Hot Tip: Manager Wins Above Expectancy

Great article in Beyond the Boxscore about quantifying the effectiveness of managers and how you differentiate their ability to manage from the talent of the players on their team. Our very own Bruce Bochy comes out looking very good.

Using Wins Above Expectancy(Pythagorean), Boch ranks as the 19'th best manager Of ALL TIME! You know how I know this is a good measure? Tommy Lasorda comes out as the 11'th WORST! LOL!

Using WAR as the measurement, Boch does even better: #4 ALL TIME!

Yeah, I know it isn't proof and the naysayers will say it's all fuzzy math, they know what the see, but it seems maybe Bochy has taken a whole lot of very unfair criticism.

Hot Stove Update: Beltran Signs With the Cardinals

Yesterday, it was announced that the St. Louis Cardinals had reached an agreement on a contract with Carlos Beltran at a cost of 2 years/$26 M. Predictably, the Giants oriented internet community erupted in a salvo of F-bombs directed at Giants management in general and Brian Sabean in particular, raging at a litany of fan grievances old and new, but mostly old.

Before getting into the signing, or non-signing, and it's impact on the Cardinals and Giants, lets get a few things out of the way"

1. Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand were signed 6 and 5 years ago, respectively. Those signings have been hashed and rehashed, reviled, spat upon repeatedly and ad nauseum. Whether they are Brian Sabean's fault or Peter Magowan's, it's water under the bridge, folks. Water under the bridge! The Giants have won a World Series Championship with those two contracts on the books. Time to move on!

2. The Giants are never going to have a payroll like the Red Sox or Yankees or Angels. I don't know if the Giants ownership group can afford more or not. I don't pretend to have inside knowledge of the Giants accounting books. But you know what? It doesn't matter! $130 M is a very reasonable payroll for a MLB team and ownership is going to set their payroll limits based on whatever they set them on and raging about it from now until doomsday is not going to change it. Again, time to move on!

3. The Beltran trade is done and has no bearing on this offseason. There was no team option to use as leverage for a new contract. There were no compensatory draft picks coming. Beltran became a free agent at the end of the season as in free as a bird. The Giants traded their best pitching prospect for a chance to revive a moribund offense, get back into the playoffs and possibly win a second consecutive World Series, nothing more, nothing less. Seeing how the postseason played out, it wasn't a pipe dream that if they could just squeak back into the playoffs they had a chance to go all the way again. It didn't work out. Time to move on!

If you need one more round of raging catharsis about any of the 3 above topics, I suggest visiting the Message Board at sfgiants.com and mccoveychronicles.com. They are conveniently linked over to the left. You will find plenty of like minded folks at both places to rage along with. On to the signing!

Carlos Beltran is one of the better hitters in baseball. He was probably the 4'th best offensive player on the free agent market after Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and Jose Reyes, maybe even better than Reyes. He signed for a very reasonable contract both in years and dollars. The Cardinals can now move Lance Berkman to first base and put Beltran in RF and still have a very good offense despite the loss of Pujols. They also have to run the table on Beltran, Berkman and Furcal staying healthy for the length of the season at somewhat long odds.

As for the Giants, most fans long ago accepted that they were not going to get Pujols, Fielder or Reyes, but the flame of hope still burned for Beltran. That he ended up signing for a seemingly affordable price caused the frustration to boil over with even greater intensity. Was he really that affordable? Beltran essentially said at the end of the season that signing him came with strings attached for the Giants, namely they had to also upgrade the top of their batting order. In essence, Beltran presented Brian Sabean and the Giants with a Gordian Knot and said, "if you can untie this, I'll consider signing" The knot consisted of 3 strands of rope tied together, 2 strands provided by Beltran, 1 by the Giants ownership group: 1. Upgrade the top of the order. 2. Sign Beltran 3. Stay under a payroll budget of $130 M. Brian Sabean countered by setting his own priorities: 1. Keep the pitching intact. 2. Upgrade CF and the top of the order. 3. Sign Beltran if there was enough left over. You had to know at that point that Beltran wasn't signing with the Giants.

As currently constructed, after all the players offered arbitration are signed, the Giants payroll will likely stand at somewhere around $126-127 M. Signing Beltran would put that number up to right around $140 M, $10 M over budget. The money would have to had to come from cuts elsewhere in the budget. This is where the discussion gets interesting and the rageaholics may have a legitimate claim that needs to be addressed. Did Brian Sabean paint himself into a corner with premature moves that ate up the money that could have been spent on Beltran?

The primary target of the "naysayers" is the contracts for Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez. Add those two and you get just under $10 M. Put that with the $3-4 M surplus and you are right at the $13 M that Beltran signed for. We'll go ahead and assume Beltran would have accepted the same deal from the Giants, no sure bet. Do you really want to lose the advantage the Giants have in the late innings of close games against LH middle of the order bats? Do you really want to turn those AB's over to George Sherrill and Dan Runzler, or to Santiago Casilla? I don't care what the WARmongers say. WAR undervalues those high leverage outs. I know there are a lot of people out there who know a lot about baseball who will continue to insist that Affeldt and Lopez are completely fungible assets and the money spent on them should have been spent on Beltran. I'm not buying what they are selling. The thought of George Sherrill or Dan Runzler facing Prince Fielder or Jay Bruce in the 8'th inning with runners on base is just too sickening, and that doesn't even count the Miguel Monteros, Andre Ethiers or CarGones of the world. OK, maybe Sherrill holds his own against LH batters but there's also the switch-hitters who managers like to turn around to bat RH. Affeldt and Lopez fair much better against them.

What about Melky and Pagan? They are going to make about $9-10 M between them. Instead of trading for them, the Giants could have simply non-tendered Sanchez, Torres and Ramirez and taken the money saved to sign Beltran with the $3-4 M budget surplus thrown in, of course. There are a few problems with this scenario:

1. It eliminates the upgrades at the top of the lineup, something Beltran had stipulated as a precondition for him to consider signing.

2. It leaves the Giants with no CF. OK, maybe you consider Tyler Graham or Justin Christian perfectly acceptable options to play CF and hit leadoff and you might be able to defend it from projections. I'm pretty sure Beltran would not find them acceptable.

As currently constructed, if the Giants stay healthy and, on average, play to their projections, they should make the playoffs and have a chance to get another ring. Signing or not signing Beltran, under the Giants circumstances does nothing to change that, in fact, a case can be made that the cuts it would have taken to sign Beltran would lessen those chances.

At this point, the Giants are looking for 5'th starter options who are willing to sign minor league deals. I think they still need another RH bat with some pop off the bench who can play OF. There should be some options for that still on the shelf after the arbitration guys are all taken care of. I can't wait for the season to start!

Hot Stove Update: Padres Trade Latos for Huge Haul

The San Diego Padres made a major trade with the Cincinnati Reds today, sending Giants nemesis Mat Latos to the Reds for a package including Edinson Volquez, Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal and Brad Boxberger. I like this trade for the Padres. I appears to me that the package they are getting is stronger than the one they got last year for AGone. This is an example of how a rebuilding team can take top notch, cost controlled talent and leverage it into even more talent that is even more cost controlled.

We all know about Latos. I don't dig his punky attitude or his hideous tattoos, but he does have undeniable talent. From the Reds' perspective, they gave up several good, but blocked prospects for a top of the rotation starter that they hope will put them over the top while they have a window with Joey Votto. There is a point of view that the Reds might have been better off in the long run trading Votto for a big package, but there is nothing wrong with this move either. Latos is more than a Product of Petco. He's big, athletic, throws hard. He can get strikeouts and grounders. He does tend to be on the wild side with both his arm and his mouth. Reportedly the Padres had concerns about how his lack of maturity would impact him going forward.

I would think Yonder Alonzo is the centerpiece of the deal from the Padres perspective. I've really liked Alonso since his college days in Miami. He not only hits for power but a terrific BA too. You all know how much stock I put in BA, especially when it's combined with power. He also exhibits excellent plate discipline to top it all off. He was a guy I wouldn't have minded the Giants drafting in 2008, not that I'm at all unhappy with Buster Posey. Alonso is kind of the opposite type of first base hitter as Anthony Rizzo, the guy the Padres got in the AGone trade last year. Alonso will likely give you a solid BA with extra base power. I project him to hit 20-25 HR's in a neutral ballpark so he could be more like 15-20 in Petco and the other west coast ballparks. Rizzo is more all power with questions about whether he can make enough contact.

Grandal is a switch-hitting catcher also out of Miami. He's projects to have a solid bat from both sides of the plate with adequate defense. He will likely spend the year in AAA for a bit more seasoning, but should be the Padres starting catcher for 5-6 years after that.

Brad Boxberger was an underachiever at USC. He seems to have found a niche in the bullpen and projects as no worse than an 8'th inning guy. He's put up outstanding K/IP ratios in the minors so far.

Volquez is a reclamation project. The Padres are likely hoping he can find success in the friendly expanses of Petco which they can parlay into even more inexpensive talent with a deadling trade or a trade next offseason.

Solid trade for Josh Byrnes and the San Diego Padres.

In other news, the Colorado Rockies signed Michael Cuddyer to a 3 year deal. Cuddyer is a guy who could really thrive in Coors Field. He could be a nice #5 in the order behind CarGone and Tulo.

Jimmy Rollins signed a 3 year deal with the Philies for $33 M and a vesting option for a 4'th season. This one hurts a little. It seems like the Giants could have figured out a way to swing this deal and give themselves a solid SS for the next 3 seasons. I think Crawford will do a fine job, but is unlikely to come close to Rollins' production over the next 3 seasons, and Rollins' deal is not crippling by any stretch.

Blast From the Past: Barry Bonds Sentence

Barry Bonds was sentenced today for his conviction of misleading a Grand Jury. More on that later. The sentence was for a month of home confinement, a fine of $4,100, 250 hours of community service and 2 years probation. The sentence was immediately stayed by the Judge to allow Bonds to appeal his conviction to the Federal 9'th Circuit Court of Appeals, a process that could take an estimated 18 months. The federal prosecutor, who was seeking a prison sentence, was not happy. He argued that Bonds led a double life, used steroids, kept mistresses while he was married 3 times, none of which had one shred of anything to do with what Bonds was convicted of. More on THAT later too!

I have to admit to conflicting feelings about the whole sorry steroid/performance enhancing drug(PED) mess. On the one hand, I abhor the whole notion that kids feel they have to take drugs like this to have a chance to succeed in their chosen sport. I want a level playing field for kids who don't put harmful substances into their bodies. The whole PED episode in Major League Baseball has diminished my own appreciation for the achievements of many players during that era, including those of Barry Bonds. On the other hand, PED's, in one form or another, are ubiquitous in the workplace for all of us, and have always been a part of the game of baseball.

Caffeine is a PED. It is a stimulant that makes you feel energetic when you would otherwise feel tired. It makes you alert when you would otherwise feel sleepy. It's everywhere! It is mildly addictive. Society has decided that it's benefits far outweigh any harm that it does or any unfair advantage it may give us. As far as I know, there is no disease process that has been linked to caffeine except maybe some irregular heart rhythms in some people, and there is no evidence that is shortens anyone's life.

Nicotine is a PED. There is a reason why it is used by many ballplayers during games other than peer pressure. Nicotine improves concentration and possibly other cognitive functions. Similar drugs have been studied as possible treatments for Alzheimer's Disease. Unfortunately, nicotine is highly addictive and it's long term use causes a host of terrible diseases that cost all of us enormous amounts of money in increased healthcare costs. There is no question that it shortens lives. Once upon a time, society accepted that the benefits of nicotine outweighed its negatives. While that is no longer the case, it is still a legal drug that can be purchased without a prescription, even though it continues to be a significant public health problem.

Alcohol could be considered a PED when used in small-moderate quantities in certain social situations. When used in high quantities or for prolonged periods of time, it can be extremely impairing and downright dangerous. It has severe addictive potential and can cause a wide variety of diseases, some fatal. It is legal for adults to buy and sell alcohol and it is widely used.

Amphetamines are PED's. They have a similar effect as caffeine only much more dramatic. They are highly addictive and can lead to behaviors that endanger not only the user but others around the user. Society has collectively decided that the risks of amphetamines outweigh the benefits. Most of them are either illegal or else require a special prescription from a physician. Yet, their use remains widespread. They were used extensively by ballplayers in the 60's and 70's, probably the 80's too.

Anabolic steroids are also PED's. They aid in building muscle mass and possibly in wound healing. Long term use can cause a variety of disease processes and behavior disorders. There is overwhelming circumstantial evidence that their use by baseball players and participants in other sports was widespread in the 1990's and early 2000's. Although many of these substances , like amphetamines, were illegal to prescribe or distribute, they were not banned by Major League Baseball until the last Collective Bargaining Agreement(CBA) with the Player's Association. There is abundant evidence that they were used with the knowledge and support of the people who govern the game. Society has rightfully collectively determined that these substances not only give the users an unfair advantage, but also carry a greater risk than benefit to the users. Although Major League Baseball has banned these substances and is now testing players for them, the Ryan Braun incident tells us that they are likely still being used by some baseball players.

I'm not sure what the point of all that is. I'll just make a few summary observations:

1. Most of us use PED's of one form or another in our own work and lives.

2. Drugs that are clearly harmful are still perfectly legal and easily obtainable.

3. Whether drugs/PED's are considered "good" or "bad" or acceptable vs unacceptable is largely determined by the consensus of public opinion.

I believe it is an open question whether it is right for players who used PED's prior to their formal banning in the CBA to be punished, either by MLB or by society through the judicial system. Of course, now that there is a formal ban and players are being tested, the rules need to be either enforced or eliminated.

In my opinion, the "War on Drugs" has done way more harm to our country than the drugs themselves. Not only has it led to incredible levels of violence and deaths, not only has it diverted resources that would be better used for other things, it has led to an erosion of our civil liberties that we should not tolerate.

A common practice by prosecutors is to use Grand Juries as a "perjury trap". Unlike other settings, you are not allowed to invoke the 5'th amendment in Grand Jury testimony if you are not the target of the Grand Jury, but neither do you get immunity from prosecution for things that are revealed by your statements. Most of us first became aware of this practice during Kenneth Starr's pursuit of Bill Clinton in the Whitewater investigation that somehow morphed into the Monica Lewinsky investigation and, well, you know the rest.

Federal prosecutors set the same trap for Barry Bonds. He had already told investigators he did not knowingly use PED's. Now he was going to be asked these questions again under oath in front of a Grand Jury. If he admitted to using PED's, then they would charge him with perjury in the investigation. If he denied using them, the prosecutors were confident they had enough evidence to convict him of perjury to the Grand Jury. Mind you, there was never any attempt to convict him of, you know, actually using PED's.

Bonds answered the key questions with "rambling, non-sequitors" that the Jury in his trial determined were "misleading" to the Grand Jury. He was convicted, not of lying to the investigators, but of misleading the Grand Jury, Obstruction of Justice. Fair enough. My only question is why is it a crime for Barry Bonds to "mislead" a Grand Jury, but it's apparently perfectly alright for the prosecutor to attempt to mislead the jury and judge by invoking all kinds of irrelevant information such as Bonds' still alleged longstanding PED use, and his habitual use of mistresses while he was married 3 times? Non sequitors! Now, THAT ought to be Obstruction of Justice!

In my opinion the biggest lesson we all should learn from this sad, sordid tale is that we can all apparently be convicted of a crime if we fail to enthusiastically support an investigation. That, and the general misuse of prosecutorial power, ought to scare the heck out of all of us.

Hot Stove Update: Arbitration Contract Tender Day

Today is the deadline for teams to tender contracts to their arbitation eligible players. The Giants have an unusually high number of players in this category including some pretty big names. Are Tim LIncecum and Pablo Sandoval big enough for you? Those guys, along with several others are no doubters. They will be offered contracts and the process will go on. At the other end of the spectrum is Eli Whiteside, who will amost surely not be offered a contract today making him a free agent. There are a couple on the bubble, most notably Jeff Keppinger and Mike Fontenot. Brian Sabean has already stated that one will be offered a contract and and one won't. It's almost literally down to who gets the chair when the music stops.

To my eye, the decision is easy. Fonty will be less expensive and can play multiple positions whereas Kepp is, for all practical purposes, stuck at 2B. Fonty had a down year at the plate last year, but Kepp was no great shakes and Fonty's projections are pretty solid. With a lefthanded leaning lineup, you might prefer a RH bat off the bench, but Fonty hits lefty's fairly well.

The Giants started out the Hot Stove League with 13 arbitration eligible players. They have pared that down to 10 with the trades of Andres Torres, Jonathan Sanchez and Ramon Ramirez. In addition to the aforementioned Tim Lincecum, Pablo Sandoval, Eli Whiteside, Jeff Keppinger and Mike Fontenot, they have 5 more including Sergio Romo, Nate Schierholtz, Emmanuel Burriss, Santiago Casilla, and Ryan Vogelsong. I expect all of those to be offered contracts. You might think Emmanuel Burriss might not be, but Sabes has been talking him up as a reserve infielder lately, which makes you wonder slightly if both Kepp and Fonty might be gone.

In addition to the 8 starting position players, teams usually carry 5 reserves and 12 pitchers to round out the 25 man active roster. They have to carry a reserve catcher who I think will be Chris Stewart. As of right now, the other 4 would be Burriss, the winner of the Kepp/Fonty musical chairs competition, Brett Pill and Brandon Belt. I'm more and more thinking Belt goes to Fresno to start the season. Leaving one potential opening for an OF reserve. Usually teams go with 2 OF reserves though, which is why I'm thinking there might not be room for both Burriss and Fonty/Kepp. Sabes specifically mentioned Burriss as having played some OF though, so maybe they only carry one.

MLB Trade Rumors has a list of potential non-tender candidates from around the league. I'll just list a few who caught my eye. Theres always some listed who are most likely going to be offered contracts, but it's fun to take a look anyway. I'm specifically thinking of players who might become non-roster invitees to spring trainging. I'll include a few others who might raise some eyebrows but would not fit into the non-roster invitee category.

Position Players:

Daric Barton- Wow! His stock has sure dropped.
Jesus Flores- Backup catcher?
Tony Gwynn, Jr.
Jeremy Hermida- I one time drafted him at the end of my fantasy draft. LOL!
Ronny Paulino- backup catcher.
Landon Powell- backup catcher
Skip Schumaker
Ryan Spilborghs
Ryan Theriot- reserve middle infielder. Better than Fonty/Kepp?
Luke Scott- Nice bat for a corner OF/1B spot.
James Loney- The Dodgers had announced they would tender him a contract. Does the DUI change that? BTW, did you hear the one about the other cars involved in his accident? They're lucky he doesn't hit hard! LOL!

Pitchers:

Taylor Bucholz- reclamation project for bullpen?
Clay Hensley- former Giants farmhand.
Andrew Miller- very nice possible reclamation project. Former high first round draft choice.
Mike Pelfrey- probably will get picked up an a major league deal if non-tendered.
Chris Volstad- I would think he would be tendered or offered a major league deal if non-tendered, but an intriguing name for t he back of the rotation.
Jerome Williams- hard to imagine him not being tendered after his season with the Angels, but the CJ signing might have pushed him out. I would also think he will get a major league deal somewhere.

Who do you like on the possible non-tender list?

San Jose A's?

I am on record multiple times saying the Giants are as well positioned for the future as any team in baseball. Some of that is based on their core of young major league level players, some on their farm system, some on their revitalized scouting/drafting operation. A lot of it, though, is based on their ownership, stadium and fanbase situation. This offseason has raised a few puffy storm clouds on the horizon. Nothing to run for cover over, mind you, but some things to check in on once in awhile to make sure a full blown tornado isn't forming.

First came the replacement of Bill Neukom as the managing partner. While I seriously doubt this will have a major impact on the future of the team, it is a bit unsettling that the move came so soon after he took over from Peter Magowan and right no the heels of the first World Series title since the franchise moved to San Francisco. While I don't believe Neukom is personally responsible for the Championship, he did accomplish some things in his short tenure that seemed to resonate with a lot of fans, including me. He wrote a franchise manual codifying some of the good things the organization was already doing. He seemed to want to emphasize scouting, drafting and player development as the way to build and maintain the team. I think Baer and the reorganized ownership group will continue to do many of those things, but yeah, it's a bit unsettling and something to be aware of.

Now comes word that Bud Selig is going to meet with the Giants ownership about a proposal to move the A's franchise to a yet-to-be-built stadium in downtown San Jose, in the middle of an area the Giants officially claim as their territory. Again, this may be no more than a tempest in a teapot, with no relevance at all for the casual fan, or even the obsessed fan, but it's worth taking a look at. I don't claim to be much knowledgeable about this stuff. My comments and thoughts will come more from the heart than the brain here. For a more rational businesslike discussion I recommend ObsessiveGiantsCompulsive's site.

I was only 2 years old When the Giants Came To Town. I didn't become aware of baseball or the Giants until I was almost 10 years old in 1966. They were a wonderful team back then. They had gone to the World Series in 1962. They had several Hall of Fame caliber players led by the incomparable Willie Mays. They were in contention every year, although frustratingly always seemed to finish in second place to someother team that was temporarily better. Then, the A's rolled into town with their carpetbags in tow. The carpetbagging aura wasn't helped by them having a huckstering medicine show operator of an owner who brought all kinds of showy gimmicks and promotions along with the A's.

Some of my friends jumped on the bandwagon almost immediately. I remember being annoyed by that. I wasn't looking for a new team to root for. The one I already had was just fine, thank you. The A's had a bunch of young players with goofy nicknames like Blue Moon, Catfish and Jumbo Jim. The Giants had Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. There was no comparison in my mind. I remember having a vague feeling that these interlopers were not good for my Giants, but I didn't really understand why.

Over the next decade, that wonderful Giants team gradually fell apart. The Hall of Famers performances faded as they grew older. Some were traded away. Attendance at Giants games faded along with the Hall of Famers. Some days you could listen to the games on the radio and hear the echo of the announcers in Candlestick Park. The players grew grumpy and complained endlessly about the terrible conditions they had to play in. My family moved out of the area. It didn't help that the upstart A's and their huckstering owner reeled off a string of championships that had eluded my Giants for so long. The Niners and Raiders seemingly had the same luck as the Giants in the football playoffs losing heartbreaker after heartbreaker. There just seemed to be a force in the world that had decided any team I rooted for was doomed not just to failure, but frustrating, heartbreaking failure. I blamed the A's and Charlie Finley. They had come in and stolen the Giants fanbase through devious, snake oily means which had resulted in the Giants being unable to afford any good players.

Of course, there was a whole lot more to it than that. The Giants Hall of Fame core was allowed to age together with nothing but Bobby Bonds to continue the glory, a burden he was ultimately unable to bear. Horace Stoneham was an aging, old school, alcoholic owner who was ill-equipped to deal with the rapidly changing financial landscape of Major League Baseball. Good young players were traded for wretched surly veterans. Candlestick Park remained a joke of a ballpark for far too long. Ironically, Charlie Finley ultimately became a casualty of the free agent era too, but not before he won a few championships to wave in the Giants collective faces for decades to come. Also ironically, the Giants high water mark of the post-Stonham era came when they were completely outclassed by the A's in a World Series that was interrupted by an earthquake that nearly destroyed the ol' 'Stick.

All that changed in 2000 when the Giants finally built a gorgeous new ballpark of their own. Pac Bell Park quickly became the envy of the baseball world. Suddenly, the Giants were the ones you couldn't get a ticket for. The A's soon became the forgotten stepchildren of Bay Area Baseball. Pac Bell Park became a national destination and the Giants were THE team to root for. Of course, the near misses, frustrations and disappointment on the field continued to plague them, but somehow it didn't seem as bad because the A's and even better, the Dodgers, were even more frustrated. Now it was the A's who were drawing 800 fans to a game. Yeah, there was Moneyball and Billy Beane, but you know, those pathetic A's fans had to have something to take solace in. The Giants owned the Bay Area. That ownership reached a crescendo with the long awaited and hoped for, and now unexpected Championship of 2010. The future was so bright, we all had to wear shades, well, except a few wretched naysayers who continued to rail against Giants management from various outposts on the internet.

Now looms the dark shadow of Bud Selig, seemingly coming to snatch away what should have belonged to the Giants and their fans all along, territory, precious territory, and along with it money, life-giving money to pay, not just the players, but the General Manager, the Scouting Director, the scouts themselves and the minor league coaches too. Somehow those of feelings of annoyance and foreboding I had as a kid as I watched the interloper A's come clattering into town and steal the glory from my team, are finding their way to the surface once again. What does this mean for my belief in the future of Giants Baseball? How much of the fanbase will is siphon away. What effect will it have on payroll? TV contracts, and ultimately performance on the field? Was 2010 both the first and last of the Giants Championships? Will the A's once again carpetbag their way to usurping the Giants dominance in Bay Area Baseball?

Hopefully these are all just suppressed anxieties from my younger days irrationally bubbling into my consciousness. The Giants still play in the Destination City. Nobody in their right mind with a choice would prefer to see a game from downtown San Jose over the gorgeousness of AT&T Park, right? No multibillion dollar company is going to want to wine and dine its clients in San Jose when they could be in San Francisco, right? All those potential fans in the East Bay will find it easier to make the trip across the bay by BART or the Bay Bridge than schlep all the way down to San Jose, right? All the TV stations that carry the games and news of the games will still be based in San Francisco, right? Brian Sabean will still be a better GM than Billy Beane, and Larry Baer, et al will still be better owners than Lew Wolff, right?

How do you feel about the A's possibly moving to San Jose?

New Collective Bargaining Agreement

I thought I would add my voice to the cacophony of uninformed opinions out there about the new CBA with emphasis on what, if any, impact it may have on the Giants. Some of this stuff is way too complicated for me to completely understand. If you want a technical discussion of the fine points there are probably much better discussions out there. I'll just share my thoughts based on what I can figure out.

Free Agent Compensation: Starting after next season, there will be no type A or Type B FA's. Teams will have a 5 day window to tender a contract to their FA's. If the offer is for at least the average of the top 125 salaries in the game for one year, then that team can get compensation in the form of a supplemental round draft pick. The signing team will also lose a draft pick but it will not go to the old team. The player has 7 days to accept or reject the offer. Only the top 10 draft picks are protected instead of the top 15.

Comment: One thing I like about this is it takes arbitration out of the picture for FA's. The compensation will not be as high a draft pick, and it will likely only involve players who were previously Type A's, but it does make it easier for teams to get compensated because there is less risk in offering a contract. It may have a somewhat chilling effect on teams willingness to sign FA's who are borderline as teams will still lose draft picks and possibly higher value draft picks. Very smart move by the owners here. I'm surprised the players allowed arbitration to be taken out of the equation.

There were some "earmarks" or specific cases that were addressed that will impact this year's FA class and quite possibly the Giants offseason plans. Specific players were taken off designation as Type A FA's including Michael Cuddyer and Josh Willingham. In these cases, the team losing the player still gets 2 compensation picks, but the signing team does not forfeit a draft pick. This could make the Giants more interested in signing one of these two players as a fallback option if they can't sign Beltran. As long as the Giants don't lose a draft pick, I might even prefer Cuddyer to Beltran as Cuddyer can play multiple positions and has less of in injury history.

Draft: Each draft pick will be assigned a "slot value" much as it is now. There will be a very stiff, graduated tax on teams who exceed the cumulative slot value for the top 10 picks including the loss of future draft picks if they go too far above slot. It's not clear what happens if a team goes way above slot for the round 11 pick or later. This could prove to be a loophole barring further clarification. The signing deadline moves up to mid July instead of mid August. The 10 smallest market/lowest revenue teams will enter a lottery to get one of 6 supplemental round draft picks each year. Since market size changes slowly over time, I would expect the same teams to be in this lottery almost every year. Over time, the value of those draft picks could be a substantial competitive advantage. Major league contracts will be forbidden.

I don't think this will have much of an impact on the Giants as they have only gone substantially above slot for Buster Posey. Buster might not have fallen to them had this rule been in place at the time though. This may not be the Apocalypse for baseball talent that some are making it out to be. Teams can still allocate resources to sign an exceptional talent. They will just have to scrimp on the rest of the draft. Conversely, teams may choose to allocate their slot money more evenly over the first 10 rounds as a strategy. The only players I see being severely affected are the two-sport players. More of them may opt to play the alternative sport if they think they can do better there.

International Signings: Teams will have a international signing allowance ranging from about $1.8 M - $5 M each year in reverse order of record. Teams can trade up to half their allowance.

I don't see this having a major impact on the Giants who have already gone to a strategy of signing multiple players to lower bonuses rather than going for that one big impact signing. Early returns on this strategy seem promising.

Equipment: New players will not be allowed to use low density maple bats. If these bats are deemed to be dangerous, I think they should have been banned for all players. Probably existing endorsement contracts played a role in this decision. Always follow the money! Hitters will be required to use batting helmets that can withstand a 100 MPH impact. I think we can all be in favor of this one.

Substance abuse: Players will tested for HGH. It's about time! Players will be required to undergo evaluation for possible alcoholism for any altercation with the law

Minimum Salary: Rises to $480 K and then to $500 K. Minimal impact.

The agreement does nothing to help minor leaguers. I agree with Bacci on this. Baseball needs to do something to improve working conditions for minor leaguers. Unfortunately, minor leaguers are not members of the "club" and therefore their interests are not represented at these negotiations.

What do you think about the new Collective Bargaining Agreement?

Around the League: Edwin Rodriguez Resigns

Word is out that Edwin Rodriguez, manager of the Florida Marlins has resigned. Ordinarily something like that wouldn't rate a comment on this Giants oriented blog, but the Marlins just happen to be the team that came into San Francisco a few weeks ago riding high. They figuratively ransacked the city, massacred the men and took the women and children into captivity. Oh, and they absolutely tore the hearts out of the team and it's fans by injuring the Savior of the Team, Buster Posey. Well, Karma is a bitch! Since that awful week, the Marlins are the team that went into a tailspin they haven't recovered from. Scott Cousins is on the DL. His mouthy roommate, Logan Morrison, has been told to "shut up and hit" by the owner. The Batting Coach has been fired, and now the manager has resigned. I have to think that the emotional trauma of the Buster injury and the ensuing media firestorm was even greater for the guilty team. What goes around, comes around. The Baseball Gods have their ways of meting out their own brand of justice.

Hot Stove Update: Do the Yankees Want Barry Zito?

This morning, Jonah Keri over on fangraphs.com caused a bit of a stir by proposing that the Yankees should trade for Barry Zito. The thought was precipitated by the announcement that Andy Pettitte was officially retiring. That leaves the Yankees a bit short on MLB quality SP's, particularly from the lefthanded side of the ship. This turn of events leaves the Yankees with a starting rotation of CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, AJ Burnett and bunch of no-names for the the last 2 spots, unless you think Joba Chamberlain is starter material. None of the current candidates are LHP's.

Why the panic over LHP's? Two things: 1. The ridiculously short porch in Yankee Stadium has always dictated that the Yanks be strong from the left side. 2. Their main AL East rivals, the Red Sox lean strongly to the left in their batting order including the two big name acquisitions, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. The Yanks had already been dealt a major blow when the guy everyone expected them to sign, Cliff Lee, went to Philadelphia instead. The Yanks can probably thank some of their hooligan fans who spit and threw beer at Mrs. Lee for that embarrassment. It probably didn't hurt the Yanks too much to try and wait out Pettitte because there really weren't any other LHP options on the FA market. On the other hand, quite a few decent RHP's got signed by other teams during the long wait. Now the Yanks are clearly in a bind despite brave talk that they can go with internal options if they have to, that rotation just isn't what you see on a playoff contender, let alone a team that is looking to win it all. The Yankees are reportedly drawing up a list of possible trade target including Scott Kazmir and Gio Gonzalez, which brings us to Barry Zito.

Zito's name has not been mentioned in any serious trade rumors. Jonah Keri's piece was basically a fan/writer with an idea. The basic line of reasoning isn't too far-fetched. Zito has one of the most maligned contracts in all of baseball and everybody assumes the Giants would jump at the chance to unload it. The Yankees seem to have unlimited financial resources. They can and have taken on bad contracts to upgrade positions. Then Keri hedged his bets by throwing out the notion of the Giants paying a half of Zito's remaining contract. Whoa there! Say what? I think that was the sound of Brian Sabean hanging up the phone!

I very much doubt that the Giants would trade Barry Zito and his entire contract right now, but I'm darn sure that they would not do any trade that required them to pay half his salary going forward. Here's why: Zito is being paid approximately $18 M per year. For the last two seasons, he's been a 2 WAR pitcher. Market price in MLB right now is approximately $5 M/WAR. In order for the Giants to replace Barry Zito in the rotation, they would have to pay somebody about $10 M unless they had a prospect ready to take over, which they don't. If they pay half of Zito's salary, $9 M and then turn around and pay a replacement $10 M, they end up with a similar pitcher and $1 M higher cost! The other problem with that scenario is there are no such pitchers even available anymore. If there were, the Yankees would be signing them as I write this! Yes, they Giants could trade prospects for the replacement, but those prospects have monetary value too, to say nothing of their talent value. Bottom line, the Giants are not going to be trading Barry Zito and picking up part of his salary!

That brings us to the question of whether the Giants would give Zito and his entire contract away to the Yanks just to get rid of it. Well, you still have the problem that they currently have no replacements within the organization and none on the FA market. Last time I checked, the Giants were acting like they're going to try to repeat as World Series winners. The Giants aren't going to compete with the Dodgers upgraded rotation or the Rockies rising stars by downgrading their pitching rotation! Now, you could argue that downgrading the rotation this year would be worth the possibility of upgrading it or perhaps make it easier to hang onto their young pitching stars in future years. That reasoning makes perfect sense to a stat nerd/armchair GM like us, but the Giants are geared up to try and win again this year. They aren't going to scuttle those plans for some theoretical future benefit. Bottom line: I find it extremely doubtful that the Giants would trade Zito to the Yankees even if the Yanks picked up his entire salary.

Hot Stove Update: Random Reactions

1. The Blue Jays already flipped Mike Napoli to the Texas Rangers for Frank Francisco in what is a terrible deal for the Rangers. If they are serious about giving Neftali Feliz a shot at starting, they are left with Alexi Ogando as the only potential closer on the team with pretty much no setup man to speak of. At best, Napoli might get 200+ AB's as the RH half of a platoon at 1B/DH because he ain't gonna be catching many games.

2. Marc Kroons is an interesting signing by the Giants. He's a 38 yo hard throwing closer who's played the last 5 years in Japan and broke the Japanese League record for velocity 3 years ago with a pitch that hit 100.6 MPH(161 km/hr). He was given a minor league contract with a spring training invite. Man, Brian Sabean has developed a taste for relievers who throw 100 MPH, huh? He'll compete with Guillermo Mota and Jeff Suppan for the final spot on the pitching staff.

3. I hope everybody was as moved by the picture of Willie Mays sitting with the Commissioner's Trophy while it was on display in NYC. Loved the mccoveychronicles.com caption about too much awesome in one room!

4. Brandon Belt was #26 on mlb.com's top 50 prospect list. There were a lot of good names on the list, but I think Belt should have be just a bit higher and that Zack Wheeler should have made the list.

5. There's a link up on mccoveychronicles.com and on Splashing Pumpkins to an article about Voros McCracken, they dude who discovered the whole world of DIPS and BABIP. I believe that BABIP is a grossly misused stat by many internet commentators who don't really understand it, and there has been a lot of refinement to it since Voros first came up with it, but it's still a great story. Understanding that history as well as DIPS and BABIP are essential to understanding what's going on in the game today, from an understanding of hitting and pitching to a greatly enhanced understanding of the role of defense in baseball. This is a must-read article for any serious baseball fan!

6. BA.com comes out with their Top 10 Giants prospects tomorrow. We'll see how Baggs ranks them and hopefully get some insight into how the Giants see their own prospects as Baggs is the best source for that info. Time to run out to Barnes and Noble to see if they have the Prospect Handbook in or else order it directly from BA.

7. Chris Ray signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners. IMO, Ray should have been offered arbitration instead of Ramon Ramirez, but it was obvious Bochy liked Ramirez better and he did do a fine job down the stretch. I just don't have a lot of faith in Ramirez going forward and think Ray has better stuff.

8. MLBTR had a poll today on who readers thought was the best remaining Starting Pitcher on the FA market. My choice was Rodrigo Lopez who pitched for the D'Backs last year and was a very nice innings eater for them.

9. Todd Wellemeyer signed a non-guaranteed deal with the Cubs. I didn't know there was such a thing as a non-guaranteeed deal in baseball. Since there obviously is, I wonder why we don't see more of them.

10. Armando Galarraga, of near perfect game fame, was traded to the D'Backs. I'm not too worried about this move. Perfect games can be very fluky and Galarraga's overall ERA was 4.49 with a measly 4.6 K/9. The BOB is a much more unfriendly place to pitch than Comerica Park. I don't expect Galarraga to do well there.

Hot Stove Update: Rent to the Reds

The Cincinnati Reds finally signed the long-rumored deal with Edgar Renteria. It was for 1 year at $2.1 M with incentives worth another $900 K. Rent seems to think he's going to get a chance to start for the Reds over youngster Paul Janish. With Dusty Baker making the call, who's to say he's wrong? Given that his body seems to be falling apart before our eyes, Rent cannot be counted on as a starting shortstop any more. I would have been fine with him as a backup for the Giants. In fact, he was probably at the top of my list for that role. $2.1 M+ is a lot to pay for a backup anything. It's just for 1 season, $2 M seems like a drop in the bucket in a $120 M payroll, but it's not my team and I can certainly see why the Giants said no.

Rent didn't have many great moments as a Giant, but the ones he had sure stick out in the mind. The visual memory that seems to be enduring for me from the 2010 World Series is of Rent taking Cliff Lee deep in Game 5 and knowing right then that the Series was won, for all practical purposes. For that moment alone, Rent will be remembered as a good Giant. I'll wish him success in Cincy, but hope the Giants don't face them in the playoffs. I know it's popular among Sabermetric enthusiasts to say there is no such thing as clutch. Well, Rent was clutch!

I've already covered the Giants reserve shortstop options in a previous Hot Stove Update: What's Left? I agree with Splashing Pumpkins. The Giants have enough internal options that Sabes can afford to wait this one out and let the market come to him.

Hot Stove Update: Cliff Lee to the Phillies

Cliff Lee's surprising decision to sign a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies exploded on the baseball scene with a mushroom cloud full of fallout extending to virtually every team in baseball. The initial reaction from just about everybody who is not a Giants fan or Giants beat writer to declare the Phillies' to have the best pitching rotation in the history of baseball and immediately award them the 2011 World Series Championship. No need to play the games, just add up the WAR's and give out the trophy. Any other outcome is just luck anyway! I mean fangraphs.com has no less than 4 articles all written by Dave Cameron, the guy who declared that first, Roy Halladay and second, Cliff Lee to be unbeatable in the playoffs, all pretty much saying the same thing in a different way. So what do we make of the baseball equivalent of the dawning of the nuclear age? Let's take a look at the fallout:

The Phillies now have themselves a very impressive pitching rotation, especially in the top 4 slots. Is it the best in baseball? I don't know about that. A website like fangraphs.com simply projects what each pitcher's WAR is going to be and, well, that settles that. Just remember, WAR is a complex, calculated state with almost innumerable variables and weightings. Fangraphs WAR may not necessarily be someone else's WAR. In fangraphs.com's WAR calculations, league and park factors are weighted heavily, too heavily IMO. Players, especially pitchers, are penalized for playing in the NL West, which is perceived to be the weakest division in baseball. Well, I'm not really sure that is true! Philadelphia pitchers automatically get a head start in WAR points for pitching in a bandbox. Well, that assumes the Giants pitchers wouldn't be able to duplicate their numbers if they were magically transplanted to Philadelphia and I'm not at all sure that is true either! Match up the Giants and Phillies in a 7 game series, and I still call it even money and wouldn't hesitate to bet on the Giants.

Remember how the Giants lefthanded pitchers dominated the Phillies lefty-leaning lineup in the NLCS? Well, this signing virtually guarantees an even more lefty leaning lineup as the Phils are out of money and looking to shed Joe Blanton's salary. Lefthanded hitting Domonic Brown is Jayson Werth's replacement in RF, come hell or high water.

The fallout goes way beyond the Phillies and Giants though. The obvious losers in all this are the two teams who thought they had at least a 50% chance of signing Lee, the Yankees and Rangers. The Yankees needed Cliff Lee and needed him badly. Andy Petitte is, once again threatening to retire and isn't the pitcher he once was anyway. The Red Sox have a very lefthanded heavy lineup and Yankee Stadium has a short RF porch. Lee was going to be the great equalizer. Well, THAT didn't work out! Texas is now left with a gaping hole in their rotation with no good way to fill it. They can try to sign Rafael Soriano to close and convert Neftali Feliz to starter or they can trade even more of their now depleted farm system for a starter. Problem is now that the Giants have shown the world just how valuable pitching is, teams are hoarding their pitching like crazy. Just ask the Phillies! And the Dodgers!

The Boston Red Sox, who have already had a pretty darn good offseason, just had an even better one. As I said before, keeping Cliff Lee out of a Yankee uniform takes away the evil empire's main chance of counteracting Boston's lefty heavy lineup. Meanwhile, the Yankee fans who spit on Cliff's wife must be thinking about moving to another country for their personal safety as it appears that may have been a real factor is Lee's now obvious distaste for signing with the Yankees.

The rest of the NL East can't be happy with this. Although the Phillies remain beatable in a 7 game series, they will win a ton of games in the regular season because their pitching will dominate a lot of teams who can't counter with pitching like the Giants. So, a titanic NLCS rematch becomes a very likely possibility.

Carl Pavano is now the best pitcher on the free agent market, making the Twins goal of re-signing him more difficult and likely much more expensive. Pavano is a good pitcher, but is also now the #1 candidate to end up with the most overvalued contract of the offseason.

Zack Grienke just got a lot more likely to be traded with the KC Royals a lot more likely to get a valuable package in return. Other teams with pitching to trade may well find the return more tempting. The Giants may be responsible for making pitching an overvalued commodity!

What do other fallout do you see from the Cliff Lee signing?

Hot Stove Update: Winter Meetings Wrap

As expected, the Giants didn't do much at the Winter Meetings in Florida. That is a good thing! Brian Sabean was like a man who got all his Christmas shopping done before Black Friday and could avoid the crowds of people trampling each other. Sabes and Bochy were able to spend their time basking in the warm sunshine of a World Series championship while everybody else shivered in the cold Florida air.

The Giants will go into next season with their championship team virtually intact. There are still some complaining that this was a team that barely won the NL West. What they forget is the Giants team that finished the season was a much better team than the one that started the season. The team that finished the season is the one coming back next year.

The Giants lost Joe Paterson in the Rule 5 draft to the division rival D'Backs. Paterson pitched well in the very tough AAA PCL last year as well as the Arizona Fall League. The D'Backs' bullpen is a shambles. Paterson will likely stick on their 25 man roster and be lost to the Giants. Personally, I would have droppped Alex Hinshaw from the 40 man roster to protect Paterson, but with Affeldt, Lopez and Runzler all coming back, it's probably no great loss.

The Giants lost Jake Blackwood to the Padres in the AAA phase. Blackwood is the indy league star who signed with the Giants late in the season. He never played a game as a member of the Giants organization. So long, Jake. We hardly knew ye! Don't be shocked if Blackwood is the Padres starting 2B next spring.

The Giants made 3 picks in the AAA phase of the Rule 5 Draft. I like this approach because there is no return rule in the minor league phases which allows the Giants time to evaluate these players over the course of a full season. The most interesting pick was catcher Dashenko Ricardo out of the Baltimore organization. This one was a bit of a head scratcher, Ricardo hit just .187 in 32 games last year, but then it came out that the Giants like his arm and are going to try converting him to pitching! I like that! Other picks in the AAA phase were Justin Dowdy from the Rays' organization. He's a LHP with a low ERA in limited action last year. The Giants also took Matthew Sartor who was just 4-9 with a 4.30 ERA at two levels last year, but had 71 K's in 58.2 IP.

Some thoughts on non-Giants activity at the Winter Meetings:

I've already commented on the Jayson Werth signing by the Nationals and the Adrian Gonzalez trade to Boston.

Boston brought along of Brink's Truck full of cash to the meetings and outmuscled the Angels for Carl Crawford. Boston now has a lineup that rivals any in baseball, including the Yankees. It leans heavily lefthanded though. Boston also did not upgrade their starting pitching and did nothing to address a very shaky bullpen. I've been musing about how the Giants might fare against Boston in a hypothetical, but quite possible 2011 World Series. I think the Giants would win, especially if they had the home field advantage. AT&T is tough on lefthanded sluggers, especially if they are not familiar with it, and we've all seen the magic of how Bruce Bochy can manipulate a pitching staff to neutralize a lineup that leans too heavily either way.

Angels fans have to be disappointed in their team's performance at the Winter Meetings. The Angels let it be known they were willing to spend and went in as favorites to land Carl Crawford, Rafael Soriano and possibly Adrian Beltre. They came away with lefty setup man Scott Downs. They are now competing to overpay Beltre and are apparently out of the running for Soriano. Once the Werth signing went down, the Angels had to know their 6 year/$108 M offer to Crawford wouldn't get it done. Either they gave up at that point, or were delusional about what it would take to sign him.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays made an interesting trade, RHP Shaun Marcum for 2B prospect Brett Lawrie. The Brewers desperately needed to upgrade their pitching rotation and got a real quality starter in Marcum. Alex Anthopoulos, who has made several quirky trades, apparently thought Marcum was expendable as he has Kyle Drabek, Deck McGuire and Asher Wociechowski lined up behind him. Lawrie has been a highly regarded hitting prospect, but is not a lock to stick at 2B and seems to have developed some attitude problems of late. He refused to play in the Arizona Fall League and some unflattering photos were posted on his Facebook page. Let's just say he doesn't appear to be the kind of guy you'd want your daughter dating. We'll call this trade a win for the BrewCrew.

The Dodgers continued to add depth to their starting pitching re-signing Vicente Padilla who can be stashed as a long reliever until he is needed in the rotation. One website speculated that the Dodgers may be thinking of trading Chad Billingsley for an elite hitter. One rumor at the Winter Meetings that go shot down quickly was James Loney and Jonathan Broxton to the Brewers for Prince Fielder. The Dodgers still need major upgrades at first base and LF, as well as better seasons out of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Replacing Theriot with Uribe and Russell Martin with Barajas upgraded their power, but added an awful lot of outs to their lineup.

What are your thoughts on the Winter Meetings?

Burning Question #2: Who's Plays Shortstop?

Maybe this should have been Burning Question #1, because of all the items on Brian Sabean's to do list this offseason, filling the shortstop position may be both the most important and most difficult. If the Spring Training started tomorrow, the Giants would go to camp with the shortstop depth chart of 1. Mike Fontenot. 2. Emmanuel Burriss 3. Ryan Rohlinger, or something like that. You can put the names in a hat and draw them at random. That's a significant downgrade for a team on which shortstop was the weakest position by the end of last season, not exactly the depth chart of a defending World Series championship team.

To make matters worse, the free agent market isn't exactly overflowing with shortstop talent. Juan Uribe, who isn't anybody's vision of an ideal shortstop is easily the cream of the crop, well, at least if you eliminate Derek Jeter from consideration. Uribe doesn't look like a shortstop, huge upper body with spindly legs, especially from the knees down. He also doesn't hit for a high average and he doesn't draw a lot of walks. What Uribe does is hit home runs, enough to make him a valuable #6 or #7 hitter. That's a lot more than you can say for most shortstops. On defense, a cannon for an arm makes up for limited range. At low priced 1 year contracts like he has had with the Giants the last two years, Uribe is a godsend to a roster. On a multiyear contract for $ several million, he doesn't look so good.

The problem for the Giants is that Uribe is no longer flying under anybody's radar. The St. Louis Cardinals have essentially announced that they are looking for an offensive upgrade at shortstop, and wouldn't Uribe fill that bill! Many baseball prognosticators have already penciled him into Cincinnati's roster, and there could be a few others hoping to catch a little of the Giants magic dust. So it's quite possible, even likely that rather than being the bargain he has been for the Giants the last 2 years, Juan Uribe will be signed to one of the most overpriced contracts of this offseason. So, what are the Giants fallback options?

Here's where Brian Sabean may have the biggest test of his entire tenure as GM of the Giants, finding a shortstop for next season if another team gets blinded by the shiny World Series trophy they saw Uribe holding. Here are some possible options:

In House:

There is the aforementioned Burriss and Rohlinger plus Mike Fontenot, assuming Fontenot is tendered a contract. Fontenot is primarily a second baseman and his fielding deficiencies at shortstop would be exposed in an every day role, just like they were exposed at 3B in the post season. Neither Burriss nor Rohlinger has shown they can hit MLB pitching at even the Mendoza line, although Burriss brings intriguing speed to the table.

Brandon Crawford is the guy who the Giants appear to hope is the shortstop of the future. Unforunately, he was injured for a big chunk of 2010 leaving him at least a half season of minor league AB's short of being ready to play in the majors.

Ehire Adrianza has a nice future as a fielder, but struggled at the plate in A ball. He's clearly not ready!

Free Agents:

Once you get past Juan Uribe, the pickings are slim indeed. Edgar Renteria could be brought back at a lower salary, say $1-2 million, but nobody thinks he is anything more than a part time player at this point. It may be worth the risk hoping he makes it to mid-season and Crawford is ready by then, but clearly not plan A.

Orlando Cabrera has made a career lately out of being a one season option. He might be the best of the rest, but really?

JJ Hardy might be non-tendered by the Twins, and thus might be available in trade for not too much. He might make a nice reclamation project.

A quick perusal of the list of minor league free agents shows nobody obviously better than Burriss or Rohlinger. Luis Rodriguez from the White Sox organization had an Andres Torres-like breakout last year in AAA, but he played almost exclusively 2B leading one to suspect that he is no longer a shortstop.

There is some talk that Ryan Theriot could be non-tendered by the Dodgers. He would be an interesting option, especially if his buddy Mike Fontenot stays on with the Giants as a utility infielder.

Trades: Unfortunately this is where Sabean is probably going to have to find next year's shortstop if Uribe goes elsewhere.

There has been some speculation that Stephen Drew may be available, but there really has been no indication that he actually is. In any event, the D'Backs would be looking for a haul in return, and they might not trade him within the division at any price. Drew would be a perfect fit, though.

Jason Bartlett had a down year and the Rays are looking to shed payroll. They have a couple of younger, cheaper options in Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez, so Bartlett might be available on the cheap. The Rays are looking for cheap bullpen help and the Giants could help them with that. Bartlett isn't a great fielder nor a great hitter, but he has enough speed to be a SB threat, something the Giants could use more of.

Boston has a logjam at SS with Marco Scuturo signed last year as a FA, but Jed Lowrie ready to take over. They may be open to trading one or the other. Neither would be cheap in terms of who the Giants would have to give up though.

There are rumors that the White Sox are listening to offers for Gordon Beckham. He played mostly 2B last year, but played an adequate SS in 2009. He is pre-arbitration eligible, and would be a nice high ceiling pickup if the Giants could put together a package for him.

The Yankees are almost desperate to upgrade their bullpen. They have proclaimed that Eduardo Nunez is the heir Derek Jeter at shortstop, but one has to think that is just a pathetic attempt at posturing in Jeter's salary negotiations. Nunez should be available for a decent reliever. He might not be much of an upgrade over Emmanuel Burriss or Brandon Crawford though.

Am I missing anyone? Who do you think will be the Giants starting shortstop next season?

Burning Question #1: Can the Giants Re-Sign Aubrey Huff?

As last year's offseason started to wind down, the Giants and Aubrey Huff were like the nerd and the ugly girl at the school dance, both left with no one else wanting them. Uh, well uh, OK. Wanna dance? Then, something amazing happened. The nerd threw his pocket protector into the trash, spiked his hair and started cutting some very nifty moves out on the dance floor. The girl took off her glasses, went in the ladies room to put on some makeup and came out looking gorgeous. The new couple went on to be named Homecoming King and Queen and lived happily ever after. Well, the Homecoming thing is true, but we don't know if they lived happily ever after yet.

Even though he was the Giants 3'rd option behind Nick Johnson and Adam LaRoche, and even though their offer was insultingly low for a guy who had hit over 30 HR's in 2008 and a couple of other times in his career, Aubrey Huff embraced the Giants, their organization and their fans like they had just given him an 8 year $127 million contract. At a time when many fans were cursing the team and clamoring for the entire management team to be fired, Huff proclaimed to whoever would listen that he was thrilled to be here because for the first time in his pro career, he felt like he had a chance to be on a winning team! He certainly did his part too! A guy who had a reputation for being overweight, out of shape and a terrible fielder got into the best shape of his life, proclaimed that he was the best athlete on the team and could play virtually any position he was asked. You know what? He just might have been right!

Huff's offensive stat line was very good, .290/.385/.506 with 26 HR's. He even stole 7 bases without getting caught once! As good as that line was, Huff had put up similar lines several times before. That wasn't the surprising part. What made him so much more valuable than he had ever been was that he was suddenly a plus defender, both at first base and the OF. All that added up to a WAR(Wins Above Replacement, as calculated by fangraphs.com) of 5.7 a full 1.7 more than his previous best(in case you are looking for some perspective on what a WAR of 5.7 means, Josh Hamilton led all of baseball with 8.0 and Aubrey Huff had the 17'th highest non-pitching WAR in baseball). That's pretty close to elite status. fangraphs.com estimates that Huff's performance last year was worth $22.5 million while the Giants paid him just $3 million, the biggest bargain in baseball not named Andres Torres, but that's a whole other story.

Here's where the lived happily ever after part starts to unravel. There are a lot of teams out there who are all too aware of the Giants success. Winning the World Series has this way of drawing the wannabe's out of the woodwork. The Giants have announced that they know they are going to have to raise their payroll for next year, but with a lot of young pitching talent suddenly becoming very expensive, and with Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand's contracts still accounting for over half of many teams' payrolls, the Giants just might not be able to outbid some of the wannabe teams out there who aren't blessed with that kind of pitching talent and may have jack to outbid the Giants even at a bumped up payroll. MLB Traderumors is reporting that several teams have already made Huff offers, possibly the Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, White Sox and even the Rangers who are in the market for a guy who can play first base, left field and DH a bit.

So, what happens if the unthinkable occurs. What if the ugly girl turned gorgeous decides to run off with the dude who shows up with the cool motorcycle and ride off into the sunset leaving the still somewhat nerdy guy standing with his hands in his pockets? Well, all is not lost! Mind you, the Giants are highly, highly unlikely to replace Aubrey Huff's 5.7 WAR, but remember, it is also highly, highly unlikely that Aubrey Huff repeats his 5.7 WAR! Sure, at 33 years old, it's possible that he's kicked it into another gear, but it's much more likely that he just had a career year. After all, he's averaged just a little over 2 WAR/season over his career and the 5.7 exceeded his previous high by almost 2! So, what are the options if the unthinkable does happen?

In House Options:

The Giants have a pretty interesting prospect who can play both first base and corner OF, just like Aubrey Huff named Brandon Belt who is starting to generate a lot of national buzz and may just be ready to play MLB by next season. While not exactly dismantling the team, finally winning the ring may give the Giants enough cover with their fan base to "go young" and bring along a position player or two.

Then there is Travis Ishikawa who will be entering his age 27 season, the beginning of most player's prime years. Travis is a stellar defensive first baseman who might just be poised for a breakout season. If he isn't, Belt might well be ready by the time it's obvious it isn't going to happen for Travis.

Let's not forget about Pablo Sandoval, who might be more likely to rebound at the plate if he is playing first base than 3'rd. Even in the terrible season he had last year, Pablo still showed flashes of what he is capable of pounding long drives into the gaps and over the wall at AT&T Park. Hopefully he gets himself in better shape over the winter and can contribute at first or third base in a big way next year.

Free Agents:

I'm assuming that if the Giants can't compete in the Aubrey Huff sweepstakes, they aren't going to get Paul Konerko, Victor Martinez or Adam Dunn either. Here's an idea! Adam LaRoche recently had his option declined by the Arizona Diamondbacks and is a free agent. LaRoche did hit 25 HR's with 100 RBI's for the D'Backs last year. He may just be kicking himself for turning up his nose at last year's Giants offer and be willing to try the Huff route with them if he's the odd man out when the Hot Stove starts to die down. LaRoche only plays first base, which limits his value, and he doesn't hit for as high a BA or OBP as Huff at his best, but his career has been more stable and he can be a very productive bat in the middle of a lineup. Carlos Pena, a guy who can hit HR's in bunches, may find his value limited by his characteristically low batting averages. Others who might have a chance to be next year's Aubrey Huff? How about Troy Glaus, Xavier Nady or Lyle Overbay?

Trades: It's pretty unlikely that the Giants are going to get a low cost, name first baseman without having to give up too much in trade, I'm talking about a Jonathan Sanchez or Matt Cain who would leave a gaping hole in the Giants greatest strength if either were traded. Don't expect Prince Fielder or AGone to be coming to SF in a blockbuster trade! Here's an idea that may be flying under the radar: The Angels seem to have soured on Mike Napoli. Napoli is a guy who is capable of hitting 25-30 HR's and could play first base while occasionally spelling Buster Posey behind the plate. The Angels need to bolster their bullpen, so a reliever and a prospect might be all it would take to land a Napoli. I'm sure there are other possibilties out there, but that's all I can think of tonight. Time to get to bed!

Do you think Aubrey Huff will be re-signed?

State of the Giants: What Do We Do Now?

There is a famous movie scene near the end of The Candidate where the candidate, played by Robert Redford, turns to his campaign advisor after being elected Senator from California and asks, "What Do We Do Now? That seems like a useful metaphor for what a lot of Giants fans are thinking right about now. So much of our identity as fans has been tied up in the "always a bridesmaid, never a bride" history of the Giants, a lot of us don't quite know what to do with this newfound exhilaration of finally winning the World Series. Yes, the Giants won the World Series! As great as being able to say that is, it still feels just a bit strange and unfamiliar.

As the euphoria slowly dies down and the offseason schedule forces decisions to be made about the team's roster for next year, the realization hits that we are less than 4 months away from starting the grind all over again. How will the new team look? How will the season feel? Will there be the same urgency to try and repeat as champions as there was to win it for the first time in San Francisco Giants history? You start to realize that while the Giants win in 2010 will stand in the record books forever, the team itself, as well as winning, is temporary, with the quest to win again never ending. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes courtesy of Duane Thomas, a former All Pro running back for the Dallas Cowboys and notorious 49'ers nemesis. After the Cowpokes had won a Superbowl game, he said, "If it's the ultimate game, why do they play it again next year?" Needless to say, that didn't exactly endear him to his coach, the team or the NFL. They ran his butt out of the league in no time.

So, what do we do now?

Winning the World Series once is crazy hard, let alone winning it back-to-back. As we all know, this was the Giants first win since the team move to San Francisco 52 years ago, but prior to that the Giants franchise won 5 times as the New York Giants, so the franchise has won it 6 times total. By way of comparison, there are just 6 franchises who have won as many IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE SPORT! Less than half of all current major league teams have even played in as many as 6 World Series contests IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE SPORT! In the 107 year history of the World Series, only 8 non-Yankee teams have ever repeated as champions, and it's only happened 3 times since 1930, the '92-'93 Blue Jays, '75-'76 Reds and the '72-'74 Oakland A's.

Remember the Angels team that won over the Giants in 2002? That team spent crazy amounts of money trying to duplicate that accomplishment over the next 8 seasons. THEY SIGNED VLAD for crying out loud! They haven't won it, or even really come close since. It just takes an incredible level of talent to win a World Series, but just having the talent is usually not enough. You also have to have an incredible passion, perseverance, and yes, a lot of luck to survive a marathon 162 game schedule and then 3 grueling series' against other teams with similar levels of talent who want it just as bad as you do. To sustain that level of intensity for a second season in a row without the Yankees' overwhelming resources is, as the data suggests, virtually impossible. The Giants might field a team that is just as good as this year's team, or even better, and still not win it again. They could make the playoffs for the next 10 years in a row and not win it again in that time.

So, what do we do now?

One thing the World Series highlighted, and didn't change, is the Giants core of young home-grown players. Much has been made of the Giants as a group of castoffs and misfits, but that narrative only goes so far. Yes, there were a lot of "dumpster dives" on the team who made enormous contributions, but at it's core, the team has what might be the best homegrown talent ikn baseball. That it is concentrated in pitching may have been overlooked by many observers, but it's no less a fact and no less important. In fact, the opposite may be true, that it's much more important to have dominant young pitching than a core of great positions players or even a mix, as the Dodgers are finding out.

The Giants position in the future pecking order of baseball goes beyond the young core of players currently at the MLB level. The Giants have a strong and involved ownership group, buffering them against catastrophe like has befallen the Dodgers one-man ownership. They have a great ballpark, maybe the best in baseball, that is a destination attraction for casual fans or even non-fans. I know quite a few people who aren't even baseball fans, let alone Giants fans, who go to games in SF just to have the experience of that stadium! Better yet, the Giants are one of the few teams in baseball who own their own park. It will be paid off soon, leaving ownership with a windfall that will keep the team financially competitive with all but possibly the Yankees for years and even decades to come.

The Giants still have a strong farm system despite the recent remarkable run of graduations to the MLB club. The system if fed by a top notch scouting and player development department which promises to keep the flow of talent coming for years to come

Taken as a totality, the San Francisco Giants are as well positioned for the future as any team in baseball. That will likely not translate into a World Series Championship every year. In fact, there's no guarantees it will ever happen again, but it does make it likely that they will contend every year for the forseeable future. As we all know, you can't win a World Series without making the playoffs first so another World Series banner or two is a lot more than just a pipe dream. What the Giants need to do is stay on course with building the team from within. It has to be a never-ending process, but as long as it continues, the castoffs and misfits will only complete the picture, not be the whole picture or even the main subject of the picture.

As the offseason moves along, I will comment regularly bout moves that affect the roster as well as take an in-depth look at the farm system. I will post DrB's 2011 Giants Top 50 Prospects starting after the Winter Meetings. I may not be posting every day as I have done in the past, but check back regularly for new postings. The hiatus after the World Series should be the longest I go without new material moving forward.

Again, thanks to everybody who visits this blog, especially those who comment. It has been, and continues to be, one of the more rewarding endeavors of my life to start this blog and watch a community start to grow up around it.

Go Giants!! World Series winners 2010!

Game Wrap: World Series Game 5- Giants 3 Rangers 1 The Giants Win the World Series!

Well, they did it! Timmy went out there and showed all those Cliff Lee bandwagoners who's really boss completely shutting down the Rangers vaunted offense for 6 innings, long enough for Edgar Renteria to win a World Series MVP Trophy with a game winning 3 run HR in the top of the 7'th inning. Nelson Cruz took Timmy deep in the bottom of the inning, but it was too little too late. Timmy finished the 8'th without further damage and then Brian Wilson mowed down the last 3 Rangers batters in the 9'th inning to close it out. The Giants Win the World Series!!! How sweet it is! Key lines:

Edgar Renteria- 1 for 3, HR! That's it for the offense, really. Cody Ross and Juan Uribe led off the 7'th with back-to-back singles. Huff Daddy laid down a surprise perfect sac bunt. It all looked like it was for naught when Burrell struck out yet again, but then Rent came to the plate after telling Andres Torres he was going to hit it out. He did! 3 run jack for the game winner and the World Series clincher. Renteria was worth every penny of the $18 Million the Giants paid him over the last 2 seasons and then some! World Series MVP and well deserved!

Tim Lincecum- 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K's. Oh my! Facing a much better lineup, I believe Timmy was more dominant than in Game 1 of the NLDS. Halfway through the bottom of the second inning, I looked around at my family, knocked on wood and said, "Timmy is on fire tonight!" Right then, I figured that if the Giants could just get him a run or two that was all they would need. It took until the 7'th inning, but they got him 3 and that was more than enough!

Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save. Wilson just kept getting more and more dominant as the season and the playoffs went along. He might just be the most dominant closer in baseball right now. Alternate take: Does anyone else get the feeling that Brian Wilson sometimes loads the bases and goes to 3-2 counts just to keep things interesting? I mean, I think he understood that the last two games in the World Series was not the time to mess around and he just came in a blew people away at will! Either way, gotta love the guy!

Cliff Lee- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 6 K's. What's with the Cliff Lee fixation out there anyway? I mean, I just scanned through the fangraphs.com game chat and Dave Cameron, who has to be the most condescending guy who doesn't know a darn thing about baseball I've ever read, was going on and on about how great Lee's stuff was. Said the Rangers had a 60-40 chance of winning tonight. Someone asked him if the ratio would be reversed if the starting pitchers were reversed. His reply? Yes! or maybe 50-50. I mean, here's a website and a guy who claim pride in ignoring small sample sizes, yet they are gaga over a guy who pitched great in a couple of playoff games yet dis a two time Cy Young Award winner and a 3 time NL Strikeout leader! Just unbelieveable! 2 innings into this game I was about 90% sure Lee was the guy who was going to crack first, and he sure was!

What can I say? With the Win, the 2010 San Francisco Giants win the World Series for the first time since moving to San Francisco in 1958. It's the first Championship for the franchise in my lifetime and the first in my 45 years of being a Giants fan. Lefty Malo has an interesting post about what it will be like to be a Giants fan now that they have won it. I'll worry about that another day! Today, I'm a happy man! No game tomorrow!

I started this blog last offseason, at least in part because I believed this team was headed in the right direction, and had a chance to be very good as soon as this year. I finally got sick of being ridiculed on other Giants fansites for saying just that. I like to think that maybe my blog was a good luck charm for this team. Hey, it's as good an explanation as any, right? I just know that I've been a passionate fan for 45 years and have stuck with this team through thick and thin. I haven't always defended management. I even called for Brian Sabean to be fired after he deliberately punted a draft pick to sign Michael Tucker, which went 180 degrees against everything I believe about how a team should be built. This year, I knew they were headed in the right direction and knew they had a chance to be very good. It's been an unbelieveable experience chronicling my thoughts on Giants baseball through this amazing, wonderful season.

I'm going to take a day or two to digest the whole experience and then decide where to go from here. Barring some unforseen catastrophe, I believe the Giants are poised for their greatest era with a great core of young players and a strong scouting department and farm system. They won't win it every year, but they will be in contention for a long time. As we all know, you can't win the World Series without getting there first!

Thanks to everybody who faithfully followed along all season. Stay tuned for word on the future of the blog. I promise I won't keep you waiting long, but I need a couple of days to let it all sink in. Thanks again everybody!

Game Wrap: World Series Game 4- Giants 4 Rangers 0

If Madison Bumgarner plays major league baseball as long as Nolan Ryan, 27 seasons, he may never pitch a bigger or better game than he did tonight. Bumgarner, coming in on 10 days rest, channeled all that energy into throwing 94 MPH darts at the corners of the strike zone giving the Texas Rangers nothing, nothing good to hit all night in one of the most astonishing performances I've ever seen as a Giants fan, not that I didn't think he was capable of doing it, but.......just astonishing! Key lines:

Andres Torres- 3 for 5, 2 2B, SB. Torres looks like he did back in the middle of the season when he was hitting line drive after line drive....a long way!

Aubrey Huff- 1 for 4, HR. Huff Daddy was the DH tonight and really got ahold of one. Absolutely crushed it down the RF line way, way past the foul pole into the highest rows of the bleachers for the Giants first 2 runs. Turned out those were the only runs Bumgarner needed before turning it over to Brian Wilson in the 9'th inning.

Buster Posey- 1 for 4, HR. Nice insurance run from Buster's bat. Didn't look like much of a swing, but the ball kept carrying and carrying and carrying. I think it's still carrying! I felt pretty good about the game at that point.

Edgar Renteria- 3 for 4. Rent continues to have a fine series. Again, if the Giants end up winning this thing, that $18 Million will be well worth it.

Madison Bumgarner!- 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. Did I say what a great game Bum pitched tonight? I really liked the way he was throwing from the first inning. I really started to think something special might be brewing when he got through the middle of the Rangers' order for the second time. That's when I knew he was going to take it deep into the game.

Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. Good call by Bochy to bring Wilson in for the 9'th. Bum was over 100 pitches and was starting to labor just a bit in the 8'th. Also, saves Bum for a possible couple of innings in a Game 7 that we all hope will not be necessary. That might have been the quickest 9'th inning by Wilson all season. Man, I went to the door for a couple of trick-or-treaters and it was over by the time I got back!

With the Win, the Giants take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the Best of 7 World Series.

Tim LIncecum faces off against Cliff Lee in a rematch of Game 1. Had the Giants lost today, Lee would be looming as a mighty imposing force, but after tonight, I'm thinking Timmy and the Giants might just finish it off tomorrow.

Go Timmy! Go Giants!!

Oh, and one more shout out to Madison Bumgarner for possibly the most thrilling pitching performance I've ever seen as a Giants fan!!

Game Wrap: World Series Game 2- Giants 9 Rangers 0

A tight, tense pitcher's duel between Matt Cain and CJ Wilson with a HR by Edgar Renteria in the bottom of the 5'th inning being the difference, degenerated into an embarrassing meltdown by the Rangers bullpen as the Giants scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 8'th inning to blow out the Texas Rangers 9-0 and take a 2-0 lead in the best of 7 games World Series. Key lines:

Edgar Renteria- 2 for 4, HR. OK, if the Giants go on to win this series, I think Rent just earned the $18 Million he's been paid over the last 2 years. You could see by the look on CJ Wilson's face when he hit the HR that Wilson knew he had just lost the game.

Juan Uribe- 1 for 3, BB. Another key, key hit and several sparkling defensive plays at 3B. I'd say OooReeeBaayyyy is the current frontrunner for series MVP.

Nate Schierholtz- Pretty much every move Bochy makes right now is coming up roses. Nate comes in a defensive replacement in the top of the 7'th for Burrell with Ross moving to LF and Nate in RF. First batter hits a flair down the LF line that Burrell might not have gotten to and Ross puts it away with ease. Next batter crushes one up triples alley that looked totally uncatchable, split Torres and Nate down the middle. Now, I know there is no way to outrun a batted ball like that, but I could swear Nate did it. Just as the ball seemed to fly on past Nate, he threw it into an extra gear and simply outran the ball! Outran the ball, I tell you! He ended up barely even stretching for it. The ball hit the glove in an awkard place and almost came out, but Nate locked it down with what appeared to be some impressive hand strength. I'm tellin' ya. I hope Willie Mays was able to watch this game, because that catch would make him proud! The most amazing thing about it, just like 'Ol Willie, Nate made it look easy! Oh yeah, the score was still 1-0 when Bochy made the defensive sub!

Matt Cain- 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. Matt Cain is The MAN! Matt Cain is a horse! Matt Cain is a freaking stud! Matt Cain......well, words fail me! Timmy may be the ace, but Matt Cain is The MAN! Dude was so awesome tonight. In the 6'th inning, with the score 1-0, things were looking mighty bleak. Cainer had given up a pair of 1 out singles to Michael Young and Josh Hamilton who then advanced to 3'rd and 2'nd on a wild pitch. So what does Cainer do? Gets Nelson Cruz on a little foul pop to Aubrey Huff and then Kinsler, who had nearly hit one out a couple of innings before, to pop up to the RF Cody Ross to end the inning and the threat. Yes, Cainer was doing a bit of riding with Lady Luck. Kinslers shot to dead CF hit flush on the upper edge of the wall and bounced up and back onto the field for a standup double leading off the 5'th. Of course Cain stranded him at 2B. Rent homered in the bottom of the inning.

Guillermo Mota- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K. Hey, a Guilermo Mota sighting! Mop up time, but made quick work of the Rangers to mercifully end it. Hey Mota! With a 9 run lead, you don't need to be that careful! Make them hit the dang ball! Hopefully this was a nice warmup for Mota and if the situation arises, we'll see him instead of Ramon Ramirez in future games.

With the win, the Giants move out to a 2-0 lead. A 2-0 series lead, especially if it's gained in your home park is not a slam dunk, but 40 out of 1 teams to do it have gone on to win the World Series. You can count on the Rangers being a different team in Arlington, Texas, and the Giants need to win at least 1 of the 3. While it's been done before, they don't want to come back to SF needing to win both games.

After a travel day tomorrow, Jonathan Sanchez takes the mound against Colby Lewis. Lewis has had a terrific postseason so far, but can be scored on. Sanchez has the stuff to shut the Rangers down, if he just stays within himself and doesn't get rattled by the circumstances.

Go Giants!!

Oh yeah, Matt Cain!!!!

Game Wrap: World Series Game 1: Giants 11 Rangers 7

As often happens, an anticipated pitching duel turned into a slugfest. More surprisingly, at least to the so-called experts who seemed to think Cliff Lee was the greatest pitcher in postseason history(seems like we get a new one every series, huh?), the Giants were the ones doing most of the slugging. They got a lot of help from some very bad defense by the Rangers and some very good defense by the left side of the Giants infield. Had to feel just a bit for poor Vlad Guerrero out there, THAT was downright embarrassing! The statue named Michael Young playing 3B for the Rangers probably actually cost them more runs than Vlad, though. Key lines:

Andres Torres- 1 for 4, HBP. I wasn't sure Torres should be in there against the LHP, but he scored two key runs. Looked better at the plate from the right side than the left.

Freddy "The Mole" Sanchez- 4 for 5, 3 2B. 3 consecutive doubles set a World Series record. I think we can officially declare the Tim Alderson for Freddy Sanchez trade a success and put it to rest.

Aubrey Huff- 3 for 4, 2B. Man, Huff Daddy sure does hit lefthanders well, doesn't he?

Juan Uribe- 1 for 4, HR. Uribe and Burrell looked like they had a bead on Cliff Lee all night and they kept just missing, fouling pitches straight back before striking out on a little cutter he kept throwing to get out of trouble. O'Day wasn't so lucky as OooReeeBayyy got all of it. What was even better, the 2 inherited runners that scored ahead of him raised Cliff Lee's postseason ERA even more.

Tim Lincecum- 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. Timmy was maddeningly inconsistent, looking great at times and terrible at others. probably just as well he came out when he did. At 93 pitches, maybe he'll be stronger in his next start, if it's necessary! I'll just say that the Rangers don't swing at pitches outside the strike zone(except Vlad), which is something Timmy gets teams to do for most of his K's. Watch for that to be a factor as the series progresses.

Santiago Casilla- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. I'm not at all sure the Giants would have won this game without the 4 huge outs that Casilla got tonight. Dude was nails!

Javier Lopez- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. Not sure it was necessary for Lopez to come in to face Mitch Moreland, but the game ended up being a lot closer than I would have liked and he got an important out that took the game to the next inning. Romo just isn't very good against LH hitters right now, so it was probably the right move.

Ramon Ramirez- 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. Can we have Mota the next time, please? Personally I would have left Ramirez off the roster in favor of Chris Ray, but Bochy seems to be on love with Ramirez right now.

Brian Wilson- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. Hated to see Wilson used in a non-save situation, but even I was getting a bit jumpy there at the end. This was a must-win game for the Giants, especially after blowing out Cliff Lee the way they did. A blown lead at that point might have doomed the series right there. We'll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

With the win, the Giants take a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series. Plenty of teams have come back from a 1-0 deficit to win the World Series, but losing game one at home is never a good thing. Some random observations on covered above:

The Rangers are a good hitting team. Except for Vlad, they don't swing at pitches outside the strike zone, even with 2 strikes. I guess I already covered that one, but it's worth mentioning again. They will be a much bigger challenge for Giants pitchers than either the Braves or Phillies.

The Rangers are a very bad defensive team. I seriously doubt we will see Vlad in the field again, so that will help them, but Michael Young is very bad too. The Giants superiority on defense will be and already has been a major factor in the outcome. Oh, and Aubrey Huff is really starting to worry me over at first base. That's the second ball he's kicked badly this postseason.

Even though the Giants bullpen wasn't great, it was better than the Rangers by a lot, except for Ogando who had no business being out there with a 4 run deficit.

Bruce Bochy outmanaged Ron Washington which doesn't seem very hard to do. Washington left Cliff Lee in there at least 3 batters too long. It seemed like Washington was leaving him in there just so he wouldn't have to bring in a bullpen lefty to face Huff. First of all, Huff hits lefty's darn well, and by the time Huff came up it was way too late anyway. Obviously the decision to play Vlad in RF was disastrous. He burned Ogando for 2 innings in a game the Rangers had a 99.8% chance of losing at that point. That's actually the true percentage, you can look it up! Of course Washington looked terrible in Game 1 of the ALCS and it ended up not affecting the ultimate outcome of the series, so I guess we shouldn't be too smug about it just yet.

Matt Cain now takes the mound tomorrow night, weather permitting, to face CJ Wilson in Game 2. Cain is probably the Giants pitcher most comfortable working in the strike zone, so the Rangers' impressive plate discipline shouldn't be a huge problem for him. Wilson has had a good season, but he's also hittable. I'm cautiously optimistic for another Giants win here. In the event of a rainout, the game will be played Friday night with no travel day before Saturday's Game 3 in Texas.