This & That

[love_that_reefer]

Trade talk: General manager Brian Sabean would prefer to acquire a hitter whom the Giants can control beyond 2006 -- Craig Wilson and Miguel Cabrera fit that category -- but he said Sunday he would consider a rent-a-player. That opens the door to such players as Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano, who are eligible for free agency this winter.

"Clearly he would have to be a cut above anybody we already have," Sabean said, "but if it ends up being a rental player, that won't scare us off from making a trade."

Sabean also said all of his trade conversations have involved Giants prospects, not players off their 25-man roster, and no, he does not consider Matt Cain a prospect. Sabean has said forcefully he will not trade Jason Schmidt, who also will be eligible for free agency, and he does not see the Giants being a seller because he does not see them falling out of the National League West race.

"We'd have to lose 10 games in a row," he said. "While we might not be able to win 10 games in a row, I don't think we're going to lose 10 games in a row either."

If we go get anyone, I want it either to be Cabrera or Lee. Lee could come very close to replacing Bonds in left field or Cabrera could play third and Feliz move to first. If we are to make a move at anyone, it won't be anytime soon.

[Giants666]

Yeah there won't be no big deals at the deadline............offseason.

[love_that_reefer]

Moises Alou (lower back) won't be ready to return from the disabled list when he is eligible on Tuesday.
Alou says his back feels better, but he still isn't able to participate in baseball activities. He is likely still another week from being ready to be activated from the disabled list.

For the first time since suffering a concussion Mike Matheny was able to catch a pitcher in the bullpen.
Matheny suffered the concussion in early June. He has been able to take batting practice and could leave for a minor league rehab assignment around the All-Star break.

Giants placed RHP Tim Worrell on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 28, with a bulging disc in his neck.
When Worrell was originally placed on the DL in late May, the injury was termed a pinched nerve in his neck. It seems like the bulging disc was the problem all along. Maybe he'll be back in two or three weeks, but the Giants might not get a lot out of him the rest of the season.

Worrell should be released or put on waivers at this point though no one would pick him up due to this injury. Alou and Matheny need to come back as the Giants are playing decent ball of late.

[love_that_reefer]

The Giants are expected to decide on Tuesday that they will keep Moises Alou (back) on the disabled list until after the All-Star break.
This is probably the best decision the Giants can make regarding Alou. At 40 he no longer heals quickly and the extra time off the All-Star break provides might enable him to stay off the disabled list for a little longer when he returns.

[Giants666]

2B Kevin Frandsen optioned to Triple-A Fresno while the Giants recalled LHP Jack Taschner from Fresno.

[HollywoodLeo]

The Giants are expected to decide on Tuesday that they will keep Moises Alou (back) on the disabled list until after the All-Star break.
This is probably the best decision the Giants can make regarding Alou. At 40 he no longer heals quickly and the extra time off the All-Star break provides might enable him to stay off the disabled list for a little longer when he returns.

sig change?

[love_that_reefer]

Omar Vizquel left Sunday's game in the fifth inning with an apparent left hamstring injury.
A good time for it. Jose Vizcaino replaced him against the Dodgers.

[love_that_reefer]

Ray Durham is likely to miss some time after jamming his right shoulder Sunday against the Phillies.
Jose Vizcaino replaced him at second base today, but if Durham goes on the DL, Kevin Frandsen will be called up and get most of the starts. As well as Durham has played lately, it'd be a big loss.

Giants optioned first baseman Lance Niekro to Triple-A Fresno.
One day after manager Felipe Alou indicated that Niekro would play regularly at first base once again. Niekro was batting .249/.288/.376 in 181 at-bats. He's likely a little better than that, but there's never been any reason to believe he'd become a quality regular. The Giants are calling up Chad Santos, an ever weaker hitter, to replace him. Santos might get a brief look as a regular, but Mark Sweeney remains the club's best option at first base

Giants transferred catcher Mike Matheny from the 15- to the 60-day disabled list.
Matheny will be eligible to come off the DL at the end of the month, but the Giants are calling him 50-50 to return from a concussion this season.

Durham will be a big loss as he was on fire. Niekro will not be missed and hopefully Sabean will find a replacement. Weird things happeneing with Matheny.

[Giants666]

Giants in need of a bold move

SAN FRANCISCO - Giants general manager Brian Sabean finally made a move Sunday.

No, not that move. Not the blockbuster trade Giants fans are dreaming of, not the blast from Sabean's brilliant trading past they're hoping for.

No, this was a simple one-up, one-down internal transaction.

Struggling first baseman Lance Niekro was optioned to Triple-A Fresno. First baseman Chad Santos was promoted from Fresno to the Giants.

I know what you're thinking. This has to be a stop-gap move. Sabean must be getting close to pulling the trigger on a deal for a slugging first baseman.

"Not necessarily, no," Sabean said during the Giants' 6-2 loss Sunday to the Philadelphia Phillies. "That's one of the reasons we decided to transition this now.

"Give us a different look and see if we can catch lightning in a bottle."

Lightning in a bottle? Come on now. It's exactly two weeks until the trading deadline. Sabean can't seriously believe that the first base tandem of Mark Sweeney and Santos, a rookie who singled in his first major-league at-bat Sunday, will provide that kind of electrical current?

The NL West is there for the taking. Any team that puts a reasonable run together can run away with this thing. Sabean needs to make a bold move or three and get his team some help.

The West has exactly one team over .500, the 48-43 San Diego Padres. And they were just swept by the Atlanta Braves at home.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals on the road. The Colorado Rockies were swept on the road by the Cincinnati Reds, extending their losing streak to seven. The Arizona Diamondbacks had won five straight before losing Sunday to the Milwaukee Brewers, but they're all of 45-46.

How weak is the West?

Well, the 46-46 Giants lost two out of three to Philadelphia but still gained a game on San Diego since the All-Star break and are just 21/2 back.

"If they keep losing and we keep losing, we'll wind up in the gutter," Giants reliever Steve Kline said. "We just need to play better.

"We're not going to panic or start sacrificing live chickens."

The Giants might want to start praying for some reinforcements before the trade deadline. The winner of the NL West could well turn out to be the team that makes the best moves in the next two weeks.

This could turn out to be a battle of the general managers, with Sabean facing off against the Los Angeles Dodgers' Ned Colletti, his former top assistant, San Diego Padres' Kevin Towers, Colorado Rockies' Dan O'Dowd and Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Byrnes.

So far, NL West general managers are biding their time. But there has been some action in the NL Central. The Houston Astros added third baseman Aubrey Huff in a trade with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Cincinnati Reds bolstered their bullpen in a multi-player deal with the Washington Nationals.

"It's a good sign that some trades have been made," Sabean said. "We're not any closer to doing anything, but it's always a good sign when somebody breaks a logjam.

"If I were a seller, I'd be aware of that. The longer you wait, you might miss the boat. Guys will take the best deal, possibly earlier than later."

In the past, Sabean often had a magic touch at the trade deadline. He added Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin in 1997, Ellis Burks in 1998, Livan Hernandez in 1999, Jason Schmidt in 2001, Kenny Lofton in 2002 and Randy Winn in 2005.

Of course there was also the infamous offseason trade two years ago when Sabean sent Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonzer to the Minnesota Twins for A.J. Pierzynski.

You couldn't blame Sabean if he were a bit gun-shy. But this situation calls for boldness -- think Matt Williams for Jeff Kent -- not caution.

The Giants need another slugger. They need some help in the bullpen. They very possibly could use some help at catcher with veteran Mike Matheny now on the 60-day disabled list and still struggling to recover from a concussion.

Rookie Eliezer Alfonzo and veteran Todd Greene have filled in admirably, but neither one is a Gold Glove candidate or has the experience to mentor the Giants' young pitchers.

Are the Giants OK at catcher?

"With each day Matheny isn't here, you wonder," Sabean said.

Santos, 24, can't be expected to save the Giants, the West's worst hitting team. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 22nd round in 1999 and signed last November with the Giants as a free agent.

Santos had 12 homers and 61 RBI for Fresno, No. 1 in both categories in the entire Giants' farm system. And yes, that points to the dearth of quality position players in the minor leagues that Sabean can use in trades.

So in order to trade, Sabean will almost certainly have to part with some of his precious pitchers, whether prospects or veterans.

Time is wasting.

[Giants666]

God dam it, I hate hearing about us trading for Phil Nevin and Kevin Correia name keeps poping up................**** getting a rent-a-player and plus Nevin sucks! I hope Sabean doesn't trade for Nevin.

[Giants666]

Todd Walker, 1B--Chicago Cubs: Detroit or Toronto could make a deal for him. The Jays may also be interested in the Cubs' Michael Barrett.The Giants also have interest in him as a 1Bmen.

Todd Walker

[love_that_reefer]

I think they were talking about Barrett being a 1b. Either one is far better than Nevin.

[Giants666]

I think they were talking about Barrett being a 1b. Either one is far better than Nevin.

I thought so to Reef and I searched around an seen that we're interested in Todd Walker and found nothing about Barrett. I agree Barrett would be nice pick-up especially with the status of Matheney......But **** Walker and Nevin how the **** does Sabean think that they're going to help our team............no more ballplayers at the end of their career........just play Ishakawa, don't trade any of our pitchers for those losers.......RENT-A-PLAYER

[Giants666]

Notes: Players call team meeting
Giants discuss more spirited play in effort to end slump


"If we want to score some runs, we've got to do the little things first, then worry about doing the rest," veteran Omar Vizquel said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Manager Felipe Alou has seen more baseball by far than all of the Giants players combined, and he doesn't suffer fools or foolish baseball.
Alou feels there's a right way to play the game -- by-the-book basics being drilled into players' brains and executing fundamentals, but also aggressive play with 100 percent focus, no mental lapses, trying hard at all times.

That was Tuesday's theme, with the wise skipper pulling no punches in stressing what needs to happen with the slumping Giants, who entered the second game of a three-game set vs. the Brewers on a three-game losing streak and having lost seven of their last 10 contests.

The same thoughts were echoed in a player-called team meeting, with Giants getting and giving advice on how to make the second half successful.

Veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel made a pre-emptive verbal strike following Monday night's 10-1 rout by the Brewers at AT&T Park, saying the team needs more spirited and smarter play, and maybe some risky, make-things-happen action.

The pregame gathering cleared the air even more.

"We talked about picking everybody else up, keeping each other sharp," said Vizquel. "If we want to score some runs, we've got to do the little things first, then worry about doing the rest.

"There were a lot of things said [today] and, when you have a meeting like that, a lot of people get to talk together and [it] reminds players to focus."

Much of the meeting was about what observers see from the stands or what the players see every day, like mental errors or the lack of good fundamentals -- not getting bunts down, taking too many chances on the basepaths, waiting for the three-run homer that never comes.

"It's not a secret what we look like out there," said Vizquel. "We've got to pick up the pace a little bit. It was the players' choice, not the coaches [to call the meeting]. It was about what we did in the first half or didn't do -- to remember stuff like that."

Vizquel said the last three games, in particular, have been pretty bad -- a 14-6 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday, a 6-2 defeat Sunday, then the rough night on Monday.

Alou's perspective: Alou didn't name names, but he had the Giants on his mind in discussing what was lacking overall in the team's mediocre first-half performance.

"What really kills teams is when you can't do the small things," he said. "The big three-run homer, a shutout and 16 strikeouts, those are hard things to accomplish. But to get a guy over should be a piece of cake. It is the small things that makes players and teams look bad."

Like the Giants loading the bases with no outs in the sixth inning on Monday and leaving the runners on. Like pitcher Jason Schmidt trying to hit a sacrifice bunt and grounding into a double play instead. Like one unnamed player making multiple mistakes in one game.

Like Jose Vizcaino attempting to score from third on a fly to center, only to be out at the plate.

"If you try to do it, really hard, and you don't do it, I don't have a problem with it," said Alou. "But if you don't understand the situation and don't try, or try with 50 percent, that is a problem."

Matheny missed: Catcher Mike Matheny, still recovering from a severe concussion, remains at his home near St. Louis. Alou said the veteran's absence could be part of the Giants' current woes.

"I can't wait until he gets here, even if he's not playing," said Alou. "We miss his presence. He's a compromising, challenging, [in-your-face] type of guy."

Food for thought: There's another Giants catching candidate in the wings. Triple-A Fresno backstop Guillermo Rodriguez, 27, is batting .444 in July, and he hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat Monday against the Salt Lake Bees.

Rodriguez has spent his 10 1/2-year career in the Minors, but is on a hot streak now, batting .467 in his last four games, with six of his last seven hits going for extra bases.

His career parallels current Giants catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, who is also 27 and began his pro career in 1996.

Coming up: Right-hander Matt Morris (8-7, 4.23 ERA) goes for his sixth straight victory on Wednesday at 12:35 p.m. PT when he faces the Brewers in the series finale. Milwaukee sends left-hander Doug Davis (5-6, 4.77 ERA) to the hill.

[love_that_reefer]

And that is why Vizquel is this team's MVP!!!