Ramirez to Giants?

[LouisEly]

The Casey McGehee experiment is over in San Francisco. For the time being they are going with Matt Duffy, an 18th round pick out of CSU-Long Beach in 2012. Duffy shot through the minors quickly and has good OBP/plate discipline but not much power. They also have Adam Duvall raking at AAA, but he isn't exactly known for his defense.

 

The question becomes how much leash will they give Duffy, and will they put up with Duvall's defense at the major league level? I'm guessing they want to watch Ramirez's health and stamina, and going with Duffy for now gives them some time to watch Ramirez.

[bill hAll Star]

A sidenote here, but it boggles my mind that a recent 3-time champion would pin their 3B position to a guy that clearly had out-of-his mind luck last year. This sort of season seemed to be seen coming from miles away.

[MrTPlush]

If I had to predict a landing spot that would be it. Nice veteran guy who should give some stability there. Duffy hopefully can be a decent back up to match with him.

[Invader3K]

Would the Giants be willing to take on all of Aramis' salary or would the Brewers have to kick in some money on this deal?

 

It does seem like it could be a good fit though.

[Hammer]

There would be no conceivable reason to have to pony up the money on this deal. They are looking for an asset for another pennant race. They will pay (and pay handsomely) to make sure they are the ones that get the asset. Ramirez would make a great addition to any team that is struggling at third base and has playoff aspirations. It should, honestly, be a bidding war for his services.

Hefty contracts are attached to players that are actually pretty good. That is the cost of doing business...

 

Just my $.02

[JohnBriggs12]

One problem. They just love Duffy and why wouldn't they? He's excellent defensively as a converted SS. Kuiper and Krukow were just raving about what a smart hitter he is during Giants telecast last night and that was before his HR to CF. 18th Rounder? I'd hire the scout that found him in a heartbeat. Duffy's an excellent example of a winning organizational philosophy that values baseball smarts and that's not afraid to promote guys from AA to the majors.

 

Giants are in no rush to run out and get a Ramirez. Maybe they will, but it would take a Duffy slump for it to happen. Besides McGehee is still being paid and accepted his assignment to AAA. So if he starts raking at AAA and Duffy does falter, they'll likely just bring him back.

[bill hAll Star]

I wonder how much Aramis would work there. To win in a pitcher's park like that, you get a bunch of good ptichers and fill in with pitchers that can pitch to contact. Put good defensive players out there that can hit for contact as well (hello, Padres, are you listening?).

 

Duffy was a pretty good minor league hitter and good defender as noted above. I'll bet at Miller Park the guy could push a .750 OPS for the season and be a great defender. That's about what Aramis hits right now but Duffy is a young/good defender.

 

Of course, now that the Giants have gotten this incredible stretch of their cushy road matchups out of the way, Duffy is going to sink down to a low .700s line maybe...which is fine with that stadium adjustment.

 

For comparison...look at Belt and Crawford's All Star-worthy lines right now and watch them sink in the next few months now that they've gotten their Miller/Coors trips out of the way.

 

McGehee would struggle almost anywhere but I'll bet Aramis struggles almost as much as Duffy there. Maybe a bit more power as that park is OK for righties but Aramis might not outproduce or be a better option than Duffy. Which brings me back to "why the heck did they go with McGehee?"

[JohnBriggs12]

They took a flyer on McGehee. He didn't cost them that much more than the Brewers paid to get, gulp, Neal Cotts. He still might payoff. Look at the success they've had with guys like Morse and even Ishikawa. Can't argue with the results they've had. Besides, their flyer on Aoki seems to be paying off very handsomely. I don't know if all their hitters are raking because of where they are playing either. The return of Pence gives their lineup a huge boost and this is a roster that's shown it can produce under pressure.