MP3 Player: History in Pictures

Saehan MPMan F10 (1998)

https://www.theregister.com/2008/03/10/ft_first_mp3_player/

Diamond Rio PMP300 (1998)

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/diamond-rio-pmp300-mp3-player-today/

Apple iPod (2001)

https://www.macworld.com/article/1163181/the-birth-of-the-ipod.html

Microsoft Zune (2006)

http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1898610_1898625_1898633,00.html

Apple iPod Touch (7th Generation) (2019)

https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/05/31/compared-the-2019-ipod-touch-blows-away-the-2015-version-in-real-world-tests

About Me

Hello. My name is Corey Wheeler. I was born on July 5, and yes, I am a Cancer for those of you interested in astrology. I was born in Concord, CA and lived in Pittsburg, CA for a time before my parents relocated to Redding, CA when my sister was born. Redding was a nice place to grow up. It was a small town, but not so far removed that we couldn't drive back to the Bay Area to visit my grandparents. My friends and I played in the creek, skipped rocks, climbed trees (and fell out of them from time to time). We rode our bikes to the bus stop and played basketball in each other's driveways. I was a good student, regularly being named to the Honor Roll. My parents also insisted that I had a well-rounded extracurricular career. I started by playing soccer and baseball at age 6, but also started piano lessons at age 7. I also picked up the drums for the first time in the 5th grade.

Music has been my passion for quite some time. I moved to Denver, CO and formed a band called Ashfield. We were active in the local scene for nearly 10 years. The band ended as most things do, but in my time with Ashfield I was able to see the inner workings of several recording studios up close. I was always interested in recording arts, but it was always something I thought I would start doing as a musician and figure out as I went along. I never realized that it was something I could go to school for. So, I decided to return to Redding to finish the music degree I had started before I moved, and then go on to study recording arts at Chico State.

Today I enjoy playing the piano (I'm actually working on the 1st movement of Moon Light Sonata as we speak). I've recently started recording these performances and posting them on my YouTube channel. I currently don't have a place to set up my drums, so that's kind of sad. I'm also active on Facebook, Instagram, and I am a brand new Twitter user. I've even got a Snapchat for kicks and giggles. I'm an avid baseball fan, in fact you may notice that a majority of my previous blogs are covering the San Francisco Giants (I miss baseball). I am a certified scuba diver since 2012, though I sadly have not been in the water in 5 years. I enjoy biking, more trail than mountain, and participated in the Bigfoot Mountain Bike Challenge for 3 years beginning in 2017. I'm also an avid concert-goer though that has obviously taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last concert I was supposed to see was Atreyu at the Senator Theatre in Chico, CA in November, 2019, but I ended up not attending because I couldn't get anyone to go with me. That's me in a nutshell I suppose. Thanks for reading.

MLB Winter Meetings - What went down!!!!

Major League Baseball held their annual Winter Meetings December 8-12 in San Diego. While a good percentage of the country experienced record low temperatures in 2019, it must be nice to be in San Diego in December. But anyway, that's not what we're here to talk about. The San Francisco Giants went into the Winter Meetings (and really the entire offseason) with a pretty clear list of needs. The biggest immediate need has to be starting pitching with the potential loss of Madison Bumgarner who has been a staple of the rotation since 2010. They also need help in the bullpen after closer Will Smith signed with the Atlanta Braves and with Reyes Moronta set to miss most if not all of 2020 after shoulder surgery. Finally, they should be looking for a power right-handed bat in the outfield as a possible starting outfield of Steven Duggar, Mike Yastrzemski, and Alex Dickerson are all left-handed.

Those are the immediate needs, but there are some secondary needs as well. They may be looking for a center field after non-tendering Kevin Pillar though Duggar has been projected as the center fielder of the future for a few years now, and Jaylin Davis who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins last year in the Sam Dyson trade can play center field. They're also looking for middle infield depth and preferably a left-handed bat who can spell Evan Longoria at 3rd base. They currently have Mauricio Dubon penciled in at 2nd base and Brandon Crawford is still at shortstop, and Donovan Solano is still there to back up both positions, but the Giants would like to add more depth. Lastly, there may be a need to bring in a veteran backup catcher after Stephen Vogt signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Giants seem to like Aramis Garcia who has played 37 games with the big club between 2018 and 2019, but the team would likely prefer a left-handed bat when Buster Posey needs a day off or is playing 1st base.

So that's the setup. But what went down at the Winter Meetings? Well, the Giants came away making two moves (we're not going to talk about the Rule 5 draft here). They signed right-handed starting pitcher Kevin Gausman who split last year between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, and made a trade with the Los Angeles Angels acquiring infielder Zack Cozart and 2019 first-round draft pick Will Wilson in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Neither of those moves really jumps off the page, but let's look at them and see how our team did.

First let's look at the Gausman signing. Gausman is not a superstar and this signing amounts to little more than depth in the starting rotation. Assuming that Bumgarner, who is reported to be asking for a 9-figure contract, is not going to be in a Giants uniform next year, the 2020 rotation begins with Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija and then you have a number of question marks. Tyler Beede started 22 games in San Francisco and showed some promise, but ultimately finished with a 5-10 record and an ERA over 5. Dereck Rodriguez was expected to be a major contributor in his second season after finishing 2018 with a 6-4 record and a 2.81 ERA in 19 starts. Instead he regressed to a 6-11 record and a 5.64 ERA and split time between the rotation and the bullpen. Shaun Anderson created some excitement when he joined the rotation last year, but finished 3-5 with a 5.44 ERA and ended up ending the year in the bullpen earning 2 saves which has led to some believing he could be the closer in the immediate future. Andrew Suarez looked to be a contributor to the rotation after finishing 2018 with a 7-13 record and a 4.49 ERA in 29 starts, but ended up pitching 2019 almost exclusively out the bullpen only starting 2 games in 21 appearances. Connor Menez also started 3 games for the club in 2019. Logan Webb may be the most promising of this group, making his Major League debut on August 17, 2019, he started 8 games in 2019 finishing 2-3 with a 5.22 ERA. So as you can see there are a lot of bodies here, but are there any answers? One other name to add to the list, the Giants signed Tyler Anderson who was claimed off waivers from the Colorado Rockies, non-tendered by the Giants on December 2, and then signed to a one-year Major League contract on December 3. Tyler Anderson missed most of 2019 after knee surgery but had a fairly impressive rookie season in Colorado in 2016 going 5-6 with a 3.54 ERA. The fact that Gausman is right-handed also has the potential to add some balance to the rotation as Suarez, Menez, and Tyler Anderson are all left-handed. Gausman did not have a good overall year in 2019, though he pitched much better in Cincinnati after being moved to the bullpen. But, before you think the Giants signed him as a bullpen piece, Farhan Zaidi has said that they signed Gausman to be a starter.

As for the other move, this comes at a slight cost, but the potential upside is significant. First, let's acknowledge that this was a salary dump by the Angels in order to free up money to sign Anthony Rendon, which they did on December 11 to a 7-year, $245-million contract after Rendon won the 2019 World Series as a member of the Washington Nationals. Cozart is in the final year of a 3-year, $38-million deal he signed with the Angels following a career-best year and All Star appearance in 2017. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, he has not lived up to his contract as he has only played a total of 96 games in 2 years for the Angels due to variety of injuries. His current shoulder injury means he may never appear in a Giants uniform, but if he does the Giants have a potential depth middle infielder who is only 3 seasons removed from hitting .297 with 24 home runs in Cincinnati. The Giants will take on the remaining $12.667-million on Cozart's contract. One thing I think you may see with both Cozart and Gausman is, if they are able to contribute you may see Farhan Zaidi flip them for more pieces in much the same way Drew Pomeranz was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers after less than one season with the Giants in exchange for Mauricio Dubon.

The big chip in the Angels trade, however, is going to be Will Wilson. Wilson was the #15 pick in the first round of the 2019 draft, only 5 picks after the Giants selected Hunter Bishop with the #10 pick. It's been stated that Wilson was 1 of 3 or 4 players the Giants were considering with their pick, so to get him in this deal is a pretty significant pickup. Wilson was the Angels' #4 prospect and it's reported that he is now the #10 prospect in the Giants organization, which says a lot about how the Giants have rebuilt their minor league system in just a couple of seasons. Wilson was drafted as a shortstop but has a knock against his arm strength which means his Major League position may end up being 2nd base. He was an elite defensive shortstop in college with decent range and soft hands, and has surprising power for his size hitting 37 home runs in 3 collegiate seasons. Wilson only stole 4 bases in his college career and needs to work on his plate discipline and patience. Wilson is only 21 and has only 1 year of professional baseball under his belt, but he could be a major piece of the next great Giants team. Our prospect list currently features names like Joey Bart (C), Heliot Ramos (OF), Marco Luciano (SS), Hunter Bishop (OF), and Logan Wyatt (1B), and now add Wilson to that list. None of these players have played above AA ball so it'll probably be a few years before we see any of these players in San Francisco, but the Giants are definitely building towards the future.

What now will the Giants do? Well, with these trades the Giants have potentially chipped away at 2 of their offseason needs (starting pitching, infield depth), but that still leaves a lot on their shopping list. We may have reason to be excited about the power outfield bat, however, as the Giants have been reported to be the top bidder for Nicholas Castellanos. Castellanos played his first 6 and a half seasons in Detroit, but put together a brilliant 2nd half after being traded to the Chicago Cubs hitting .321 with 16 home runs in only 51 games. He finished the year with 27 home runs overall which is his 3rd straight season with 20+. He also has ties to San Francisco now that Scott Harris is the General Manager. Harris was the Assistant GM with Chicago last year when they acquired Castellanos. There are some concerns about Castellanos' defense, but the Giants report that they think his defense improved last year after the trade.

So that's the news folks. What to look for in the future? I would guess that the Giants will add 1 more starting pitcher. I would also guess that they'll probably add some bullpen arms, but mostly on minor-league and non-guaranteed deals. I think the Giants were pretty comfortable with their bullpen makeup last season after Moronta went down but they definitely need to identify a closer to replace Smith. I'm not sure if we'll see a catcher signing soon. Remember Erik Kratz was acquired last year on March 24, just about a week before Opening Day. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on Castellanos as both the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs are reportedly in conversations with Castellanos' agent. What do you think? Are you excited for baseball? Spring Training opens in about 2 months. Lots to do folks, lots to do.

And now some 49ers news!!!

Hey everyone. So I know I've written a lot of posts on baseball and the Giants and I've largely ignored football. For those of you who don't know, I have always been a 49ers fan. But when I moved to Denver I kind of stopped watching football. The short version is that because of local TV agreements, a team in a local market can't have another game being televised at the same time. That meant if the Broncos were playing an afternoon game on CBS, there was no game on Fox. So I didn't get to watch my team play unless they were playing a prime time game (Sunday night or Monday night). And really between 2003 and 2016 (the years I lived in Denver), they were really only good for 3 years (2011-2013). I'm still a fan though I am a baseball guy first. That said, I wanted to write a quick blog on some of the additions that the 49ers have made at the beginning of the 2019 league year.

So at first glance it looks like the 49ers are really wanting to improve their defense. From 2011-2014 the 49ers didn't finish below 5th in the league in yards allowed and coincidentally those were the most recent years that the team has finished .500 or above. The leaders of those defenses were unquestionably Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman at inside linebacker. The 49ers have the makings of a new pair of studs with 2nd year player Fred Warner, who finished 2018 with 85 tackles, and the newly acquired Kwon Alexander, who played in only 6 games with Tampa Bay in 2018 before suffering an ACL injury. Alexander has averaged 8.3 tackles per game over his 4 years in the league. The other big move at the linebacker position was a trade with Kansas City to acquire pass-rusher Dee Ford. Ford finished 2018 with 13 sacks which would have been the highest total by a 49ers player since Aldon Smith finished 2012 with 19.5. Pair this with the 12 sacks registered by DeForest Buckner in 2018 and the 49ers have the makings of a dominating front 7. The other significant move on the defensive side of the ball was signing cornerback Jason Verrett from the Los Angeles Chargers. Verrett missed all of 2018 with an Achilles tear and has a pretty extensive injury history, but he was a Pro Bowl player as recently as 2015 and 27 years old so there is still some upside if he can stay healthy. In 2015 Verrett finished with 3 interceptions and 12 passes defended.

Now we turn our attention to the offense and the 49ers signed a running back that head coach Kyle Shanahan is very familiar with from his time in Atlanta, Tevin Coleman. Coleman was the #2 back in Atlanta behind Devonta Freeman, but started 14 games in 2018 after Freeman was injured. Coleman rushed for 800 yards and added another 276 in receiving yards. Coleman has excellent receiving skills out of the backfield as does Jerick McKinnon who is returning from an ACL injury. Add Matt Breida to this list and the 49ers look to employ a 3-headed beast at the running back position in 2019.

These are some good signings, but it seems that the 49ers are ignoring a significant skill position and that is wide receiver. Think back to Shanahan's days in Atlanta and you have to look at Julio Jones who is a superstar at the position. The 49ers definitely don't have a Julio Jones on the roster and it really doesn't look like anyone fits that mold on the free agent market. Granted the 49ers still have tight end George Kittle who not only set the 49ers single season record for receptions by a tight end with 88 in 2018, but also set the NFL single season record for yards by a tight end with 1,377. The 49ers finished last in the league in 2018 in red zone touchdown percentage at only 41.18% and they will need to figure out how to improve that mark if they hope to compete in 2019.

But hold the phone!!!!! As I was writing this, the 49ers have signed wide receiver Jordan Matthews. Matthews' best year was 2015 with the Philadelphia Eagles where he put up 85 receptions, 997 yards and 8 touchdowns. His last 2 years have been less productive as he's had 300 yards or less in each, but he only started 10 out of 24 games during those 2 years. Matthews does his best work after the catch and fun fact, 22 of his 26 career touchdowns have come in the red zone.

So there you go everyone. A quick snapshot of the 49ers offseason, and baseball season is right around the corner so things are good. Here's hoping that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo can continue to build on the promise he showed in 2017 after missing the final 13 games of 2018 with a knee injury. As always, I invite comments, thoughts and opinions. Have a good day and thanks for reading.

San Francisco Giants - Wish List for 2019

Well I promised you a part 2 and here we are. In my last blog I did a quick review of the 2018 San Francisco Giants season. Now I'll look ahead to 2019 and maybe we can see what the next season has in store for us. We left off the last blog with Farhan Zaidi being named the new President of Baseball Operations. Zaidi previously was the General Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers being named to that position following the 2014 season. The Dodgers finished first in the National League West all 4 seasons under Zaidi, including getting to the World Series the last 2. Coincidentally, 2014 was the last year the Giants appeared in and won a World Series. From all articles, Zaidi is very well respected and regarded around baseball and is viewed as a very intelligent executive. Zaidi had a lot of success building the Dodgers with 2 of his success stories being mentioned very prominently in Chris Taylor and Max Muncy.

Taylor was a prospect with the Seattle Mariners making his Major League debut in 2014 and barely hit over .200 in parts of 3 seasons before being traded to the Dodgers in 2016. Since the beginning of the 2017 season, Taylor has been a regular starter playing 140 and 155 games the last 2 seasons and hitting a combined 38 home runs. During a time when versatility is valued, Taylor has appeared in center field, left field, second base, shortstop, and third base.

Muncy may have been an even bigger surprise. Spending the 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Oakland A's, Muncy hit .195 with 5 home runs and 55 strikeouts over 215 at bats. He would sign with the Dodgers as a Minor League free agent at the beginning of the 2017 season and made his debut for the Dodgers on April 17, 2018. All he did was hit 35 home runs and finish 15th in the MVP vote. While his primary position is first base, he also showed his versatility appearing in games at third base, second base, and left field. These are the kind of player finds the Giants and the fans are hoping Zaidi can uncover.

But how many roster spots are available for Zaidi to fill? As far as free agents from the Giants, catcher Nick Hundley, outfielders Hunter Pence and Gregor Blanco, and starting pitcher Derek Holland were all contributors to the 2018 team but do the Giants want to re-sign any of them? (Blanco has signed a Minor League deal with the New York Mets) Second baseman Joe Panik and relief pitcher Sam Dyson re-signed with the team and relief pitcher Will Smith was tendered a contract though he did not sign. Relief pitcher Hunter Strickland and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez were non-tendered. Other players who spent time with the big club include infielders Kelby Tomlinson who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chase d'Arnaud who signed with the Texas Rangers, and starting pitcher Casey Kelly will continue his professional career in South Korea.

For their shopping list, the Giants are expected to sign 2 outfielders, preferably corner guys considering Steven Duggar is still viewed as the starting center fielder, and 2 starting pitchers. So far the Giants signed outfielder Mike Gerber who has all of 47 Major League plate appearances and has struck out in 21 of those, acquired outfielder Drew Ferguson and relief pitcher Travis Bergen, both of whom have zero Major League experience, in the Rule 5 draft, signed catcher Cameron Rupp and relief pitcher Pat Venditte. None of these moves are that exciting. Rupp has had some success in the Major Leagues hitting 39 home runs in the last 3 years with the Philadelphia Phillies and Venditte had a 2.57 ERA in 15 games with the Dodgers last season. Venditte also can pitch with either hand so he offers some flexibility in the bullpen.

So now let's get to the rumors. With the Giants probably still looking for help in the outfield, several names have been floated. Michael Brantley had a renaissance year in 2018 for the Cleveland Indians following 2 injury plagued seasons. He finished 3rd in the MVP race in 2014 but will turn 32 early in the 2019 season. Unfortunately Brantley signed a 2-year deal with the Houston Astros last week. Marwin Gonzalez is another name being floated, and he can offer the kind of versatility that Zaidi may be looking for. Gonzalez appeared in games in 2018 at every position except pitcher and catcher. Avisail Garcia was non-tendered by the Chicago White Sox following a down year in 2018, but has the kind of power that Giants fans have been longing for since Barry Bonds "retired" following the 2007 season. Nick Castellanos of the Detroit Tigers has been a name that has floated around the Giants for a few seasons, but he would only be available in a trade and right now I don't think the Giants have the kind of trade capital that would intrigue the Tigers to make a deal.

As for starting pitchers, the water is much murkier here. The only name I've heard that the Giants were interested in was Nathan Eovaldi and he re-signed with the Boston Red Sox. More recently the rumors that the Giants would be interested in Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi have been heating up. Beyond those 2 names the Giants have not really been linked to any other starting pitchers that I've heard. I think the safe move would be to re-sign Holland if the price is right, which would have the Giants going into 2019 with a likely rotation of Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodriguez, Andrew Suarez, Jeff Samardzija, and Chris Stratton and Derek Holland vying for the #5 slot.

There was some talk during the Winter Meetings that the Chicago White Sox were possibly interested in a trade for Brandon Belt, but the White Sox then traded for Yonder Alonso on December 15 so that interest has likely been squashed. There was also talk that the St. Louis Cardinals were interested in Will Smith or Tony Watson, but the Cardinals then signed Andrew Miller on December 21 so they got their left-handed reliever. There is now a rumor that has gone through a couple of versions and that is the Giants are interested in acquiring Jason Heyward from the Chicago Cubs for a package of Mark Melancon and either Jeff Samardzija or Will Smith. Heyward has played right field primarily in his career but the Giants are eyeing him for potentially patrolling center field, which would tend to suggest that maybe Zaidi isn't as high on Steven Duggar as some others in the organization were.

The last rumor out there is that the Giants have interest in signing Troy Tulowitzki who was released by the Toronto Blue Jays after missing the 2018 season. I do want to talk about this one for a minute. Considering he missed all of 2018 and that he's 34, this seems like a risky signing. But here's the thing. The Toronto Blue Jays are still on the hook for the remaining $38 million owed to Tulo and whatever team signs him would only be paying him the Major League minimum. This is exactly the same scenario as the Giants signing Pablo Sandoval. Now Tulo has been a shortstop his entire career so the Giants don't seem an immediate fit considering they have Brandon Crawford entrenched there through the 2021 season. But, if Tulo was willing to be a right-handed platoon to Joe Panik at second base and spell Crawford occasionally, this could be a good fit. It would also be a homecoming of sorts considering Tulo is from Santa Clara. I can't be the only Giants fan who remembers Tulo crushing the ball while he was with the Rockies and let's not forget that he hit 24 home runs as recently as 2016.

So that's where we find ourselves today. It's been a slow offseason for Farhan Zaidi and the Giants. I don't know how I feel about that. I didn't expect any big flashy moves, a la Bryce Harper, but I guess I had hoped that we'd have a clearer picture whether the Giants would be rebuilding for the future or reloading for a potential playoff run in 2019. I know about as much today as I did after the Giants recorded their final out of 2018. The Madison Bumgarner trade rumors will continue with the New York Yankees seeming to be the most likely landing spot, but personally I don't think the Giants are going to trade him until the trade deadline if at all. I do have hope for the future of my team, but so far I have not been inspired by anything they have done. Let's remember that the Giants traded for Evan Longoria on December 20, 2017 and Andrew McCutchen on January 15, 2018, so it's possible that moves are coming. That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

San Francisco Giants - Year in Review

Well everyone, another San Francisco Giants season comes to an end and like last year it ends with no trip to the postseason.  But the Giants finished with a better record than in 2017 and we had a chance to see some of the kids make the trip from Sacramento.  The Giants will have the #10 pick in the 2019 amateur draft.  To put that position into some perspective, let's look at some of the names that the Giants have drafted in the 1st round and the overall pick #:

2002 - Matt Cain (#22)
2006 - Tim Lincecum (#10)
2007 - Madison Bumgarner (#10)
2008 - Buster Posey (#5)
2009 - Zack Wheeler (#6)
2011 - Joe Panik (#29)
2012 - Chris Stratton (#20)
2013 - Christian Arroyo (#25)
2014 - Tyler Beede (#14)
2015 - Phil Bickford (#18)
2015 - Chris Shaw (#31)
2017 - Heliot Ramos (#19)
2018 - Joey Bart (#2)

Now some of these players were traded like Wheeler, Arroyo, and Bickford, but you can see that the Giants have had a pretty good track record over the last 2 decades or so.  Obviously in this range it would be nice to find a player like a Lincecum or Bumgarner.  One early mock draft has the Giants taking Corbin Carroll, an outfielder from Lakeside High School in Seattle, WA. But we're getting way ahead of ourselves here. Let's take a look t the year that was.

I think the first thing we need to look at is the injuries that the Giants have endured.  The Giants placed 6 players on the season-ending disabled list, including Buster Posey who underwent hip surgery on August 27 and Brandon belt who underwent knee surgery on September 21.  In addition, the list also includes Pablo Sandoval, Ryder Jones, Steven Duggar, and Johnny Cueto.  Jeff Samardzija was never placed on the season-ending DL, but did not pitch after July 14.  Also missing good chunks of the year were Madison Bumgarner and Evan Longoria. While every team deals with injuries throughout the year, I think it's safe to say that few teams suffered this many injuries to key players. Also, for a team that was toeing so close to the competitive balance tax line, they didn't have the luxury of signing more high-priced talent after other players were lost to injury (see the Dodgers trading for Manny Machado after Corey Seager underwent Tommy John surgery).

Once the last out was recorded in the World Series (congratulations to the Boston Red Sox) the clock started on the offseason and for the first time since Brian Sabean was promoted to General Manager in 1996 the Giants will have a new GM. Before you jump in and say, well Bobby Evans was the GM from 2015 to 2018, Sabean was the Executive VP of Baseball Operations so while he may not have been GM by title the last 3 years he was still heavily involved in the decision making process. On November 6 we kind of found out who that would be. Farhan Zaidi was hired as the Head of Baseball Operations. This does not make him officially the GM, though he was the GM for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2015-2018 and was the Director of Baseball Operations for the Oakland A's in 2013 and 2014 also adding the title of Assistant GM in 2014. While we're still waiting to see if Zaidi will hire an "official" GM, he has made 2 hires to the scouting department bringing in Zack Minasian, formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers, as the new Director of Pro Scouting, and Michael Holmes, formerly of the Oakland A's, as the new Director of Amateur Scouting.

As Giants fans, we finally got to see Zaidi in action during the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas held December 9-13, and honestly the results were a little underwhelming. I'll leave this blog now so as not to write a huge post and my next one (coming soon) will pick up at the Winter Meetings and we'll chat about the moves the Giants have already made and some of the ones that are rumored/possible. Until next time folks, thanks for reading.

Giants going with youngsters??? Can it be?

Hello world.  Well it's been about 3 1/2 months since my last blog post and we were talking about the Opening Day roster for the San Francisco Giants.  Some things have changed since then.  We've already had a trade, Austin Jackson and Cory Gearrin to the Texas Rangers for a player to be named later or cash considerations.  This should give the Giants both some salary and roster flexibility before the 7/31 trade deadline and help them stay under the $197 million competitive balance tax limit.  Now I for one thought that the Austin Jackson signing was going to be a great move, but he did absolutely nothing to justify my optimism and by the time he was traded he was pretty much the last guy on the depth chart.  Similar for Gearrin, though after seeing him pitch frequently last year I sorry to say I am not sad to see him go.  This meant the Giants had 2 roster spots to fill and they filled them with Steven Duggar and Ray Black.

If Duggar's name sounds familiar, yes we have talked about him before.  Duggar is the assumed Center Fielder of the future if the Giants front office is to be trusted and his Spring Training results did not disappoint.  Still, he was optioned to Sacramento so he could play everyday whereas in San Francisco he would have been platooning with Austin Jackson and/or Gorkys Hernandez.  But now it's time to see what the kid can do.  We're only 4 games into his tenure and it's possible he could ride the shuttle back and forth between Sacramento and San Francisco a few times, but he's looked exciting during the first week.  He did seem to get off to kind of a slow start, but he's looked increasingly comfortable in Center Field and in the leadoff spot in the lineup.  In yesterday's game against the Oakland A's, Duggar went 2 for 4 with a walk, scored 3 runs, and had 2 RBI on a double in the 7th inning.  Duggar's batting average sits at .286, but we're only talking about 21 at bats so far.  If there's one area that is glaring, it's that Duggar has struck out 9 times (43%) in those 21 at bats and only walked once.

Ray Black is that rare bullpen arm that can hit triple digits on the radar gun.  He's hit as high as 104 mph.  But Black has a lengthy injury history.  While still in high school he had Tommy John surgery.  In college he tore a meniscus and fractured his hand.  As a professional, he's had labrum surgery in 2012, a strained lat and a bicep injury in 2015, and a bone spur in 2016 which led him to consider retiring.  Beyond the injuries his walk totals were always high, though one could argue the injuries played a factor into that (injuries led to bad mechanics which led to high walk totals).  But since returning to Sacramento, Black has put up a walk rate of 3 walks per 9 innings pitched while his strikeout rate is 15 per 9 innings pitched.  He also has a slider which he throws 88-91 mph and a curve which he throws in the low 80's.  So far he's only pitched in 2 games.  The first didn't go so great recording only 1 out and walking 2 on 7/8 against St. Louis.  The only hit he allowed?  A 3-run homer to Matt Carpenter.  The second game, 7/10 against the Chicago Cubs, was much better.  He pitched the 9th inning of a 2-0 game (the Cubs were winning), completing the inning and striking out 2 in the process.  His ERA is a not pretty 20.25 but there's a ton of potential.

We've seen some other young guys contribute in big ways with Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez coming up big in the starting rotation and Alen Hanson playing a big role filling in for the injured Joe Panik, but we're not going to cover them here.  Instead I want to talk about a guy who has been ping-ponged back and forth between Sacramento and San Francisco a few times this season and that is Austin Slater.  Slater has played primarily Left Field in San Francisco, though if Chris Shaw makes enough noise to be promoted to the big club, Slater's long-term position is likely Right Field.  Slater collected 117 at-bats last year and hit .282 with a .339 OBP and .402 Slugging Percentage.  This year, in 38 at-bats, his average and Slugging Percentage are both down (.263 and .316) but his OBP is way up (.396).  He's taken as many walks as he did all of last year, but he's striking out a bit more (34% in 2018 vs. 25% in 2017).  With Gorkys Hernandez having a career year, Slater's opportunities have been limited.  He had a 3-hit game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on 6/29 and his reward was sitting out the next game.  In fact, Slater has not appeared in a game since 7/11.  Bruce Bochy has shown more confidence in Hunter Pence in pinch-hitting situations even though Pence is hitting .216 on the season.  Obviously I am not in the clubhouse and I do not know what discussions are going on, but I would like to see what a lineup with both Duggar and Slater would look like over an extended period.

That's it for today guys.  Thanks for reading and comment below.