Rule 5 update

Former Defender Joe Bateman was selected by Milwaukee in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft. One other Giants prospect, LHP Travis Blackley was selected by Philadelphia in the major league phase.

The Giants selected Jose Capellan from the Red Sox in the major league phase and SS Juan Ciriaco from the Padres in the Triple-A phase.

As for Bateman, he showed signs of having big-league stuff especially once he regained his comfort level after returning from an arm injury in spring training. Good luck to him.

And just an amusing note, Ray Liotta (not from Field of Dreams) was selected by Kansas City in the Triple-A phase.

The end of the season

Sad that it came so soon. How great would it have been to have played another week or so? I can't say it enough, this team was far better than its previous version and despite that, the record doesn't show that.

I was impressed by a few guys and there were those who frustrated the life out of any baseball fan watching.

I don't know if what we witnessed the final two weeks is a true sign of who they were because there wasn't anything tangible on the line. Pride, however is a great motivator.

Seeing Eugenio Velez make it to the majors last week told me a few things: 1) the Giants don't view him as a player who can make a major impact. What does he do that Rajai Davis can't? He may be faster but Davis is a better fielder and hitter. 2) the Giants aren't going to rush anyone they feel has long-term potential and start their clocks towards arbitration.

The two guys who I expect to see in the bigs are John Bowker and Nick Pereira. They share different personalities but both seem equipped to succeed. Bowker's numbers say it all and he should spend all of next season in Triple-A unless injuries force his promotion. Plus, with a few other deserving guys in Fresno, there shouldn't be a rush.

Pereira's numbers were misleading. He was in the top 10 in many stats, but doesn't get the credit he deserves. Talking to him during the last homestand, he expressed to me how he's learning to not try to strikeout everyone -- to pitch. He's grown up a lot this season.

There were a few pitchers who should reach the majors at some point and in various capacities: Joe Bateman, Osiris Matos, Brian Anderson and Geno Espineli stand out. I suspect that if Dave McKae and Brooks McNiven become more consistent, they will be there as well. I like Kelvin Pichardo's arm but he losses the strike zone easily.

Steve Holm may make it as a backup or as a starter for a year or two. He's one of the most level-headed guys in the clubhouse and a stand up teammate. He's never ran excuses for anyone or anything and is underestimated defensively. Of course, his bat was what we all noticed.

Simon Klink showed singns of promise, but is this close on defense from being a top fielder and his at-bats were MUCH better after the all-star break.

I think Carlos Sosa proved clutch at many times this season and should be back next year. My gut feeling is he, Jake Wald, Trey Webb, Pat Dobson, Dayton Buller, Alex Hinshaw, Justin Hedrick, McNiven and McKae are back here next season. Honestly, I hope Garrett Broshuis is not. He's one of my favorite guys to talk to. He's a great teammate and can discuss anything under the sun. He fell victim to poor run support and shouldn't be blamed for the bad record. His stuff isn't as good as everyone else, but he's a thinking man's pitcher.

The All-Star Game was about as fitting as anything related to the team. There's the struggle to sell seats, a late surge and then the fog wipes out the game. Personally, game or not, I enjoyed being around Dodd Stadium for those two days and feel what the Defenders did was nothing short of great.

Now, if there were more fans throughout the season. It sucked, to be blunt. I don't want this team to leave but am worried it will. I'm tired of the excuses about it not being a Sox, Yanks or Mets affiliate. That's nonsense. If people wanted to see those teams, why did attendance stink against Portland, Trenton and Binghamton? I agree, however, that the Giants have to go. I haven't been given the impression that they care about what happens and would rather keep players away from here than have them play at Dodd.

This should be a good start for us to chat....let me your thoughts.

And guys, thanks for the input and conversation -- it's been fun.

Classifieds

As the season winds down, many of the players pack up as much as they can before returning home for the offseason. One thing catcher Steve Holm is hoping to leave behind is his car. He has a 1997 Nissan Pathfinder with 165,000 miles and is asking $4,999 or best offer.

Last chance

Sorry it's been a while -- I was out of town. Now that I am back, let's discuss the start of the final home stand of the season.

What is amazing -- record aside -- is how fast the season has gone by. With the all-star game more than halfway into the season, the "second half" flies by rapidly.

Anyhow, back to business...there's a double header Tuesday and five good games should be expected. We all know the crowds have been less-than-desirable, but here's hoping that baseball fans come out in full force this week to cheer on the Defenders.

Look, you may not like how they've played, but they have played hard so let them know you appreciate them and the value of minor league baseball.

Hardest time

“By far, not even close. Part of it is because I feel like I’m not only worrying about making sure that I’m prepared and that the team’s prepared, I’m worried about individual psyches, where they’re at and where they’re going. That’s a non-stop job.”

-- Manager Shane Turner on the nine-game losing streak being the toughest experience as a player or manager.

Holm on DL

Catcher Steve Holm was placed on the disabled after a mishap in the team’s indoor batting cage Tuesday. While playing catch with Dayton Buller, Holm jumped to make a catch and rolled his ankle when he landed. Replacing Holm on the roster is Todd Jennings, who has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Defenders. Jennings and Buller will share the catching duties.

Fun comment

from Trenton's Noah Hall:

"No, I think with hitters, there are just teams that sometimes you're just comfortable against them for one reason or another. Although like (Joe) Bateman, I hate facing that guy, you know? That's a guy that's really tough for me. He's just tough. It's not always just the team, but some teams, for some reason or another, you're just more confident and you happen to get more hits. That's all it is."

ARGH!!!!

Another game blown in the ninth inning. It gets pretty frustrating even when there are two weeks plus left to the season.

RIP Phil Rizzuto

I never got to see him play. That is, outside of video highlights from his World Series games. But I am part of the last generation to experience "The Scooter" in the broadcast booth.

My childhood is filled with memories of watching Rizzuto and Bill White discussing cannoli and calling people Huckleberry in between pitches.

His passing is such a great loss. It's safe to say we'll miss Phil.

Here's one last "Holy Cow" just for you!

Re: Sunday's article

I want clear something up before I say anything else: the team is not leaving after this season. The reality is they are here at least through next season and very likely in 2009 (possibly as a lame duck).

That said, I couldn't agree more with the responses posted below. There are multiple parties to blame for what's happening here. The only factor which is exempt of blame is that the market size is small. But, it was big enough when it was a Yankees affiliate. Did the novelty wear off? I'm beginning to believe so.

Those who decided to put the stadium in a business park should be ashamed of themselves for the short-sighted thinking and for essentially condemning the team to Siberia.

Not having local ownership has hurt the team, but I'm not convinced that it has been that big of a factor.

What bothers me the most is that the staff in place this year has done a fantastic job and those who have decided to turn away from the team for whatever reason are missing out on a fun experience irregardless of what happens on the field.

As for on the field, I am sick and tired of hearing people tell me that the Defenders front office (i.e. GM Charlie Dowd) doesn't put good enough players on the field. HELLO!!!! Dowd and the Defenders aren't responsible for providing players. That distinction belongs to the San Francisco Giants, who have done about as poor of a job as possible.

The best player in recent memory skips Norwich entirely, there are no every day position players on the big league team and don't provide the attractive rehab assignments. Look, the best position player the Giants have had here is John Bowker and no one knew what we were in store this year until two months had passed.

The hope here is that things somehow turn around before its too late.

Check out Sunday's Bulletin

I provide an analysis of what the future may hold for the Connecticut Defenders. Hopefully it will spark debate, conversation and maybe even action towards keeping the team in place.

Just when ou thought it was safe

The Defenders blow a late-inning lead and lose tto Erie Saturday night. The usually reliable bullpen faltered as Kelvin Pichardo and Billy Sadler gave up home runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Defenders scored once in the ninth -- on a Tyler Von Schell homer -- to get within a run, but that was all they could do.

Nice win

Wednesday's win is exactly the kind of win the Defenders would have usually let slip away. They took an early lead, allowed Akron to tie the game, but instead of faltering in extras, they hung in there to pull out the win on Simon Klink's home run.

Maybe even more impressive is that it was at Akron, a place the Defenders had only won once since changing affiliations.

Back at it

Sorry I was gone for a few days so there weren't any updates. The Defenders, however, are back on the road after a solid series with Erie. The D-Men are out in Akron, Ohio to take on the Aeros, who showed last week that they are a good team and don't need to be flashy, either.

If the Defenders learned anything they can take into this set it is that the team cannot afford to give away games with mistakes. Connecticut can't allow letting tr=he routine plays slide so Akron can extend an inning. There seemed to be one inning in each game that ultimately doomed them. If the Defenders cab avoid this again, they may win a game or three.

Ouch

That's the feeling watching this game. The Defenders looked lifeless as the Aeros scored five runs in the fifth inning.

Manager Shane Turner wants to see his team rise above challenges on the field but the message seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Let's give Akron starter Chuck Lofgren cedit, but the Defenders have just looked bad tonight.

At one point, I felt as if I went back in time to April or May before realizing it was never this warm during those months.

Welcome back

to Billy Sadler, who was sent to the Defenders today from Triple-A. Taylor Wilding was sent to San Jose.

From San Francisco Chronicle

This is a portion of an article on the SF Chronicle website. It reiterates point I brought up last week in a blog entry regarding Giants outfielders:

In an interview last week, Sabean said he and manager Bruce Bochy hope to give more starts to younger players such as Lewis and Kevin Frandsen over the final two months of the season. If Sabean can clear more roster space by trading older position players, either today or during the August waiver trading season, he plans to promote more prospects so the team can evaluate them for 2008.

Dan Ortmeier, Clay Timpner and Nate Schierholtz, three outfielders at Triple-A Fresno, are swinging the bat well, with the latter two batting over .300, possibly earning them a look.

"I really believe we'll need to play some of our young people to evaluate them," Sabean said. "I have talked to Boch about that."

Sabean also offered more details on the Giants' reconstruction plan. For the first time, he acknowledged he might have to trade some of the young pitching the organization holds dear to acquire talented young position players who can complement the team's aging veterans as the Giants transit to a new era.

"We're going to be in a position where we have an opportunity to study and identify which positions we need to focus on, and we may have to cross that bridge in the winter," he said.

At the same time, Sabean acknowledged that young impact hitters are difficult to acquire, and he has a Plan B. If the team cannot engineer such deals, he is prepared to rip a page from the San Diego Padres' playbook: Have the Giants do the best they can offensively with the talent in hand and bolster the pitching.

"We will build around the pitching we have," he said. "If we have to make it stronger, we'll strengthen it. We've all learned from San Diego what pitching can do in this division. We're halfway there with what we have in hand without any moves we have to make to acquire position players.

"That's the road we might have to take if we're going to have a different lineup that is challenged on the power side or on the run-scoring side. Why not make our strength even stronger?"

That comment might dishearten fans hoping for a quick fix that could turn the Giants into a young, exciting, speedy, powerful team. But as any rebuilding team can attest, there are no quick fixes without spending a gazillion dollars on free agents - a path the Giants swear they plan to abandon.

Patience might be in order as the Giants see whether such minor-league outfielders as Ortmeier, Schierholtz and Timpner can cut it in the majors. Behind them is right fielder John Bowker, who is posting impressive numbers for Double-A Connecticut.

Bowker is batting .296 with 17 homers and 70 RBIs playing in a pitcher's park and a pitcher's league. On the other hand, he has 81 strikeouts in 395 at-bats.

Behind Bowker are Class A shortstop Brian Bocock and 17-year-old third baseman Angel Villalona, both appearing in distant dreams.

Ahead of them all is Lewis, the next best hope for the Giants to break their long drought of home-grown position players.

Coming back home

The Defenders are back home starting Tuesday with a pair of three-game series against Southern Division teams. Both Akron and Erie are tough and have gotten decent pitching performances. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure if Erie's Dallas Trahern, an all star, will pitch this weekend.

Connecticut has gotten itself out of last place -- again -- and I'm interested to see how the offense functions after playing football in Portland. The season seems to be more about being competitive than it does trying to make the playoffs. Reality is, the odds are slim to nothing against the Defenders. Could they catch New Britain? Yeah. I think if they continue to play the way they have in the past two weeks they can. But catching New Hampshire and Portland is a tall task.

John Bowker is out of the slump he entered after the all-star game and is on a tear. Eugenio Velez is on the Giants' 40-man roster and Randy Ruiz joins his fourth EL team in two seasons. The last month should be interesting.

Update

Ruiz was signed as a free agent after he was released Tuesday by the Triple-A Ottawa Lynx. No word as to what roster move was made to accommodate the addition.

Defenders add Ruiz

More to follow on the addition of one of the more dangerous hitters in recent EL history.