Pablo Sandoval joins crowded Giants disabled list

All star third baseman Pablo Sandoval has fractured the hamate bone in his left hand and will be placed on the disabled list.

This is devastating news for the Giants as the same injury to Sandoval occurred last season only to his right hand which caused the slugger to miss six weeks and 41 games (just over a quarter of the season).

The loss of Pablo Sandoval puts added
pressure on the Giants struggling offense.

The injury took place after an at-bat during the sixth inning of last night’s 3-2 loss to the Miami Marlins, as Sandoval immediately exited the game in serious pain. 

Sandoval’s name will be added to a crowded disabled list that holds many key teammates including closer Brian Wilson (out for season), reliever Jeremy Affeldt, first baseman Aubrey Huff, and second baseman Freddy Sanchez.

While all the above mentioned losses for the Giants hurt, Sandoval’s name skyrockets to the top of the list. As arguably the best hitter on the team alongside catcher Buster Posey, the loss of the slugger creates a major void in the middle of San Francisco’s lineup, which has struggled of late.

To make matters worse, there is no obvious replacement for Sandoval, as the team elected to call up third baseman Conor Gillaspie from AAA Fresno.

The loss of Sandoval, though it is not season-ending is reminiscent to what the team had to experience while Posey was out last season, a major drop off in production from an offensive standpoint at the player’s position.

Further, this Giants offense is not the kind of offense that is prepared to handle major blows for any extended period of time, which is exactly what this loss is.

Sandoval’s absence along with Huff and Sanchez being sidelined for the Giants offensively reflects poorly on Giants ownership and management as well.

Remember when the Giants elected not to shell out the two-year, $26 million contract to all-star outfielder Carlos Beltran this winter, who the Giants acquired for their top prospect pitcher Zack Wheeler last July.

While the Giants reasoned money was the issue, it would take a fool to think the team didn’t have the funds available to sign the slugger after they sold-out an entire season at AT&T Park and gained more money than ever in merchandise sales following the 2010 championship.

Oh yeah, dare I mention that Beltran has been amongst the most productive offensive players in the game this season? How does a .279 average with seven home runs, 20 runs, 18 RBI, five stolen bases, and a .933 OPS (on-base plus slugging) sound?

It is obvious that the resigning of Beltran would’ve given the Giants not just an above average offense when healthy but allowed for some comfort room should a major loss occur to the team as did so today.

San Francisco currently boasts a 12-12 record and sits four and a half games behind their rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

Assuming this injury requires Sandoval to miss around the same amount of games as last season, it should not deter the Giants from still having a successful season but it will make things a lot more difficult.

With Sandoval in the lineup this team struggles to score runs, now the same players are going to have to really pickup the weight.

Sharks fall short once again; changes coming?

After two straight seasons in the Western Conference Finals, the Sharks have again fallen short of the Stanley Cup this year. The Sharks were eliminated on April 21 in the first round of the playoffs against the St. Louis Blues in just five games.

Following a sub-par regular season finish resulting in the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs and an early playoff exit, the team has questions to answer as it looks towards its future.



What do the Sharks do with team leaders Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Ryane Clowe? Does the team keep the core of this team together that has failed year after year or do they shake it up?



Will the people in charge of these decisions be brought back? It was announced today that general manager Doug Wilson will return but what about coach Todd McLellan?

Coach Todd McLellan is amongst the tough decisions
the Sharks must make this offseason on whom to retain.

The Sharks have good young talent on this roster particularly in centers Joe Thornton and Logan Couture, but it is evident that this team is missing a piece or two, heck maybe even more.

The Sharks need to deliver soon, their current eight-year streak of getting to the playoffs (not the Stanley Cup) and teasing as they fall short of delivering their passionate, raucous fans a championship is getting old.

This team needs to get younger, faster, more physical, and needs to have that will and killer instinct to win when they reach the playoffs.

Whomever the Sharks decide to bring back from coaches to players, they need to look at next season as a complete failure and should feel like their jobs are in serious jeopardy if they fail once again to deliver a Stanley Cup to San Jose.

Raiders make best of NFL Draft; time will tell how good team is

Not picking until the third round in this year’s NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders selected Tony Bergstrom with the 95th overall pick to help shore up its offensive line. Along with the selection of Bergstrom, the Raiders used some of their later picks to help beef up the defense, of which struggled heavily last season ranking 29th in the NFL with 27.1 points allowed per game. 

The Raiders drafted Miles Burris, an outside linebacker from San Diego State in the fourth round and Jack Crawford, a defensive end from Penn State in the fifth round to help speed up its pass rush. 

Then, in the sixth and seventh rounds, after taking wide receiver Juron Criner out of the University of Arizona in the fifth round, the Raiders continued to add to their defense. The team selected Christo Bulukidi, a defensive tackle from Georgia State at 189th overall and linebacker Nathan Stupar, also from Penn State as the 230th pick in the draft. 

For a team that lacked both first and second round picks in the draft due heavily to the team’s ex-head coach Hue Jackson’s trade for quarterback Carson Palmer last season, they fared pretty well. 

New Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie has been known for his ability to snag late round talents while working for the Green Bay Packers and he hopes to have done the same thing with this draft class. 

It’s been a busy offseason for the Raiders, who have hired McKenzie, head coach Dennis Allen, and a new coaching staff. Along with the cleanup done in the management and coaching staffs, the team’s added a few players through free agency including cornerback Pat Lee and defensive end Dave Tollefson. 

However, the Raiders have let go of several players from last year’s roster including cornerback Stanford Routt, guard Cooper Carlisle, and defensive tackle John Henderson. 

It is not necessarily a huge makeshift of the roster that’s in need for the Raiders as much as it is a change in the team’s mindset and philosophy, of which Allen and McKenzie believe they can restore. 

The health of running back Darren McFadden is key if the
Raiders are to return to the playoffs in 2012.

Particularly on offense this team has talent. Palmer returns for a full season in Oakland and the Raiders will welcome back star running back Darren McFadden, who missed the last nine games of the 2011 season due to a foot injury.   

McFadden is the centerpiece of the team’s offense but other weapons exist, take the wide receiving core for instance, there lies Denarius Moore, Darius Heyward-Bey, and Jacoby Ford. 

The Raiders have the arguably the best specialists in the game with kicker Sebastian Janikowski and punter Shane Lechler. It is pretty apparent that this team can and will score points especially with a healthy return of McFadden, meaning the fate of the upcoming 2012 season will be decided heavily on defense. 

Allen and his background as a defensive coordinator should help the cause for the Raiders however other variables are involved here. Do the Raiders have enough talent and just good football players on their defense? 

We know they have a good safety in Tyvon Branch and a very talented linebacker in Rolando McClain, though he has had attitude and legal troubles throughout his career. Outside of these two this Raiders defense lacks playmakers but only time will tell and soon enough we’ll all be able to see just how good of a coach Allen is. 

The Raiders are a team that is hungry to win and make the playoffs following two straight 8-8 seasons. If Allen and his staff prove to be the right fits the Raiders should have a good shot at accomplishing this feat; if not, the team will continue its long playoff drought.