Warriors Move to SF

I don't always blog about basketball, but when I do, it's about something as important as the relocation of the Golden State Warriors.

After owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber told fans exactly what they've known for two days now, it is now official that the Warriors are planning a move to a brand new waterfront arena near AT&T Park on the San Francisco Pier after their Oracle Arena lease ends in 2017.

This comes as no surprise to anyone. When Lacob and Guber bought the team, immediate speculation about a possible move to SF created some buzz. What I'm more interested in is if this move will spark a mass exodus out of Oakland. The Oakland A's have long been pursuing a new stadium in nearby San Jose. The Raiders have been linked to a possible move to Los Angeles, and even if that doesn't happen, everyone knows they want a new stadium.

The Melk Man y El Caballo Loco

After last season, it was clear that the Giants needed offense. Brian Sabean knew this, and he made two major moves to bolster a pitiful lineup by trading Jonathan Sanchez to the Royals for Melky Cabrera and trading Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez to the Mets for Angel Pagan. Needless to say, both have been absolutely tremendous acquisitions.

Pagan has been a solid leadoff hitter, with a respectable OBP of .308 and an OPS of .753. But those stats don't tell the whole story. Personally, my favorite part of Pagan's all-round game is his work ethic. He constantly tries to outrace infield rollers and choppers, something that many pro baseball players don't bother to do anymore. While patrolling the outfield, Pagan almost always makes each catch with two hands to secure the ball, another thing many big leaguers neglect to do. These and other subtle facets of Pagan's game make him one of the better leadoff men in the league.

Giants Update

This is generally a high point in the sports calendar with the NBA playoffs and NHL playoffs underway and the baseball season well into the grind of things. However, for me, this has been one of the slowest times of the year, just like February. As many of you already know, the NBA is not my sport. And since the Sharks are out of the NHL playoff race a little earlier than I anticipated, I'm not following hockey that closely either.

And that leaves me with baseball, which I've been following as closely as a human possibly can. I've tried to catch at least the first and last innings of every Giants game and have watched quite a few in their entirety so I am well versed as to how the Giants season is going. And I'm here to tell you it's going just alright.

The Giants offense had been producing for much of the start of the season but their bats have cooled off lately, with the exception of Angel Pagan's, who has a nice solid hitting streak going that is enough to make many of us forget about the loss of Pablo Sandoval. But, all in all, the last few games, ever since the series against Miami where San Francisco was swept, the bats have been pretty stagnant. Some of it has to do with opposing pitching, but the Giants bats have just seemed less impressive as a whole.