At this point, with the Giants in a wide-open race for the West, in which the wildcard is unlikely to come (I would imagine that will be a race between Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York...), one has to wonder why waste this year of Bonds resurgent?
Tim Lincecum is not going to get any more ready than he is. Does he really have more issues than Russ Ortiz?
Ortiz has pitched well this year (the Ortizes seem to like to block young pitchers this year...), but how long is this going to hold up? San Francisco plays to a pitcher a lot kinder than Baltimore and Arizona, but when one or two games might mean playing or not playing into mid and late October, why not go with the players who you can reasonably expect to give you the best chance of winning?
Even if Brian Sabean is happy with the starting pitching right now in San Francisco, he should be looking to add to the bullpen, because it hasn't been all that great - this is a pen, like Philadelphia's, that could use a big strikeout guy, and like Philadelphia, this team is playing with no breathing space.
In a league where there's this much parity, I wonder how much sense it makes to be cautious with players who are clearly ready? I'm much more sympathetic, oddly enough to Minnesota, where Garza clearly has some medical issues, though Slowey would almost definately be a huge step up from Sidney Ponson.
Yet this seems to be the pattern, and while it might cover the general manager's ass because she can point to service time, proven value and the necessity of development time, it doesn't seem to be the most effective path to winning.
Any ideas, as well, about what B.J. Upton's year-end stats are? He's really turned it around in the early going and looks exactly like what the Devil Rays thought they were getting.
As well, I think changing the Devil Rays' name is totally lame. It's not "Devil Ray" that's working against their attendance and money, it's the awful color scheme, awful home park and awful records that are working against them. They'll be taking another good pitcher in early June, so with Niemann, Jacob McGee and David Price ready to join Kazmir, or getting ready, the _ Rays could find themselves playing Ralphie Parker to the Yankees/Redsox's Scut Farkas ...
By the way, Sarge is found most in his element at www.canadiancommandos.blogspot.com.
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The reason Brian Sabean isn't using Tim Lincecum is because he's a dumbass with absolutley no ability to evaluate talent. This is, afterall, the guy who said OBP gives me a headache. Personally I think what gives him a headache is that he sits on his brain.
BJ Upton this year will go 288/337/481.
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