FanHouse DaveRoberts

SAN FRANCISCO -- Rich Aurilia and Dave Roberts turned their first passion (baseball) into a career, and now they're trying to do it again with their newest passion.

Aurilia, a veteran Giants infielder, and Roberts, a recently-retired outfielder, are soon going to be bottling the first vintage of their own wine.

No, Aurilia and Roberts aren't stepping on the grapes themselves, but neither are they simply slapping their name on someone else's company.

Dave Roberts' career may be coming to an end. The man most famous for stealing the base against Mariano Rivera -- clearing the way for the Red Sox dramatic four-game comeback in the '04 ALCS -- has been released by the Giants. He turns 37 this season, and he's never received a full season's worth of at-bats.

Last season, Roberts fought through injuries and sporadic playing time, but still only managed five stolen bases -- due mostly to getting on base only 44 times. Heading into training camp this season, he was looking at being the Giants' fifth outfielder, but the Giants already have other ideas.

It's no secret that the Giants need offensive help. They've finished 15th in the National League in scoring two years running. It's also become abundantly clear that they're gearing up for a run at the NL West crown in 2009, having signed Randy Johnson, Edgar Renteria, Jeremy Affeldt and Bobby Howry this offseason.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise then, that San Francisco is making a run at the biggest and best bat still available.

The Giants, the NL West's most active team this winter, are quietly making an aggressive play for free agent Manny Ramirez, according to a major-league source.

Acquiring Ramirez would come with a number of headaches -- from simply having the mercurial slugger on their roster to likely having to trade one of their incumbent outfielders (Randy Winn, Aaron Rowand, Dave Roberts). But all in all, he'd probably be worth it for a team that isn't all that far from seriously contending. They play in a soft division where 85 wins could easily equal a playoff berth.

That's especially true when you consider three factors: (1) the market for Ramirez is severely depressed because of the number of all-hit, no-field corner bats on the market, (2) signing him would simultaneously improve the Giants' offense and weaken the rival Dodgers and (3) it would save GM Brian Sabean from having to engineer a complex trade for a bat that would cost him one of his top young pitchers like Jonathan Sanchez.

Sign Manny? Sure, why not? It's not like folks in San Francisco aren't used to having a sometimes-surly, Hall of Fame slugger prowling around in left field after all.

July 31 is rapidly approaching. Buy or Sell lets each team know where they stand.

It's very odd that a) the Giants are not completely out of their division race and b) that somehow, they are reasonably stocked with prospects. Just imagine what would have happened if Brian Sabean really knew what he was doing.

However, as we have seen from the trade of Ray Durham to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Giants are, heading into the final 11 days before the trade deadline, most certainly sellers. They stand eight games back of their division, and it's not likely that even the most stout of second halves from their youngsters or tepid of performances by the Dbacks and Dodgers will let them sneak into the playoffs.

In terms of assets and receivables, the Giants have a pretty decent situation. They have no true veteran superstar to deal (unless they're willing to pay 75% of Barry Zito's contract and his "star" status is certainly debatable). In addition, they need young offensive help, but they need it everywhere, so it's not like they need to be picky.

Rich Aurilia, Dave Roberts, Randy Winn and even Omar Vizquel represent tradeable veteran talent with three or less years on their contract. They aren't premiere guys by any means, and the two years after this season that will saddle the receiving team might negate their trade value.

Damage Control is a list of injuries that you need to be thinking about as you're sitting at work, trying to set your fantasy lineup for week two. I'm categorizing the injuries in three pretty obvious slots below (good, worth the risk, don't bother) for your perusal the rest of the afternoon prior to submitting your lineups.

If there is anyone you have a question about, drop a note in the comments or send the Fantasy FanHouse crew an email. Please note that as injury news regarding the upcoming week is released, this list will be updated.

Safe to Roll
Francisco Rodriguez, CL, LAA -- He pitched Sunday, so you kind of have to start him if you own him.
Carlos Guillen, SS, DET -- Supposedly he's questionable, but I see no reason to bench him. He hits too well and is too valuable in terms of positional eligibility to keep on the bench.
Elijah Dukes, OF, WAS -- How you gonna bench me, dawg? (Seriously, if you are so inclined to own/use him, he should be back, dawg.)

San Francisco Giants outfielder Dave Roberts landed on the DL this week, with a torn meniscus and "additional debris" behind his kneecap. I'm no doctor, but that doesn't sound good.

And indeed, Roberts could miss at least a few months with this injury. So, why would Giants fans be happy about this?

It's not any hostility towards Roberts, one of the few talented veterans left on the team, and by all accounts a really good guy. Though he's 35, he still has wheels, swiping 31 bags last year to go with his solid defense.

But there you have it -- he's 35.

Despite the fact that the Giants have won three straight games, no rational San Francisco fan thinks this is anything but a lost season. And well run teams do one thing in those kind of years -- find young talent to help them rebuild. So it was particularly galling for these fans to watch the season begin with youngsters like Fred Lewis, Rajai Davis and Eugenio Velez struggling to find regular playing time.
That all changes with Roberts taken out of the mix -- Lewis and Davis have gotten starts in the last three games (all wins for the Giants) and while they haven't played at an All-Star level, that's really not the point. At the end of the year, manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean need to know what they have on their hands to help plan for 2009.

In the meantime, all three of these guys -- Davis, Lewis and especially Velez (who can play both outfield and infield slots) are not only helpful to the Giants, but to fantasy owners as well. They're all fast (Velez might be one of the fastest kids in the league) and stolen bases are a hot commodity.

So, in a season that Giants fans most likely will want to forget, there are a few positives -- though Dave Roberts might not agree.

There aren't many people around White Sox camp that thought Joe Crede would still be the team's opening day third baseman, but with every passing day, that scenario becomes more likely. The Sox have a few reasons to want to move Crede: to make room for Josh Fields, and because they don't think they'll re-sign him when he becomes a free agent after the season.

The problem is, even though they were hoping to move him before the season starts, that doesn't mean Kenny Williams and the organization don't hold the 2005 World Series hero in high regard. Unfortunately, the teams they're talking to don't feel the same way.

San Francisco, the most likely suitor for Crede, and the Sox have disparate evaluations that carry ramifications for both sides.

A talent evaluator familiar with both teams said the Sox were miffed the Giants' offers for Crede included since-released pitcher Scott Williamson; pitcher Randy Messenger, who was optioned to Triple-A Fresno last week; and veteran outfielder Dave Roberts.

The White Sox asking price of a top prospect and a young reliever is apparently too steep for the Giants, who prefer to offer players on their team they never planned on keeping anyway. Fortunately for Kenny and the White Sox, the Giants now have a division rival who are also interested in Crede.

The Dodgers had scouts in attendance for Crede's last game, and they're not too sure they want Nomar Garciaparra playing third base while Andy LaRoche recovers from a hand injury. Now the Sox will have some leverage in their trade talks, and it's still possible that Crede will be moved before the season. Though I think it's more likely the Sox will carry Crede along with them through the start of the season and try to move him at the deadline.

Making history, or falling prey to it? Fall Down or Fall Classic looks at the reasons each playoff team could win it all -- or could become a mere footnote in 2007's MLB yearbook.

Postseason baseball is becoming a bit of a habit for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Some of Southern California Including Orange County Some Of The Valley A Little Bit Of Malibu But None Of East Los Angeles. Since the Angels celebrated a World Series championship in 2002, they've made the playoffs in two of four seasons, making it to the ALCS in 2005 when the lost to the White Sox.

So how will the story end in 2007?

The Angels took over first place back in April and they never let it go. Sure, the Mariners provided some excitement at the beginning of September, but the Angels responded by letting us all know who the cream of the crop really is in the AL West. When it was all said and done, the Angels finished 94-68, five games ahead of the Mariners.

So will 2007 end up the same way 2002 did, or are the Angels on the verge of another early exit from the playoffs? I'm of the opinion that the Angels may officially take over the city of Los Angeles this fall, but that's just my opinion. Let's all take a deeper look.

The Giants needed to get rid of Barry Bonds.

It probably would have been the best thing for the health of the Giants franchise to get rid of Barry Bonds a few seasons earlier, but you can't expect the Giants to turn away millions in revenue connected to Bonds' chase for Hank Aaron's record. In the efforts to win in the present while Bonds was still an active part of the club, the Giants brought in a lot of older help in the forms of guys like Omar Vizquel, Ryan Klesko, Dave Roberts, Mike Matheny, Moises Alou, Steve Finley, Jeff Fassero, Benito Santiago and Andres Galarraga. Over the years, signings like those were probably in lieu of better, younger signings because the money that Bonds was making ate up a large percentage of their payroll.

The problem was that Bonds would frequently be pulled after the seventh inning for pinch runners to save his health. So you have $15 million dedicated to a guy who isn't going to be around past seven innings to potentially win ballgames, forcing the Giants to depend on some overvalued talent to carry the team the rest of the way.

Well, not only does $15 million come off the books with Bonds, but they also lose the salaries of Vizquel ($5.1 million), Pedro Feliz ($5 million), Klesko ($1.75 million) and Matheny. Nobody should be surprised if the Giants also get rid of guys like Rich Aurilia (.245) and Ray Durham (.215) who combined are making $10.5 million. And perhaps, as correctly noted by a comment here (thank you for the correction), the Giants could find a way to trade Roberts, who was signed to a three year $18 million deal before the season began. That would be a shade over $40 million to spend to make an old roster younger and energetic, and perhaps get some younger legs with some range to support guys like Barry Zito, Matt Cain, and Tim Lincecum. This is probably the first opportunity since 1993 for the Giants to remake their roster in a significant way, instead of putting band-aids on problems just to give Bonds some patchwork support.

Or, they could go get Alex Rodriguez, because you know that if he opts out of his contract, that speculation is going to start. A-Rod did say how much he loved San Francisco, didn't he? If the Giants want to keep their ballpark full, that would be the way to go. And that $40 million just might be enough to get him (he is, after all, a Scott Boras client). But to me, the smart money is to fortify their roster with fresh prospects and bullpen help to surround their starting rotation. The key for the Giants is to not let the bottom fall out for a few more seasons just because Bonds is leaving. If they're smart, it doesn't have to be that way.

Previously on FanHouse:
Barry Bonds is Leaving San Francisco
Alex Rodriguez Loves San Francisco

Luckily when Bonds was approached by a fan in the 7th, it was someone who resembled the Dude more than Robert De Niro in The Fan. The gentlemen over at giantsboard.com, who also provided us with the pictures (thanks Merkin!), are all over that Lebowski reference. Here are the details of the incident:

The blast off Arizona right-hander Livan Hernandez came only an inning after a male fan, identified by San Francisco police as Andrew B. Clapp, 24, and a tourist from Fargo, N.D., trotted out to left field and appeared to chat with Bonds while he was trying to play his position. Bonds casually put his arm on the fan's shoulder and walked him off the field toward the left-field foul line where they were met by security. Bonds never seemed in danger and no security ventured into fair territory during the incident.

"He just wanted to shake my hand," Bonds told MLB.com in the hallway outside the clubhouse after the Giants dropped a 4-3, 10-inning decision. "I told him to come with me so he didn't get into any more trouble."

Bonds reacted surprisingly well to the incident. Maybe he's just really good at reading situations. His teammates however, were less accepting of the fan's behavior: