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The Trade Deadline – A Bust or Smart Moves?
The Czars Blog waited until the Trade Deadline was past. We are now in the dog days of August and steaming towards the September showdowns. The moves made by Farhan were at the edges. The G-Men stood still, trimmed payroll (Solar back to the Braves), brought up more kids from Triple-A, and added a couple of pieces to cover defense and backup positions. The press was alive with the expectation that Snell, the Cy Young award winner with the big contract, would be traded for prospects. That didn’t happen, and there are good reasons (aside from the stellar no-hitter against the Reds on July 27th). He is a central cog in the run that may just yet happen. As of today, the Giants are 57 and 57 and at .500.
Since Snell’s return to the rotation on July 9, the starting pitchers have just about lived up to Zaidi’s billing as “the best in baseball.” The starters’ 2.96 ERA over that span ranks first in the National League, trailing only the Mariners (2.40) and Rays (2.44). That is not a typo.
The downside, however, remains the hitting. The bats, until the last couple of days, have been quiet, and they were held to four or fewer runs in 14 of their last 20 games until Saturday. Despite possessing (maybe) the best rotation in the National League, and a .500 record, they still have an uphill battle to make the playoffs. August and September are key.
Who did the Giants get? Mark Canha, a 35-year-old journeyman. He was acquired to fill the role held by Wilmer Flores (on the 10-day DL but probably out for the season with knee surgery) as a platoon partner for LaMonte Wade Jr. and a late-inning substitution against left-handed relievers. Canha represented the most notable acquisition at the trade deadline and is the equivalent of comfort food for Bob Melvin, who knows Canha well from his A’s days. Where he goes when Flores returns is a good question.
Other moves: The Giants called up power-hitting outfielder Jerar Encarnacion while optioning David Villar and Blake Sabol back to Triple-A Sacramento and designated outfielder Derek Hill for assignment. Right-hander Sean Hjelle was also reinstated from the bereavement list.
Encarnacion, 26, began the season playing for Oaxaca in the Mexican League after not hearing from one major league organization after his contract with the Miami Marlins expired last winter. All he has done is hit 19 home runs in 26 games for the River Cats, getting the attention of the Giants and a handful of other teams, and has only kept slugging since joining Sacramento’s roster in mid-June. In 33 games, he has homered 10 times while batting .352 with a 1.054 OPS. Will he be the guy that replaces Solar in the line-up? I would have said yes until Fitzgerald went on his power HR bender. Regardless, you can’t have too many power hitters.
Overall, I rate the trade deadline activity a solid “B” with room for extra credit if the kids perform and the pieces come together and a lot of second-guessing if the pitching tanks; although based on Robbie Ray and Logan Webb’s last starts it looks a lot more comfortable. Let’s see what Birdsong does tomorrow. He is the rookie pitcher to watch.
What the Team looks like for the next Two Months – Playing the Kids
Let’s start with Fitzgerald, who is so hot he has folks comparing him to Barry Bonds. As of the Saturday game, the 26-year-old shortstop hit .321 (17-for-53) with 11 home runs, two doubles, one triple, 17 RBI, and 15 runs scored, leading NL rookies in batting average, home runs, and on-base percentage while ranking among the top five in RBIs, slugging percentage, triples, runs scored and walks. All he did on Sunday was add more hits and a monster leadoff home run. That’s why he’s Rookie of the Month. As he said in the paper: “It’s pretty cool. I didn’t really expect it or anything,” In fact, “I didn’t even really know that was a thing, Rookie of the Month, I’m just finding that out today. …” Sure.
Fitzgerald became the first Giants rookie to earn the honor since Luis González in May 2022. He also joins Buster Posey (2009) and Pedro Feliz as past Giants winners, both of whom also took home the honors in July.
Eight of Fitzgerald’s home runs came in a 10-game span from July 9-27, the first Giants player to hit as many homers in such a short time since Barry Bonds in 2004. His 11 career home runs at the end of July (and 12 as of Sunday) put him in the same company as Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey, the only other Giants with as many homers through the first 46 games of their careers. Heady company.
The brain trust also brought up Luciano. Since the calendar turned to July, Luciano was batting .270 with six home runs and a .927 OPS. Of his 112 plate appearances, just as many ended in bases on balls (18) as strikeouts, good for a .413 on-base percentage. For good measure, my favorite rookie (besides Patrick Bailey, the second coming of Buster Posey) Casey Schmitt also came up to take over 2nd base duties (no one will ever replace Matt Chapman at third, he’s a machine in every sense of the word and maybe the team defensive and offensive MVP – if Bailey doesn’t grab the honor). And no one should overlook Heliot Ramos, he is making plays in Center and hitting HR’s at a monster clip (15, behind only Chapman’s 18).
This is a solid group and while watching the kids play over the next two months will make for an entertaining August and September, it may be an even more entertaining October.
The last thing to remind you all about is the year 2009. That was one year before the first WS playoff parade in San Francisco history. Think about that team. Rookies like Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval, and Tim Lincecum, veterans like Barry Zito, Rich Aurilia, Edgar Renteria, Brian Wilson and Randy Johnson. They played well (just over .500) and set themselves up for 2010. This may not be the year but it’s setting up nicely and in 2009 there were not two wild cards. What we love about baseball is anything can happen (and often does).
The Rotation and the Bullpen – Are They Ready for the Stretch Run?
We talked about Snell. To recap the no-hitter, striking out 11 batters and walking three over a career-high 114 pitches, Snell dotted the strike zone with a fastball that touched 98 mph, buckled hitters’ knees with a bendy breaking ball, and mixed in a darting changeup to complete the 10th no-hitter in the Giants’ San Francisco era. Savor that one.
Otherwise, Logan Webb is nails, Robbie Ray is healthy, and we will watch Birdsong on Monday. Harrison and Hicks are acceptable when backed by a strong bullpen and the pen is looking healthy with the Rodgers brothers performing their standard shutdown innings and Doval getting his MoJo back (at least on Sunday).
The pitchers are healthy and look like they are ready to go. The Nationals are a good team attempting to retool and hopefully, the G-Men can take another road series (like they took the Reds series) before returning home to face the Braves and the Tigers.
Tigers and Braves, Oh My!
What can we say about the Braves? 60 and 51 and playoff bound. We know about Acuna and Ozuna but now they have Solar coming home with a bat and a chip on his shoulder. The Tigers are a different animal from a different world (the AL Central) where they are 14 and ½ games back and 7 games under .500. That doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. They are tired of being a whipping post and are out for blood on this tour of the West Coast.
On the board ready to be picked up are:
SAT 8/10 [1:05] Tigers – (4) – 2014 World Series Aloha Shirt
TUES 8/13 [6:45] Braves – (4) – Nurses Appreciation night – Lunch Bag
Let the torture begin.
Ciao, and GO GIANTS!
The Czar
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THE PROTOCOL: The firm has four seats in Section 118 (Premium Lower Boxes), Rows 25 and 26. These are awesome seats directly below the press box and 25 rows behind the home plate on the left side behind the screen. It is foul ball territory for left-handed batters so bring your glove – I have collected 22 foul balls myself over 23 years and am looking for more. If we don’t use all the tickets ourselves (or clients and friends of the firm don't claim them by calling me and reserving a game), then my next step is to give the tickets TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO GETS BACK TO ME PROVIDED THAT THEY ARE SERIOUS. If you ask for the tickets and don't use them, you will be taken off the list unless there is a seriously good reason. There will be a waitlist.
When there are four seats available (we split up a lot of games) we will allocate the tickets two and two if the first people back just want two tickets. You can also go for four and might get them. I'm the Czar, my call.
Oh, and BTW, The Czar found the original Hinman & Carmichael brick from 2000 (after looking for it every year since 2000) and found H&C’s Gotham Club Founders Bat! If you are on the patio, or in the Club, look for the symbols of baseball!
