fringe

she seems very low maintenance too.

there were rumors of old Bobby V coming here but he has grown a fondness for Japan, he won't leave.

Giants start clock on Bochy TEAM HAS ONE WEEK TO REACH AGREEMENT WITH PADRES MANAGER By Andrew Baggarly The Giants and Bruce Bochy have determined that their interest in each other is genuine. So Giants General Manager Brian Sabean on Wednesday called Kevin Towers, his Padres counterpart, and received the official sanction to open talks with San Diego's longtime manager. Sabean will meet with Bochy in the next 48 hours and there are indications he will offer the job if he senses the 51-year-old former catcher is enthusiastic about moving north. Towers conceded he already has formed a list of preliminary candidates to replace Bochy, who is under contract to manage the Padres in 2007. Sabean has until noon Tuesday to make a decision on Bochy; the Padres are not willing to extend the seven-day window. ``If there is no announcement at the end of the seven days, then Bruce will be a Padre,'' Towers said. Actually, the Giants must move faster because Bochy is scheduled to leave for Japan on Monday after accepting an offer to replace Terry Francona as manager of the major leagues' touring all-star team. Another of the Giants' four central candidates, New York Mets third-base coach Manny Acta, will serve on Bochy's staff. Bochy is the only one of Sabean's final four who has major league managerial experience. Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Bud Black and Giants bench coach Ron Wotus are the other finalists. Wotus is known to be a favorite of Giants owner Peter Magowan, but upper management has assured Sabean that the hire is his to make. And Sabean values experience, which he showed during his brief but intense pursuit of Lou Piniella. Bochy has spent the past 24 years in the Padres organization, including 12 as manager -- a tenure that ranks behind only Atlanta's Bobby Cox among big-league skippers. But Padres CEO Sandy Alderson has declined to negotiate an extension, and by allowing Bochy to talk with a division rival, he appears to signal the Padres will go in another direction in '08. ``It's the CEO's policy that the person should have the right to talk,'' Towers said. ``We've got to have confidence that if we lose Bruce, we'll bring in a quality manager who will find ways to beat the Giants.'' Bochy called his coaches last week to tell them he would explore an opportunity with the Giants. ``If he's going to interview, he's not doing it to send smoke signals,'' Padres third-base coach Glenn Hoffman said. ``If the interest is there, he'll follow it.'' Towers said the Padres have not demanded compensation if the Giants hire Bochy. A Giants source said such a demand is unlikely at this stage. Bochy is due to be paid $1.9 million next season, making him one of the best-compensated managers in the game. But a Giants source said money was not an issue as the club pursued Piniella and it shouldn't hold up discussions with Bochy, who is expected to command a contract of at least three years for $6 million to $8 million. Padres outfielder Dave Roberts, a free agent, said the Giants would become an attractive destination if they hire Bochy. ``He and I have a great relationship,'' said Roberts, whom the Giants consider a fallback if they fail to sign Texas center fielder Gary Matthews. Sabean knows the impact of hiring a key member of a division rival. Last winter, the Giants suffered a blow when the Los Angeles Dodgers hired Ned Colletti, Sabean's top assistant, to become their general manager.

"Gee, they didn't learn us no base runnin"

As I said, it all seems a bit self serving. Sounds like he followed the advice of an agent or publicist. In regards to Irvin, he's an angry Ahmad Rashad and has lost all credibilty with his shameless support of TO. ESPN keeps him as a circus act.

Yes, of course.

Fassel may be the most influential coach in Giants history. He is the first coach to actually make the NY offense work. Before him, our offenses were serviceable at best. And his legacy continues. Too bad he just about disregarded the other 2 aspects of the game in the process.

oh no, you didn't

hard to tell with a strong safety. i do know that tight ends are not having big days on us. got to give him some credit for that.

Helen's got a great spin move.

Knock on wood, we've been pretty healthy this year. This is the first bad injury. Shame it happened when it did. But compared to say Seattle, we're very healthy.

but danny wasn't a #1 draft pick.

no dave would have head butted him without a helmet. remember that one?

got to be fair though. the LT lead-ins were awesome.

how many times are we going to have the same fassel discussion? :brooding:

he's better than bledsoe with that offensive line. bledsoe is going to get killed.

scared the crap out of me when dallas brought him in. anyone remember chad hutchinson or kevin sweeny (of fresno state)?

i was talking about after that, xman.

i agree with booya once again. they make it very hard to enjoy the game. all the fluff, while failing to tell us what happened to arrington until late in the 3rd.

well, the giants had a major brain fart at the end of the first half. luckily, tiki bailed us out, twice. that clock management and play selection was awful. They sobered up at halftime and called an excellent second half.

just win, baby.

It's true. Luke's been playing very well.

quiet, blader. this is a giants thread.

We'll probably hear the samefrom Ronde this week after his monster game yesterday.

Hell?