Tim Lincecum - Yahoo Sports

The season ends and all of a sudden there’s something to write about. I saw this one posted on Lincecum and had to get something out…I am in the the Bay Area after all and this could affect the Dodgers.

(Click here for the article)

So Lincecum gets busted for marijuana possession while speeding near Oregon. Not good. Not good at all.

As one Giants fan told me, this is a black eye for him, and for the Giants organization. He is their young star and now he’s busted.   The Giants also have a minor leaguer who may go to jail for murder…so this should be a fun off-season for the Giants PR group.  Between the Giants PR and the Dodgers PR (with the divorce), there’s going to be a lot to clean up.

You can say it is minor, but it opens that door. The door of whether this a habit forming due to the stress, or has it been there, or will it be a one time deal. Either way, it adds a chink in the armor that won’t go away.

Honestly, I’m sad. Lincecum is the best young pitcher in the game and to see this happen is just sad for the game.

It may be good for the Dodgers – so go Blue…but too bad for the young Cy Young.

Tim Lincecum - SF Giants.com

I’m going to keep this short and sweet this week.

• The Giants are only 5.5 games behind the Dodgers.
• Freddy Sanchez has been the man and has been a great pick up.
• Tim Lincecum won his NL leading 13th game.

Oh yes – the Giants are improving and are definitely going for it.

Honestly, I still don’t know if they can win the World Series, but if the Dodgers slip in the next month, they may make it interesting. The Dodgers need to take at least 2 of three this week in SF to push the Giants down a little.

I’m going to do a post on each game this week – so stay tuned.

Freddy Sanchez - Jed Jacobsohn - Getty Images

As you saw in my last Spy Game, the big question last week was whether the Giants would make a splash at the trade deadline.

Let’s just say they put away all questions very quickly.  First, they picked up Ryan Garko from the Indians and then Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates.  As one Giants fan I know said, he really liked this trade because they weren’t just renting players for this year, they have both of them through 2010.

Ryan Garko adds pop to first base, and Freddy Sanchez definitely upgrades offense and defense.  It was an obvious change from going all young talent, to bringing in some veterans to go for the playoffs.

Honestly, I think these were great pickups for the Giants.  I think the Giants did more to help their team this deadline than the Dodgers did.  The Giants quietly added more offense to their already good pitching.  The Dodgers added relief pitching, but they didn’t get the starting pitching they will probably need.

The only thing that Giants fans didn’t like about the Sanchez trade was the giving up of Tim Alderson from the minors.  This guy was a stud pitcher in the minors and a lot of people wondered if he would be another star in the majors.  Obviously the Giants management felt differently, but not every Giants fan agreed with the trade.  The mark of Brian Sabean, the Giants GM, is to draft pitching and then trade it.  He did it here and I think it was a good move.  Brian is trying to save his job after this year and I think he has already done it.

The Dodgers play the Giants next week in San Francisco.  The Giants already look very different than last time, so it should be a good battle.

Bill Neukom from bizofbaseball.com

Earlier this week the Giants were 2 and 5 on the road trip, had slipped behind the Rockies for the wildcard and suddenly were reeling. You could hear it up here on the radio. It was like the strong wind that pushed the sails before the All-Star game was gone and suddenly people were wondering if this slide was going to be the truth for the rest of the season.

There was talk that the Giants needed a bat, and ideally a third baseman…but there wasn’t any real talk of them going after anyone.

The interesting discussion I heard on the talk shows was whether the new owner would really actually go after someone.

Apparently the old owner Peter Magowen would have jumped at this opportunity to get a bat and try for the post season. With the new owner Bill Neukom, he is starting his new year and seemingly is getting his feet wet to build for the future.  Popular opinion is that he’s going to just keep to the status quo.  They weren’t expected to do this well, so they already have exceeded expectations.

The point of the radio station was that you only get so many opportunities to make the playoffs.  It has been four years since they made it, and there’s no guarentee of when they will make it next.  It’s an interesting discussion of baseball owners.  Is your goal to win, or maintain the business and make money.  You can tell the difference between owners because those whose priority is to win…spend what it takes.  Those who don’t, build slowly, and sustain.  The A’s seem to be sustaining.  The Dodgers are going for it even at great cost.

So the question is, what type of owner are you?  Would you go for it, even if it meant more, or wait it out? It does depend on finances, but if you go for it, the fans love it and flock out all the more.  Who knows what the future may bring.

Until next week.  Go Dodgers.

Jonathan Sanchez - Ben Margot - AP

So the big news this week was the no-hitter by Jonathan Sanchez. Honestly I think Giants fans were as surprised about this one as the rest of baseball. He had a lot of promise last year, but this year, he just hasn’t had it. There was a lot of talk about trading him for a bat, but his record was so bad that no one thought there would be a taker.

He threw a no-hitter when he wasn’t even supposed to start. He had a 2-8 record with a 5.30 ERA, and had recently been demoted to the bullpen because he was throwing so bad. He only got to pitch because Randy Johnson got injured so they needed someone to jump in there.

Honestly, I’m glad for the guy. It truly has been a rough season for him, so to join the no hitter club is truly something special. Who knows how his next game will be, but he at least got this one. I thought it was interesting that his last pitch to win the game and strike out the batter, was really questionable. It looked pretty outside, but it was close enough. I wonder if as an umpire you start to pull for the pitcher too. You know it’s probably a little off, but it’s close, and you think, “This guy has pitched well enough to get the no-hitter, I’m going to give it to him.” We’ll never know, but it’s all good if that’s what happened. Baseball has always been a game of inches.

The other thing notable this week was that the Giants had the second best record in the National League, second only to the Dodgers. The Giants are exceeding all expectations and are proving that they are a real possibility for the wild card. The Dodgers better hold strong because if they slip for a few games, while the Giants win, this could be a very different race near the end. Popular opinion still thinks that the Giants need a bat (which I agree with), but their pitching has kept them in the race and they are a solid team. They’re new kid Pablo Sandoval is a real reason why they are still going strong.

This week – the All-Star game and the Homerun Derby. After seeing the Homerun Derby two years ago in San Francisco, the game will always be special to me.  I’m pulling for Albert Pujols.