[Mick]

No Mick, Johnson is not Herb Washington.  He is an excellent OF, has terrific speed and has had a high OBP last couple years. The SSS means absolutely nothing.  I don’t care if he has power. There are other ways to contribute. 

The point, however, is not that he is a major prospect or key cog.  He’s not. We are talking about 25th or 26th man.  The point is, he had a great spring .828 OPS.and it was 12 Ks in 52 PAs.).  was led to believe he all but locked up a spot and then had the rug cut out from under him on the morning of opening day.  And for who - Matt Beatty. A 30 year old that has no real position ( he plays 1B and LF). Neither well.  Giving the Giants 5 potential 1B. The reason- he’s a better left handed hitter, or at least used to be, than Johnson (a switch hitter).  Giants facing primarily RH pitching first week.

Lex, I was being facetious. Let me spell it out for you. THE TEAM TREATED HIM AS IF HE WERE HERB WASHINGTON. Sure, he is an excellent outfielder -- and we have precious few of those -- and he can steal a base -- and we have precious few who can do that. I would far prefer that they kept Bryce Johnson, but they saw his .310 spring training batting average and said "let me get a more versatile player" for that 25th/26th slot as you pointed out.

I heard a very interesting interview with Dave Righetti.  Talked about how in his last couple year all he did was hand out baseballs.  Everything was being run by “guys in suits” . All about analytics. Joe Maddon had the same lament.  At the end of his tenure, he wasn’t running the game. The suits were.

It may be that the game had passed them by. I love Righetti, he was Eckersley about two years before Dennis Eckersley switched from starting to relieving. Obviously he knows/knew pitching. Righetti has something in common with Cain and Lincecum...all three burned out by their early 30s. Rags pitched for the Giants from ages 32-34, and had a 5-15 record with a 4.61 ERA, compared to his 3.46 career ERA. Cain retired at 32, but his string of really poor seasons started at age 28 -- he was 19-40 after age 27. Exact same for Lincecum who had his last really good year at age 27, then went 39-42 with a 4.68 ERA from age 28 on.

When Rags started, Giant team ERA was 5.13 the year before Rags started, he brought it down to 4.61 immediately, then continued to lower it to 3.37, his low-water mark in 2011. He was very effective at his job, then it started creeping back up, reaching 4.27 in 2013. It then lowered immediately to 3.79 and hovered there for a few years...when he was being told by the suits what to do? Maybe. It ballooned to 4.79 in his last year.

Analytics have taken over baseball.  The result is a mind numbing sameness.  Power plays.  Nothing else does.  The league understands the need for change. Which is part of the reason for the rule changes. I long to see the Bret Butlers  and Ozzie Smiths again.  Today they have no chance. After all, they had no power.

I still watch and like baseball. I don't care about the analytics. I like a great pitch, a great swing, a great catch, a great throw. That's all i really care about, that and the players that wear "Giants" on their shirt.

[Mick]

No Mick, Johnson is not Herb Washington.  He is an excellent OF, has terrific speed and has had a high OBP last couple years. The SSS means absolutely nothing.  I don’t care if he has power. There are other ways to contribute. 

The point, however, is not that he is a major prospect or key cog.  He’s not. We are talking about 25th or 26th man.  The point is, he had a great spring .828 OPS.and it was 12 Ks in 52 PAs.).  was led to believe he all but locked up a spot and then had the rug cut out from under him on the morning of opening day.  And for who - Matt Beatty. A 30 year old that has no real position ( he plays 1B and LF). Neither well.  Giving the Giants 5 potential 1B. The reason- he’s a better left handed hitter, or at least used to be, than Johnson (a switch hitter).  Giants facing primarily RH pitching first week.

Lex, I was being facetious. Let me spell it out for you. THE TEAM TREATED HIM AS IF HE WERE HERB WASHINGTON. Sure, he is an excellent outfielder -- and we have precious few of those -- and he can steal a base -- and we have precious few who can do that. I would far prefer that they kept Bryce Johnson, but they saw his .310 spring training batting average and said "let me get a more versatile player" for that 25th/26th slot as you pointed out.

I heard a very interesting interview with Dave Righetti.  Talked about how in his last couple year all he did was hand out baseballs.  Everything was being run by “guys in suits” . All about analytics. Joe Maddon had the same lament.  At the end of his tenure, he wasn’t running the game. The suits were.

It may be that the game had passed them by. I love Righetti, he was Eckersley about two years before Dennis Eckersley switched from starting to relieving. Obviously he knows/knew pitching. Righetti has something in common with Cain and Lincecum...all three burned out by their early 30s. Rags pitched for the Giants from ages 32-34, and had a 5-15 record with a 4.61 ERA, compared to his 3.46 career ERA. Cain retired at 32, but his string of really poor seasons started at age 28 -- he was 19-40 after age 27. Exact same for Lincecum who had his last really good year at age 27, then went 39-42 with a 4.68 ERA from age 28 on.

When Rags started, Giant team ERA was 5.13 the year before Rags started, he brought it down to 4.61 immediately, then continued to lower it to 3.37, his low-water mark in 2011. He was very effective at his job, then it started creeping back up, reaching 4.27 in 2013. It then lowered immediately to 3.79 and hovered there for a few years...when he was being told by the suits what to do? Maybe. It ballooned to 4.79 in his last year.

Analytics have taken over baseball.  The result is a mind numbing sameness.  Power plays.  Nothing else does.  The league understands the need for change. Which is part of the reason for the rule changes. I long to see the Bret Butlers  and Ozzie Smiths again.  Today they have no chance. After all, they had no power.

I still watch and like baseball. I don't care about the analytics. I like a great pitch, a great swing, a great catch, a great throw. That's all i really care about, that and the players that wear "Giants" on their shirt.