Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A Demotion; A Promotion; A DFA... and no Frandsen...

Struggling second baseman Emmanuel Burris was sent to AAA Fresno today to work on his hitting... specifically his leadoff skills according to Henry Schulman. He'll be back soon enough, but for now I think it's what is best to get Manny hitting again. I think Manny is the 2B of the future, not Frandsen... for that matter, not Downs, Noonan, or Crawford just because it's too early to tell with them. Don't get me wrong, I've been an avid supporter of Kevin Frandsen. I think he needs to be on this roster, not instead of Manny, but along side him... or at the very least, as a super utility player. Ideally, I would LOVE to see Burriss become the everyday SS, but he has a lot to work on to get there.

Speaking of Frandsen & Downs; Anyone wonder why Downs was called up instead of Franny? A league rule states any player sent down to the minors must stay no less than 10 days before being recalled. Since Frandsen was just sent down 4 days ago, he is not eligible for another 7 days... Nice move Sabean... Frandsen just got screwed again on this deal.

As for Downs, in order to be called up, the Giants had to clear a spot on their 40 man roster for him. This time, C Steve Holm got the boot. Eli Whiteside just earned himself a spot in the bigs for the year. Last year Holm hit fairly well, and caught very good for a first year player. I know he struggled to start this season, but his hitting had begun to turn around in the last month at Fresno... I don't see him clearing waivers so you might think about putting your Steve Holm replica jerseys on EBay before everyone finds out...

It's too bad there is no one else (bocock)on the 40 man roster that is expendable (brian bocock)... no one at all (BRIAN BOCOCK). Yep, that 40 man roster move thing is starting to get tight around here... at least they didn't sign a second round draft pick last year and put him straight to the 40 man roster. Can you believe some team did that. That guy will be a free agent in 2013... Shit, nevermind. Tried to block that from my mind last winter...

As for Downs, he is deserving of a chance at least. He tore it up this spring. He started the year at Fresno on a tear, before cooling for a while. His stroke is back and has some pop. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in his limited time, but his leash will be short. if he's not hitting by the weekend, Frandsen will be called up the first chance they get in place of him.

One last note: Jesse Foppert was released yesterday from AA Connecticut. After a rough start to the beginning of his second stint in the system, he'll have to look for work elsewhere. Best of luck Jesse... Thanks for giving me hope in the farm system during an era when Sabean didn't know how to draft.

2 comments:

DProfessor said...

Wow, an intelligent analysis of the 2B situation. In contrast, nearly all the bloggers jumped on Dump Burriss bandwagon.

I agree that Burriss is not only the future 2B but that he'll be up soon.

My homeboy and fellow SJSU alum Frandsen should be on the team but as a super utility guy.

Jim Ellis said...

Thanks for the kind words! I saw some of those takes. I think in the end, whether it be this year or next, we'll see Burriss come into his own.

I think for now, he's up against a fan base that's in love with Kevin Frandsen... One that wants him to succeed so badly, they might be overlooking someone better.. Not that the love affair is wrong, hell I REALLY want him to succeed.... A good ball player, he's got a fire inside, bleeds orange & black plus wants to burn dodger blue, can play anywhere.

Anyway, hopefully Burriss can find his bat in Fresno & both he and Frandsen can take over the middle infield at some point