Monday, February 16, 2009

To Be in Arizona

The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again. - A. Bartlett Giamatti
Thoughts from the first two days of spring training:
  • No talks for a long-term deal for Tim Lincecum as of yet. He cannot pursue free agency until after 2013, but a contract similar to what Matt Cain and Noah Lowry signed a couple springs ago would be mutually beneficial for him and the Giants. One, the Giants have, as Andy Baggarly states it, "cost certainty" with him; two, Tim could sign for an even bigger contract at the end of this proposed one; and three, his salary is guaranteed if (God forbid) he gets injured.
  • Henry Schulman writes that Fred Lewis reported to camp fifteen pounds heavier in muscle. From this photo taken by Giantfan9 (don't forget, Giants Jottings is back up for spring training), it does look like he's heavier in the quad area.
    Excuse my irrational spring training optimism, but couple Lewis' extra muscle and recovery from his bunion surgery, he could very well hit 20 HR's this season (though all the projection systems have knocked him for last season's unsustainable .367 BABIP and predicted only 9-10 HR's for him).
  • Speaking of power, guess who's leading the Giants in spring training HR's? Buster Posey. He hit four today, including one to right field, giving him a total of six to date. It's hard not to be excited when you could have this guy in the majors sometime this season.
  • Something interesting to note: Giantfan9 reports that Pablo Sandoval isn't working out with the catchers, which means he'll most likely be working the corners once full squad training begins. His playing 1B/3B will get him more AB's than if he only played catcher. However, Sandoval's offense and glovework make him more valuable at catcher. We'll see how this goes over the course of the spring.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Fanfest!

It's officially one week before hope springs eternal again. If you're one of those unlucky souls who couldn't go to Fanfest today, tune into knbr.com to listen to all the interviews. Some of my friends have promised to take pictures of the event, so look for those to go up sometime tonight or tomorrow.