Giants Minor League updates

[opzoneworld]

Thanks Stanford. Looks to be true from this report. Im sure the Giants cant comment on this one way or another.

Two quotes I like from one.

1 - Compared to Vlad. Cant go wrong there.

2 - Would have competed for the #1 overall pick in this years draft had he been available.

So we end up getting two #1 talents in Posey and now Rodriguez. Well done.

[GswStorm3]

Villalona hit his 8th homer of the year yesterday. Good to hear him back in the lineup.

[Hopper15]

San Jose wasted a nice outing from Alderson yesterday. Seven innings of shutout ball and then the bullpen blows it. Did they send Tyler Walker down there or something?

[EJS99]

Thanks Stanford. Looks to be true from this report. Im sure the Giants cant comment on this one way or another.



Two quotes I like from one.



1 - Compared to Vlad. Cant go wrong there.



2 - Would have competed for the #1 overall pick in this years draft had he been available.



So we end up getting two #1 talents in Posey and now Rodriguez. Well done.

It's like 2006 w/ Lincecum and Villalona all over again. Well done.

[Hopper15]

Chacin was followed on the mound in the bottom of the second by Augusta lefthander Madison Bumgarner (Giants), a North Carolina native who said he had a strong contingent of family and friends in the stands in attendance. Bumgarner, who went 6-2, 1.96 in the first half, threw 22 pitches in his inning, and all but one of them were fastballs. Even against the best the league had to offer, it was clear that Bumgarner can be successful in low Class A with just his fastball, which sat at 93-94, allowing him to simply overpower most hitters at this level.

Bumgarner began his inning by blowing away Lakewood’s Michael Durant (Phillies) on three pitches, but things got much tougher against West Virginia’s Jonathan Lucroy (Brewers), a mature right-handed hitter who’s been extremely tough on lefties all season, having struck out only five times in 62 at-bats against southpaws. Lucroy fought Bumgarner over a 10-pitch at-bat that saw him get ahead in the count 2-0 and then 3-1 before having to foul off one Bumgarner fastball after another. Lucroy fouled off five consecutive fastballs in all before he finally squared one up and lined it up the middle, but Bumgarner snared it at about waist-level for the second out of the inning.

After his battle with Lucroy, Bumgarner gave up a single through left side to Hickory’s Bobby Spain (Pirates). With his final pitch of the night, Bumgarner finally threw something other than a fastball when he snapped off a high 80 mph slider to West Virginia’s Lee Haydel (Brewers), who chopped it to shortstop for a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Bumgarner’s outing was one of the few highlight’s for the Southern squad. He was one of only two South pitchers to go a full inning without giving up a run (Charleston’s Jason Stephens (Yankees) was the other) as the North scored in six of its eight at-bats on the night.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=1179

[opzoneworld]

Great find Hopper!

[PhilipNelsonFan]

Holy s**t...when did Matt Downs get called up to Fresno?? Great for him; I really hope he works out well for the Giants and maybe gives them a sneak preview in September. Dude is a player.

And Daniel Otero may never give up more than 5 runs in the minor leagues. Whatever it is about him, he has the closer's mentality down pat.

[GS Warriors 1]

He got called up 4 days ago.

In 9 AB for Fresno, he's 5-9 with 2 2B and a HR.

[GswStorm3]

Noonan's now hitting for over 300 in Augusta. Plus Big V also hit his 9th jack of the season tuesday, he's leading the team in homers.

[GswStorm3]

Angel of the future: Angel Villalona, the $2.1 million bonus baby from the Dominican Republic, will play in Yankee Stadium before he steps on the field at China Basin. The 17-year-old is one of three Giants prospects selected to play in the All-Star Futures Game on July 13. Also selected were San Jose left-hander Kevin Pucetas, a California League All-Star, and Triple-A outfielder Nate Schierholtz.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 11FLRH.DTL

[Hopper15]

Other notable promotions:

Ben Snyder and Pablo Sandoval to AA; Brock Bond and Jackson Williams to A+ along with Otero.

Good for Downs. He was really impressive at SJ.

[opzoneworld]

I hope Williams is only up until Posey is signed. That guy hits as well as Bocock.....

Hey, if Bocock were to play in the AL, would they DH for him or for the pitcher?

[opzoneworld]

Here is a very interesting piece on Rafael Rodriguez whom the Giants are rumored to have a deal with and will sign on July 13th once the international signing period begins. It is from a site called Saber Scouting. I've never heard of the site before. I found it while searching for information on the international scouting period so how reputable the site is I cannot say. Anyways, here is the link. As you can see, they have him ranked as the number 3 overall prospect as apposed to number 4 by ESPN. Enjoy the read.

http://www.saberscouting.com/2008/06/27/july2ndothers/

3. Rafael Rodriguez, RF, Dominican Republic
The rumor that won’t die about Rodriguez is that the Giants have offered him a $2.5 million bonus and he’s stopped shopping himself with a deal already done. It does seem like $2.5 million is a little rich for Rodriguez versus industry perception (about $1.5 million), but there is a lot of competition for players at the top and if the Giants like him, giving a game-ending offer weeks before the deadline to lock him up is a sound strategy. He’ll be eligible to sign when he turns 16 on July 13th.

As for the tools, Rodriguez has a projectable 6′5, 200 lb frame that one international scouting director compared to Dave Winfield in BA’s breakdown of Rodriguez. His right-handed bat draws praise for it’s power to all fields and his raw strength but there are serious questions about hitability, approach, balance, loop in the swing, and ability to hit off-speed stuff. None of those things are abnormal for a 16 year old, but all of them in a package that will cost seven figures causes many to pause.

The bat speed, loft, big power, and athleticism are all there, so if you buy his makeup and ability to adjust, there’s a ton of raw ability to work with; it’s easy to see why the Giants would like him. It does sound like more teams than not think there’s a lot of Joel Guzman in there, too; none of the other stuff matters if he can’t hit, and that’s a legitimate question at this point.

[Hopper15]

Some Bumgarner quotes in this article...

http://www.hickoryrecord.com/servlet/Sa ... 3355787850

[GswStorm3]

Big V hit his 10th homer of the season Saturday and it may be time promote Noonan to San jose. Noonan has just been on a tear in Augusta.

[GS Warriors 1]

If anyone noticed, Giants called up P Osiris Matos from AA and sent Billy Sadler down to AAA.

[opzoneworld]

P. Sand is doing OK is AA-Con but honestly I would rather see him in AAA-Fresno. Other than Bowker last year, you just never see good numbers out there in AA-Con. That is exactly why the Giants are leaving and looking to relocate their AA team. I believe their contract expires this year??? I think the Giants can get a better judge of where P. Sand is at this point if he were in AAA-Fresno than AA-Con.

[opzoneworld]

Giants have 4 players in the Future's Game. That is very impressive.

[GswStorm3]

Angel V hit his 11th homer of the season today.

[dukuduku]

Alou's impressions of Angel... sees improvement.

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080728&content_id=3215916&vkey=news_sf&fext=.jsp&c_id=sf