2008 Connecticut Defenders (AA)

[McCovey]

I'll be postinf updates on the 2008 Connecticut Defenders' season, they Giants' Double-A team in this thread.

[McCovey]

Ok, here is the Connecticut Defender's current roster.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=t_ros&cid=514&stn=true&sid=t514

They don't seem to have any real top prospects on this team, at least none that really stand out. Only one player is hitting higher than .277. :rolleyes:

[SF Kid]

:thumbdown: :thumbdown:---- WTF? We need more mino league "prospects".

[McCovey]

:thumbdown: :thumbdown:---- WTF? We need more mino league "prospects".
Don't worry, Kid, the Giants have some nice prospects in Single-A. Sergio Romo is with the Defenders and he is doing well.

[McCovey]

It looks like the Defenders will be the weak link in the Giants minor league system. Not one position player is have a great year. Not one position player is slugging .500. Two players are hitting over .300.

Kyle Haines (age 25)
.338/.407/.442 (26 for 77), 0 HR, 9 RBI, 10 R,

Eddy Martinez-Esteve (age 25)
.316/.392/.397 (43 for 136), 2 HR, 17 RBI, 14 R

both players turn 26 in '08 so if they are going to have major league careers they need to pick it up. Even Sergio Romo has been struggling lately.

Segio Romo
18 IP, 1-2, 3.50 ERA, 15 K, 4 BB, 12 H.

However, in his last 3.2 innings he's given up 5 ER. :(

[SF Kid]

Maybe I can learn something about the Giants farm system if I just continue to come into these threads. :p

[Bear]

Maybe I can learn something about the Giants farm system if I just continue to come into these threads. :p

If it was only that easy. You must read them as well!:pound:

[SF Kid]

Shut up. :mad:

[Bear]

:pound::boxing::pound::boxing:

[McCovey]

Some far Pablo Sandaval is 0 for 8 in two games with three Ks in his last game. Welcome to Double A ball young man. :D I'm sure he'll adjust quickly.

[McCovey]

Here's an update on Sandoval. After a slow start, he's picked it up quite a bit. Overall he's hitting .310/.347/.465. But in the month of July he's hitting .327/.364/.519 in 52 ABs (he has 71 ABs total so far at Double-A). I'm hoping he gets a September call up. That would be great.

[McCovey]

Pablo Sandoval continues to pound the ball! He's now at

.330/.358/.538, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 12 runs, 7 doubles in 22 games.

Over the last 10 games, though, he's been on fire.

20 for 46 (.435), 3 HR, 10 RBI, 7 R

The kid might just get a September call up if he continues his torrid pace. One big question is what is Sandoval's future? The Giants drafted Buster Posey to be their "catcher of the future". So what happens to Sandoval? Sandoval is in his 5th professional season already at age 22 and Posey has yet to even sign, let alone have any professional experience.

[SF Kid]

Sooner the better. Get the kid up to the bigs.

[McCovey]

Sooner the better. Get the kid up to the bigs.
I'm really hoping Sandoval gets a September call up.

[Bear]

I'm really hoping Sandoval gets a September call up.

It may be sooner if Molina is traded!:eek:

[McCovey]

It may be sooner if Molina is traded!:eek:
Well I hope not too soon. Sandoval is not ready RIGHT NOW to play in the majors. But who knows? Perhaps by September he'll be ready.

[McCovey]

**********Breaking News**********


On the way home today, I listened to Brian Sabean on KNBR. He was asked specially about Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey. Sabean said Sandoval will most likely be up with the Giants late in the season. He will play mostly catcher and some first base. But Sabean made it clear that he wanted to see Sandoval catch to see if he can be a major league catcher. It seems that at this point the Giants brass have not settled on Sandoval's position.

Sabean also commented that they are still "negotiating" with Posey and that it's been long and slow. Apparently, Posey's agent is stalling because he wants to see how much money the players picked ahead of Posey get (Poasey was the #5 pick). At least that is Sabean's version of the story. This is lame. Posey is missing valuable development time. If Posey stalls any longer he will most likely not play any pro ball in '08. :rolleyes:

[SF Kid]

Sabean is LAME.

[Bear]

Sabean is LAME.

I agree, but so is Buster Posey and his agent. :mad:

[McCovey]

I agree, but so is Buster Posey and his agent. :mad:
That is the nature of signing first round picks these days :rolleyes: . They are trying to get as much money out of teams as they can. But the players hurt their development by stalling. If Posey signs too late or not all then he delays the beginning of his professional development until '09. And that is simply a waste. He could be playing right NOW, learning how to hit with a wood bat, learning how to play catcher at the professional level, etc. By delaying his signing, Posey is in effect delaying his debut in the major leagues by a year, thus delaying him becoming a free agent after his sixth major league season.

And all this a good for Pablo Sandoval. He is the Giants catcher of the future for now. He is close to being ready to play in the major leagues and I look forward to his call up. If the Giants are really, really lucky, Sandoval could be another Carlos Delgado.

[Bear]

If the Giants are really, really lucky, Sandoval could be another Carlos Delgado.

Your lips to God's ears!

[kar120c]

IMHO, Pablo Sandoval reminds me not so much of Carlos Delgado, as another Venezuelan - Andres Gallaraga. He too was a bit of a free swinger, like Pablo. He did not really hit the long ball until later in his career (although he finished just shy of 400 HR, with 399, he did not hit 30 in one season until he was 33). Gallaraga struck out more than Pablo has shown so far (he holds a record that may never be broken - in 1988 he led the league in BOTH hits and stikeouts), but hit the ball hard when he did make contact - as does Pablo.

And even though he was not a small man, Gallaraga also had great hands and a smooth glove (a multiple Gold Glove winner). To me, Sandoval has shown indications of this also ( I saw him play 1B, C, and 3B this year - not many Giants could do that).

All in all, I believe the Giants have a rare player in Pablo Sandoval - a guy who can hit and concievably play 3 demanding positions. And he just turned 22.

And to think - he wasn't even drafted.

[McCovey]

IMHO, Pablo Sandoval reminds me not so much of Carlos Delgado, as another Venezuelan - Andres Gallaraga. He too was a bit of a free swinger, like Pablo. He did not really hit the long ball until later in his career (although he finished just shy of 400 HR, with he did not hit 30 in one season until he was 33). Gallaraga struck out more than Pablo has shown so far (he holds a record that may never be broken - in 1988 he led the league in BOTH hits and stikeouts), but hit the ball hard when he did make contact - as does Pablo.

And even though he was not a small man, Gallaraga also had great hands and a smooth glove (a multiple Gold Glove winner). To me, Sandoval has shown indications of this also ( I saw him play 1B, C, and 3B this year - not many Giants could do that).

All in all, I believe the Giants have a rare player in Pablo Sandoval - a guy who can hit and concievably play 3 demanding positions. And he just turned 22.

And to think - he wasn't even drafted.
Some good points kar. I compared Sandoval to Delgado because Delgado was a catcher in the minor leagues. Galaraga seems more of a match for Sandoval as a hitter in terms of their BB/K ratios. It's interesting you mention Galaraga because according to Felipe Alou, Angel Villalona reminds him of Galaraga as well.

[Bear]

IMHO, Pablo Sandoval reminds me not so much of Carlos Delgado, as another Venezuelan - Andres Gallaraga. He too was a bit of a free swinger, like Pablo. He did not really hit the long ball until later in his career (although he finished just shy of 400 HR, with he did not hit 30 in one season until he was 33). Gallaraga struck out more than Pablo has shown so far (he holds a record that may never be broken - in 1988 he led the league in BOTH hits and stikeouts), but hit the ball hard when he did make contact - as does Pablo.

And even though he was not a small man, Gallaraga also had great hands and a smooth glove (a multiple Gold Glove winner). To me, Sandoval has shown indications of this also ( I saw him play 1B, C, and 3B this year - not many Giants could do that).

All in all, I believe the Giants have a rare player in Pablo Sandoval - a guy who can hit and concievably play 3 demanding positions. And he just turned 22.

And to think - he wasn't even drafted.

What a great take. I agree he is a lot like Gallaraga, and I hope they don't try to change his swing to get him to hit more home runs. As of now the ball just jumps off his bat, but with a flat swing he does not get the ball up enough to hit the HR's. For me that's OK as long as he hits for an average. Now if he can only have as good of a career as Gallaraga I will be happy.