The San Francisco Giants

Its kind of amazing how, after several seasons of the Barry Bonds 3-ring circus, the San Francisco Giants managed to park themselves firmly underneath the national baseball radar. With most casual baseball fans unable to name 2 people in their starting lineup, the Giants put together a pretty stellar 2009. Matt Kamenski, who will soon be returning to the Bay Area after a 7 year sabbatical in our nation's capital, was kind enough to put pen to paper to introduce us to the 2010 Giants. A good read!
--TQ




Are the Giants back? Well, it remains to be seen, but their 2009 season seemed to be a step in the right direction.

Long gone are the years of success from the late 1990's and early 2000's - eight straight winning seasons, four postseason appearances, three NL West titles, and a World Series appearance that went to a 7th game in 2002. The Giants haven't been to the playoffs since 2003 (and, I am painfully reminded, haven't won a World Series since moving west to San Francisco in 1958), but they did enjoy their first winning season in in five years in 2009, going 88-74, finishing third in the NL West behind Dodgers and the Rockies. They were in the wild card mix until the final week of the season. Since most of the team is back for 2010, there is plenty of reason for baseball fans to be optimistic in the city by the bay.

The Giants' return to a level of respectability was largely built upon stellar and youthful starting pitching, among the best in Major League Baseball. Tim Lincecum, 25, winner of the past two NL Cy Young Awards, is the clear ace of the staff. He signed a two-year, $23 million contract in the off-season, becoming a deservedly much richer man. Additionally, his long hair and off-season charge of marijuana possession (later dropped) make him a great fit for the liberal culture of San Francisco. If Timmy keeps form and the Giants' offense can do any damage at all, he will have much more than the 15 wins he earned last season. Likewise for Matt Cain, 25, arguably the Giants' second ace who went 14-8 with a 2.89 ERA, not far behind Lincecum's numbers in everything except strikeouts. The 2009 season of Jonathan Sanchez, 27, turned around after his July no-hitter, and he looks like a very promising young gun if he can stay consistent. Hopes are similarly high for Barry Zito, at 31 the veteran of the staff, who for two and a half years was a tremendously overpaid bust, but really came around second half last year. If 20-year old Madison Bumgarner can gain more experience and become the fifth starter, the Giants could have an incredible starting pitching core that could dominate for years to come.

Brian Wilson, also young, especially for a closer, at 27, anchors the bullpen and brings some rock and roll attitude to the club. He has 79 saves for the Giants in the past two seasons, but needs to limit his mistakes and lower his ERA (2.74 ain't bad for a closer, but could be better). Set-up men are plentiful including Jeremy Affeldt (1.74 ERA in 2009), Sergio Romo, and Brandon Medders.

With such strong pitching, the Giants' hitting woes and power outage since Barry Bonds left the team in 2007 have been well-documented. They have been among the league's worst in run production and home runs. It was priority number one for the off-season. However, happy-go-lucky Pablo Sandoval, 23, had a breakout season last year, hitting .330 with 25 HR and 90 RBI. He will continue to be the core of the Giants' offense, and all signs point to another big year. After bouncing around positions last year, he'll play more of third base this year with the acquisition of first baseman Aubrey Huff. I don't have high hopes for shortstop Edgar Renteria, but utilityman Juan Uribe can spell him at times and showed some potential down the stretch. The Giants are also lucky to have back second baseman Freddy Sanchez, whom they acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline last year. As long as Sanchez is healthy, which he was not last year, the Giants hope he can return close to the form that won him the 2006 NL batting title.

Veteran catcher Benji Molina is surprisingly back, and it will be interesting to see if he can mentor a young Buster Posey and pass the torch over the course of the season. The big off-season acquisitions were two veterans, first baseman Aubrey Huff and outfielder Mark DeRosa. While not the big power additions many Giants fans had hoped for, they should be a slight improvement. The Giants have been overly reliant on an unspectacular Aaron Rowand the past few years, and have some young if unproven players to fill out the last position in the outfield.

The Giants did not lose much from their lineup last year, and seemed primed for a playoff push this year. Can the Giants challenge the Dodgers for the NL West title? Possibly, and it would add even more fuel to the fire to an already heated rivalry with a long and illustrious history that stretches across two coasts. I see this team reaching at least 90 wins, and if they can't catch the Dodgers, then a wild card berth could be a very real possibility.