The official SF Giants off-season thread

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CHAPO GUZMAN

CHAPO GUZMAN

Sicc OG
#81
Jan 5, 2006
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#81
he went after the money.. he wont last in NY though.. the media spotlight is crucial. I cant hate him for taking the money tho.. get paid! He'll end up in the NL west sooner or later. Atleast the giants can now focus on signing a couple power bats and put up some trades, not really like we desperately needed pitching.. we got that, this wouldve just solidified our rotation.
 
CHAPO GUZMAN

CHAPO GUZMAN

Sicc OG
#84
Jan 5, 2006
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#84
i see them getting atleast 1 bat.. supposedly jonathan sanchez for jorge cantu has been brought up.. we need someone like albert pujols in the infield.. we dont really have a power bat in the infield. Cant wait til the draft.. see what we get.. i havent even been up on college baseball
 
DubbC415

DubbC415

Mickey Fallon
#87
Sep 10, 2002
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Tomato Alley
#87
"Agent Barry Meister said Thursday that Randy Johnson is "really interested" in playing for the Giants.

"We made a check list of everything that's important, and San Francisco checks off on every box," Meister said. "They're in the National League. They'll be competitive. They train in Arizona. San Francisco has a lot of appeal.""
 
DUTCH-F.E

DUTCH-F.E

Super Moderator
#88
Apr 25, 2002
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#88
heard our new owner/gm on knbr today saying that we are going after randy johnson and joe crede to play 3rd base. if they both are healthy for the whole year, they both can be huge helpers!!!!!!!

we will see how it plays out.
 
CHAPO GUZMAN

CHAPO GUZMAN

Sicc OG
#90
Jan 5, 2006
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#90
apparently lance niekro is making a comeback to the MLB for the braves as a knuckleball pitcher.


Twenty years have passed since a Niekro threw a knuckleball in a major-league game. Lance Niekro, the longtime Giants infield prospect, now hopes to become the next to keep the family craft alive.

Niekro, who as recently as 2006 was vying to become the Giants' everyday first baseman, is exiting a brief retirement from baseball and will attempt a comeback at age 30 as a right-handed knuckleball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves.

The Braves have signed Niekro to a minor-league contract and will bring him to spring training to see if he can extend the legacy of his late father Joe and Uncle Phil and make his living floating baseballs to major-league hitters.

"It's going to be an adventure," Lance Niekro said Thursday from his home in Lakeland, Fla., "but it's going to be a fun one."

Niekro was the Giants' second pick in the 2000 draft and projected as a big-league power hitter. That did not happen. Given a chance to win the everyday first-base job in 2006, he struggled at the plate, hitting .246 with five homers and 31 RBIs in 199 at-bats.

When Niekro became a free agent after the 2007 season, the Astros, his father's longtime team, signed him for 2008. When they released him a month into the season he went home to Florida, retired and went to work for a telecommunications company.

"I got into a bad funk really since my dad passed away (in 2006)," Niekro said. "I never got out of it. I wasn't even having fun playing. I was playing for the wrong reasons. Houston let me go so I told my wife, 'That was it.' "

Like most retirees, Niekro quickly missed the game. A year earlier, the Braves had called wondering if Niekro would be interested in giving the old knuckler a try in their organization.

Lance learned the pitch from Joe when he was 13 and messed around with it in the outfield while shagging during batting practice with the Giants. He also practiced it in the minors and even got into one game as a pitcher at Triple-A Fresno. Before he retired, he did not consider it as a possible vocation. Once he was out, he decided to give the Braves a call because, he said, "trying a comeback as a 30-year-old first baseman did not seem like a good idea."

The Braves are intrigued by the notion of turning Niekro into a big-league knuckleball pitcher and do not see this as a lark.

"I don't think you'd ever undertake anything unless you felt it could develop into something," said Kurt Kemp, the Braves' director of player development. "We all feel it's definitely one of those things like, what have we got to lose? We surely aren't looking at it as a novelty, but as something nontraditional. We're legitimately going to set a course of action to develop his knuckleball and give him a chance to pitch through spring training and see where we are."

Niekro lives close to the Braves' spring complex near Orlando. He will report to minor-league camp in mid-February and work with Uncle Phil, the Hall of Fame knuckleballer who pitched in Atlanta from 1966-83 and continues to be what Kemp called "a great ambassador" for the Braves.

Phil and Lance have been working seriously on the pitch for about five weeks. Phil is visiting Lance's home now for pitching lessons and some fishing.

There will be challenges. Lance had surgery on his right shoulder early in his pro career and confessed the shoulder has been barking at him since he started throwing this winter. He also has to develop some secondary pitches.

"I'm working on a few," he said. "I can't give away all my secrets."
 
Chree

Chree

Medicated
#91
Dec 7, 2005
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#91
Giants still interested in Big Unit

From beat writer Henry Schulman:

According to someone who attended Wednesday night's "chalk talk" with season ticket holders, GM Brian Sabean said he continues to work hard to sign 45-year-old Randy Johnson to a one-year contract. The person who attended the talk gives his report here, and I had the Sabean comments on Big Unit confirmed by a Giants spokesman.

Signing Johnson would add depth to the rotation and give Sabean a bit more leeway to dangle Jonathan Sanchez in trade talks for a bat. From what I've heard, Johnson is biding his time waiting to see how the market develops.

For what it's worth, Johnson grew up in Livermore and might want to come home. He has also said he wants to play for a contender. He also wants a shot at five wins to get him to 300. If I hear anything solid on the Giants' talks with Johnson, I'll let y'all know.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=22&entry_id=33796
 
CHAPO GUZMAN

CHAPO GUZMAN

Sicc OG
#92
Jan 5, 2006
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#92
looks like the Randy Johnson signing will be official soon

Randy Johnson, five victories short of 300, has agreed to a one-year contract with the Giants.

Johnson, 45, is a five-time Cy Young Award winner with a career record of 295-160. Last season with Arizona, he went 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA. He had 173 strikeouts in 184 innings.

"Randy continues to be one of the most intimidating and competitive pitchers in baseball,'' Giants General Manager Brian Sabean said in a statement. "He commands respect and will have a dramatic influence on the way the 2009 team conducts business."

Johnson, a Walnut Creek native and a 1982 graduate of Livermore High School, will join Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum in a rotation that features three Cy Young winners. The last team to make that claim was the 2002 Atlanta Braves (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz.)

Johnson is seeking to become the 24th pitcher in history to reach 300 victories.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11316777?source=rss
 
DUTCH-F.E

DUTCH-F.E

Super Moderator
#97
Apr 25, 2002
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WWW.myspace.com
#97
Randy Johnson, Giants agree to 1-year deal

By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer 46 minutes ago

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Buzz up! 7 votes
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In this Sept. 28, 2008 file photo, Arizona Diamondbacks' Randy Johnson throws against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game in Phoenix. Johnson and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a one-year contract Friday, Dec. 26, 2008, meaning the 45-year-old pitcher will go for his 300th win with a new team.
In this Sept. 28, 2008 file ph…
AP - Dec 26, 9:49 pm EST

* MLB Gallery

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—The Big Unit is heading home to the Bay Area.

Randy Johnson and the San Francisco Giants agreed to an $8 million, one-year contract Friday, meaning the 45-year-old pitcher will go for his 300th win with a new team.

Johnson, a 21-year big league veteran who spent the past two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, was born in Walnut Creek, Calif., about 30 minutes from the Giants’ waterfront ballpark. He grew up in nearby Livermore.

The five-time Cy Young Award winner has 295 victories after going 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts last season. He can earn an additional $5 million in performance bonuses.

The Giants offered several things on Johnson’s wish list: spring training in the Phoenix area, and a chance to stay on the West Coast and in the NL West so he can pitch near his current home in Arizona.

“All of those things kind of fell into place with the Giants,” Johnson’s agent, Barry Meister, said in a telephone interview.

Johnson joins fellow Cy Young winners Tim Lincecum (2008) and Barry Zito (2002) in an intriguing rotation that also features promising right-hander Matt Cain. San Francisco becomes the first team with three Cy Young Award recipients since the 2002 Atlanta Braves with Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz.

“He’s looking forward to pitching between Lincecum and Cain and serving as a mentor for the young pitching staff,” Meister said.

Johnson has 4,789 strikeouts, second on the career list to Nolan Ryan (5,714). The 6-foot-10 lefty made $16 million last season, when he struck out 173 and walked 44.

The Oakland Athletics were among the teams interested in Johnson, a 10-time All-Star who filed for free agency last month. He and the Diamondbacks had serious discussions about a new deal that could have kept him in Arizona, but the sides failed to reach an agreement.

During the winter meetings this month in Las Vegas, Giants general manager Brian Sabean didn’t hide the fact that he was seeking a veteran starting pitcher for a short-term deal and that Johnson would be a great fit. Left-hander Noah Lowry is a question mark after undergoing two operations this year that sidelined him all season, one for a nerve problem in his forearm and then an arthroscopic procedure after the season on the back of his pitching elbow to remove bone spurs

“Randy continues to be one of the most intimidating and competitive pitchers in baseball today,” Sabean said in a statement. “He commands respect and will have a dramatic influence on the way the 2009 team conducts business.”

The Giants turned to a youth movement this year and finished fourth in the NL West at 72-90. They haven’t reached the playoffs since 2003.

Johnson certainly will help attract fans as he chases career win No. 300. The Giants went 37-44 at home for their fourth straight losing campaign in San Francisco. They also failed to reach 3 million fans for the first time in the 9-year-old ballpark’s history, certainly in part because home run king Barry Bonds was gone.

Sabean has been busy all offseason. He also added shortstop Edgar Renteria and relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry.
 
caff

caff

Sicc OG
#99
May 10, 2002
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#99
Best of luck to Randy. Loved watching him pitch when he was with Seattle. I hope he gets to 300 and 5000 Ks.
 
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