50 RBIs and 2 steals … good not great.

8. Mark Ellis – 2B
I fully expect Ellis to bounce back from a tough 2008. However, I expect Ellis to have the gold glove stolen away from him again in the year end popularity contest MLB calls the post-season awards.

9. Travis Buck – RF
Buck is an AAAA player (too good for AAA, not good enough for the show). He will be on the first bus to Sacramento when the A’s find someone else with any kind of upside.

Projected Starting Rotation
1. Justin Duchscherer
Great pitcher when he is healthy but his health continues to be a big concern as he will start the year on the DL.

2. – 5. Dallas Braden, Josh Outman, Dana Eveland and Brett Anderson
Along with everybody in the A’s front office, I have no idea what to expect from these guys. Braden is the most polished and Gallagher has the most short-term upside but neither of them nor Eveland nor Anderson has given us any reason to believe that 2009 will be a breakout year for any of them. However, Beane’s track record suggests at least one of them will give A’s fans a reason to be optimistic for the future.

Bullpen
Brad Ziegler– Closer
Like most new closers, his first season will be full of ups and downs but I think Ziegler should be viewed as the closer of the future.

Joey Devine – Setup
Devine was very effective last year with a 0.59 ERA. If he stays healthy, the A’s could have a decent one-two bunch going into the 8th and 9th innings this year. However, an early season trip to Birmingham, AL to see Dr. James Andrews does not bode well for his prospects in 2009.

Santiago Casilla – Setup
Casilla looks like the most obvious setup man while Devine is out. He averaged just below a strike out an inning last year and I would expect that number only to get better in 2009.

Prediction
The A’s are an improved team over last year and I believe they will be slightly better than .500.
85 – 77, 8 GB (2nd Place in the AL West)

Overall Predication for MLB
(Teams in Bold are playoff teams)

National League

NL West
1. Dodgers
2. Diamondbacks
3. Giants
4. Rockies
5. Padres (the worst team in MLB)

NL Central
1. Cubs
2. Cardinals
3. Reds
4. Brewers
5. Astros
6. Pirates

NL East
1. NY Mets
2. Phillies
3. Marlins
4. Braves
5. Nationals

American League

AL West
1. Angels
2. A’s
3. Rangers
4. Mariners


AL Central
1. Indians
2. Tigers
3. Twins
4. White Sox
5. Royals


AL East
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Rays
4. Blue Jays
5. Orioles

Postseason

NLDS
Cubs beat the Phillies
Mets beat the Dodgers

NLCS
Cubs beat the Mets

ALDS
Red Sox beat the Indians
Yankees beat the Angels

ALCS
Red Sox beat the Yankees

World Series
Red Sox beat the Cubs

(Bold Prediction: At the end of 2009, we will all be saying the 2009 Red Sox were the best team of the decade because they will cruise to the World Series title this year. They will be compared to the ’98 Yankees and they will deserve that praise.)

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Football

Ray Ratto rains on the Jay Cutler to the 49ers parade.

Kawakami doubts the 49ers will be front runners to get Cutler, but they need to try and try hard anyways.

Isaac Bruce is supposed to let the 49ers know if he's going to play this year today, so Dan Brown looks at his career thus far.

Baseball

Ratto looks at the importance of opening day starters with a nice little table comparing 2008 ODS and 2009 ODS. I looked at the Giants and saw Zito and almost crapped my pants before realizing I was looking at the 2008 column. God Bless Tim Lincecum.

John Shea looks at up and coming under the radar teams.

Kawakami has a preseason checklist of goals for the A's and Giants.

Mark Purdy examines the A's path to San Jose.

The A's have a pitcher named Outman. I may have to change my last name to Homerunking to give my kid an edge.

Jonathan Sanchez burned his finger cooking empanadas or mofongo or something.

Basketball

Adam Lauridsen highlights the reasons to keep watching the Warriors, if you haven't bashed your brains in while watching the previous 74 games.

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