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SF Giants 2010 outlook GO Giants!
I didn't get my usual season tickets this year. I probably should have since I don't have a job, than again, I don't have a job so I probably shouldn't be buying season tickets.
Talk about a catch-22.
I've lived in the Bay Area for most of my whole life. Was born and lived in SF till I was 5, parents moved me to the suburbs and I've basically lived there ever since, and rooted for the giants the whole time. My Grandfather, who came here when he was 16, said the Giants when they came from NYC to SF were the first team he ever felt something for and in his old age when I helped take care of him, he never once missed a Giants radio broadcast. So I guess the Giants have always been part of my family. Larry Baer is a member of the local country club and I've spoken to him a few times over the years. I've met more players than I can remember, in fact, many live in my city during the season. Giants baseball and the sun are what I really love about where I live in California.
Anyways, enough with the explanation of my affinity for the Giants.
On to the season.
I don't really feel like making an wild predictions or anything. I think the Giants with be "The Giants", a little bit better than .500 with a shot at the playoffs. They NL West is obviously one of the weaker divisions in the baseball and with the pitching the Giants have, we have a chance at the division crown. I typically say this every year, and the last time I was right was 2003, the last time they actually won the west.
Pitching- This is obviously the strong suit of this year's team.
Any starting rotation that including 2 time reigning CY Young winner Timmy Lincecum is going to be good. Add to that Matt Cain who was near as dominate as TL last year and they are downright scary good. Oh, and young. Cain and TL are both in their young 20s and should have many of their best years ahead of them, hopefully all in Giants uniforms.
Everyone knows that the Giants 1/2 punch of Cain and Lince is as good as it gets, so what about the rest of the starting 5? We have 3 pitchers who have all the potential in the world, which if any of them will prove themselves this year? That's a tough question. I really believe that Zito will rebound this year. Call me crazy, call me a homer, call me whatever, but I honestly believe it. His mechanics seem better and he also seems to have gotten out of his own head and is just throwing the ball rather than trying too hard to 'pitch'. Jonathan Sanchez may be the biggest question mark of the 5. He was around 8-12 last year with a 4ish ERA. Not horrible, just not that good. He did shine in a few games last year including a no-hitter, so he has good stuff, how often it shows up is the big question. The final of the 5 is youngster Madison Bumgarner. I was lucky enough to actually see him live in his first career start last year and let me tell you, I think the kid is going to be a stud. He has only that single start in his major league career, and he is going to be put into the rotation as the #5 to start the year. Look for great things from this young man.
All and all, the Giants have all they could ever ask for from a starting rotation.
Bullpen- This is an area the Giants did well in last year, and I expect them to improve this year.
I really hope that some of the arms we picked up will be solid. Brian Wilson is a great closer and should do well again this year. This will only be his 3rd year but I think he is already one of the better closers in the league. Jeremy Affeldt was as good as it gets for a set up man last year for us. We have some good young arms in Joaquin and Runtzler as well as more established guys like Medders and Romo.
Hitting
So everyone is probably aware of how badly the Giants have struggled ever since Barry retired. One of the main problems in my mind is that we typically go after guys that are in the twilight of their career and we expect them to be able to preform like when they were in their prime. Unfortunately, we did the same thing this year with the signing of Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa (not sure DeRosa was ever that good). I do like Huff and think we could have some impact, but the real problem is the giants REALLY need a GREAT bat, not a decent one. I suspect that we once again struggle to score a ton of runs. It's hard for me to even understand with all the struggle we had scoring last year that we wouldn't really try to either acquire one of the guys that was available via FA, or at least try to maybe trade one of our pitchers to get a someone that could really turn things around.
Anyways, rather than complain about we didn't do, let's take a look at what we DO have.
My prediction for the line up will be-
1. Aaron Rowand- I still can't believe that we paid this bum as much as we did. He's a pretty good defensive CF, but his bat really leaves something to be desired, especially at the lead off spot. He's not fast enough to really to steal many bases and doesn't have a great OBP.
2. Juan Uribe- I really like Uribe batting 2nd. He got hot towards the end of last year and really showed that he a dangerous hitter. He hits a lot of line drives and that plays well at SBC Park. He also has some decent pop, he hit 16 HRs in about 400 ABs and hit close to .300. Not bad for a guy that will probably end up as back up to Freddy Sanchez (A move I don't agree with at all)
3. Pablo Sandoval- Panda was absolutely amazing last year. The kid has a beautiful swing and can hit to all fields. He hit .330 , 25 HRs, and 90 RBIs in his first full season. He is head and shoulders the above the rest of the giants team hitting wise. He has also been training a bunch in the offseason and I've heard from people that he has lost close to 20lbs already. I expect great things about of his again this year. I really think he wins a batting title and establishes himself as a perennial all-star.
4. Aubrey Huff- It's hard to really look forward to your team's offense when Huff is your clean up hitter. I guess it's better than having Benji Molina hitting there as we did last year, but still, Huff hasn't done much the last few years. Could be reemerge and hit like he did in Baltimore in 2008? I hope so!
5. Mark DeRosa- The Giants other 'big signing' of the offseason. I personally think he is just a decent middle of the road player as of now. Guy has been around over 10 years and only starting showing some power the last 2 or 3. Once again, not who you ideally want hitting #5, but who knows?
6. Benji Molina- Big Money Benji has been carrying this team on his back the last few years. He's coming off a really solid year, but he's also getting older and that is tough on a catcher. I really hope that they bring up Buster Posey late in the year to learn from him. If Benji can put up his normal .280/15/80, I'll be happy.
7. Nate Schierholtz- I expect that Nate gets to play everyday this year and it wouldn't surprise me to see him go .275/18/75 hitting out of the 7 hole.
8. Edgar Renteria- Washed up and only playing SS b/c he is a decent defender. I don't think he will do much and I wouldn't be shocked to see Boche play Emmanuel Burris a bunch this year to add some more speed to the offense.
All and all, we are probably one of the weaker hitting teams in the NL. I pray we make a trade early in the year to get one good bat.
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Good shit Joey. 
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