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Madison Bumgarner was 15-3 with a 1.46 E.R.A in 2008.

 The San Francisco Giants management and new owner Bill Neukom bring a broad vision for this franchise with 2009 season in sight.  Neukom basically wants to develop the young talent in the system and also improve their scouting as a whole.  They want to instill homegrown products into their major league level team.  This new approach should help the Giants contend for years rather than a season or two if all goes well.  Nonetheless, Giants are in the right direction after their major youth movement in the last months of the 2008 season.  But all you Giants fans out there and in panick mode, there is help on the way awaiting in the minors. 

First, there is MiLB Spectacular Pitcher of the Year and this year’s MiLB Class-A level pitcher of the Year Madison Bumgarner awaiting in the minors and making his rise to the majors.  He had a tremendous year, comparable to Lincecum. He basically was the Cy Young of the South Atlantic League.  Giants management are excited about this kid and with a spot open in the rotation. Look for Bumgarner to be on the fast track to the majors by the end of 2009.  Bumgarner is most likely starting 2009 with the Double-A affiliate Connecticut Defenders.

Second, there is catcher Buster Posey, 2008 Golden Spikes Award Winner for top College Amateur Player in the Nation, who could develop into a gold glove catcher in the majors someday.  He is basically waiting in the wings to take over Bengie Molina’s reign in 2010 since Bengie is his final year of his contract with the Giants in 2009.  Posey should start the 2009 season in Double-A Connecticut with the Defenders as well.

Finally, there is CAL League Pitcher of the Year and this year’s MiLB High-Class A Level Pitcher of the Year Tim Alderson waiting in the wings and like Bumgarner, looking to make a rise to the majors.  He should start the 2009 season with the Connecticute Defenders, too.

Other top prospects to watch out for and keep an eye on in the next year is second baseman Nick Noonan (Augusta Greenjackets), first baseman Angel Villalona (Augusta Greenjackets), third baseman/first baseman Josh Mazzola (AZL Giants/San Jose), second baseman Matt Downs (San Jose Giants) and pitcher Kevin Pucetas (San Jose Giants). All had solid seasons in 2008 and look to build on their success in 2009. 

Carlos Pena has hit .270 with 3 HR and 10 RBI’s in the postseason.

      The Tampa Bay Rays incredible journey and amazing storybook has almost come to an end in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Rays are facing elimination as they trail the Phils 3-1.  The Phillies have outscored the Rays 20-12 in the series.  The Rays offensive woes are the main reason the Rays are down in this series.  As their team batting average is .187 so far in this series. And their go to guys and heart of the order: Upton, Pena, and Longoria haven’t done much in this series, no home runs or extra base hits in this series so far.  To be exact, Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria are 0-fer the Series.  Pena is 0 for 13 with 6 strikeouts and 1 RBI and Longoria is 0 for 16 with 9 strikeouts and only 1 RBI.  That is why the Rays offense is struggling.  The Rays offense goes when Longoria and Upton are right and driving in runs and when Pena is hitting the long ball. The only guy doing much in this series is Carl Crawford, who has two home runs in this World Series and is hitting .267.   And their road to stay alive has to go through Phillies ace Cole Hamels in Game 5, who is 4-0 in the postseason and has a 1 plus E.R.A.  The Rays need Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena to find their stroke and get this offense going.  And their starter Scott Kazmir needs to keep them in the game and go deep as he can. If the Rays can keep it close and knock out Hamels early as they can, then the Rays can take this series back to Tampa Bay and make this World Series more interesting.

According to baseball fans, no player was more “clutch” in 2008 than CC Sabathia.

The left-hander, who started the year with the Indians, finished it with the Brewers and now is available to all 30 teams in free agency, won Major League Baseball’s Clutch Performer of the Year Award, presented by Pepsi, after a fan vote on MLB.com.

 The reigning 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner, Sabathia, split this regular season between the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers and posted a career-best 2.70 ERA in 2008 with a career-high 251 strikeouts (which was second in the MLB to Tim Lincecum’s 265) and also posted a career- and MLB-leading 253 innings pitched. He was at his best after a July 7 trade brought him to Milwaukee, going 11-2 in 17 starts, including a complete-game win over the Cubs on the final day of the regular season.

It was Sabathia’s seventh complete game for the Brewers and his third straight start on short rest. And it will be remembered as the day Milwaukee punched its first postseason ticket in 26 years and a living godsend for the Brewers fans and organization.

Now, that’s clutch.

Sabathia is also up for the NL Cy Young Award, however he has four strong opponents in this competition, such as Tim Lincecum (18-5, 2.62 E.R.A) who led the major leagues in strikeouts and was second in NL in E.R.A and also won two awards in Players’ Choice Award for Outstanding Pitcher of the Year and Sporting News Top NL Pitcher of the Year, Brandon Webb (22-8, 3.30 E.R.A) who was the 2006 NL Cy Young Award Winner and led the NL and tied for majors in wins but had only 183 K’s in 226.1 IP, Johan Santana (16-7, 2.53 E.R.A) who led the NL in E.R.A, and Rich Harden (10-2, 2.07 E.R.A) who would’ve led the league in E.R.A had he qualified in needing 24 more Innings pitched.  So the competition is heavy with either Sabathia or Lincecum regarded as the top heavy contenders for the title and Webb always the fan favorite and Santana as the dark horse.

Nonetheless, there was no other player more clutch than C.C. Sabathia was for his Milwaukee Brewers team.  However, he couldn’t clutch up in the playoff series against the NL Pennant winning Phillies. So there is still more left to prove for Sabathia as far the postseason is concerned.  But one thing we know about Sabathia, is he is a dominating starter who can go the whole nine yards as his  10 complete games suggest.

Tim Lincecum was 18-5 with a 2.62 E.R.A in 2008.

 Sorry fans around the nation, but the buzz going around the Bay Area and West Coast and around the whole nation is not the World Series, but the San Francisco Giants’ young and rising star Tim Lincecum.

Tim Lincecum just picked up two prestigious awards and is a strong candidate for the NL Cy Young Award. He has some tough competition in Milwauke’s C.C. Sabathia, Diamondbacks’ Brandon Webb, and Mets’ Johan Santana. However, Lincecum edged fellow mates Sabathia and Webb for the Players’ Choice Award for Most Outstanding Pitcher.  Lincecum also picked up the award for Sporting News’ NL Pitcher of the Year for being the top starter in the NL.  Lincecum, 24, only completing his first full season in the majors and second overall in his young career, has added many awards and accomplishements to his resume, which includes an NL All Star nomination.  Lincecum is hoping to add the Cy Young Award to his resume. I am pulling for him and chances look even better after pulling in these two big awards. What is amazing is that his peers, the players who Lincecum has pitched or battled against, voted him as top pitcher in the NL. So that is an accomplishment in itself.  Man I cannot wait till next season to see Tim Lincecum take the hill on opening day.  He is just an exciting player and a stud like the Tampa Bay Rays have many players like.  I just hope Giants bring in more players like Timmy, however he is one in a million and this type of player only comes once in a generation. The Philadelphia Phillies’ star Chase Utley, who is currently in the World Series, stated about Lincecum “You don’t see many guys his size throwing that hard, but it’s not so much his size and deception,” Philadelphia’s Chase Utley told Sporting News regarding Lincecum. “It’s his stuff. He has ‘A’ stuff.”

That right there shows you what kind of stuff Lincecum has and what kind of pitcher he is.  Lincecum is regarded as one of the top pitchers in the game.  I am really excited to see what his future has in store for him.  This 24 year old phenom deserves everything that he has worked hard for and pretty much is just doing what God gave him and having fun like a kid in Little League. 

My Bold Prediction: Tim Lincecum, 2008 NL Cy Young Award Winner!

Matt Garza went 2-0 with a 1.38 E.R.A in the ALCS. 

The Tampa Bay Rays in front of 40,000 plus fans beat the Red Sox 3-1 and paved their way to the franchise’s first World Series Appearance.  Now this franchise is 4 wins away from their first World Series. There were so many players who could have got MVP this series, from Evan Longoria with his clutch RBI and longballs throughout the series,  to B.J. Upton to Carl Crawford, to David Price, and to even Willy Aybar.  But one guy stoodout in this series and pitched the biggest game of his career.  That guy was Matt Garza who went seven plus dominating innings of one-run ball and added nine strikeouts and only gave up two hits.  Garza was fantastic tonight and left everything out there like he was pitching his last start of the season.  For the series, Garza went 2-0 with a 1.38 E.R.A and gave up only 2 earned runs in his two starts.  He garnered the ALCS MVP award and sent the crowd at Tropicana Field into a frenzy. 

And who would have thought unheralded rookie David Price would get the opportunity to close the game out. Indeed, Maddon went with his young lefty, who recorded the final 4 outs for the save and helped the Rays clinch a berth to the World Series and won them an AL Pennant.  Price could’ve won MVP too in his clutch relief pitching, picking up a victory and a save in the series.  But Garza was the story and showed poise for a young 24 year old righty and threw a gem for the victory and 4-3 series win for the Rays.

This year has been an incredible year for this young franchise full of youth and energy up and down the organization.  But this year isn’t over yet as they still have one more piece of unfinished business to do and that is win their town and franchise a World Series Trophy, but they have to go through the NL Pennant winners’ Philadelphia Phillies. This should be an exciting series and I expect it to go at least 7 this World Series unlike the last four World Series which all have resulted in sweeps by the winning team. 

It is the Tampa Bay Rays (9=2), a Cinderella Story, to be continued for one last hurrah…

Coaches

Head Coach- Darin Wright

Assistant Coach/Hitting Instructor- R.J. Farrell

2009 Roster…

Pitchers

Kurtis Brown  RHP/Senior- Antelope Valley JC Transfer

Larry Collins RHP/ Soph- Beaumont HS Standout

Phil Gonzales LHP/OF/ Junior- Fresno City Transfer

Chris Duke RHP/Senior- San Diego City/ St. Mary’s College (D-I)

Charlie Baker LHP/ Senior- San Diego Mesa CC Transfer

Graig Whelan RHP/ Senior- Oklahoma University (D-I)

Chris Berens RHP/ Frosh- Falcon HS (Colorado)

Kevin Cheechov RHP/1B  Senior- Sacramento State (D-I)

Catchers

Max Burnett C/ Junior- Saddleback JC Standout

Jordan Wesley C/Senior- Berean Christian HS

Joe Salazar C/OF/P Soph- Beaumont HS Standout

Infielders

Brian Peat 1B/P/ Junior- Cerro Coso JC Transfer

Phil Nyoff 1B/ Frosh- Colorado Springs HS

Jeremy Wells 2B/ Senior- San Diego City Transfer

Anthony Phillips 2B/ Junior- San Diego Mesa CC Transfer

Deandre Walker 3B/ Senior - Chabot CC/Texas College (NAIA) Transfer

Billy Moss 3B/P/ Frosh- Silver Stage HS (Nevada)

Brett Korporal SS/ Senior- San Jose City Transfer

Luke Heil SS/Util/ Junior- Cerro Coso JC Transfer

Outfielders

Ryan Davis OF/ Junior- LA City Transfer

Phil Gonzalez OF/ Junior- Fresno City Transfer, Throws right handed, but pitches left.

Beau Delis OF/ Frosh- Marquette HS (Arizona)

David Deyess OF/ Soph- Silver Stage HS (Nevada)

Ryan Fukishima OF/P/ Junior- American River JC Transfer

     One thing interesting, but scary about Evan Longoria is he is only 22 and in his first major league season.  Longoria was overlooked in Southern California and went undrafted out of high school and had no scholarship offers. After playing at Long Beach State, Longoria went third overall in the draft in 2006 to the Rays and he was the guy that everyone missed.  Now look at him, cleanup hitter and starting third baseman for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008.  Longoria has already had a stellar start to his career in clubbing 27 homers as a rookie, getting an All-Star nomination, participated in the All Star Homerun Derby, and has now set a rookie record in homeruns in the postseason with 5.  And he is also the youngest player to do so.  And he has helped to setup his Tampa Bay Rays for a World Series title, as they are one win away from going to the World Series and square off in game 5 against the defending World Series Champs’ Boston Red Sox.  All I can say about Evan Longoria and the Rays is ‘Wow!’  This team never ceases to amaze me. And I can’t believe guys like B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria are only 22 and 23, around my age, and doing the things they are doing.  I think professional baseball is entering a new ERA where the young kids dominate the game of baseball and the experienced veterans are moving for these young rising stars. 

Now Longoria, the presumptive AL rookie of the year, a franchise player who – just six days after being called up to the big leagues in April – signed a six-year, $17.5 million contract that includes three option years that could add $30 million to the deal.

But Longoria did not reach the big leagues with a chip on his shoulder.

“I don’t hold any resentment against anybody,” said Longoria, now 6-2 and 215 pounds. “I’d be the first to tell you that coming out of high school, even junior college, I wasn’t ready. … I was skinnier, and as I grew physically, I grew baseball-wise.”

In addition to his compact, powerful swing and Gold Glove-caliber defensive skills, Longoria has impressed the Rays with his maturity, character and leadership. And that is the kind of player that the Rays need to take them all the way and Longoria has almost completed that mission and fulfilled that need for them. Only time will tell if they get a chance to contend for the title in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. If they get chance, you better believe it Longoria will have something to say with his bat, arm, and glove in that series.

Rookie Jed Lowrie has filled in nicely at short stop for the Red Sox in 2008.

    The Boston Red Sox and Defending 2007 World Series Champions have advanced to the American League Championship Series after beating the Angels 3-2 in walk-off fashion.  This year’s Red Sox looks pretty much like last year’s team with a few more new faces and young blood, but the same old dominant pitching and clutch hitting.  The new faces for the Red Sox this time around is left-fielder Jason Bay, who had a wonderful series, and scored the winning run in the game to knock out the top-seeded Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Bay went 7 for 17 and hit .412 with 2HR’s and 5RBI”s in the division series.  Not bad for a guy getting his first taste of the playoffs.  Another unlikely hero and new face to the Red Sox and getting his first taste of the playoffs as well, is short stop Jed Lowrie.  Rookie Jed Lowrie who has took over as the everyday short stop with Lugo going down with injury during the season, has filled in well with his slick glove and solid hitting from both sides of the plate. Lowrie went 4 for 11 and hit .346 with 0HR and a big RBI in this division series.  Lowrie hit a walk-off single to drive in Jason Bay and punch the Red Sox’s ticket to the American League Championship Series.  I am impressed with this kid in only his first big league season. 

  The story of this season and in the playoffs has been the young kids, from B.J. Upton to Evan Longoria, to Dustin Pedroia and now Jed Lowrie.  Speaking of these four young kids, the Red Sox face off against a bunch of these young kids, as they face their AL East foe, the Tampa Bay Rays led by Evan Longoria and Co.  This ALCS looks to be an interesting series and should be exciting as the Rays won the season series between these two teams 10-8.  My prediction is this series should go to 7 and it can go either way. I would like to see the Cinderella story, Tampa Bay Rays go to the World Series and go for their franchise’s first title.  On the other hand, I also would like to see the Red Sox, moving toward ‘Dynasty Status’, try and defend their title against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who has Manny Ramirez and ex-Yankees skipper Joe Torre. Either way, the playoffs is going to be even more exciting as the Championship Series for both leagues begins in the next few days. 

Manny Ramirez hit .399 with 17HR and 53RBI’s with Dodgers in 2008.

     One thing you can say about the Los Angeles Dodgers is they have one of the game’s greatest managers in Joe Torre and they have a star and celebrity and future hall of famer in Manny Ramirez. The fans love him, pitchers fear him, and he makes everyone in the lineup around him better by his presence.  This theory proved again in the Divisional Series against the top seeded Chicago Cubs. Dodgers swept the series 3-0 and outscored the Cubs 20-6.  Manny Ramirez went 5 for 10 with 2 HR’s 3RBI’s 5 runs scored and 4 walks. That is what a star and a clutch player is supposed to do in the playoffs.  Ramirez is that star and the Dodgers feed off of him.  James Loney also was a key player in this series as he had that big grand slam in Game 1 of the series off all-star Ryan Dempster and in Game 3, he had another big hit in the two-run double off of Rich Harden.   Loney only hit .214 in the series, but had 1HR and 6 RBI’s and 2 runs scored in the series, along with some fine defense at first base.  Another player who stood out in this series was All-Star catcher Russell Martin.  Martin hit .308 with 1HR and 5 RBI’S and had 2 runs scored in this series and he played well behind the plate and called a good series.  Which brings me to the starting pitchers of the Dodgers. All three starters in this series pounded the zone with heavy sinkers and dominated the prolific Cubs lineup featuring many All-Stars.  All three starters (Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, and Hiroki Koruda) combined to go 3-0 with a 1.42 E.R.A in 19 IP and had a K/BB ratio of 17 to 4.  Now that is why the Dodgers won the series. To their timely hitting, big hits, and clutch pitching by their starters, not a supposedly 101- year curse. All the Cubs players and fans can do is tip their hats to the Dodgers, who were the better team in all aspects of the game in this divisional series. That is what it comes down to when you get into the playoffs. Who clutches up and picks their game in all aspects of the game: hitting, fielding, and pitching.   Dodgers did that and posted their ticket to the National League Championship Series and will face off against the winner of the Phillies/Brewers series.  Philadelphia currently leads the series 2-1. 

Evan Longoria hit .273 with 27HR and 85 RBI’s in 2008 as a rookie.

    Evan Longoria is pretty much the unanimous Rookie of the Year out of all candidates in the American League. He has accomplished so much as a rookie and being only 22. This young phenom has made the All-Star team, hit 27HR as a rookie, played stellar defense at the hot corner (third base), and has pretty much locked down the AL Rookie of the Year.  In the Rays first postseason game ever in franchise history, Longoria continued to be the guy that he has been all season and has been the Rays MVP all season. He had a perfect day, playing solid defense, and going 3 for 3 with 2HR’s 3RBI’s, 2 runs scored, a walk, and a stolen base to cap off his night. This guy is a stud and can flat out play.  He almost single-handedly carried the Rays on his back to their 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Longoria, in only his first season, has a bright, bright future ahead of him and it is a Ray of Sunshine for these Tampa Bay Rays and their fans to know that they have him part of this organization and team for awhile.  I really hope the Rays continue to win their way to the World Series and continue this amazing journey. Nonetheless, it has been an incredible story for Evan Longoria and the Rays!