Is this the new blueprint for building a World Series champion? The San Francisco Giants compiled a bunch of position players from other teams and brought the first World Series championship to San Francisco.
Now don't confuse this with not having to spend money. Plenty of teams spend money and you have to in order to be competitive in baseball. Every once in a while a small market team - like the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays - will put together a good season, but their run is usually short lived.
And other small market teams, mainly Minnesota, have been able to put an above average team on the field, but how many championships have they won?
If you want to WIN, you have to spend money and put together a team.
The Yankees typically spend a lot of money on every position every year, so we are leaving them out of this discussion. Other teams like the Pirates, Royals, Indians, Diamondbacks, Padres and Marlins don't have the kind of money - or at least don't want to spend it - you need to put together several quality pieces. They can add a piece or two or maybe even three, but not six or seven that are needed.
San Francisco's payroll was $97.8 million in 2010, which was the tenth highest (out of 30 teams).
The blueprint that I think may have been laid out is simple. Grow your own pitchers and a few position players. But assemble the majority of your lineup with second tier free agents over several seasons.
All four pitchers that started a game in the postseason were drafted by San Francisco - Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner - as was their closer, Brian Wilson. And out of the 14 position players on their postseason roster, only Buster Posey, Travis Ishikawa, Pablo Sandoval and Nate Schierholtz are home grown talent - with only Posey being a regular starter.
The other players that comprised their roster were infielders Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, Edgar Renteria, Juan Uribe and Mike Fontenot. None of those five players played for the Giants in 2008.
Outfielder Aaron Rowan signed with San Francisco before the 2008 season. Center fielder Andres Torres signed before the 2009 season. Outfielders Pat Burrell and Cody Ross were brought in during the course of the 2010 season.
The tenth player is backup catcher Eli Whiteside, who played with the Giants in the 2009 season.
Among those ten players are some pretty solid veterans. Freddy Sanchez won a batting title. Pat Burrell, Juan Uribe, Aaron Rowan and Edgar Renteria have won World Series championships with other teams. But none of these players were the high prized free agents. No C.C. Sabathia or Mark Texieria among this group.
There are several ways for teams to win a championship. I wonder if the Giants' run will change the mind of any teams out there. Instead of throwing $100 million at one player, why not split it up among several. These 10 Giants combine to make just over $51 million of the Giants' payroll. But in today's game, I'd rather spend the money on 10 above average players than on three or four starts.
Winning takes money. But you still must be smart. Ask the Mets and the Cubs.
www.tothetopperformance.com
Showing posts with label San Francisco Giants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Francisco Giants. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
...the 2010 World Series
Once again, the old saying that good pitching will beat good hitting held up as the San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series, beating the Texas Rangers four games to one.
The quality of the Giants' pitching hasn't been discussed because of their anonymity. Other than Tim Lincecum - and Barry Zito, who didn't make the Giants' World Series roster - the Giants' pitchers are a bunch of unknowns. Matt Cain has won a combined 27 games in the last two seasons, Jonathan Sanchez won 13 games this year and Brian Wilson led the National League in saves in 2010 and has 127 saves over the last three seasons. And among those three and Lincecum, the oldest is Wilson, who is 28. And add to those four, 21 year-old Madison Bumgarner, who I wrote about a couple of days ago after he threw eight shutout innings in game four.
The Giants' should be set up for the long run as far as their pitching is concerned.
After the Rangers scored 38 runs and had a batting average of .304 against the Yankees, that seemed to be the topic of conversation. But if you look at some of the Giants' postseason and regular season numbers, it is easy to see why they won.
In the postseason, the Giants had a 2.47 ERA. The only walked 43 guys while striking out 133. And opponents batted .196 off of them. In the regular season, they had a team ERA of 3.36. They combined to throw 17 shutouts and opponents hit .236 against them.
In the postseason, a team's roster gets shorter, meaning teams tend to not use the tenth or eleventh guy in their bullpen. During the regular season, a team may use 12 pitchers on a regular basis - five starters and seven guys in the bullpen. But in the postseason, they tend to use 9 pitchers - four starters and five guys out of the pen. For this reason, an improvement in the Giants' statistics is reasonable.
The Rangers led the Majors in hitting as a team with a .276 average. They hit .253 against Tampa in the Divisional Series and the aforementioned .304 against the Yankees in the League Championship Series. And while a team average of .190 in the World Series is surprising, it isn't unbelievable.
And while it won't hold up all the time, the 2010 World Series shows another example of good pitching beating good hitting. And great pitching will dominate.
www.tothetopperformance.com
The quality of the Giants' pitching hasn't been discussed because of their anonymity. Other than Tim Lincecum - and Barry Zito, who didn't make the Giants' World Series roster - the Giants' pitchers are a bunch of unknowns. Matt Cain has won a combined 27 games in the last two seasons, Jonathan Sanchez won 13 games this year and Brian Wilson led the National League in saves in 2010 and has 127 saves over the last three seasons. And among those three and Lincecum, the oldest is Wilson, who is 28. And add to those four, 21 year-old Madison Bumgarner, who I wrote about a couple of days ago after he threw eight shutout innings in game four.
The Giants' should be set up for the long run as far as their pitching is concerned.
After the Rangers scored 38 runs and had a batting average of .304 against the Yankees, that seemed to be the topic of conversation. But if you look at some of the Giants' postseason and regular season numbers, it is easy to see why they won.
In the postseason, the Giants had a 2.47 ERA. The only walked 43 guys while striking out 133. And opponents batted .196 off of them. In the regular season, they had a team ERA of 3.36. They combined to throw 17 shutouts and opponents hit .236 against them.
In the postseason, a team's roster gets shorter, meaning teams tend to not use the tenth or eleventh guy in their bullpen. During the regular season, a team may use 12 pitchers on a regular basis - five starters and seven guys in the bullpen. But in the postseason, they tend to use 9 pitchers - four starters and five guys out of the pen. For this reason, an improvement in the Giants' statistics is reasonable.
The Rangers led the Majors in hitting as a team with a .276 average. They hit .253 against Tampa in the Divisional Series and the aforementioned .304 against the Yankees in the League Championship Series. And while a team average of .190 in the World Series is surprising, it isn't unbelievable.
And while it won't hold up all the time, the 2010 World Series shows another example of good pitching beating good hitting. And great pitching will dominate.
www.tothetopperformance.com
Monday, November 1, 2010
...Madison Bumgarner
When I was a 21 year old kid, I had just graduated from Davis and Elkins College and was looking forward to (more hopeful of) an opportunity in professional baseball.
San Francisco Giants' pitcher Madison Bumgarner won game four of the 2010 World Series to put the Giants one game away from their first World Series title as a San Francisco based team. Madison Bumgarner is 21 years old.
I don't know much about Madison Bumgarner's background. But from watching him pitch last night, I think it is pretty safe to assume he is confident. And he is blessed. You don't make it to Major League Baseball as a 21 year old if you aren't blessed. You have to be gifted to have the physical tools he does at that age.
But you don't have success in the Major Leagues at 21 if you aren't confident.
He pitched a great game last night, allowing three hits in eight innings and not allowing a run. He was in complete control of the entire game. The only time the Rangers really threatened to score was in the eighth inning, when they had runners on first and second base, but there were two outs.
He only walked two guys and he threw a first pitch strike to 21 of the 27 batters he faced - another sign of the confidence he has in himself and the pitches he throws.
I've said it before and I'm sure I will repeat it. The best way to be a successful pitcher is to pitch with confidence, throw strikes and attack the strike zone. Madison Bumgarner laid out the blueprint last night. Even as a 21 year-old pitching in the World Series.
www.tothetopperformance.com
San Francisco Giants' pitcher Madison Bumgarner won game four of the 2010 World Series to put the Giants one game away from their first World Series title as a San Francisco based team. Madison Bumgarner is 21 years old.
I don't know much about Madison Bumgarner's background. But from watching him pitch last night, I think it is pretty safe to assume he is confident. And he is blessed. You don't make it to Major League Baseball as a 21 year old if you aren't blessed. You have to be gifted to have the physical tools he does at that age.
But you don't have success in the Major Leagues at 21 if you aren't confident.
He pitched a great game last night, allowing three hits in eight innings and not allowing a run. He was in complete control of the entire game. The only time the Rangers really threatened to score was in the eighth inning, when they had runners on first and second base, but there were two outs.
He only walked two guys and he threw a first pitch strike to 21 of the 27 batters he faced - another sign of the confidence he has in himself and the pitches he throws.
I've said it before and I'm sure I will repeat it. The best way to be a successful pitcher is to pitch with confidence, throw strikes and attack the strike zone. Madison Bumgarner laid out the blueprint last night. Even as a 21 year-old pitching in the World Series.
www.tothetopperformance.com
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