Au Revoir et Bonne Chance!

As of today, Mickael Pietrus is a full-fledged member of the Sanctuary for Outcast Warriors, otherwise known as the Orlando Magic.


Details of the deal are not yet confirmed, but he's reportedly getting most of the mid-level exception and a 3-year contract with a player option for the fourth. It's a bit much for what we've seen of him, but he's not a bad fit for the Magic. According to Janny Hu, Pietrus will get the chance to compete for the starting off-guard position, which suits him better than the PF spot Nellie asked him to play here. His rebounding numbers (2007-2008: 3.7/game, 6.6/36 minutes) are good if he plays as the 2-guard.

Pietrus' leaving doesn't mean much for the Warriors, other than his cap hold of $6.9 million coming off the books. I'd surmise that the Warriors pushed offers for Brand assuming Pietrus would be gone. The PR department does have to find a new poster boy for Valentine's Day adverts, though.

Overall, thanks for the laughs, Monsieur Pietrus!

Roster Shuffling

Brian "The Hebrew Hammer" Horwitz down, Eugenio Velez up.

Good move for Horwitz: more playing time for him.

I'm a bit torn about Velez. He's raking in AAA to the tune of .310/.372/.502, but he's been caught stealing 9 times out of 22. As if we haven't seen enough pickoffs already.

Another little dilemma: where is he going to play? Burriss, Durham, and to a lesser extent, Denker, share time at second already. The outfield, where the Grizzlies have been working out Velez, is filled up, which will be yet another problem when Dave Roberts makes his return.

Update: Andrew Baggarly speculates about a Ray Durham trade in the works.

Congratulations

Off-day fun: Vote in Aaron Rowand to round out the NL's All-Star Team. Or, send incumbent Zito-hater Tim Kawakami some well-deserved hate mail criticism.

Lincecum Slider vs Chicago Cubs

Inning	Batter	Velocity	Result
1	K. Fukudome	83	Foul
1	K. Fukudome	80	Swinging strike, K
1	D. Lee	84	Line drive single to CF
3	R. Johnson	89	Called strike
3	K. Fukudome	84	Foul
4	G. Soto	81	Swinging strike
4	G. Soto	81	Swinging strike, K

First time all season that Tim threw all his sliders for strikes.

Open Hate LA Thread

From the TFRJ vaults:

Maggette and Brand and Smith! Oh My!

If I sat behind Mullin's desk in this time of post-Davis turmoil:

1. Lock up Monta and Biedrins. These next few years should be retooling, not rebuilding, seasons, as we have two solid young starters to match incoming players with.

2. Shop Harrington. Preferably for Javaris Crittenton, who will receive more playing time with the Warriors rather than splitting PG duties with the entirety of the Grizzlies' roster. The Grizzlies would have to throw in a couple players to make the salaries work, but the focus of the swap would be very beneficial for the Warriors.

Or, if the Warriors don't want to deal Harrington, he will be an attractive expiring contract after the 08-09 season. Not to mention another $9 million of cap space to play with.

3. Along the same lines, call up Shaun Livingston. The Clippers probably won't offer him a contract since he's coming off of that horrible injury, so the Warriors could have him for cheap. Low-risk, high-reward.

4. Don't break the bank by offering max deals. Again, we're only in a retooling season, so it doesn't make sense sacrificing cap flexibility for just one player. Down the road, cap space will be even more important as Biedrins, Monta, and Wright would be in their primes and in need of only a few complementary players.

My skeletal vision for this season's roster:

PG: Jaric/Crittenton/Livingston
SG: Ellis/Belinelli
SF: Jackson/Randolph
PF: Wright/Warrick/Hendrix
C: Biedrins/Perovic

I'm Back

Well, I certainly picked a fine time to go to a 9-day camp at Cal with minimal internet use. Apparently some guy named Baron Davis opted out of his contract to head home for the Clippers and Tim Lincecum graced the cover of SI.

Actual posts in the near future. In the meantime, if you haven't already, check out the SI article about Timmy here.