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Sunday, January 16, 2011
Sandoval slimmer? Photo, video
From The Chronicle Sports Desk:
Is Pablo Sandoval slimmer, as reported? It looks like you can judge for yourself thanks to his new Twitter feed and website.
Sandoval has been Twittering @pandoval48 since Jan. 12.
He also has started a website. There's a video on the home page. Weight issues aside, it'll just make you want to go out and hit baseballs.
| Jan 16 at 08:36 AM
Friday, January 14, 2011
Showtime, MLB announce Giants reality show, but Cain says deal not done
It's the mantra of every baseball team and of particular importance to Giants manager Bruce Bochy: What happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse.
Well, so much for that.
Earlier today, Major League Baseball Productions announced it has teamed with Showtime to created a "new, unscripted series featuring unprecedented team access with the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants."
MLB Production cameras will be "embedded" (their word) with the Giants all season to gather video for a show that will run during the second half of the 2011 season, after a preview episode at the start of the year. That means in the clubhouse and in the players' homes.
Showtime surely will want some controversy, and they already have some. I just talked to Matt Cain, the Giants' player rep. While he is 100 percent behind the series, and said other players are on board, too, he confessed to being a bit miffed about today's announcement because in his mind all the details have not been worked out.
"Honestly, they announced it early," Cain said. "They weren't supposed to do that and we aren't very happy about it. We're trying to figure out all the small details."
However, Cain does believe the show will benefit the organization and even baseball in the Pacific Time Zone.
"I think it will be great publicity for the team and the guys on the team," Cain said. "I think it could be really good thing for San Francisco. Everybody knows the West Coast doesn't get as much publicity as East Coast teams. It'll be great if it's done right."
Giants president Larry Baer said the show will work because of a "trust factor" among the players and the producers that truly sensitive material will not be shown.
"We think they have the ability to produce a textured show that above all else will further reveal to an audience of fans some pretty special players. There are some special personalities. It's going to be player-centric."
| Jan 14 at 05:23 PM
Monday, January 10, 2011
Sandoval said to be working hard, slimmed down
Yes, yes, yes. You've heard this before. You're skeptical, and you should be, until you see what he looks like in spring training.
Nevertheless, I've heard from a number of folks that Pablo Sandoval's conditioning work at a private facility in Arizona is paying dividends.
This is crucial for the Giants and Sandoval's career. As instructor Shawon Dunston said, "I hope he's doing well because he's (like) our new free agent. If he gets back to his 2009 form, watch out."
Dunston has not seen Sandoval this winter, but Rich Aurilia has.
Aurilia lives in Phoenix and told me today he saw Pablo at a shopping mall just before Christmas. Sandoval told him he had lost 17 pounds.
Last week, Sandoval was in Venezuela and held a news conference at a baseball museum. According to reports in the Venezuelan papers, Sandoval said he lost 16 "kilos" with the goal of dropping 24 by the start of spring training. I've been told that something got lost in the translation and he meant "pounds." Sixteen kilos would be more than 35 pounds. Twenty-four kilos would be nearly 53 pounds. Nobody's expecting Sandoval to slim down that much.
"When I saw him he looked great. He really did," Aurilia said. "I think his mind-set hopefully has changed in a sense that he knows what's at stake not only for the team but his own individual health and career. That's where the maturity process has to come, when you as an individual have to decide to do whatever you can to help your team and help yourself."
Sandoval is working with decathlete Dan O'Brien, at his own expense. Aurilia said Sandoval told him he has been there "most of the weeks" during the offseason.
"He said he's just working hard," Aurilia said. "From his comments he seemed really in tune this year on keeping the weight off as opposed to last season. Sometimes a lack of success is a good tool to get you motivated. Maybe him not playing as much in Septembrer or down the stretch, maybe that had something to do with changing his outlook about keeping the weight off."
Or, maybe that threat from GM Brian Sabean about a demotion to the minors did the trick.
Sandoval's conditioning is half the equation. A lot of his offensive decline in 2010 -- his batting average plummeted to .268 from .330 the prior year -- had to do with approach. Until he starts swinging in spring training, we won't know if there's any hope for improvement there.
| Jan 10 at 12:55 PM
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Giants' opener moved up a day, Renteria a Red
John Shea on the Giants' schedule change and Edgar Renteria departure . . .The Giants will begin the 2011 season in Los Angeles a day earlier than initially scheduled to accommodate ESPN, which will showcase Giants-Dodgers as part of a three-game package.
First pitch to Andres Torres: 5 p.m.
As we reported at the winter meetings, ESPN had proposed that the game be played in San Francisco so the network could show the Giants and their fans celebrating the team's first SF title -- and moved from April 1 to March 31.
The Dodgers said "uh, no."
MLB was on board. So were the Giants, naturally. But the change needed approval from the union (and Dodger players) because of the proposed travel change. In effect, it would have been a one-game series.
The plan was rejected. So as a compromise, the series was moved up a day, from Friday to Thursday, and ESPN still will get Giants-Dodgers -- but at Chavez Ravine, not China Basin.
It'll be the third ESPN-televised game of the day, following Yankees-Tigers and Padres-Cardinals. The Giants-Dodgers broadcasters won't be Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, who have been replaced by Dan Shulman and Bobby Valentine. Orel Hershiser's back, too.
It's the first time since 1998 the season will open on a day other than Sunday or Monday and the first time since 1976 it'll open on a Thursday.
The earlier start is part of MLB's plan to avoid another World Series extending to November. The regular season will end on a Wednesday (Sept. 28).
For the record, the Giants will face the Dodgers in an opener for the 29th time since 1900. Giants went 15-13,
Meantime, Edgar Renteria is heading to the Reds for one year and as much as $3 million, according to multiple reports. ESPNChicago.com says Renteria could make $3 mil by reaching incentives.
It's no surprise he's not a Giant after calling the team's $1 million offer "a total disrespect." Management didn't appreciate the comments after Renteria played out his two-year, $18.5 million contract and did little until the 2010 postseason.
He was limited to 72 regular-season games because of three stints on the DL but had an epic World Series. The Giants were interested in re-signing him as a utlity infielder for a similar contract signed by Pat Burrell.
Follow on Twitter @JohnSheaHey
| Jan 06 at 10:39 AM
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
What does HOF vote mean for Barry Bonds?
John Shea on today's Hall of Fame vote . . .Two years from now, Barry Bonds will be on the Hall of Fame ballot -- following his five-year "retirement" window, though he claims he hasn't yet retired. Then again, Rickey Henderson says that, too.
Is Bonds a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Is the homers king a Hall of Famer at all? Of course, he'd be automatic if not for his involvment in the BALCO steroids scandal. He had Cooperstown-worthy numbers before his BALCO introduction in the late '90s.
Bonds will be on the 2013 ballot alongside other players with a steroid paper trail: Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. Another name to consider: Mike Piazza.
Based purely on their numbers, it would be silly to have a Hall of Fame without Bonds and Clemens, the game's best hitter and pitcher in decades. Their link to performance-enhancing drugs changes everything, however, and their Hall of Fame candidacies might have taken a further hit with today's results.
In Mark McGwire's fifth year on the ballot, he slipped to 19.8 percent -- after coming clean and joining the Cardinals as hitting coach. Meantime, first-year candidate Rafael Palmeiro -- one of four players with at least 500 homers and 3,000 hits -- received 11 percent after flunking an MLB steroid test. Juan Gonzalez got just 5.2 percent.
Players with at least 5 percent of the vote stay on the ballot another year.
Kevin Brown (Mitchell Report) and Benito Santiago (another BALCO customer) are off the ballot after receiving 2.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respetively.
Bert Blyleven, who like Roberto Alomar was selected to Cooperstown today, was asked if he was surprised with the low vote totals of Palmeiro and Gonzalez.
"Not really," Blyleven said. "I think the writers are saying this is the steroid era, like they've done for Mark McGwire. They've made their point."
What does Blyleven think?
"They cheated themselves and their teammates," he said. "The game of baseball should be played clean. We went through a steroid era. It's up to the writers to decide who should go in, and when, from that era."
Will it be different for Bonds?
Follow on Twitter @JohnSheaHey
| Jan 05 at 11:30 AM
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Who are your Hall of Famers?
John Shea on the eve of the Hall of Fame announcement:The 2011 Hall of Fame class will be announced tomorrow at 11 a.m., and Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven are expected to get the call.
The other names on the ballot: Carlos Baerga, Jeff Bagwell, Harold Baines, Bret Boone, Kevin Brown, John Franco, Juan Gonzalez, Marquis Grissom, Lenny Harris, Bobby Higginson, Charles Johnson, Barry Larkin, Al Leiter, Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Raul Mondesi, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, John Olerud, Rafael Palmeiro, Dave Parker, Tim Raines, Kirk Rueter (yes, Kirk Rueter), Benito Santiago, Lee Smith, B.J. Surhoff, Alan Trammell and Larry Walker.
To reach Cooperstown, players must receive at least 75 percent of the votes from 10-year members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Last year, 539 votes were cast, and Blyleven and Alomar missed by five and eight votes, respectively.
Players remain on the ballot as many as 15 years so long as they receive at least 5 percent of the votes cast.
A set of nine rules accompanies the ballot, and Rule 5 states: "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."
At issue is how to weigh the candidacy of players connected with performance-enhancing drugs. McGwire has been on the ballot four years and hasn't gotten more than a quarter of the votes. This is the first ballot for Palmeiro, who's one of four players with at least 500 homers and 3,000 hits -- following Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Eddie Murray -- but he flunked an MLB-sponsored steroid test.
If Palmeiro didn't have a paper trail to PED use, would he have been an automatic first-ballot Hall of Famer?
Consider: He never led his league in batting average, homers or RBIs despite playing in hitter-friendly parks in Baltimore and Texas, never won an MVP award, never was selected to start an All-Star Game, never played in a World Series and never was the best first baseman of his era. Plus, one of his three Gold Gloves (voted on by managers and coaches) was an odd case because he played just 28 games at first base that year, 128 at DH.
My vote: Alomar, Blyleven, Larkin and Smith.
What's yours?
Follow on Twitter @JohnSheaHey
| Jan 04 at 02:33 PM
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Kruk and Kuip close to signing six-year extensions
Some news from the broadcast front:
-- The Giants are very close to re-signing their two most popular free agents: the television team of Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper.
Krukow's return for a 21st season and Kuiper's for an 18th might have seemed fait accompli, but they still have not had anything on paper, and this is a pretty late date. Previously they were extended very early on, but in this case the World Series put everything on the back burner. Plus, the negotiations might have gotten a little more complex because the pair used an agent to negotiate for the first time.
But it's my understanding that contracts are being faxed and signed that would extend the K&K; Boys for six more years, assuring that one of the baseball's most heralded TV teams will stay together. The length of the deals is significant. They will take Kuiper through age 66 and Krukow through 64.
A deal could be announced very shortly.
-- Jon Miller and the Giants have not yet talked about amending his contract for the extra games he would do on radio now that he is no longer ESPN's Sunday night play-by-play man. I presume they'll talk before Opening Day.
Miller's and Dave Flemming's contracts did not expire after last season.
| Dec 23 at 12:07 PM
Friday, December 17, 2010
'A total disrespect': Renteria on Giants' $1 million offer (UPDATE: AGENT SAYS EDGAR HAS NO PROBLEM WITH GIANTS)
Here's an update from John Shea on the Renteria saga. Spoke with Giants assistant GM Bobby Evans, who received a text from agent Barry Meister, who suggested his client has no problem with the Giants and that the "total disrespect" line might not have been an accurate characterization. Evans said the Giants still are looking at all options for a backup shortstop, and that means the team hasn't given up on a Renteria reunion. At the same time, Renteria's quotes were quite clear, so there's a major inconsistency coming from his camp, and it's not as if the Giants have wiggle room to move much from their $1 million proposal, which was offered before the winter meetings. "Something doesn't add up when you read Renteria's quotes and yet the agent insists that Edgar has no problem with the Giants," Evans said. Renteria might not have many options. The Marlins haven't even brought up Renteria's name, according to the Palm Beach Post.THE ORIGINAL POST
What to make of Edgar Renteria's comments?
Fans' last images of the long-time shortstop: hitting a seventh-inning home run off Cliff Lee to clinch the Giants' first World Series title since 1954; hoisting the Series MVP trophy; waving to hundreds of thousands of fans in the victory parade; and declining to be honored in his native Colombia, suggesting the money for the celebration go to victims of recent flooding.
That's a whole bunch of good will.
Now his regrettable comments to ESPN Deportes:
"That offer from the Giants was a lack of respect. A total disrespect," Renteria said.
"To play for a million dollars, I'd rather stay with my private business and share more time with my family. Thank God I'm well off financially and my money is well invested."
The million-dollar offer from the Giants, reported in The Chronicle during the winter meetings, sounds right for a backup shortstop who played 72 games last season. Granted, he made legendary contributions to the Giants' championship run, but everyone knows he's no longer an everyday shortstop and shouldn't be paid like one.
The Giants welcomed him back in a utility role, to spell shortstop Miguel Tejada and also be available at second and third. The contract offer was similar to what Pat Burrell accepted to return to the champs.
Like Renteria, who was coming off a much-criticized two-year, $18.5 million deal, Burrell was coming off a similar two-year deal (for $16 million) with the Rays.
According to baseballreference.com, Renteria has made $82.974 million in his career. Like he said, he's well off. But not so wise to publicly suggest a million bucks is an insult.
If those comments are accurate and if Renteria doesn't publicly backtrack, don't be surprised if the Giants withdraw that offer. Other players might be OK being a backup shortstop for a million bucks.
We asked on Twitter last night, and we'll ask again. What's tougher to take for fans: Renteria's choice of words or Juan Uribe's choice of teams?
Follow on Twitter @JohnSheaHey
| Dec 17 at 05:10 PM
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Giants offer contract to Renteria
John Shea reporting from the winter meetings.The Giants have offered World Series MVP Edgar Renteria a contract for 2011 to be a utility infielder and are waiting to hear back from him, the Chronicle has learned.
With Miguel Tejada signed as the No. 1 shortstop, Renteria, 34, would open the season as a backup after being targeted as the top guy entering last season. He went on the DL three times and played just 72 games, hitting .276 with three homers and 22 RBIs.
But he was legendary in the postseason and hit .412 with two homers and six RBIs in the World Series while making defensive plays as if he were five years younger.
Renteria initially mentioned the Marlins and Cardinals as preferable destinations, and his role obviously is a factor. The Giants are without an experienced backup shortstop, and Renteria would need to be available at other infield positions.
The Giants are believed to have offered a salary in the Pat Burrell range, $1 million.
Quite a drop from Renteria's two-year, $18.5 million deal that expired. Similar story with Burrell, who was coming off a two-year, $16 million deal with the Rays.
If Renteria gets a better offer involving dollors and/or playing time, he could go elsewhere. But the memory of his home run off Cliff Lee that helped decide the World Series clincher won't go away.
Follow on Twitter @JohnSheaHey
| Dec 09 at 10:59 AM
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Boras to speak with Giants about clients
John Shea reporting from the winter meetings.The Giants are searching for a left-handed batter, and agent Scott Boras has two he's offering.
Johnny Damon and Rick Ankiel -- with Ankiel being the cheaper choice.
Boras was asked if Ankiel could be a fit for the Giants.
"I sent them the video of his home run -- I'm kidding," said Boras, referring to Ankiel's 11th-inning homer into McCovey in Game 2 of the Division Series, a 6-5 Braves victory over the Giants.
"We're going to be in touch," said Boras, adding he was planning to put in a call to assistant GM Bobby Evans.
A Giants source denied any interest, saying neither player is on their board.
One option is prospect Brandon Belt. GM Brian Sabean said today the Giants aren't ruling out the possibility that Belt will make the Opening Day roster -- either first base or left field with Aubrey Huff playing the other spot -- but only if Belt plays every day. Otherwise, he goes back to Fresno.
The Giants re-signed Pat Burrell but didn't promise him the everyday job in left. Manager Bruce Bochy expects more mixing and matching in 2011, so left field is a spot to put a left-handed hitter at least part of the time.
Sabean said Burrell and Mark DeRosa also are in the mix. Aaron Rowand, too. Sabean shot down speculation about a Rowand-to-Philly trade, saying, "There's nothing going on with the Giants and Phillies with Rowand."
"The thing about Ankiel is, he could play center field. It gives them options," Boras said.
What about Damon?
"If they want the leadership, Johnny's a guy" to consider, Boras said.
Damon made an appearance at the winter meetings and told the St. Petersburg Times he'd like to play for the Rays, but Boras said his client isn't limiting his options to Florida or the East.
Damon, 37, hit .271 with a .355 on-base percentage, eight homers, 51 RBIs and 11 steals in 145 gams for the Tigers.
Ankiel, 31, hit .232 with a .324 on-base percentage, six homers and 24 RBIs in 74 games with the Royals and Braves.
Follow on Twitter @JohnSheaHey
| Dec 08 at 12:55 PM
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