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Northern California Baseball Blog and Q&A
Paul Gutierrez
Raised in Barstow, Calif., where he played community college baseball for two years, Paul Gutierrez has worked at Sports Illustrated and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he covered his alma mater's Runnin' Rebels at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During a six-year stint at the Los Angeles Times, he co-authored Tommy Davis' "Tales from the Dodgers Dugout." He came to The Bee in October 2005 and is now a Bay Area sports features writer who concentrates on baseball during the spring and summer.
February 15, 2008
Deals between A's and Giants are rare
Question: When was the last time the Giants and A's made a trade together? It seems like they could/should work a little more closely together. How about Chavez to the Giants to shore up 3B and give a little help with power.
-Sean H., Sacramento
Answer: Great question, Sean, though methinks the Giants and A's prefer to ignore the very existence of one another rather than work together for their common good. In any event, the last time the Bay Area teams were trade partners was way back on Dec. 4, 1990, when the Giants acquired then-rookie outfielder Darren Lewis, who would win a Gold Glove for San Francisco in 1994, and the ubiquitous "player-to-be-named-later" for infielder Ernest Riles. The player-to-be-named turned out to be Pedro Pena.
As far as Chavez to San Francisco, I'm definitely down with that idea. I think Chavez, who his coming off three offseason surgeries and has not truly carried the A's offensively since Miguel Tejada left, is in dire need of new surroundings. He'd give the Giants a Gold Glove presence at the hot corner - he already has six Gold Gloves - and if healthy and right mentally, would give them pop in the lineup as well.
As I've written before, though, a huge holdup is that Chavez is still owed big bank - $34 million over the next three years - and no doubt Billy Beane would want some of the Giants' pitching in return.
Don't hold your breath.
- Paul Gutierrez
Question: Hey Paul!!! I'm a big Giants fan, also fairly new to it all. In today's article (
- Peter
Answer: Hey, Peter, welcome to baseball fandom. There's always room for another seamhead, and thanks for the props on the 5 Questions feature that ran Wednesday in The Bee.
Batting "cleanup" in baseball parlance simply means batting fourth in the lineup. According to "The NEW Dickson Baseball Dictionary," a cleanup hitter is "the player who bats in the fourth position in the batting order, usually reserved for a player with a high batting average and the ability to drive in runs with extra-base hits. The assumption is that he is most likely to get a hit that will score any or all of the preceding players who have reached base, thus 'cleaning' or 'clearing' the bases or baserunners."
Bengie Molina, while a clutch hitter, is far from the prototypical slugger.
Salary arbitration works the way it sounds - if an arbitration-eligible player thinks he deserves a raise and his club does not want to pay him as much has he's requesting, the case goes to an arbitrator for a final decision. It can get awkward and bruise some egos.
You can check out www.mlbplayers.com
- Paul Gutierrez
Question: We're just a few weeks away from the start of the baseball season, and I haven't heard anything yet regarding the A's or Giants TV schedules except that Channel 11 (the Giants' new Bay Area TV home) has a 20-game regular-season schedule planned. Have you heard anything else regarding how many games FSN (for both teams) or Channel 36 (for the A's) might carry? Thanks for your help.
- Marc Atwood, Chico
Answer: Keep an eye on each team's Web Site, Marc, for the most up-to-date info.
For the A's, go to
For the Giants, click on
Unfortunately, the schedules have not been updated yet to reflect which games will be broadcast, and on which channel, but I do know the A's home opener against the Boston Red Sox on April 1 will be on FSN Bay Area, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. and Game 2 against Boston on TV36 at 7:05.
The Giants' opening series at Dodger Stadium, meanwhile, will see the season opener broadcast on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area at 1:10 p.m. on March 31, the second game the next night on NBC 11 at 7:10 and the series finale on April 2 on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area at 7:10.
-Paul Gutierrez
Posted by Brian Blomster at 09:20 AM | Comments
February 02, 2008
How does Joe C. rate with Happy Pete?
Question: Curious if you could compare a healthy Joe Crede to Pedro Feliz. There are a lot of rumors that if Crede is healthy in spring training the giants will make a move for him by either dealing Hennessey or Lowry. What do you think of either of those for Crede?
-Larry T., Lincoln.
Answer: No doubt a healthy Joe Crede would fill a huge void for the Giants at third base, what with Pedro Feliz having signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. At 6-feet-2, 230 pounds, Crede, who turns 30 on April 26, is bigger than the 6-1, 208-pound Feliz, and three years younger, to boot. The Crede of 2006, when he threatened to wrest the American League Gold Glove at the hot corner from the A's Eric Chavez and had career highs in homers (30) and RBI (94) while batting .283, would be a sick acquisition for the Giants. Feliz's career best numbers are .276 (in 2004), 22 homers (in 2004 and 2006) and 98 RBI (in 2006). Feliz has also averaged 92.3 strikeouts since 2004, compared to the 68.3 K's Crede has averaged in his last three full seasons.
Now if the Giants were merely a player or two away from contending in the N.L. West, instead of at the start of a massive rebuilding project, it would probably be a great idea for the Giants to trade the likes of Brad Hennessey or Noah Lowry to the White Sox to secure the services of Crede.
But the way the youth-movement Giants are built, on the back of a young and filthy pitching staff, I don't see how trading away a pitcher or two helps in the long run. Especially not with Crede a free agent after this season (he signed a one-year, $5.1-million contract to avoid arbitration on Jan. 17).
But what about this? What if the Giants took a look at another stellar third baseman coming off an injury-plagued year, one that resides just across the Bay? Chavez and his six Gold Gloves just might benefit mightily from a simple change of scenery. He is still owed big money, though, $34 million over the next three years, and you know Tradin' Billy Beane would ransack the Giants' minor league system in such a swap.
On second thought, never mind.
-Paul Gutierrez
Question: What will it take for the Cubs to get over the hump and win a championship?
-Bob Murray, Las Vegas
Answer: To tell you the truth, I thought the Cubbies were finally going to break through last year and face the Red Sox in the World Series. Then I would have cashed out my 401(k) because a Fall Classic between those two would have surely meant the apocalypse was near. The Cubbies' role as Loveable Losers has been even more painful of late with their star-crossed rivals - the Red Sox - crosstown rivals - the White Sox - and geographic rivals - the St. Louis Cardinals - winning each of the past four World Series.
Pitching, injuries and karma are the keys for the Cubs ending their 100-year championship drought as their starting rotation of Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Rich Hill and Jon Lieber is solid if not spectacular. The unrealized potential of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood will never be realized at Wrigley Field now that Prior is with the San Diego Padres and Wood is making the transformation to closer.
Hey, if all else fails, maybe the Cubs need to pay homage to the supernatural and have a Bring Your Billygoat to the Park Day. You know, to end the curse.
-Paul Gutierrez
Posted by Bill Bradley at 03:11 PM | Comments
January 30, 2008
Is Billy Beane serious?
Question: I have been an A's fan for 30+ years. Your article in Sundays paper really irked me. Billy Beane's attitude towards the fans was unreal. As a fan, I am tired of just getting to the playoffs being thought of as "success" in Oakland. Is that what Beane and his "genius" aspires to? Even when, or if the club gets to Fremont, do you see them doing what it takes to win another World Series title? Does Lewis Wolfe want to win or make money? I don't remember Walter Haas pinching pennies and that "small market" team got a ring.
-Ted Lorz, Sacramento
Answer: Hey, Ted, as I've written before, I thank my lucky white cleats I did not grow up an A's fan, otherwise these constant roster overhauls would be too much to bear. But as I wrote in Sunday's column (
And you're right about those A's teams that won three straight pennants and a World Series from 1988 to '90. The economic climate certainly has shifted and the market was decidedly different then, but who can forget the A's going out and adding a Rickey Henderson and a Harold Baines in midstream? Different times, indeed.
-Paul Gutierrez
Posted by Ahmed Ortiz at 05:31 PM | Comments
Two months later, and Yankee fans are still upset
It seems as though not all Yankee fans are as tech savvy as I gave them credit for, or, news simply travels at a slower speed throughout the Evil Empire. Because while I did receive plenty of "hate" e-mail back in November when my column comparing Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds ran in The Bee (
In the interest of full disclosure, I'll post them here, as they arrived, with no corrections to their grammar or spelling. Hey, it makes for a more interactive experience, methinks. What do you think?
Question: CONGRATS !! YOU MADE A TOTAL FOOL OF YOURSELF WITH THIS AROD ARTICLE. MOST WRITERS ONLY MAKE FOOLS OF THEMSELVES, BUT YOU MADE A TOTAL FOOL OF YOURSELF. CONGRATS ONCE AGAIN.
-ROLAND
Answer: Thanks, Roland, for screaming at me with all caps. But while wondering what took you so long to reply to a column that initially ran Nov. 17, I have to paraphrase that great Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi: Who is more foolish, the fool, or the one who reads the fool and then sends a nasty email to him? And yes, may the Force be with you.
-Paul Gutierrez
Question: Well done Paul! You've managed to make my 5 year old, yes 5 year old look more mature than you. I had to laugh (at you not with you) regarding your article about Bond and Alex. I don't know much about Bonds so I won't discuss him. But admit it you really want C-Rod and you're jealous that A-Rod got her instead right? I mean what other reason could there be for writing a trashy article about Alex like the one you did? The name calling and extra detail to his salary just screams I'm jealous inmature adult whose bitter and angry with the world. You mentioned how Alex (by the way that's his name) said he took the high road but that's cleary not something you are familiar with or this article wouldn't have been written (glass houses and stones don't mix). So Alex makes the most money in baseball so what? Someone had to be in that spot, why not make it the best player currently in the game? That makes sense to me. So why are you whinning again? Also when are the articles on Oprah and Mr. Gates coming out? They are tops in their respective careers and I don't see them turning the money away, nor do I see people like you writing childish articles about them. Just grow up man.....just grow up.
-Jerry Atkins
Answer: Glad to be of service, Jerry. Not so sure making your kindergartner look more mature than me is that great of a feat, though, as my wife often tells me our 3-year-old son acts more mature than me as well. Oh well. But to get to the heart of the matter, the column was of the opinion that Alex Rodriguez showed so much heart in opting out of his deal to make his mark elsewhere but then disappointed us by slinking back to the Bombers with his tail between his legs. Would have been nice to see him stick to his original guns is all. And thanks for saying I showed "extra detail" in regards to his salary. That's a huge compliment in this business, to pay attention to detail.
-Paul Gutierrez
Posted by Ahmed Ortiz at 05:28 PM | Comments
January 28, 2008
Where do Bonds, his recliner and big screen TV end up?
Question: What's the deal with Barry Bonds? Will he play this year? If so, what teams might have interest in him? The legal issues shouldn't keep him from playing one more year, should they? I'd like to see him get to 3K hits and another 25 HRs.
-Bruce Baltzley, Sacramento
Answer: Well, Bruce, the short answer is that Barry definitely WANTS to play ... AT LEAST one more season. He's made that point painfully clear since the Giants announced in September they were divorcing themselves from the Home Run King after 15 star-crossed seasons. Problem is, he still is toxic as the fallout from the Mitchell Report still flitters to the ground, making him untouchable less than three weeks before pitchers and catchers report to spring training. Still, it's just got to warm his heart to see the likes of Roger Clemens joining him in the Steroid Patrol's crosshairs (even the Grinch had a heart, right?). The fact that Bonds indeed already has been indicted on perjury charges will scare off most teams, though there were some definite dark horses that might have had interest in him, baggage and headaches notwithstanding. Of course, they were American League clubs so he could make the transition to D.H. Among them - the Detroit Tigers, whose manager, Jim Leyland, was Bonds' first big-league skipper with the Pittsburgh Pirates; the Texas Rangers, whose owner, Tom Hicks, is as seemingly unstable and free spending as Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton on a group bender; the Seattle Mariners, which would allow Bonds to stay on the West Coast; and the weak sisters of the poor, the Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays. And, my, what a sad ending to a glorious, if checkered, career that would be.
Of course, Bonds, who turns 44 in July, would have to be willing to take a massive pay cut from the nearly $20 million he earned for batting .276 with 28 home runs, 66 RBI, a 1.045 OPS and drawing a majors-best 132 walks in 126 games.
My Spidey-senses have long told me his most obvious destination would be Oakland, what with the A's still residing in his protective cocoon of the Bay Area, where he is as revered as he is reviled elsewhere.
But A's fans booed loudly at the notion of Bonds sporting white cleats and sharing time with The Great Jack Cust during the club's Fanfest celebration on Saturday and general manager Billy Beane all but quashed the idea of enabling Bonds by moving his circus across the Bay.
Beane, who does not comment on free agents, told the crowd as much while adding that he thought this offseason's moves - his gutting of the team in an effort to start a youth movement and rebuilding project - pretty much showed the A's thinking. Meaning, why in the world would the A's add such a high-profile veteran to a young, nondescript club?
Besides, it's not as if Bonds ever has really played the role of elder statesman to the hilt, helping youngsters find their way.
But there is this: With the freakshow factor Bonds would bring to the A's decrepit McAfee Coliseum, he would draw fans. Oh, he would draw fans.
The A's announced a crowd of 12,488 for Fanfest but it seemed less than that - and to be fair, the threat of rain might have kept away some fans - but crowds in excess of 20,000 reportedly had taken in the festivities since 2002.
How many would have shown up had Bonds been introduced to A's Nation on Saturday? And how many would show up on a Tuesday night in August with the A's already an afterthought in the pennant race if Bonds is chasing 3,000 hits and 800 homers? FYI, he needs 65 hits and 38 homers to tap those milestone numbers.
So yes, it made sense for the A's to chase Bonds had they retained Dan Haren, Nick Swisher, Mark Kotsay and Marco Scutaro, because he could have been the one player to take them over the top, as Frank Thomas did in 2006.
Now? Sad to say it makes dollars and cents to think about bringing him on since the A's on-field expectations are low anyways.
-Paul Gutierrez
Posted by Ahmed Ortiz at 03:51 PM | Comments
January 24, 2008
Paging Beantown for a friendly e-mail battle
There's nothing like hanging with your friends and shooting the breeze about sports, even if logistics force you to do it in cyberspace, right? So it's always a good time when a random e-mail battle breaks out and the bar-room-style facts and insults fly like so many Mitch Williams wild pitches.
Recently, our friend Jay, who grew up in Philadelphia and in college was justifiably insufferable as a fan of anything remotely associated with the Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers but since has moved to the Boston area, was prattling on about the greatness of New England sports teams - the Red Sox and Patriots, specifically - and their fans. "The best in sports," I believe is how he described Beantown's denizens.
Well that got everyone in an e-mail lather, especially since the Red Sox somehow have become just as unlikable as the Evil Empire they claim to disdain in the Yankees and the Patriots, though they are 18-0 heading into the Super Bowl, are proven cheaters (Spygate, anyone?) and the legend of Tom Brady was borne out of the ridiculous "Tuck Rule Game," which hosed the Raiders, of course. If the Patriots lose that game, as they should have since Brady's fumble should NOT have been overturned because the replays were inconclusive, who's to say Drew Bledsoe, who gave way to Brady early in that 2001 season due to injury, does not regain his job as the starting QB and Brady goes back to being a cute sixth-round draft choice backup?
Alas, that's an entry for a different blog and since the main topic here is baseball, our other friend, Chris, put a quick and bloody end to Jay's ramblings with a poignant missive when it comes to our national pastime.
"Only someone who grew up watching games at Veterans Stadium (or Shea) would think Red Sox fans are great," Chris wrote. "All I see are drunken frat guys who think a great derisive chant is, 'You (stink), Jeter'; old nerds who want to write books about all they've suffered through at Fenway; and a sea of clowns who think Ortiz should win MVP every year for never picking up a glove and slicing balls over a 36-inch-tall right-field "wall" that's, what, 204 feet or so from home plate, maybe 205?
"Red Sox Nation is as phony as the ideals of those who think that franchise is any different than the Yankees' (mantra of), 'Let's buy another pennant this year with free agents other teams can't afford while (some reporters kiss) up about our 'home grown' talent that's obtained by spending more money on scouting than some teams have to pay their big-league players."
Couldn't have said, or written, it any better myself.
-Paul Gutierrez
Posted by Ahmed Ortiz at 04:12 PM | Comments
An Amen on an A's analysis and a Mariners thought, or two
Question: You are right about the miserable A's. At 9 years old I saw my first pro sports game, A's vs. Blue Jays, Rickey Henderson's first game back in Oakland after being traded by the Yankees in 1989. I can still name 19 or 20 of the 25-man roster that won the Battle of the Bay World Series. I cried the next year when they lost to the Reds. I cried again when they started the rebuilding process. History shows that this is what they ALWAYS DO. Late '70s early '90s early AND mid 2000s. Only difference is, they used to win titles before rebuilding.
-Jason, Sacramento
Answer: And they used to get rid of their players AFTER they became too expensive to keep, not while they were still under contract, ala Dan Haren and Nick Swisher. But I digress.
Ah, yes, June 22, 1989, the day Rickey returned to his ancestral East Bay home and went 2 for 6 in a 4-2 loss in 13 innings, per retrosheet.org. Rickey was most definitely the piece missing from the year before when the Dodgers shocked the A's and the world in five games. I always wanted to see the A's and Mets, the two powerhouses of that era, meet up in the Fall Classic.
-Paul Gutierrez
Question: Why are the Mariners not going after what they need - pitching? It seems they let all the big-name free agents go and they sign someone subpar. Thanks.
-Jerry, Kelso, Washington
Answer: Nothing the Mariners do surprises me anymore, Jerry, and yet, everything they do still sorta shocks me. Yes, it's old news and tired news but why in the world did the Mariners let the likes of Randy Johnson go, and Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez and Tino Martinez? Seems as though the Emerald City could have won at least one if not multiple World Series had management ponied up to keep their stars in town. Of course, that was an ownership group or two ago but still, it must be tough being a Mariners fan.
But if the rumor mill is to be believed, help may be on the way. Gossip since the end of the winter meetings has Seattle dealing outfielder Adam "Don't Call Me Pac-Man" Jones, who has been penciled in to replace Jose Guillen in right field, as part of a package to the Baltimore Orioles for left-hander Erik Bedard (13-5, 3.16 ERA in 28 starts for the woeful O's).
Not exactly the second coming of the Big Unit, but hey, you already have one of the game's filthiest closers in J.J. Putz. Don't get greedy.
-Paul Gutierrez
Posted by Ahmed Ortiz at 03:56 PM | Comments
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- Deals between A's and Giants are rare
- How does Joe C. rate with Happy Pete?
- Is Billy Beane serious?
- Two months later, and Yankee fans are still upset
- Where do Bonds, his recliner and big screen TV end up?
- Paging Beantown for a friendly e-mail battle
- An Amen on an A's analysis and a Mariners thought, or two
- What about 'Dutch' Blyleven and 'Hawk' Dawson?
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