“Giants fans vie for World Series memorabilia - KABC” plus 2 more |
- Giants fans vie for World Series memorabilia - KABC
- On day after World Series, free-agent market heats up - Philadelphia Daily News
- Marcus Hayes: Bochy, Sabean experiment a World Series success for Giants - Philadelphia Daily News
| Giants fans vie for World Series memorabilia - KABC Posted: 03 Nov 2010 12:16 AM PDT This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| On day after World Series, free-agent market heats up - Philadelphia Daily News Posted: 03 Nov 2010 02:03 AM PDT ARLINGTON, Texas - When Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz to end the 2010 World Series, 142 players instantly became free agents. Under new rules negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement this season, players no longer needed to file for free agency. At 10:30 p.m., as Buster Posey sprinted to meet Wilson's open arms and start a celebration that lasted deep into the Texas night and then boiled over to the Giants' charter plane back to San Francisco, the future of more than a few postseason heroes began to be questioned. The biggest name was in the Rangers' clubhouse, where Cliff Lee stood in front of his locker and looked around the room as he pondered his next move, entering free agency for the first time in his career. "I'm not thinking too much about the business decisions right now," Lee said. "I'm looking forward to going home with my family and relaxing. That stuff is going to take care of itself later." Across Rangers Ballpark, the Giants celebrated the franchise's first world championship since 1954 with the customary champagne spraying. The collection of ragtag role players, dubbed "morons" by Aubrey Huff, could be missing a few parts come 2011. There is Juan Uribe, who had just seven hits during the postseason, but every one of them seemed to come at a key time. He's a free agent, having made $3.25 million in 2010. So is Huff, who hit the deciding home run in Game 4. Huff did not have an offer from any team last off-season until San Francisco signed him to a one-year, $3 million deal. Pat Burrell, who had an awful World Series, striking out in 11 of his 13 at-bats, hit 18 home runs for San Francisco in the regular season. The Giants rescued Burrell after he was cut by Tampa Bay, but after the dismal postseason, the free agent could very well be looking for a new employer this winter. Edgar Renteria, the one hero everyone will remember from this World Series, will be a free agent, too. He has a $10.5 million club option that will not be exercised. During the season, Renteria said he was contemplating retirement. After Game 5, he didn't know what to say. But he had thought about these possibly being his last games. "All the time," Renteria said. "But when we made it to the World Series, I just took it out of my mind and concentrated on what I had to do to help this team win. I think that's why everything worked out good." None of those names carry the cachet Lee's does this winter. The 32-year-old lefthander is a free agent, and there will be a bidding war for his services. He could go to New York, where the Yankees appear ready to pay him handsomely for a third chance at winning the World Series. Texas will be interested, too, armed with new ownership and boundless hope. "It's the first time I've been a free agent," Lee said. "I'm going to see what that's all about. It's an earned right by a player once you get six-plus years, and I'm going to take advantage of that and see where it leads me." Lee has never made that a secret. He wants to take advantage of being paid while at the top of his game. Rangers general manager Jon Daniels understands it could take a commitment Texas hasn't made since Alex Rodriguez to retain Lee. "We'll look at all the factors when it comes to Cliff," Daniels said. "I think we've made it pretty clear we'd love to have him back. We've tried to make it as little of a distraction as possible in talking about his free-agent status." But once the Series ended, Lee's intriguing off-season began. And it will be the most-discussed topic in baseball during its winter vacation. Contact staff writer Matt Gelb at 215-854-2928 or mgelb@phillynews.com. Follow on Twitter @magelb This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Marcus Hayes: Bochy, Sabean experiment a World Series success for Giants - Philadelphia Daily News Posted: 03 Nov 2010 12:01 AM PDT ARLINGTON, Texas - It will separate, this alchemy Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy performed. The charismatic Giants are a happy accident, a compilation of longshots who scorched through the last 6 weeks of the season, then found impossible heroes in October. With the World Series over, this precious assemblage - a world champion after last night's 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers in Game 5 - won't be worth the cardboard on which the lineup is written. Sabean knows it, and he approaches the dissolution of the unlikely overachievers he assembled with a terse defensiveness. Bochy knows it, too. As the manager, he's enjoying just riding herd on his misfits. Bochy called them the Dirty Dozen, which, fittingly, makes him Sergeant Bowren (Richard Jaeckel), and it makes Sabean, the talent collector, Major Reisman (Lee Marvin). Like Bowren and Reisman, Bochy and Sabean feel no melancholy that this gilded lineup will disintegrate before spring comes again. "I have not put any thought into that," Bochy said. "I'll let my general manager do all the thinking there. I love these guys . . . how they've coalesced into a group." They will un-coalesce presently. With mystical adroitness, Sabean turned the leaden personas of Cody Ross, Pat Burrell, Aubrey Huff, Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe into a lineup that beat the Braves, Phillies and, now, the Rangers. Your next trick, Major? "It's 1 year at a time," Sabean said. "Anybody who tells you they have a 3-year plan or a 5-year plan is full of crap." Fine. So, what about next year? "We'll address that later," Sabean said. That's because, for the moment, there is little to address. The Giants control the first four hitters in last night's lineup, but, after No. 2 hitter Freddy Sanchez and Buster Posey, the hottest catcher in the majors, at No. 3, the lineup loses luster. Leadoff hitter Andres Torres never played more than 75 major league games before he turned 32 this year, and he managed a .332 on-base percentage batting first. Last night's cleanup hitter? Ross, at 5-10, about 195 pounds. It was his first cleanup job in 4 years; but then, he is lucky to have a job at all after the Marlins waived him in late August. This was the tip of the spear in clinching Game 5 of the World Series. The spear was never a fearsome weapon. It featured no hitter with 30 homers or 100 RBI. While the sum of these parts might be greater than the whole, that doesn't mean the parts can be reassembled. Uribe launched 24 homers, but he hit .248. Huff hit .290 with 26 homers, so he will want a big raise over his $3 million-plus. Burrell hit .266 after Tampa tossed him aside, but his postseason slump cost him a start in Game 4 and slotted him seventh last night, and his continued defensive shortcomings persuaded Bochy to make him the designated hitter. Ageless Renteria, who belted a three-run homer last night and won the Most Valuable Player of the World Series, managed only 72 games, and he might retire. Aaron Rowand hit .230 and lost his job in centerfield to Torres. All could be elsewhere come springtime. That makes this collaborative effort all the more precious. "Sometimes," explained former Giants manager Felipe Alou, now a front-office adviser, "sometimes a great team is not a bunch of great players." No; a team is a bunch of competent players who play great. Where would the Giants be without Burrell's 18 homers? Where would they be without Uribe, who took over third base in place of the bloated Panda, Pablo Sandoval, or Renteria, who, when healthy, was the team's defensive soul? This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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