Seeing as today is the Hall of Fam induction day I thought I’d put together a piece about the players today who will someday be in the Hall of Fame. First off, congratulations to Jon Miller, a fantastic broadcaster and I’ve listened to none better than him, hopefully one day Krukow and Kuiper can join him, and heck maybe even Flemming one day 50 years from now. But for today I wanted to mention seven guys who are playing now that I hope to see in the Hall of Fame one day. These are just my seven guys, maybe yours are different, it’s definitely an interesting concept to think about. Post your seven in the comments or even email me (thegiantsreport@gmail.com) So here they are, the seven guys playing now who I think will someday make their speech on this day as they enter one of the most elite groups in all of sports.
- Albert Pujols (ROY 2001/3x MVP/9 time all star/.300+ BA 9 years straight)
- Trevor Hoffman (7x All Star/596 Career Saves/2.86 Career ERA/1.057 Career WHIP/4 Carrer Hits)
- Derek Jeter (ROY 1996/11x All Star/4x Silver Slugger/2000 World Series MVP/2857 Hits/.315 Carrer BA)
- Jim Thome (575 Career Homeruns/.556 Career SLG/5x All Star)
- Mariano Rivera (11x All Star/Top 5 In Cy Young 5x/546 Career Saves/Hasn’t given up more then 7 HR in 14 seasons/2.21 Career ERA)
- Ichiro Suzuki (10x All Star/2001 ROY/2001 MVP/200 hits 9 seasons straight/.332 Career BA/.377 Career OPB)
- Ken Griffey Jr. (1997 MVP/13x All Star/10x Gold Glover/7x Silver Slugger/2781 Hits/.284 Carrer BA/630 Career Homeruns)
Honestly I don’t see how there is any way that you can argue against these guys. I think everyone will be stunned if any of these guys don’t make the Hall of Fame. I’m sure there are the guys right now that have the potential to put up tremendous numbers in the next 10 years and one day will be in the Hall of Fame but that’s all assuming they will continue producing, these guys continue to produce but if they retired today (Griffey already did but he did play for some of this season) they all would be in the Hall of Fame.
As the first half of the season comes to an end, we have ourselves looking at a very interesting situation. As it stands right now in every division in the National League, the leader of the division hasn’t been to the playoffs in at least 3 seasons. Just as a note; for most of the article I’m ignoring the wildcard. In the past 3 postseasons there has been a whopping 7 different teams in the playoffs in 3 seasons. This year there is a strong possibility that all 4 NL playoff spots could go to teams that haven’t been to the postseason in several seasons. As of right now we have the Atlanta Braves leading the NL East with the third best record in baseball and the best record in the National League with 52 wins. In the NL Central we have the surprising but not-so-surprising Cincinnati Reds. The reds have been led by the surging Joey Votto who is making a push for the triple crown this year and have been carried by the likes of Drew Stubbs, there closer Francisco Cordero and a resurging Scott Rolen. And finally we have those pesky Padres patrolling the top of the NL west with 2 game lead over the Rockies and Dodgers. I can’t really describe their season so far as I’m still having trouble understanding other than an outstanding bullpen why they are so good. But I’ll do my best.
I’m going to analyze these three teams I mentioned and give my take if they are the real deal or if they’ll flake and why. I’ll tell you one thing, if somehow all three of these teams got into the playoffs it may exactly what baseball needed to get America back into the game (this years all-star game received its lowest ratings ever) or with three “new” teams in the old ones out it may have the exact opposite effect to get people to watch.
Braves: Real Deal :: The Braves have been lead by a strong pitching staff with a big three of Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson, and Tim Hudson. The latter of the three, Tim Hudson has been absolutely dominant the year. He sports a 9-4 record with 2.29 ERA and an outstanding 1.12 WHIP. The Braves starting 9 is extremely solid especially with the newest addition with Alex Gonzalez who has 17 Home Runs and 50 RBI. Don’t be surprised to see the Braves on top of the NL East in October.
Reds: On The Fence :: Unlike the Braves, the Reds do not have an extremely solid starting 9. The quartet of Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, Drew Stubbs, and Scott Rolen have really carried this team to where they are today. The Reds have not made the playoffs in 14 seasons. A season ending injury to one of those key four guys, especially Votto could spell the ending for the Reds of the 2010 season and their playoff hopes. The Reds have to do everything right in the 2nd half to come out above the Cardinals this year.
Padres: Fake :: I’m not sure anyone expected a different prediction in this blog but the Padres don’t have everything going their way in the second half. The Padres have their “ace” of the staff Matt Latos coming off a DL stint with an impressive 10-4 record in the first half. Don’t get me wrong, Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez are the real deal but I can’t see everyone else coming together in the second half to carry this team by the Dodgers, Rockies, and Giants. The Padres have a 10 game home stand with the Rockies, Dodgers and Giants in September and something tells me that could be the knock out blow ending this cinderella type season.
Hello Everyone!
As you may have figured out my name is Connor and I’m the biggest 15 year old San Francisco Giants fan you’ll ever meet. I do have aspirations of one day becoming a baseball writer, sports journalist, Giants Beat Writer, whatever you want to call it. I figure it couldn’t hurt too bad to start a blog and talk about what I know best, baseball. I hope my blog is a interesting read for you and you return time and time again to catch up. Suggestions and comments are always welcome so feel free to let me know!
Now onto the baseball; As all of you probably know the Giants are in a desperate need for power, more specifically a power corner infielder. Since we have a “power” third basemen, although he is struggling greatly this season, the Giants best move would be to make a play for a power first basemen. Unless you’re content with Travis Ishikawa starting at 1st for the rest of the season and having the Giants miss the playoffs for the 7th straight year you need to jump on the Prince Fielder/Adam Dunn train. These are the two guys I’m really zeroing in on for the Giants and although there have been numerous rumors of a Giants-Corey Hart connection for the sake of the most glaring need for the Giants I’m focusing in on the two most available power first basemen on the marker.
Prince Fielder
2010 Stats: 19 HR/38 RBI/.266 BA/.883 OPS/5 GIDP
My Thoughts: Fielder was the best overall hitter in baseball last year (46 HR/141 RBI/.299 BA/1.014 OPS) this year however is quite a different story. While he may be on pace to finish with slightly more then half the RBI’s he had last year this guy has the potential every time he steps to the plate to hit a bomb. The Giants need a guy who has that potential and frankly they haven’t had one since Bonds. This should be the Giants main target fitting the role as the power lefty they’ve been on the prowl for and the icing on the cake being Fielder has made only one error all season with a .999 Fld%.
Adam Dunn
2010 Stats: 22 HR/58 RBI/.285 BA/.963 OPS/2 GIDP
My Thoughts: Adam Dunn is just a great pure hitter. Adam Dunn has hit either 40 HR or 100+ RBI in each of the past 6 seasons and has done both in 4 of those 6 seasons. He is consistent, as you can see and a little consistency could be what the Giants are looking for. If there is one obvious downside of Dunn it is his outrageous strikeout numbers and god knows the Giants have done enough of that. Dunn is on pace for career high strikeout numbers projected to eclipse 200 strikeouts this year. But I gladly take the strikeouts knowing I’m going to get 40 HR/100 RBI. Dunn plays mostly first base but has fill in in the outfield as he has done in past years. This year he has made 5 errors with a .993 FLD%.
Attainability:
- Fielder: The Brewers will probably want everything and the world for their second most prized star. Fielder is signed through the 2011 season which should make it more appealing to the Giants and increase the Brewers asking price. My prediction if the trade were to go down it would be like this. Matt Cain straight up for Fielder or Jonathan Sanchez and a few decent AA prospects. To me the latter seems much more appealing for the Giants and hopefully Doug Melvin and the Brewers.
- Dunn: Adam Dunn is a free agent after this year so the offer the Giants would produce would be less then if they were going after Fielder. The Nationals would probably be more lenient in giving up their slugger knowing this year is not going to be there year and if they can get a good young pitcher and a prospect or two they know just as much as everyone else that the Nationals could be the best in the NL East in 4-5 Years. If the Giants were to produce an offer to the Nationals my money is on they give up Jonathan Sanchez and a PTBNL, which is still significant with the Giants possibly only acquiring a rental player in Dunn.
Bottom Line: Brian Sabean must start to realize this kind of blockbuster trade is what the Giants have to do if they want to make the playoffs. I love the Giants and would love nothing more in the world then for them to make the playoffs but the hard truth is this offense cannot propel them past the Rockies and Dodgers or even the freaking Padres in the NL West.
