August 30, 2009. I'm going to UPDATE MORE

Alright everyone-here's the plan.

I'm going to update this blog EVERY DAY for as long as I can...so if you can send me some feedback that will help encourage me to regularly post.

So here we go.

Its August 30th, and the San Francisco Giants have joined Colorado atop the National League Wild Card after sweeping three straight games from the visiting Rockies. 

Somehow the Giants are still in the hunt.

They have only one regular with an OPS over .800 (Pablo Sandoval, duh, at a hearty .953)

Where would they be if he had produced as just a regular old rookie? 

Ishikawa's been terrible, (though slightly better as of late) Winn has been terrible, and Renteria has been a disaster. 

Trading deadline pickup Freddy Sanchez is on the DL, and has only batted 59 times since being traded by Pittsburgh for 20 year old prospect Tim Alderson. Ignore the fact that he is hitting .304. Instead focus on the fact that he is hurt, overpaid, slugging just .375, and was traded for a very good prospect. Great deal, Brian.

Sabean's other deadline pickup was Ryan Garko from the Indians. Brought in because Travis Ishikawa, well, sucks, Garko has hit a most robust .232/.292/.354 since being brought over.

Yes, Juan Uribe has provided some pop at second, and while Nate Schierholtz should most definitely be receiving at-bats, he is receiving them at the expense of the wrong player. Fred Lewis should be starting in left, not Randy Winn. Why? Because Randy Winn absolutely SUCKS. Fred Lewis has an OPS (remember, On Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage, a much more valuable statistic than Batting Average) 80 points higher than Randy Winn.

Randy Winn has hit just two homers all season. In 516 at-bats! From a corner outfielder! I'll say again, yes, Brian Sabean is an f'ing moron for not signing Adam Dunn to play left field and Orlando Hudson to play second, but moving on past those decisions, you at least have to play your best hitter at the position where one of your best hitters belongs. (And no, Eugenio Velez, with his .709 OPS, adequate only on the Giants, and terrible defense, is NOT one of your best hitters)

Baseball Prospectus broke down the remaining Giants schedule...and it doesn't look pretty. 15 of their remaining 31 games come against contenders, while the Rockies must only face contenders twice, three game sets with the Dodgers and Cardinals. 

And lets face it, the Rockies are truly a better team. Yes, they don't have the front three that the Giants possess, (especially now that it looks like, hopefully, Barry Zito can be counted on to win games) but they do possess a deeper rotation and an infinitely better lineup. Pablo Sandoval is the only Giants regular truly better than his Rockies counterpart. The Giants do have a better bullpen, yes, but that is the least important of the three. 

I hope the Giants pull it out, but forgetting 'momentum' (which get wayyyyy too much credit), the Rockies are much better positioned to pull out the wild card.