Report: Multiple Teams Interested in Melky Cabrera

If the unhappy Giants players' reactions from after Melky Cabrera was suspended was not enough, and the fact the Giants left him off the postseason roster wasn't either, teams' high interest in Cabrera should be.

Melky Cabrera is looking more and more like he will not be with the San Francisco Giants next season.


The New York Post is reporting that Cabrera has received interest from five MLB teams, and they are not the Yankees or the Mets.

The 28-year-old is looking at anywhere between a one to three-year deal, after testing positive for testosterone midseason during an MVP caliber first half.  He was presumed to get around a $14 million per year deal up until the positive test. Now, he can expect a contract closer to $7 million per year.

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Golden State Warriors: Andrew Bogut Likely To Miss More Time Than Expected

Andrew Bogut will be sidelined for 7-10 days, according to Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson, and thus begins the season we all expected but never wanted to see come to fruition.

Through five games this season, the Warriors have three wins, two losses and two players injured and out for significant time. That is 0.4 players injured per game -- not a good start to the season, by any means.


Brandon Rush tore his ACL vs. the Grizzlies in Game 2 of the 2012-13 NBA season and will be out for the season, and Bogut's injured ankle acted up again so he will be out for awhile to heal.

However, we can safely presume that Bogut will be out for more than the optimistically announced 7-10 days.  While the Warriors are not calling this a "setback" for Bogut, it sure feels like one.

Bogut and the Warriors both conceded that he was rushed back onto the court a little too fast after barely having a training camp, but how fast is fast? Bogut has not played over 18 minutes in any of the four games he has played so far. The worst thing about the situation is that it only took that limited amount of playing time to injure that ankle once again.

Judging by Bogut's somber and dejected mood during the interview Thursday afternoon, we can safely assume that he will be out for closer to a month than 7-10 days.

It appeared Jackson had the same feeling on Thursday, too, a reported by the San Jose Mercury News' Marcus Thompson II.

"I would hope that's it," Jackson said. "But like everything else, it's going to be wait and see. This is a process. Ultimately we're going to stay true to the process, listening to his body and make decisions based on that.

"He doesn't feel like he's 100 percent. He's clearly not. He's going to experience some pain as part of the process, and he's not going to be the Andrew Bogut we know and appreciate right away. And it's frustrating at times."

The odd thing here is that Bogut looked completely fine in his 18 minutes per game. He was contributing to the team and changing the pace of the game when he was on the floor. Evidently, Bogut feels like he has more to give, and that can be good or bad news depending on how the fan interprets that.

"I feel like I'm a liability out there," said Bogut, who initially broke his left ankle in January while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. "I can't rebound, I can't move the way I like to move."

Replacing Bogut is where it gets tricky, as the Warriors were going to need every bit of health they could muster from their roster to have a playoff-worthy season. Already, they have the first player off the bench, Brandon Rush, out for the season and Bogut is looking more and more likely he will be playing closer to 40 games than 60 this year.

Enter Festus Ezeli, who has been extremely productive in place of Bogut's limited time on the floor this season.

However, Ezeli is not the problem, the new back-up center is -- Andris Biedrins.

Biedrins has a total of six minutes and 31 seconds on the floor this season, and for good reason -- Jackson and the Warriors have literally shunned him and his $9 million a year from the team.

We can fully expect the Warriors to continue shunning him, as David Lee and Carl Landry will most likely make up the frontcourt for Golden State in Bogut's absence.

But here we are again, back at the old Warriors' way of doing things.

They rushed Bogut back, lost Rush for the season and gave Stephen Curry and his bum ankles the team fortune.

The mistakes will cost the Warriors, and they will hope to play well enough during these next 7-10 days (more like a month) in order to remain in contention much further than December.

While the players and concept appear in place in Oakland, the logic still remains stuck in losing mode.

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Raiders: #PalmersFault Gets Trending on Twitter

I am writing this post and it is all #PalmersFault, at least according to some knowledgable Raiders fans this past week.

The Raiders lost to the Buccaneers, and the fans responded with a hashtag that set the Twitter world ablaze -- in sort of a sarcastic manner.


No, it is not actually Carson Palmer's fault, even though he did throw his third interception of the game when the team needed a field goal to tie on its final drive. Let's be honest, there are a lot of things wrong with the Raiders right now, and the #PalmersFault hashtag seems to sum it all up nicely.

Here are the best I've seen so far:

That #Palmersfault is not trending is #Palmersfault
— East Bay Sports Guy (@EBSportsGuy) November 8, 2012

Romney wins.Obama wins.Either way it's #Palmersfault !!!!
— Nick Bell (@Nbell3) November 6, 2012

Burnt toast #PalmersFault
—Tyler Hunt (@Raiderpedia) November 6, 2012

Eva Longoria and Mark Sanchez split up#palmersfault
— Cucuy (@Cucuy__) November 8, 2012

Al Davis is still dead.#PalmersFault
— tom parker (@iamnotchjohnson) November 8, 2012

Stanford Rout got cut from the Chiefs #Palmersfault........no seriously Palmers Fault!!!!!!
— East Coast Raider (@raiders4life3) November 6, 2012

If you got Vaginal itching its #PalmersFault
—  PATRICK (@R8DERPAT) November 8, 2012

Sneezed and you sharted? #PalmersFault
— Gary(@gmanraiderfan93) November 6, 2012

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Sabean: San Francisco Giants Keeping Hunter Pence, Brian Wilson A 'Wait-and-See'

San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean has some decisions to make between now and Opening Day 2013.

With the accolades of a World Series victory also comes the burden of players with newly-acquired World Series rings that want money now. Angel Pagan fits into that category rather nicely this offseason.

However, Hunter Pence is another story as he heads into arbitration with the Giants. The arbitration year could score him nearly $13 million next season, after rather disappointing production since the move to San Francisco.


Sabean made no bones about it at the general manager's meetings on Wednesday, telling ESPN.com that Pence will be a Giant in 2013.

"Pence is going to be coming back," Sabean said at the general managers' meetings. "We think there are some things he can do to fix what went wrong this year. We like the player. We made a big trade to get him, and he's going to be a Giant next year."

"We never would have traded for a guy that we remotely thought we would be non-tendering," Sabean said. "So any speculation about that doesn't make any sense. By that point in the season, you pretty much know where a guy is going in terms of the arbitration clock and the money."

The Brian Wilson situation is entirely different, though.

Wilson has had two Tommy John surgeries in his career and appears nowhere close to being ready for Opening Day 2013. After Sergio Romo's display during the 2012 postseason, Wilson's days as a Giant may be coming to a close.

He was also getting paid $8.5 million last season. Romo was paid $1.5 million.

"This was his second (Tommy John), and if anyone could defy the odds, it would be him," Sabean said. "But he's a long way from being at full strength, which means he's a long way from being cleared medically. It's wait-and-see. Until I get more medical information, we're not going near the subject."

---

Sabean also told ESPN.com that the team is actively attempting to re-sign Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro and Jeremy Affeldt, saying that he was "optimistic" about re-signing all three key players from the 2012 World Series run.

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Giants Prospect Andrew Susac Goes on Republican Rant After Presidential Election

We all know catching prospect Andrew Susac is a good player -- or is expected to be in the near future -- but what we may have missed it that Susac is severely right wing and not afraid to be vocal about it, as was evident by a borderline Republican rant on Tuesday night.


Susac took to Twitter in the hours after it became evident Barack Obama would win the presidential election and shared his opinions to the world -- for better or for worse.

An obvious supporter of Mitt Romney in the election, Susac was evidently teased by some Democrats on Twitter after Obama's victory, then repeated to respond in the way a future Major League baseball player probably should not -- regardless of his opinions.

Whether many agreed with him or not, Susac was wrong for sharing his apparent strong beliefs to a Twitter world that is not afraid to bite back.

The 22-year-old is currently the heir to the heir of the Giants' catching fortune. He was a part of San Francisco's major depth behind the plate that includes Buster Posey and Hector Sanchez, and formerly included Tommy Joseph before he was traded to the Phillies in exchange for Hunter Pence at the 2012 trade deadline.

Susac is currently with Single-A San Jose, where he hit .244 with 52 RBI and nine home runs in 2012.

Below are a few highlights from his night on Twitter:

🍻To another 4 years of debt!!!
— Andrew Susac (@andrewsusac) November 7, 2012

Scared for our countries future... #sadguy right now
— Andrew Susac (@andrewsusac) November 7, 2012

Foreign property here I come!!
— Andrew Susac (@andrewsusac) November 7, 2012

Love stating my opinion n getting blown up! U guys can unfollow Thought democrats love everybody :( anyways goodnight everyone haha
— Andrew Susac (@andrewsusac) November 7, 2012

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Report: San Francisco Giants World Series Parade Cost $225K

Rest assured, residents of the Bay Area, you were not affected by the San Francisco Giants' World Series parade that swept down the streets of San Francisco last week.

According to the SF Examiner, the total cost of putting on the parade was $225,000. However, the hoopla that went on around the parade was the most significant cost of the day. The confetti and
actual presentation cost around $1 million, but was offset for taxpayers by the economic benefits of having the World Series played in their home city.

"The taxpayer costs of the parade were offset by the economic impacts of the World Series, Falvey said, which San Francisco’s chief economist has estimated as being between $18 million and $40 million in benefits from visitor spending."

Read the rest of the story at SFExaminer.com.

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San Francisco Giants Redefine Baseball's Winning Formula

If 2010 was special, then 2012 was special-er.

The ultimate smack in the face is the San Francisco Giants going into every round of the 2010 playoffs as underdogs, then going into the playoffs two years later as underdogs once again.

In 2012, the Giants smacked back and won their second World Series title in three years --  a feat not accomplished by a National League team since the Cincinnati Reds' Big Red Machine.

Major League Baseball, take notice -- the Giants know something the rest of you do not.

If 2010 hinted at the new winning formula in baseball, then in 2012 it made its definitive case.

The San Francisco Giants' formula is simple: Great pitching, plus timely hitting from players with not-so-memorable names equal championships.

San Francisco won the 2012 World Series based on their great starting pitching, a shut-down bullpen and professional players that know how to hit a baseball (see Marco Scutaro).

KNBR 1050's Damon Bruce had an interesting point in his opening monologue the morning after the Giants were crowned the MLB's best this week.

"If sports are copy cats, if everyone tries to copy a winning formula, I think what you might see around baseball coming soon is the following: An emphasis on pitching like never before -- not just in the starting staff but in the bullpen as well, one or two cornerstone position players and that's really it."

Now, maybe Bruce was reaching just a tad for emphasis, but the Giants won the World Series in 2010 and 2012 with this exact formula.  Of course, money-hungry executives and businessmen get in the way of crafty formulas like this, and rarely does a team not throw fist-fulls of cash at the best free agent available that offseason.  

However, the Giants have set the bar high for how a franchise is to be run.  We can say it starts at the top. Giants' president Larry Baer has marketed the Giants brand like no other team in sports over the past few seasons, as was evident from opponents' ballparks being filled with orange and black wherever the team traveled in 2012. Even more, they sold out every single game this season without an offense worth writing home about.

Why is this team so marketable, so captivating, and so successful?

It is their winning formula, a good part of which is an emphasis on homegrown talent.

Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Sergio Romo, Pablo Sandoval, Brian Wilson, Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Ryan Vogelsong, etc. The list goes on and on. 

When Barry Bonds left, the Giants franchise completely started over, farming young drafted talent to hopefully develop into key pieces of a successful winning team down the road. What they got was a core group of players that could very well lead the franchise to more than just a successful winning team -- how about a dynasty?

GM Brian Sabean had no way of intending this to develop. No GM intends on structuring his team to be pitching-heavy and completely lacking in offense, but maybe that is the winning formula now.

Nothing is changing in San Francisco.  The team will continue to be constructed around its pitching, of which the likes of Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner will be front and center. The bullpen is also a focal point that Sabean understands well. But Posey will be that cornerstone in the Giants' lineup, and Crawford, Belt and Sandoval are all along for the ride.

This is the new brand of winning baseball -- get used to it.  As basic and bland is it, it works. 

The Giants took notice of this a long time ago, and the rest of baseball is taking notice now that San Francisco is set up for a high level of baseball over the next several seasons.

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