Juan Uribe is Dead to Me!!!

I thought I would pass these along to start building up the hatred of Juan Uribe aka BooRibe.  Thanks to Roberto Baly of Vin Scully Is My Homeboy for these.

As I said before, I was not on board with resigning Uribe because I thought his value could have been easily replaced and the signing of Miguel Tejada shows that but just the thought that we will have to see him playing for the Los Angeles Bums makes me want to throw up.

Didn't anyone tell Juan that Jose would not be on board with this?

Giants Agree to One-Year Deal with Miguel Tejeda

Tejada already looks good in orange and black.

The San Francisco Giants lost Juan Uribe yesterday to the Los Angeles Dodgers and today they have found a possible replacement.  According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, the San Francisco Giants have agreed to a one-year contract with Miguel Tejada for $6.5 million.  The deal is said to include $500,000 in performance-based incentives.  Michael Urban of CSN Bay Area has confirmed the story and has also mentioned that the Giants expect him to be an everyday player.

It seems the Tejada is being brought in to be the everyday shortstop but this deal does not preclude the Giants from picking up a shortstop and having Tejada played third.  This would allow the Giants to move Pablo Sandoval to first if he turns out to make the starting roster.

Miguel Tejeda started last season with the Baltimore Orioles but was traded to the San Diego Padres for the last 59 games of the season.  In 2010 Tejeda batted .269/.312/.381 with 15 homeruns and batted in 71.  His defense on the other hand is not overly impressive.  He played 58 games last season at shortstop and rated average at best (0.1 UZR, 0.3 UZR/150). 

Tejeda is a very similar player to Juan Uribe, statistically, except that he seems to always make contact.  At this point in his career he is a .280 hitter at best but unlike Uribe he seems to not strikeout as much.  Last year his strikeout percentage (SO/AB) was 10.5% compared to Uribe's which was 17.7%.  With the Giants able to sign him to just a one-year deal, I prefer having Tejeda over Uribe.

Uribe Close to Signing with Dodgers

It’s starting to look like Juan Uribe will not be signing with the San Francisco Giants.  According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com, the Los Angeles Dodgers are “closing in on a three-year deal” with infielder Juan Uribe.  The Dodgers are looking to have Uribe play second base primarily as the Dodgers already have Rafael Furcal at shortstop.

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com is reporting that the deal is in the $21 million dollar range.  A large increase over the one-year, $3.25 million dollar deal he signed last offseason with the Giants.

Whether you think the Giants should have signed him or not, it is clear that Uribe signing with the Dodgers is bad news for the Giants.  The last thing we need to see is “jazz hands” as he hits a walk-off homerun.

Hot Stove League: Giants Interested in Rays' Jason Bartlett

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Giants as well as the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles are interested in trading for shortstop Jason Bartlett.  According to Cafardo, the Tampa Bay Rays are looking for bullpen help and with Reid Brignac ready to take over at shortstop Bartlett has become expendable.

The Giants are a good fit to make a deal with the Rays as they have a lot of good young reliever talent that they could send to the Rays for Bartlett.  Bartlett would give the Giants a legit shortstop to replace Edgar Renteria as it is unlikely that the Giants will want to bring him back.  Jason Bartlett, who is coming off his worst year as a major leaguer both defensively and offensively, is a natural shortstop and has at least one more year of arbitration left.

This move would also leave the Giants with a backup plan if Juan Uribe leaves to another team which is looking like a very good possibility.  There has been a lot of interest in Uribe because of his position flexibility and his offensive power.  The Giants aren't likely to match a three-year deal for Uribe because they don't want to block their young prospects like Brandon Crawford, Ehire Adrianza, or Conor Gillaspie.  If the Giants are able to bring back Uribe then they could have him play third baseman, which is a better position for him defensively anyway.  This would also allow the Giants to finally move Pablo Sandoval to first base where he belongs, assuming the 2009 Sandoval shows up to training camp.

NLCS: Giants Beat Phillies in Bottom of 9th, Take 3-1 Series Lead

And all they need is one more.

That is one more win and the San Francisco Giants will have won the pennant and will be on their way to the World Series for the first time since 2002.

The San Francisco Giants have a 3-1 series lead in the NLCS over the Philadelphia Phillies and have a chance to close it out tonight with a win.

The Giants will send their ace Tim Lincecum on the mound to face the Phillies ace, Roy Halladay.

But that's tonight, and we should talk about last night. But where do we start? It’s has to start with Bruce Bochy. Bochy, has been making all the right moves all post-season and even when they are questionable or unconventional they are working. The key example is his decision to start Pablo Sandoval yesterday and give Uribe the day off.

Sandoval who has been a huge disappointment all year might have redeemed himself last night and yes, Panda hats are back in. The Giants saw a completely different Sandoval last night, that was not the impatient Sandoval who swung and pitches in the dirt and five feet over his head. That was 2009-Sandoval, who hit .330. In the bottom of the 6th, Sandoval came up with Pat Burrell and Cody Ross on base. He hit a two-run double into the left-center gap and gave the Giants back the lead.

Sandoval wasn’t the only hero; we can’t forget Brian Sabean’s best acquisition, Buster Posey.  Posey was great tonight and showed some of his old shortstop skills in the fifth inning. Shane Victorino hit a single up the middle to Aaron Rowand who came up throwing to throw out Carlos Ruiz at home.  The ball came in low and bounced just in front of home plate and Posey picked it out of the ground, just like a shortstop would on a throw from a catcher on a steal, and tagged out Ruiz.

But, that wasn't Posey's only contribution.  He brought his stick to the game also.  Prior to Wednesday’s game he had been in a small slump in this series with just one hit in 12 at-bats but that all changed last night. Posey broke a Giants rookie record by getting four hits in one game in which he saved the best for last. In the bottom of the 9th inning, with Aubrey Huff on first, he hit a single to right field off of Roy Oswalt that allowed Huff to get to third.

That brought up Juan Uribe. Uribe who has been dealing with a wrist injury has been definitely struggling. Manager Bruce Bochy, decided to bring Uribe in on a double switch in the top of the ninth inning and it was Uribe’s turn to become the hero. In the top of the ninth, he made an incredible play to throw out Ross Gload. Then in the bottom of the ninth, it was his chance on offense.

With a 1-2 count against Roy Oswalt, Uribe hit a ball in the air to Ben Francisco. Immediately, the “jazz hands” came out like he just hit a walk-off homerun. But it was a routine can of corn that allowed Huff to tag up and score from third and the Giants won.

As the Giants so often say, “there’s magic inside.”

Giants finally beat the Padres!!!!

Who knew it.  The Giants can actually beat the Padres, they are now 2-8 against the Friars this year.  

The good news is that the Giants managed to hang in there against Mat Latos, despite the home plate umpire doing his best to screw the Giants.  

Latos, who by the way may be a jerk, but no doubt is legit.  He is going to be a big pain in the ass for the Giants in the years to come.  This season, against the Giants, he has a 0.96 ERA.  in four starts and that includes today's game.

Back to the home plate umpire.  I'm not sure if he is from San Diego but he may of called the worst game I've seen all season.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, he called out Andres Torres on a third strike that was so far off the plate.  It had to be at least a foot outside.  If Torres would have been hitting left-handed it would of hit him.  As you can see from the screenshot of my MLB app from my iPhone that actually none of the strikes were actually strikes.

Either way, the Giants overcame the questionable calls and won the game with his legs.  After catching eleven innings, Buster Posey got a lead off double in the bottom of the 11th and then Pablo Sandoval got his second intentional walk of the game.  Then Juan Uribe came up and hit a single that allowed the hustling Posey to score from second.  GAME OVER!!