Giants lose Joe Biagini to Blue Jays in Rule 5 Draft | Giants Extra

Hate to see this guy go.Another dark-horse starting pitcher candidate. If he shows well for Toronto, it bodes well for the guys the Giants did roster protect. It is a good sign as far as the amount of depth of arms in the organization and maybe the Giants farm system is finally getting some respect from outside the SF area. 
from Giants Extra:

It speaks to the level of pitching talent in the Giants system that they protected eight minor league arms by adding them to the 40-man roster and yet still lost one in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected right-hander Joe Biagini, a 25-year-old by way of The King's Academy in Sunnyvale and UC Davis who was coming off a terrific year at Double-A Richmond (10-7, 2.42 ERA). Biagini, a 26th-round pick in 2011, doesn't strike out a lot of batters or have overpowering stuff but throws plenty of quality strikes and will be given a chance to win a job on Toronto's opening-day roster. If the Blue Jays don't keep him up all next season, they must offer him back to the Giants for half the $50,000 claiming price.

The Giants didn't protect Biagini ahead of hard-throwing relievers like Ian Gardeck, Jake Smith and Steven Okert. Evans said several of the Giants' minor league relief arms have become more popular when other clubs present trade scenarios.

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12/14/15, 5:20 PM Johnny Cueto last season vs NL: 2.30 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 5.6 K/BB vs AL: 4.42 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 2.8 K/BB

Thank God he'll be pitching in the NL for the most part.

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Giants add Cueto

It very likely means bye-bye Mike Leake. OK.

It very likely means bye-bye Timmy. OK.

It very likely means bye-bye to an impact bat in LF. OK.

Because it also means the Gigantes are serious contenders for the NL West title, the NL title along withe the Mets, Cubs,Cards, D-Backs and Dodgers.

If you had told me Samardzjia AND Cueto prior to the of Fun-season. I would have said "don't you mean OR?"

I may have preferred Price and/ or Zimmerman, but I like this mix as well. Cain and Peavy in the 4/5 slots and Heston in reserve?

 That sounds really good to me.

Here's to Cueto's good health.

Ed Zurga / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Giants land Cueto with 6-year, $130M deal

Greg WarrenDec 14 2015, 4:26 PM

The National League West got even stronger Monday, as one of its clubs landed the top pitcher still available on the free-agent market.

The San Francisco Giants have agreed to a six-year deal with right-hander Johnny Cueto, pending a physical.

ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports the deal is worth $130 million, and Cueto can opt out after the second year. There's also a club option for a seventh year.

San Francisco signed righty Jeff Samardzija to a five-year, $90-million pact earlier this month, and now features one of the better starting rotations in baseball.

PROJECTED 2016 ROTATION - 2015 STATS

PLAYER	IP	W-L	ERA	WHIP	SO9
Madison Bumgarner	218.1	18-9	2.93	1.00	9.6
Johnny Cueto	212	11-13	3.44	1.13	7.5
Jeff Samardzija	214	11-13	4.96	1.29	6.9
Matt Cain	60.2	2-4	5.79	1.50	6.1
Jake Peavy	110.2	8-6	3.58	1.12	6.3

The Giants needed to address their pitching needs this fall after losing Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong to free agency, and following Tim Hudson's retirement.

Cueto reportedly rejected a six-year, $120-million offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this fall, and his agent publicly statedhis client also had interest in joining the Boston Red Sox. Arizona countered by signing Zack Greinke to a six-year, $206.5-million deal, and Boston landed southpaw David Price with a seven-year, $217-million pact.

Pitching at spacious AT&T Park should benefit Cueto for years to come, as should a return to the NL after a brief stint with the World Series champion Kansas City Royals. The 29-year-old hurler is 96-70 with a 3.30 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 226 career starts.

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Arroyo, Beede Headline Top Prospect List | Inside the San Jose Giants

The amazing part is not so much how rapidly Arroyo's stock has risen but how former Golden Boy Kyle Crick has descended. Right off the Baseball America's Top Ten list. Not saying the assessment is anything but accurate for either prospect, I'm just saying.

Next move might be to but Arroyo some OF mitts. A little crowded in the Gigante IF.

from mlblogs.com
http://sjgiants.mlblogs.com/2015/12/04/arroyo-beede-headline-top-prospect-list/

Arroyo, Beede Headline Top Prospect List

By Joe Ritzo

Christian Arroyo has been named the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization by Baseball America

2015 San Jose Giants standouts Christian Arroyo and Tyler Beede were rated the #1 and #2 prospects respectively in the San Francisco organization today by Baseball America. Seven of the ten players on BA's top 10 list are former San Jose Giants.

Baseball America's Top 10 San Francisco Giants prospects:
1. Christian Arroyo, SS
2. Tyler Beede, RHP
3. Phil Bickford, RHP
4. Lucius Fox, SS
5. Chris Shaw, 1B
6. Sam Coonrod, RHP
7. Aramis Garcia, C
8. Clayton Blackburn, RHP
9. Jarrett Parker, OF
10. Adalberto Mejia, LHP

Arroyo is coming off an outstanding 2015 season in the California League. As San Jose's everyday shortstop this year, Arroyo finished seventh in the league with a .304 batting average. Over 90 games, Arroyo produced 28 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 42 RBI's. A consistent presence out of the #2 spot in the batting order, Arroyo hit .300 in the first half before batting at a .307 clip after the All-Star break. For his efforts, Arroyo was named to the postseason California League All-Star team while also garnering the San Jose Giants team MVP award.

The 20-year old former first round pick then followed up his fantastic campaign in San Jose with a stellar effort in the Arizona Fall League. Facing some of the top pitching prospects in baseball, Arroyo hit .308 with three home runs over 19 AFL games.

Arroyo was rated the #10 prospect in the system by Baseball America after the 2014 season. He's the first position player to be named the #1 prospect in the organization by BA since Gary Brown after the 2012 season. Buster Posey (2010) and Brandon Belt (2011) have also garnered the #1 prospect distinction as position players this decade.

MLB.com 2016 Prospect Watch | MLB.com

Here is MLB.com's early Top 50 Prospect List. Prior to losing the draft pick due to the Samardzia signing, one of these guys would have been a lock to fall to the Giants. So net the Giants are even, the Lucius Fox siging from last year brought an "extra" premium prospect who would not have normally been available to them. Kudos to the brain trust for thinking that far ahead if they did,

from MLB.com
http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2016/?list=draft

MLB.com 2016 Prospect Watch

Viewing: Top 50 Draft Lists

• Jason Groome
  
  LHP
• A.J. Puk
  
  LHP
• Alec Hansen
  
  RHP
• Riley Pint
  
  RHP
• Corey Ray
  
  OF
• Buddy Reed
  
  OF
• Blake Rutherford
  
  OF
• Kyle Lewis
  
  OF
• Bryan Reynolds
  
  OF
• Delvin Perez
  
  SS
• Connor Jones
  
  RHP

Pitchers and Catchers Report

73 days and 13 hours remaining until Pitchers & Catchers Report #TZeroApp

Jeff Samardzija and Giants agree to terms

Jeff Samardzija and Giants agree to terms View as web page    |   December 5, 2015 GIANTS NEWS GIANTS SIGN RIGHT-HANDED PITCHER JEFF SAMARDZIJA TO A FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT The San Francisco Giants have signed free agent right-handed pitcher Jeff Samardzija to a five-year contract through 2020, pending a physical. Per club policy, financial terms were not disclosed. Samardzija, 30, went 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA along with 163 strikeouts and 49 walks in 32 starts (two complete games) for the Chicago White Sox last season. He led the White Sox in innings pitched and tied Jose Quintana for the team lead in starts. He also eclipsed the 30-start mark for the third time in his career.

I like the move. I would have liked David Price more, but.....you know. He didn't like us. And I'm not sure I'm comfortable with them adding a guy at $30 million when Bumgarner is still making less than $10M per year.

Samardzjia just had an off year. He looked like the light bulb went off with the Cubs and they waited to lock him up and the guy seemed to just drift a little bit. If he pulls the focus back a bit and settles in to a very forgiving ballpark for both fly ball and ground ball pitchers, the Giants could have the bargain of the post-season. After Greinke and Price, Jordan Zimmerman sure looks like a bargain.

Leake would be a nice addition, but he's going to command an equal AAV and I think maybe an OF power bat might be a better spend of the money. Between Blackburn and Blach, I think the innings will be covered pretty well.

If Cain is Cain and Peavy pitches more like a guy getting bumped up to $15M per, than the starting pitching ought to be OK. Wouldn't hurt to mix another LHP in there a little more frequently, but should be a solid group.

Trade Rumors - Tigers To Sign Jordan Zimmermann

I thought Zimmerman might be up there with Price and Leake as far as "good fits" for the G-men. Then I saw the FB splits below from @RushingBaseball and now I don't feel too bad about losing out. 

Not enough room on the payroll for a Cain 2.0, even if a younger version. 

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Check out what I just read on the Trade Rumors iOS app!

Tigers To Sign Jordan Zimmermann

12:12pm: Zimmermann's deal is a straight-up five year contract and includes no options at the end, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets.

11:20am: Zimmermann's deal is expected to be a five-year pact worth roughly $110MM, according to sources who spoke with Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

10:52am: The Tigers and Jordan Zimmermann have reached agreement on a deal, per Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).  Zimmermann rejected a qualifying offer from the Nationals, so the Tigers will have to sacrifice a draft pick in order to sign him.  The Tigers select ninth overall – a protected pick – so they would surrender their second pick.  The deal is pending a physical. 

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@RushingBaseball: Biggest difference for Jordan Zimmermann? 

Fastball 2014: 

.231 BA .350 SLG 85 wRC+

Fastball 2015: 

.301 BA .465 SLG 124 wRC+