GIants News and Notes for July 2.2008

* The Giants are only five games back of first place Arizona. GM Brian Sabean should make some moves now to bolster their offense.
* It would be tough for any team to beat the Giants in a playoff series. Who wants to face Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Jonathan Sanchez in a short series?
* It was nice to see reliever Billy Sadler move back down to Fresno. Sadler does not have enough command to pitch in the majors. He cost the team many games in his short stint up in San Francisco.
* You would think that Barry Zito has enough money to get a much needed haircut. The messy grunge look is not in style.
* Brett Myers of the Phillies and Dontrelle Willis of the Tigers were both sent down to the minors to work on their game. Why won't the Giants do the same with Zito? Giants front office is basically clueless at times. Myers and Willis were considered some of the best pitchers in the NL just a few years ago. If they can swallow their pride and try to improve their game in the minors, why can't Zito?
* If Zito was not pitching every fifth day, the Giants would be in first place.
* Giants should sign Barry Bonds but due to collusion by the owners and MLB's front office, he is not being pursued by any team.
* Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson should make the All Star team but I don't think Bengie Molina will get in.
* The reason Zito pitched so well against the Indians last week was because the Indians don't hit lefties well, and have the worst offense in the league. Zito helped himself by not walking many batters that night too.
* Giants have called up two relievers from their Double A team in the last week. This tells you what they think of their Triple A pitchers.

Three Giants Deserve To Make The All Star Game

The San Francisco Giants are having a dismal season so far but they have three legitimate candidates for the All-Star Game.

Catcher Bengie Molina is batting .333 with six homers and 36 RBIs. He is batting cleanup for a team with no superstars. Molina has absolutely no protection in the lineup. He has come up with clutch hits time after time.

His competition for an All-Star spot include Geovany Soto, Russell Martin, and Brian McCann.

Soto is hitting .299 with nine homers and 37 RBIs for the Cubs. Martin has three homers and 20 RBIs for the Dodgers while batting .311. McCann is batting .320 and has nine homers and 32 RBIs for the Braves.

McCann and Soto have great numbers so far but they are not the heart and soul of the lineup for their club like Molina. The Braves rely on Chipper Jones and Mark Texiera for hits and Soto has no pressure batting behind sluggers like Derrek Lee, Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome, and Aramis Ramirez.

Besides having a good bat, Molina also is one of the best defensive catchers in the league and calls a great game. He made the transition from the American League to the National League appear seamless last season.

Molina has stated that he spends most of his time studying hitters and  concentrating on helping his pitchers. This would make his offensive statistics seem more remarkable and impressive.

The other two candidates from the Giants who should make the All-Star Team are pitchers Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson.

Lincecum is 7-1 with a 2.33 ERA. He has not given up more than three earned runs in any start this year. He also leads the National League in strikeouts with 76.

Closer Brian Wilson has made fans try to forget the Armando Benetiz era.

Wilson leads the National League in saves with 16. Although he has a high ERA(4.54), Wilson has been able to escape trouble many times in the ninth inning and preserved many victories for the Giants. He has given the Giants stability at the closer position and he is going to be their closer for many years.

Will three Giants make the NL All-Star team? The answer to that is probably no, since this team is in third place in a weak division. 

The best bet to make the team would be Lincecum. If he keeps on pitching as well as he has and Arizona's Brandon Webb continues to struggle, Lincecum might even be able to get the nod to be the starter in the All-Star Game.

MLB News and Notes: 5/28

• The Reds called up OF Jay Bruce and he went 3-3 last night. Bruce is the latest rookie phenom to hit the big leagues. The Reds will now have two young offensive players in their lineup with Bruce and Joey Votto. 
• A terrible organization such as the Giants brings up a kid named John Bowker and the fans get excited. Other teams such as the Reds bring up a stud like Bruce. This is why the Giants are such a bad team. They don't have much talent in the minors.
• Tampa Bay has been one of the best and surprising teams in the AL this season. The Rays should have dropped "Devil" from their name a long time ago.  The Rays are now 32-21 after this morning's big win against Texas.
• Justin Upton of  Arizona is really struggling and has not had a hit in his last 24 at-bats. 
• Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum should make the All Star Game. He is one of the best young pitchers in baseball and has seven wins.
• The best pitching match-up tonight is in Oakland when Roy Halladay takes on Rich Harden. 
• The Mets finally won a game last night. They will face lefty Scott Olsen tonight. The Mets are 12-5 vs lefties.
• The Orioles will go for the rare sweep against the Yankees tonight. Jeremy Guthrie opposes Andy Pettite. Guthrie is a very good young pitcher who often doesn't get much offensive support in his starts. 
• The umpires in baseball have blown many calls this season and I am not just talking about the recent  blown home run calls. The players and fans are all angry.  Umpires also have been quick to eject players even though they have often been the ones baiting the players. 
• Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News said that no one misses Barry Bonds. That's one of the dumbest statements I ever read. The fans in San Francisco all miss Bonds and so do most of his teammates. The teammates that don't miss him are the ones that don't care about winning. 
• The Royals might have the most inept offense in the big leagues. They have now lost nine in a row. The good news is that their ace Zack Greinke is pitching tonight.
• The Braves are unbeatable at home but they have not proven they can win on the road. They only scored two runs against Dave Bush and the Brewers in a 3-2 loss last night. 
• Instead of pitching to Russell Branyan last night in the eighth inning, the Braves decided to pitch to J.J. Hardy instead and it cost them the lead when Hardy hit a single off Tim Hudson.  Was it Bobby Cox's decision or Hudson's to walk Branyan and pitch to Hardy?  Cox is overrated as a manager and I never thought he was such a great strategist at all. He has made many mistakes over the years.