The Giants sent Kevin Frandsen down to Triple-A Fresno before the start of the season as one of the final roster cuts. He played like he belonged, but Emmanuel Burriss earned the starting second base job with a .345 spring batting average and some good defense.
At the time, shortstop was out of the question because the Giants had inked five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glover Edgar Renteria to a two-year deal. So the Giants sent Frandsen down to get more experience playing shortstop and second base.
Frandsen has had an opportunity to jump back up to the majors with Edgar Renteria hampered by a strained hamstring and Juan Uribe visiting his ailing Grandfather. With Burriss shining his leather at second base, Frandsen needed to get better at playing other positions. In the minors, Frandsen made five errors in 34 games (four errors in 24 at shortstop), but impressed at the plate with a .291 batting average, 10 walks, and three home runs.
Where does Frandsen fit in now?
With Uribe and Renteria due back soon, Frandsen could be sent right back to Fresno before he even gets comfortable in his SF apartment.
The Giants will likely need Uribe on the roster to give Pablo Sandoval an occasional day of rest at third base. Frandsen has played some third in past seasons in the minors but has been far from impressive there. Also, Uribe was a once great shortstop and is decent at the two middle infield positions, even with a heavy-set physique. His defense is on point, but I have a suspicion that Uribe's power and average will both sink to ghastly levels this year.
Renteria still has one of the smoothest gloves in baseball, but, at age 33, he’s losing multiple steps to his right and in front of him. Burriss would have fantastic range and improving glove-work at shortstop, but the Giants feel that his arm is more suitable for second base.
The Giants consider Frandsen's arm, on the other hand, to be pretty strong. He would likely be better than Renteria on plays in the hole and in front of him. He might not be quite as silky as the once-great Renteria around the bag, but he’s looked good in two starts at the position and he can only get better. In the game that I saw, he made a couple of nice plays, though I can see him over-charging balls occasionally. Over-charging is probably more effective than not charging at all, though.
In terms of at the plate, Frandsen can hit for a solid average. He doesn’t strikeout a lot and he has 10-homer potential. I wouldn’t be surprised if he posted a .700 OPS or higher in the majors and that would be better than Renteria, Uribe, and Burriss. Frandsen is 27 years old and could be a helpful contributor to the Giants for years to come. Finally, Frandsen's passion and intensity are also very beneficial to a scrappy young team.
Another tough call is Andres Torres versus Eugenio Velez in center field.
Torres is solid on the defensive end and he stole 29-of-33 bases in the minors last year. However, he strikes out way too much and hasn’t shown much ability to hit for average. Velez is probably just as fast as Torres' and he can swing the bat a little bit. His strikeout rate is way lower than Torres and he’s 27 years old compared to Torres at age 31.
Velez is probably the better long-term option. Also, Velez can be an emergency replacement at second base. He will get to a lot of balls there, but his glove is still a bit shaky.
The Giants could send San Francisco favorite Rich Aurilia down at age 37 to make room for hot-hitting first baseman Jesus Guzman. This would be a defense for offense trade-off, but with Travis Ishikawa as a keen defensive first baseman, the Giants could use Ishi as a late-game replacement when Guzman starts and Guzman as a pinch-hitter when Ishikawa starts. I suppose that the Giants could use Aurilia’s roster spot for Frandsen, but that would likely be too many middle-infielders for one team.
Around the League
Carlos Delgado is going to miss around 10 weeks after having hip surgery. It seems that Delgado was ready to play from day one this year (as opposed to his usual second-half self), but the added preparation might have been too much for his hips to handle. He hit .485 in spring and had four home runs, seven doubles, and a triple to go along with his .298 average to start the season.
Aaron Hill is the new Dustin Pedroia, but with more power.
Hill: .343 BA, .379 OBP, .558 SLG, .937 OPS, 30 runs, 11 HRs, 34 RBI
Pedroia: .315 BA, .408 OBP, .409 SLG, .817 OPS, 30 runs, 1 HR, 13 RBI
Yes, Hill has 34 ribbies batting second for the Toronto Blue Jays (Hey, Toronto: The Devil Rays dropped the Devil and look where it got them). I hope you grabbed him in your fantasy league in Week Two, when he was still available.
Apparently Russell Branyan can hit it out of a canyon, after-all.
At age 33, Branyan has never been an everyday player. Well, he’s now the everyday first baseman for the Seattle Mariners and he’s taking full advantage.
Branyan: .310 BA, .376 OBP, .635 SLG, 1.011 OPS, 25 R, 10 HRs, 20 RBI
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