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Giants Face New Obstacle Without Vogey

2013-05-23T14:47:00.001-07:00

Since your reading this blog, you're probably no stranger to the fact that Ryan Vogelsong, one of the Giants steadiest starters the last 2 seasons before his slow start to 2013, will be shelved for the next 6 weeks with a fracture on his throwing hand.

The question now for a team who's pitching staff was already working it's way out of a funk before this injury, is what do they do know? Wouldn't you know it, Vogey had been the Giants worst starter heading into his start Monday night, but coincidentally was turning in his best effort to date with a 5 inning, 3-hit taming of the powerful Washington Nationals. He was starting to look like the pre-2013 Vogey, hitting his spot with his low-90's fastball and showing complete command with that curve and change. Who knows if this was the first step towards him regaining his form or not, but nevertheless, we'll have to wait until July to see what kind of pitcher he'll be after this surgery. For a pitcher to have a fracture like that in his throwing hand than come back in be successful within a month or so seems a little optimistic, but Vogey is one guy I'm not counting out. This does leave, however, the question as to what the Giants will do with Vogey's rotation spot until he is ready to return to the team. Chad Gaudin will be the immediate replacement, and the Giants may give him a few starts to see if he can hold that down, but he's done such a good job in the bullpen that they may have a hard time finding an adequate replacement for him there. Especially now with Santiago Casilla on the shelf as well.

Not only is this injury causing a big hole in the starting rotation, but it could end up taking away arguably the Giants best reliever (not named Romo), to date. Now, the Giants have two upcoming off-days, including Thursday, and may not need a 5th starter for another couple of weeks, but eventually they're going to need someone to step in and take 5+ starts (assuming the timeline is correct). If they do decide to keep Gaudin in the pen, which is what I'm hoping will be the choice, the top couple names down in Fresno are hardly banging the door down to the big leagues. We talked a bit about Michael Kickham and Chris Heston as fall-backs a week ago after the Giants starters had that pitiful roadie in Toronto and Colorado, but again, those two just aren't pitching up to expectations in Fresno, so I have a hard time seeing either get brought up to San Francisco right this moment. Kickham, however, could have a leg up as he's gone 2-1 with a 1.66 ERA and 25 K's in 25 innings of work over his last 4 starts. The issue with him is that he's not on the 40-man and the Giants would have to make an ensuing move in order to make him ML-roster eligible. Again, they do have a few weeks to see how things shake out, but a decision will eventually need to be made, and my money would be on Kickham if his has another couple solid outings during that span.

Offense Heating Up, Starters Continue to Struggle

2013-05-17T16:30:00.001-07:00

After playing their two worst games of the 2013 seasons north of the border in Toronto, the Giants got back on track Thursday in Colorado. They came back from an early 6-run deficit to beat the Rockies in game one of a 4-game set and will look to feed off that momentum throughout the weekend.

In each game up in Toronto, the Giants starting pitcher put the team behind the 8-ball significantly early on. Barry Zito got knocked around pretty good on Tuesday night, but the real concern coming out of that series has to be with Ryan Vogelsong. I talked extensively about Vogey's struggles in our last post, so I won't keep beating a dead horse, but we're 1/4 of the way through the season, and it's really time to start assessing performances. Needless to say, Vogelsong has been one of the worst starters in the game up to this point and is now sitting at 1-4 with a 8.06 ERA and 1.84 WHIP. The other starter I'm starting to worry about is Matt Cain, who's been dealing with many of the same problems as Vogelsong. 'Cainer strung together a couple of quality starts his last two times out and was showing signs of the old Matt Cain rounding into form, but he was lit up by Colorado Thursday night in game one, giving up 6 runs on 8 hits, including 3 long balls, over 6 1/3 innings. Luckily for Cain, the Giants offense was up to the task and were able to come back and earn the right-hander his third straight victory, but it was hardly a performance he'll be happy about. What's effected Cain the most this year has been the long-ball. He's given up 13 in 56 innings after giving up just 30 the last two seasons combined.

So, with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum's ERA in the mid-5's and Vogey's north of 8, the starting pitching is hardly responsible for the Giants' current first place standing. Sure, Madison Bumgarner has done his best to help overcome the slow starts by the others, and Barry Zito has been pretty steady for the most part, but it's been the Giants offense that has been the driving force to their success this year. They showed early on this year that they have the ability to comeback in games and with the pitching struggling, that's been something they've had to do quite frequently. Unfortunately, they got down by too large of deficits in Toronto but they got back to their come-from-behind ways in Colorado. There are certainly better lineups in baseball, but the Giants are extremely stable from 1-5 in the order and are finally getting some production out of the bottom of the order too. Their 6-8 hitters played an integral part in Thursday's win, going a combined 4-10 with 5 RBI and 4 runs scored. Brandon Crawford helped pace the bottom 1/3 of the order with a huge April, and has clearly been the most improved Giant in 2013. Meanwhile, Brandon Belt was nowhere to be found offensively in April, but he's quietly been putting things together in May. Belt is hitting .275 with 3 HR, 10 RBI 9 runs and an impressive .958 OPS this month.

If there is one thing still lacking in this lineup though, it's that right-handed hitting corner outfielder that I knew they would need in the offseason, but they never were able to tackle it. A right-handed bat would be ideal in the 7-spot splitting Belt and Crawford. Gregor Blanco has been pretty solid at the plate, but Andres Torres isn't giving the team the right-handed platoon option they need, and Francisco Peguero didn't get the job done in his brief audition. Sabean's top priority heading into trade season will be a quality starter, but a right-handed bat for the outfield will continue to be a necessity until a remedy is found.

Giants' Pitching No Longer a Powerhouse

2013-05-10T13:57:00.001-07:00

For the last 5+ years, the Giants have had what many consider one of the top pitching staffs in all of baseball, top to bottom. This year, however, their starting pitching has taken a major step back, and the bullpen isn't quite as bullet-proof as it's been the past few seasons.

After nearly being swept by the struggling Phillies, the Giants have started out behind the 8-ball in their 4-game set with Atlanta, as Ryan Vogelsong had yet another tough outing Thursday night that pushed his ERA up to 7.78 through his 7 starts. Vogey gave up 6 runs on 7 hits through 4 1/3 and surrendered his league-leading 9th home run of the season. As bad as things have been with Cain and Lincecum this year, Vogelsong has had the roughest go of it through the season's first 6 weeks, and it's gotten to the point where even Bruce Bochy is showing some concern. The three right-handers in the rotation (Cain, Lincecum and Vogey) carry a combined ERA in the 6's, and when asked about the struggles in the starting rotation, Bochy quickly replied that there are other options he could go to in terms of starters should this string of bad luck continue. I'm not sure what exactly he means by that, as the Giants are hardly deep with major league ready starting pitching, but he could mean sliding Chad Gaudin into the rotation for a start or two while giving Vogey a couple weeks to work on some issues. It's not like Vogelsong has all the sudden lost his stuff. He struck out 7 batters in his 4 1/3 innings Thursday, but he's just not hitting his targets with consistency like he's done so well in his recent Giants' tenure.

I can't really think of who else Bochy could be referring to when he says "other options" for the starting rotation besides Gaudin. If you look down at Fresno, they're having much of the same issues the Giants are having as up here, as all their starters have gotten off to rough starts as well. Mike Kickham (0-4, 5.65 ERA) and Chris Heston (3-2, 5.82 ERA) would likely be the first two options, but they certainly aren't beating the

Will Sabean Deal for SP?

door down and forcing the issue right this moment. If Vogey continues to struggle though, and the Giants feel a long term change may be in order, they could look outside the organization at various arms that could be available via trade, but it's still so early in the season that they'd probably have to overpay for any decent starting pitcher worth making a move on. One guy who I would take in a second, and someone I've been watching closely this season is Bud Norris. Obviously being the worst team in the game, the Astros are in complete rebuilding mode, and Norris is one of the guys on that roster that may be able to fetch a few solid prospects in return. Not sure if the 'Stros are open to dealing him at this time or what they'd even want for him, but he's definitely a guy I could see excelling in the pitcher friendly confines of AT&T Park.

As far as the bullpen is concerned, things have been pretty good at the back end, as Romo is 12-14 in save opportunities and Santiago Casilla has done a nice job in the set-up role. That's not really the issue, but what I am afraid of is Boch overusing Casilla as he really is the one right-hander Bochy trusts late in games besides his closer. Unlike with their starting rotation though, the Giants do have some clear-cut options within the organization should they feel the need to mix things up. Jean Machi has shown with every opportunity he's gotten that he's a big league-caliber reliever, with the potential to be a very good one.Also, with the way Heath Hembree has started the season in Fresno, it wouldn't surprise me to see him in San Francisco sooner than later, taking on a significant role as a late reliever. Hembree would provide Bochy a legit arm with closing experience who could help keep Sergio Romo fresh for the stretch drive.

Giants Look to Carry Momentum Back Home

2013-05-02T16:08:00.001-07:00

After getting swept in San Diego by lowly Padres, the Giants had a statement to make in Arizona, and they turned what started out as a miserable road trip into a decent one by sweeping the D-Backs in Arizona.

It was like the tale of two teams in each of the two series' on that road trip, as the Giants the Giants just kept finding ways to lose in San Diego then turned into the comeback machine again in Arizona. I figured it was going to be a tough roadie after the way the first two games of the trip went. First off, the Giants got another beautiful effort out of Tim Lincecum that was all for not. Timmy threw 7 innings of 2 run ball, striking out 9 Padres and giving the Giants more than enough opportunity to take control of the game, but the offense just couldn't figure out Andrew Cashner. Then in game two, things fell apart late and the defense came up with some costly mistakes, something you rarely see this team do. The bullpen was getting beat up a bit, the starting pitching, besides Timmy, did not impress and the offense looked completely outmatched by San Diego pitching. After the series with the Padres, I was beginning to wonder whether the Giants would still be a .500+ team when they returned this weekend.

However, as frustrating as things started out in SoCal, they were essentially forgotten with the rallying this team did in desert. The one Giant who really needed to step it up offensively and start producing some runs did just that, and it played a instrumental part in the Giants getting right in Arizona. Brandon Belt, who had that torrid spring and had all these expectations coming into the year, finally found his groove a bit, and hit a couple of crucial big flies that ended up being the difference in games one and three, and all of the sudden Belt's numbers for this season have taken a 180. Over the last 10 games, Belt has hit all 3 of his home runs, driven in 9 of his 14 RBI and has seen his average spike from .183 to .244. We've always known Belt has the ability to put numbers up in a hurry, which is the reason his slow start didn't worry me too much. I am curious to see where he goes from here though. Last year, he had a week where he hit 4 homers and drove in 10 runs or something crazy, and everyone thought he'd take off after that, but it didn't really happen. This time around though, I'd be surprised if we don't see a more consistent Belt, and see those numbers steadily rise over the next few weeks. He's obviously got the talent, he's just got to get that confidence going and it sure looks like he's found it here in early May.

So, after the roller coaster road trip, the Giants will kick off a big 10-game home stand with three vs. LA over the weekend, 3 vs. Philly next week and 4 vs. the powerhouse Braves next weekend. Of course, the games with LA are always intriguing, but I'm really looking forward to facing Atlanta. Right now, I think the Braves and Giants have the two best all-around squads in the NL and even though it's still very early, I'm anxious to see how these two measure up vs. one another.

Giants Go 4-2, Narrowly Miss 6-0 Home Stand

2013-04-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

After taking the first 4 games of their mini 6 game home stand, the Giants narrowly missed walking away with a 6-game sweep as they battled the D-Backs into extra innings in both of their losses.

With the Diamondbacks taking 2 out of 3 in the series, it pulls them to within a half game of the 2nd place Giants, who are now 1.5 back of the first place Rockies. It's really a shame they couldn't quite squeak out Wednesday's game to back a terrific outing by Madison Bumgarner and take the series vs. Arizona, but everyone will happily take a 4-2 stint anytime. Bumgarner has been the Giants default ace throughout the first month of the season, and he showed you exactly why Wednesday, going 7.1 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and a walk to go with 7 punch-outs. The performance lowered his ERA to 1.87 and his WHIP to 0.89 to go with his 3-0 record. As great as MadBum was Wednesday though, the two key starts during this home stand in my eyes though came from the arms of Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. Lincecum had the best outing of his young season, and really one of the best starts I've seen from him since 2011, granted it was vs. the Padres. He shut San Diego out over 7+, walking just 1 and striking out 8. Zito's outing was big just because he got rocked last week in Milwaukee, so he needed a strong outing to avoid getting back into one of his ruts, and he delivered.

Outside of Bumgarner, the Giants starting pitching has had some question marks early on. Cain and Vogey have gotten off to slow starts, and prior to his last outing, Lincecum has been off as well. I fully expect Cain and Vogelsong to come around sooner than later, and Zito has been solid outside of that start in Milwaukee. The wild card continues to be Tim Linececum. Look at all the success the team had last year with Linececum actually holding them back in some instances, then imagine if they get that sort of play coupled with a re-born ace!

As far as the offense is concerned, they didn't really light things on fire over the last week, averaging just 3.5 runs per game over the 6-game span, but their are a few huge positives they'll be taking out on the road with them. First off, it looks like Buster Posey is finally getting things into gear. He hit homers on back-to-back nights (his first two of the season) and drove in 6 vs. the Padres and D-Backs which is over half of his total for the season to date. Secondly, Brandon Crawford has just kept fire after a real strong roadie last time out, carrying that success back home with him and really showing how far he's come in the power department. Crawford hit the game-tying shot in the 8th inning of Wednesday's game for his 4th of the year, which ties him with Hunter Pence for team lead. He'll carry a clean .320 average, 4 big flies and 10 RBI into this road trip, and is the Giants' toughest out at the moment. Meanwhile, the other Brandon, who hit the big game-tying home run off J.J. Putz to help the Giants complete the comeback win in game one vs. Arizona, looks to be breaking out of his slump too. After tearing up the Cactus League this spring, I would have thought he'd have his first home run before April 24th, but going 6 for 14 with some big hits on the home stand certainly is a step in the right direction.

Giants Slowed Down In Milwaukee

2013-04-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

After starting off the road trip by taking 3 of 4 in Chicago and winning in comeback fashion, the Giants came just short of pulling off two comeback wins in the first two games of their series with the Brewers.

In game one, the inevitable happened as Barry Zito came tumbling back to earth and his 16-start team winning streak came to an end as the Brewers really teed off on him. It was the worst I've seen Zito look since early last year as he just wasn't fooling anyone and didn't have his crisp command working for him but it was one game in a live yard and I'm confident he'll get back on track in his next outing back home. Ryan Vogelsong had the complete opposite luck in Wednesday's game, as the Brewers jumped him for 3 early runs, but he nailed down after to turn in a very solid effort. It's really been only one Brewer's hitter that the Giants haven't been able to figure out and that's been Yuniesky Betancourt. Had it not been for his grand slam in game one, then two-run job off the top of the wall in center in game two, we're likely looking at two Giants' victories. If you would have told me a Brewer would have 2 homers and 7 RBI in the first two games of this series, my money would have been firmly on Ryan Braun, but the scary thing is, he's really done nothing in the two games yet and is bound for a breakout in Thursday's finale.

If there is one positive to take into game three in Milwaukee, it's that the Giants have the confidence that they'll be in the game no matter what happens early on. They got behind by 6 on Tuesday and almost made the full comeback, then erased that early 3-run deficit vs. a Kyle Lohse that was very much on his game on Wednesday. Both Vogey and Lohse had off innings, but were dominant for the other 6 they worked, leaving it up to the bullpens. Typically, in a close, late game you like the Giants chances, but they're working without one of their best relievers in Jeremy Affeldt and they didn't help themselves as Brandon Crawford made a rare fielding mistake on a throw he shouldn't have made in that bottom of the ninth. On the other hand, Crawford was one of the main reasons the Giants were even in this game as he collected another multi-hit game and improved his hit-streak to a career-high 10 games. He's showing more power and has looked like a completely different hitter at the plate early on in 2013. You can see it in his body language it the plate and I'm now expecting good at-bats from him each time out.

Tuesday's loss can be attributed to an off night for Zito and his historic inabilities at Miller Park, but you can't really put Wednesday's loss on one guy. Santiago Casilla was the losing pitcher, and Crawford's errant throw helped set up the winning run at third with less than two outs, but the Giants did have some opportunities to move ahead in this game after they tied it in the 6th. Their offense has slowly been rounding into form, but they still aren't getting much from Buster Posey or Brandon Belt and until one of those guys gets going, they're going to have to continue to scrape for runs. On most nights, their defense and their pitching will come through for them, it's that offense that's going to be the question mark all season long, and they fell just short in a winnable game Wednesday!

Offense Starting to Come Around

2013-04-13T16:03:00.000-07:00

Through the first week of the season, the Giants pitching was on point and it had to be, cause their lineup wasn't giving them much support. However, they've picked things up in week 2, and head in to Sunday's game in Chicago with a chance to take 3 of 4 from the Cubbies.

The two wins in this series have come behind the arms of Ryan Vogelsong and Madison Bumgarner, who each earned victories in opposite fashion. Vogelsong gave up five runs early on in the series opener on Thursday, but buckled down after that, and ended up pitching well enough to allow the Giants to come back from the early 5-run deficit. Then on Saturday, Madison Bumgarner had the Cubs hitters absolutely stuck until the 7th inning, when they finally broke through for 2 runs against him. Still, the start was good enough to earn MadBum his 3rd consecutive victory to start the season, and he'll carry a 1.77 ERA and 0.94 WHIP into his next start. The starting pitching, particularly Bumgarner and Zito, has really been excellent through the first couple weeks of the season, but there is still one guy the Giants really need to get going, and he'll be taking the ball in Sunday's series finale. That is of course Tim Lincecum, who did manage to earn a victory in his first start of the year in LA, but has been ridiculously wild in each of his first two starts in 2013. After last seasons major drop-off, coupled with the rough spring he had, the concerns about Lincecum are legitimate, and I'm very curious to see what he does his third time out there.

While the pitching has been really solid throughout, the offense has been a step behind, but they're starting to catch up a bit. The key to me, as it was last year, is the top of that order. When Pagan and Scutaro are each hitting and getting on consistently, it just seems to make this lineup go. Scutaro was off to a really slow start that first week, but he's busted out of his slump this week, going 9 for 15 since the start of the Rockies series. Also, Pablo Sandoval has continued to come up with the clutch hit time and time again, and the Giants really dodged a bullet Saturday when he went tumbling into the stands making a play a foul pop up. With his weight issues, and his nagging elbow injury, it almost feels like a DL-stint at some point will be inevitable, but somehow he made it out of that play in one piece and managed to finish the game. Without the Giants getting much in the middle from Buster Posey and Brandon Belt yet, it's been key that Sandoval and Pence have each had pretty good starts, and they can't afford to have Panda missing any time right now. Brandon Crawford and Andres Torres have each picked things up a bit as well lately. Crawford is looking as good at the plate now as I've seen him since coming up in 2011, hitting safely in all but two games in this 2013 season and even starting to show some extra-base power. Torres (despite striking out 3 times Saturday) has 5 hits in his last 11 at-bats, including 3 doubles, and could start to grab reigns of that left field job if he keeps up that kind of production.

Pitching Continues to Dominate Early for Giants

2013-04-05T16:48:00.002-07:00

The Giants' rotation was considered one of the better ones in baseball coming in, and they certainly haven't disappointed through the first 4 games of the season.

After Matt Cain's solid outing in the opener that the Giants couldn't support offensively, things have gone all good for the Orange and Black. Madison Bumgarner followed Cain's start with 8 shutout innings of baseball in game two, and although he didn't do it in spectacular fashion, Tim Lincecum got the W in his 2013 debut in the rubber match with LA and didn't allow a run despite walking 7 over 5 innings of work. All these performances led up to another big one, as the Giants came home to raise the flag for their 2013 home opener, and Barry Zito picked right up where he left off in last years game 5 vs. St. Louis in the NLCS. Zito went 7 shutout innings, and displayed a lot of the traits that made him successful in the 2nd half of last season and in October. He was in the strike-zone constantly, and he had pretty good command of all his pitches. The fastball was being located on the corners, the curveball stayed down in the zone and the change and little slide/cutter he throws were on point. We still have Vogey's 2013 debut to go on Saturday, but so far, fans have to be pleased with the way the Giants are throwing the baseball.

Offensively, they were once again quiet on Friday, after scoring just 8 runs in the 3-game set in LA. The lone run of the game came on a bases loaded walk to Angel Pagan, and that was it. Granted, Jake Westbrook had his sinker working and wasn't exactly an easy assignment, I would have liked to have seen a bit more offense. Most the runs the Giants have scored this season have been attributed to opposing team mistakes, and I'm still waiting to see guys like Scutaro, Posey and Belt really get going. Brandon Crawford had a couple of solid at-bats today which was intriguing to see, and Belt actually tied into one today early in the game but unfortunately top-spinned one out to right that just missed being a cove shot by about a 1/4 inch. Overall though, I'm not overly concerned with the offense yet. They're not scoring as much as I'd like, and as much as they'll need to once their pitching comes back to earth a bit, but I have a feeling things will lighten up after this weekends festivities and they can completely put the 2012 season behind them. And after all, it's tough to bicker too much at a 3-1 start to the season, especially when Romo and the bullpen have looked as good as they have.

Kershaw Bests Cain, Giants in Opener

2013-04-01T18:21:00.002-07:00

In one of the more frustrating openers in recent memory, Clayton Kershaw showed exactly why he's considered by many the best pitcher in the game. Not only did he shut down the Giants and complete a game in under 100 pitches, but he also homered to drive in the games first run.

There just weren't a lot of positives to take out of this one on the Giants side, outside of the fact that Cain was pretty darn impressive himself after that rocky first inning. Had it not been for that 30-pitch effort in the first, Cain may have been able to take the ball into the 8th inning like Kershaw did and maybe things turn out differently, but unfortunately the early season pitch count forced Cainer out after 6. It took him a few innings to really get command of the fastball, but after that, he had everything working smoothly as evident by his 8 strikeouts and just one walk over the 6 frames. And in typical, pre-2012 Giants fashion, they were unable to support Matty when he was out there throwing a gem. Granted, it was Kershaw, and the young lefty was certainly in his zone Monday, but I just saw too much first pitch swinging, and the Giants give away too many outs than I would have preferred to see. When a guy's in a groove like Kershaw was, they should have started waiting him out a bit and make him work. Even Scutaro, who is a notoriously patient hitter, had a few 2-pitch at-bats.

I hate to say it, but everything about this game reminded me a lot of 2011; the Giants get stifled by good pitching, and they fail to give adequate run support to Matt Cain. They really didn't have many chances offensively, as again, Kershaw was on his game, but they couldn't even work 3-ball counts out of the Dodger lefty, and that just shows you that they were in-patient. Hopefully we can chalk some of that up to opening day jitters, but they better do a quick 180 if they don't want to start 2013 in a rut like they did 2011. The only two hitters in the lineup to come up with base knocks off of Kershaw were Pablo Sandoval and Angel Pagan. The Panda had a couple of solid at bats and really hit the ball better than any other Giant off Kershaw, and looked good in the field as well. Hunter Pence also just missed hitting 2 big flies by a few feet each. Had it not been for Panda and Pagan's 2-4 outings though, the Giants may have been shut down all together as the lefty was perfect otherwise. Andres Torres looked like the 2011-12 version of Torres and Brandon's were both way outmatched by Kershaw.

The one Dodger who jumped out at me Monday and showed he was healthy was Carl Crawford, who made his Dodger debut after being part of that huge August trade with Boston last year. If he stays on the field and plays like he can, the Dodgers may very well posses the best outfield in the game, and he could end up giving the top of that lineup a spark very few teams have.

2013 SF Giants Preview and Predictions

2013-03-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

Finally, we've reached the end of the exhibition season as the Giants will wrap up their game in Oakland with the A's then head off to LA where they open the season on Monday afternoon. Here is what the roster should look like come opening day, along with some player predictions for the starting positional players and pitchers 2013 season.

Lineup:

1. CF Angel Pagan: 152 Games, .292 AVG., 11 HR, 57 RBI, 101 R, 25 SB, .762 OPS
2. 2B Marco Scutaro: 141 G, .287 AVG., 9 HR, 65 RBI, 84 R, .785 OPS
3. 3B Pablo Sandoval: 135 G, .305 AVG., 24 HR, 77 RBI, 69 R, .866 OPS
4. C Buster Posey: 152 G, .324 AVG., 27 HR, 109 RBI, 76 R, .965 OPS
5. RF Hunter Pence: 156 G, .279 AVG., 25 HR, 101 RBI, 86 R, .824 OPS
6. 1B Brandon Belt: 146 G, .284 AVG., 22 HR, 73 RBI, 68 R, 15 SB, .812 OPS
7. LF Gregor Blanco: 124 G, .252 AVG., 6 HR, 28 RBI, 50 R, 22 SB, .696 OPS
8. SS Brandon Crawford: 148 G, .256 AVG., 8 HR, 48 RBI, 53 R, .707 OPS

Rotation:

1. RHP Matt Cain: 34 Starts, 16-8, 3.22 ERA, 226 IP, 196 K's, 1.11 WHIP
2. LHP Madison Bumgarner: 34 G, 19-7, 2.92 ERA, 218 IP, 200 K's, 1.09 WHIP
3. RHP Tim Lincecum: 32 GS, 14-10, 3.66 ERA, 197 IP, 207 K's, 1.32 WHIP
4. LHP Barry Zito: 31 GS, 13-11, 4.27 ERA, 188 IP, 126 K's, 1.35 WHIP
5. RHP Ryan Vogelsong: 30 GS, 13-9, 3.68 ERA, 192 IP, 141 K's, 1.28 WHIP

Bench:
C Hector Sanchez
IF Joaquin Arias
OF Andres Torres
IF Nick Noonan
C Guillermo Quiroz

Bullpen:
RHP: Sergio Romo
RHP Santiago Casilla
LHP Jeremy Affeldt
LHP Javier Lopez
RHP George Kontos
LHP Jose Mijares
RHP Chad Gaudin

The two toughest predictions this season for me lie with Sandoval and Lincecum. I mean, after the spring Lincecum just had, he may very well tank again like last season. At the same time, that right arm still has a ton of talent, and if he gets back on track, he can be an ace again. For Pablo, it's whether or not he can stay on the field. If he could play 150 games, he'd hit 30 jacks and drive in close to 100, but with his weight and all these nagging issues, I just don't see it. I didn't do predictions for the bench or bullpen, because outside of Torres and Arias, I don't see anyone playing a significant role and 2/5 of them may be gone by May anyway. I could see Torres' role increasing if Blanco struggles, however, and Arias would get a jump in PT if/when Panda hits the DL. The bullpen will again be solid, but Romo is a bit of a question mark for me as the full-time closer this year. Wouldn't surprise me if he has 50 saves and a 1.50 ERA, and unfortunately, it wouldn't surprise me if he's hurt and out of the role by June. No matter what happens though, we know Sabean will be ready to make the necessary move to ensure the best shot at repeating as World Series winners, so if they need a closer, or need a left fielder by mid-season, chances are they'll get some help!

2013 Record: 93-69

2013 MLB Previews: NL West

2013-03-29T14:39:00.001-07:00

At last, we've come to the end of our MLB previews, winding up in NL West where we'll do a bit of a more expansive preview. For many, it's going to come down to the high-priced LA Dodgers and the reigning champion San Francisco Giants, but you never can forget about the D-Backs, even after they gave away Justin Upton. This is how we see things shaping out in the West this year.

1st Place, San Francisco Giants

CF Angel Pagan
2B Marco Scutaro
3B Pablo Sandoval
C Buster Posey
RF Hunter Pence
1B Brandon Belt
LF Gregor Blanco
SS Brandon Crawford

RHP Matt Cain
LHP Madison Bumgarner
RHP Tim Lincecum
LHP Barry Zito
RHP Ryan Vogelsong
SU: Santiago Casilla
CL: Sergio Romo

So back are the Giants, the team that's one 2 of the last 3 World Series championships, and they're bringing back the same squad that thrived in October and became an unstoppable force. Expected rebounds out of Tim Lincecum and Hunter Pence, along with improvements from Belt and Crawford will only make this team better. If Timmy can manage to be pre-2012 Timmy again, this rotation will be the best in baseball, but that's a big if after the spring he just had. The questions I have with the Giants lie in left field and at the back end of the bullpen, where Sergio Romo will be asked to be a full-time closer for the first time in his career. I know he can get the job done if he can stay healthy, but he's always been vulnerable to injury. Then in left, it'll be Blanco and Torres, neither of which are coming off particularly encouraging seasons. All in all though, I see the Giants doing much like they did last season, riding that "teamwork first, play for each other" mentality to another postseason birth.

2nd Place, Los Angeles Dodgers (NL Wild Card)

LF Carl Crawford
2B Mark Ellis
CF Matt Kemp
1B Adrian Gonzalez
SS Hanley Ramirez*
RF Andre Eithier
3B Luis Cruz
C A.J. Ellis

LHP Clayton Kershaw
RHP Zach Grienke
RHP Chad Billingsley
RHP Josh Beckett
LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu
SU: Kenley Jansen
CL: Brandon League

The Dodgers are a team that never really got on the same page after their big trade with Boston last season and are hoping that the full spring together and the addition of Carl Crawford will change the tune. I think they'll be tougher than they were a year ago, no question, but they still have some major healthy question marks. Billingsley and Grienke each are coming off some arm troubles and Hanley Ramirez is out until at least mid-May. It's anyone's guess as to how Crawford will play in the NL for the first time and after being off the field so much the last year and a half. Then there's their bullpen, which is pretty solid, but they have a beatable closer in Brandon League, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Jansen moved there after League's first few blown saves. They certainly have the team on paper that sticks out as a potential power-house, and as long as they keep their main cogs (Kemp, AGon, Kershaw, Grienke) on the field, they should be a lock for one of the NL Wild Card slots.

3rd Place, Arizona Diamondbacks

CF Adam Eaton
3B Martin Prado
2B Aaron Hill
LF Jason Kubel
1B Paul Goldschmidt
C Miguel Montero
RF Cody Ross
SS Cliff Pennington

RHP Ian Kennedy
LHP Wade Miley
RHP Trevor Cahill
RHP Brandon McCarthy
LHP Patick Corbin
SU: Heath Bell
CL: J.J. Putz

I don't get why the D-Backs were so eager to dump Upton, who I see as a future star in this game, but for some reason they did and it took them from potential division contender to a slightly above-average team. Their lineup is decent, as they're banking on Adam Eaton taking off and Paul Goldschmidt to become a 40-HR threat, and they have some depth, but they really don't have that one guy that can carry a lineup when guys are struggling like the Giants have with Posey and the Dodgers with Kemp. Their pitching is very solid, from Ian Kennedy through their closer, J.J. Putz, they can pitch. Put them in the NL Central, and maybe they compete with St. Louis for a wild card spot, but this division is too tough with the Giants and Dodgers ahead of them for AZ to really make a serious run at a playoff push, barring injury or some blockbuster trade.

4th Place, Colorado Rockies

CF Dexter Fowler
2B Josh Rutledge
LF Carlos Gonzalez
SS Troy Tulowitzki
RF Tyler Colvin/M. Cuddyer
C Wilin Rosario
1B Todd Helton/M. Cuddyer
3B Chris Nelson

RHP Jhoulys Chacin
LHP Jorge De La Rosa
RHP Juan Nicasio
LHP Jeff Francis
RHP Jon Garland
SU: Matt Belisle
CL: Rafael Betancourt

The Rockies are an intriguing team this season. They're a young team stocked with potential studs in their lineup, all of which are under 30 years of age. Fowler is a potential 5-tool superstar who I think could bust out this year, Rutledge can rake, we know about Tulo and Cargo, then there's guys like Colvin and Rosario who are taking this league by storm as well. There's little doubt that the Rockies will slug with the best of them, it's keeping the other teams off the board which will be the issue. They have a lot of young power arms in that rotation they're hoping will figure things out. Chacin is a potential ace, and Nicasio is one of the harder throwers in the game, but both of those guys have question marks. De La Rosa and Francis where once cornerstones in this rotation but injury has knocked both of them down a notch. The bullpen is solid, led by one of the best lefty relievers in the game in Belisle and the underrated Betancourt shutting the door.

5th Place, San Diego Padres

SS Everth Cabrera
2B Logan Forsythe
3B Chase Headley*
LF Carlos Quentin
1B Yonder Alonso
RF Will Venable
C Nick Hundley
CF Cameron Maybin

RHP Edinson Volquez
LHP Clayton Richard
RHP Jason Marquis
LHP Eric Stults
RHP Tyson Ross
SU: Luke Gregorson
CL: Huston Street

Since this is the last preview, I'll keep it short and sweet. The Padres are the team they've been the last 3-4 years, or really ever since Bruce Bochy left them. They have some good young players that may pan out like Cabrera, Forsythe and Alonso, but they've been striking out heavily on developing their own outside of Chase Headley (who will start the year on the DL). Their pitching is weak, as they'll be without their real ace Cory Leubke until mid-season, and probably can't count on too much from him in 2013. The bullpen is average. I like Street, but he's always had health issues and never seems to be able to put together a full season. I don't know if they're a 100-loss team, but certainly 90+ wouldn't surprise me.

Giants Notes: Belt, Sandoval and Lincecum

2013-03-29T01:17:00.003-07:00

I just wanted to run down some quick notes before we started to break down the NL West as the Cactus League has come to an end and the Giants are back in town for these final few games with Oakland before heading to LA to start their World Series defense.

One of the big topics, and main concerns over the last couple of weeks has been surrounding Pablo Sandoval, who was diagnosed with an inflamed nerve in his throwing elbow and was in jeopardy to start the season on the DL. However, the Giants got some good news on that front Thursday, and it looks like he may be ready for opening day after all. The injury wasn't considered serious 2 weeks ago when Pablo first felt it, but it hadn't gotten a whole lot better until Wednesday when Pablo was able to throw from 75 and 90 feet. I wouldn't be surprised to see him sit out the rest of the games vs. the A's, besides perhaps a pinch-hit appearance, but that's definitely a good thing that all signs are pointing towards a go for Monday. On the other hand, I have to say, I'm a little upset with the comment Pablo made a couple of days ago regarding his pending free agency in two seasons and how he's got these next two years to get into shape. We saw Pablo get into shape over spring in 2011, so it shouldn't take him 2 years to get back down to a reasonable playing weight. Again, with him really, it's tough to complain much when he's hitting .320 with pop, but it's no coincidence that he had his best season when he came into it in shape and determined in 2011.

With just the weekend set left with the A's before things get started for real on Monday, it looks like Chad Gaudin has pretty much shored up the final bullpen spot, but the last two positional roster spots, that utility spot and potential 5ht outfield, is still kind of a mystery. Nick Noonan could be winner by default as he's really the last man standing in the race. He actually didn't have much of a shot coming in but Tony Abreu's injuries and Kensuke Tanaka's inabilities have forced the Giants' hand a bit. As for the outfield, although Francisco Peguero has had the better spring, it appears as though Cole Gillespie will wind up with that spot. After seeing him tear it up in Fresno this month, I'm sure the Giants would like to have Pegeuro playing everyday in Fresno rather than maybe once a week in San Francisco. So, although things can change over the next couple games with Oakland, I'd say Gaudin, Gillespie and Noonan are the three winners for opening day spots. There still could be some surprise cuts made by other teams by Monday, so keep an eye on that.

Also, I couldn't go without mentioning Brandon Belt, who's really been the talk of spring for the Giants, and finished off his Cactus League-tear by hitting his 8th home run of spring on Wednesday. That wraps his incredible Cactus League run at a line of .437/8/19/1.316 OPS to go along with 3 steals and 7 doubles. I spring stats can certainly be deceiving and he could cool way down in April, but one has to think that the confidence gained in last postseason coupled with his scorching spring will have some carry over effect for 2013 (a huge reason I'm expecting big things from him this year as you'll see in our Giants preview Saturday). And of course with the good, comes some bad, as we saw another rough outing from Timmy in his final spring tune-up Thursday night. He couldn't make it out of the fifth inning, giving up 5 runs on 5 hits while striking out 6 in 4 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate was there, but the 0-5 record and an ERA north of 10. Sure, spring is just spring, but that's hardly inspiring considering the season he's coming off of.

2013 MLB Previews: NL Central

2013-03-28T11:25:00.001-07:00

1st Place, Cincinnati Reds

RF Shin-Soo Choo
2B Brandon Phillips
1B Joey Votto
RF Jay Bruce
LF Ryan Ludwick
3B Todd Frazier
SS Zach Cozart
C Ryan Hannigan

RHP Johnny Cueto
RHP Mat Latos
RHP Bronson Arroyo
RHP Homer Bailey
RHP Mike Leake
SU: Jonathan Broxton
CL: Aroldis Chapman

The Reds have improved the team that came without outs of knocking off the eventual World Champion Giants in last seasons NLDS, so they should once again be a force in the central. They added Choo to the top of the order to give them a dynamic hitter who will get on base and run. The real big change though should be with Joey Votto, who should return to MVP-caliber form if healthy and teams with Jay Bruce as one of the best 3-4 hitters in the game. The young pitching staff is finally getting their feet under them, as we've seen growth out of Bailey, Cueto and Chapman and all should just keep getting better.

2nd Place, St. Louis Cardinals

CF Jon Jay
RF Carlos Beltran
LF Matt Holliday
1B Allen Craig
3B David Freese
C Yadier Molina
2B Danial Descalso
SS Pete Kozma

RHP Adam Wainwright
LHP Jaime Garcia
RHP Lance Lynn
RHP Jake Westbrook
LHP Shelby Miller
SU: Mitchell Boggs
CL: Jason Motte

The Cards are getting a little bit older, and their starting pitching isn't nearly as strong as it was at the start of last season. That being said, they have some gritty vets (Holliday, Beltran, Molina) and some up-and-comers (Craig, Freese, Jay) in that lineup that will ensure they keep runs on the board. Their bullpen should again be a strength, led by the underrated Jason Motte. I just don't like the bottom of their order too much and can't see that pitching staff staying strong all season and carrying them into October.

3rd Place, Pittsburgh Pirates

CF Starling Marte
2B Neil Walker
CF Andrew McCutchen
3B Pedro Alvarez
1B Garrett Jones
C Russell Marin
LF Travis Snider
SS Clint Barmes

RHP A.J. Burnett
LHP Wandy Rodriguez
RHP Jason McDonald
RHP Jeff Karstans
LHP Francisco Liriano*
SU: Mark Melancon
CL: Jason Grilli

Now, the Pirates are a team that surprised everyone with their 5-month run before tailing off in September last season, and I don't think it was an entire fluke. This team has some talented young players they're building around, most notably the runner up in last years batting tittle race (Andrew McCutchen). I also like Starling Marte at the top of the order and Pedro Alvarez has legit, 35+ home run power. Their pitching staff isn't great, but it's solid, led by Burnett and Rodriguez, two sturdy vets who can still shut down any given lineup when they're on. They have some questions in the bullpen, but further growth out of their youngsters should lead to another successful season.

*ETA early May

4th Place, Milwaukee Brewers

RF Norichika Aoki
2B Rickie Weeks
LF Ryan Braun
3B Aramis Ramirez
C Jonathan Lucroy
CF Carlos Gomez
1B Alex Gonzalez
SS Jean Segura

RHP Yovani Gallardo
RHP Marco Estrada
RHP Wily Peralta
LHP Chris Naverson
RHP Mike Fiers
SU: Jim Henderson
CL: John Axford

The Brewers haven't quite been the same since losing Prince Fielder, and I don't see things getting a whole lot better in year two. I mean, they're counting on Alex Gonzalez, a .240 hitting shortstop to play first base for them after all. I do like Carlos Gomez though, and think he can be a 30-30 guy, and like him or hate him, Ryan Braun will always hit. As far as their pitching goes, I'm not overly impressed with anyone after Gallardo and to a certain extent, Estrada, so those guys will have to prove themselves. Bullpen isn't a strength either, where they're returning a closer who had a 4.67 ERA in 2012.

5th Place, Chicago Cubs

CF David DeJesus
SS Starlin Castro
1B Anthony Rizzo
LF Alfonso Soriano
RF Nate Schierholtz
C Welington Castillo
3B Ian Stewart*
2B Darwin Barney

RHP Matt Garza*
RHP Jeff Samardzija
RHP Edwin Jackson
LHP Travis Wood
RHP Scott Feldman
SU: Kyuji Fujikawa
CL: Carlos Marmol

At last, the Cubbies. There really isn't much to say about the Cubs that hasn't been said in the last 4-5 season previews. They'll again struggle and again likely finish at the bottom of the division. This time the Astros aren't around though, so the Cubs are the new worst team in the division. Castro and Rizzo have legit talent, everyone else in that lineup (save for Soriano) could be out of baseball in 3 years. Their pitching staff is banged up and thin. Garza has solid talent, but can't stay healthy, and Samardzija and Jackson will give solid efforts but they're hardly elite. The bullpen has been all sorts of messy since Carlos Marmol took over as closer, which is why the Cubs are trying to deal him, but right now, it looks like it will be another crap-shoot for Chicago out there.

*Will Begin Year on DL

2013 MLB Previews: NL East

2013-03-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

On to the NL East, where the top three teams will all be competing for playoff spots. There's the young talented Braves, the veteran savvy Phillies and last season's winner the Nationals. Here's how we see things shaking out in 2013.

1st Place, Washington Nationals

CF Denard Span
SS Ian Desmond
LF Bryce Harper
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Adam LaRoche
RF Jayson Werth
2B Danny Espinosa
C Kurt Suzuki

RHP Stephen Strasburg
LHP Gio Gonzalez
RHP Jordan Zimmermann
RHP Dan Haren
LHP Ross Detwiler
SU: Drew Storen
CL: Rafael Soriano

The Nats where the team everyone thought would represent the NL in the World Series in September, but after they shelved Strasburg, they were never quite the same team. Now they'll have a full year of the young phenom righty, and they also have themselves a legit leadoff man to hit in front of a strong group of 2-6 hitters. Their big strength though is that pitching staff. If Dan Haren returns to form and throws like he did when in Arizona, they may have the best rotation in all of baseball. That bullpen is no joke either, as they landed one of 2012's best closers in Soriano to help ensure no more meltdowns like they had in the NLDS vs. St. Louis last season. Not only should they have a clear path to the postseason, but they're being considered the favorites for the NL pennant many pundits.

2nd Place, Atlanta Braves (NL Wild Card)

SS Andrelton Simmons
RF Jayson Heyward
LF Justin Upton
1B Fredi Freeman
CF B.J. Upton
C Bryan McCann
2B Dan Uggla
3B Chris Johnson

RHP Tim Hudson
RHP Kris Medlan
LHP Mike Minor
LHP Paul Maholm
RHP Julio Teheran
SU: Jonny Venters
CL: Craig Kimbrel

There's not much to dislike about this Braves squad, especially if they get their players back on track. The young lineup is certainly one of the brighter bunches in baseball, so if they get rebound seasons out of Dan Uggla and Bryan McCann, then lookout NL East! Look for Justin Upton to return to MVP- caliber status. I'm still curious to see how Simmons does leading off, but so far all signs point to it being a good fit. And if he fails, the Braves have some other options. As always, they have a strong rotation, led by the vet Tim Hudson and quite possibly baseball's second best young right-hander next to Strasburg in Kris Medlan. It's too bad they won't have Brandon Beachy, another young right-handed stud, until around mid-season, but when they get him back, that rotation too will be amongst the games elite. The bullpen is also a strength with the best closer in the NL and some strong power arms (Venters, Walden, O'Flaherty) leading up to him.

3rd Place, Philadelphia Phillies

SS Jimmy Rollins
3B Michael Young
2B Chase Utley
1B Ryan Howard
RF Delmon Young
C Carlos Ruiz
LF Dominic Brown
CF Ben Revere

LHP Cole Hammels
RHP Roy Halladay
LHP Cliff Lee
RHP Kyle Kendrick
LHP John Lannan
SU: Mike Adams
CL: Jonathan Papelbon

Much like the Yankees in the AL East, the Phils appear to be on their last legs of being a competitive ball-club. Utley and Howard haven't been able to stay on the field the last year and a half, and the rest of the lineup around them and Rollins is nothing special. Their starting rotation still has the potential to be great, but they have age issues there too, where Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay are nowhere near the arms they were 2-3 years ago. They have a decent pen, and they still have a talented, yet aging, roster so bounce-back years from Howard, Utley, Lee and Halladay would put them right in the mix for a playoff spot, and that's very much a possibility.

4th Place, New York Mets

SS Rueben Tejada
2B Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
1B Ike Davis
RF Lucas Duda
C John Buck
RF Mike Baxter
CF Kirk Nieuwenhuis

LHP Johan Santana*
RHP Shawn Marcum
LHP Jonathan Niese
RHP Matt Harvey
RHP Dillon Gee
SU: Bobby Parnell
CL: Frank Francisco

*Will start season on DL, no concrete ETA

The Mets have really entered full-blown rebuild mode and are hoping to get back to their winning ways while David Wright's still in his prime, otherwise they should serious consider cashing in on him. Ike Davis has light-tower power and Tejada is a solid young shortstop, but outside of that, this lineup is thin. Their pitching staff is below average, even if Johan Santana does make his return by May. The bullpen too is below average. Everything about this team is below and they'll struggled to keep up with the 3 teams ahead of them in this division.

5th Place, Miami Marlins

LF Juan Pierre
3B Placido Polanco
RF Giancarlo Stanton
1B Logan Morrison
CF Justin Ruggiano
C Rob Brantley
2B Donovan Solano
SS Adeiny Hechavarria

RHP Ricky Nolasco
RHP Nathan Eovaldi
RHP Henderson Alvarez
LHP Wade LeBlanc
RHP Kevin Slowey
SU: Jon Rauch
CL: Steve Cishek

The Marlins essentially gave up on their 2013 season when they traded away virtually all their valuable players between late last summer and the offseason. It's tough to really say much about them aside form that. Stanton will still be a monster, and Logan Morrison is a talent if he can ever get those knees healthy, but the pitching staff, starters and relievers, could be the worst in the NL and they are their lineup is stock full of young guys who may not even last the season in the majors.

Battles Heating Up as Spring Winds Down

2013-03-21T15:36:00.001-07:00

I know we've been spending a lot of time on our previews as we try and get everything in before opening day, so we haven't had much time to talk Giants stuff, but in a way, that's a good thing.

Luckily, there hasn't been anything too serious to discuss, but the one thing that does have me worried a bit is the the bone spur that's occurred on the back of his throwing elbow. It was deemed minor to begin with, but now there are whispers of it possibly keeping him out of the opening day lineup and maybe starting the year on the DL. For a lineup that already lacks power, the Giants need their number 3 hitter healthy and ready to start the year, but if he needs to miss the first week or so to ensure that's the case, so be it. I'd hate to see this thing turn into an issue that requires surgery and shelves him for 6 weeks. On the positive side, Brandon Belt (.396/4/12 in 52 at-bats) and Madison Bumgarner (1.81 ERA in 15 IP) continue to dominate their Cactus League opponents, and have given Giants fans reason to believe both are in for big 2013 seasons. Also, Hunter Pence appears to have worked some of his issues out from last season as he's hitting over .350 in his 56 at-bats through March 21st.

As far as the battle for the remaining OF, IF and RP spots, those have yet to be determined, but there are some clear front-runners. Francisco Peguero has all but locked up that fifth outfield spot with his .364 average and .888 OPS in 44 at-bats, though Cole Gillaspie is still in the running. Chad Gaudin looks like he's a little ahead in that bullpen race (2.93 ERA, 11 K's in 14 innings) too. However, the infield is a different story, as nobody has really taken the bull by the horns there quite yet. Tony Abreu can't get on the field and Kensuke Tanaka and Wilson Valdez have not been very impressive. If the season were to start tomorrow, I bet Bochy would just roll with Brett Pill, just to have that right-handed power off the bench, but they really need another guy who can play the middle infield. With Dan Runzler's success this spring, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Giants try and package a left-handed reliever and a prospect in order to try and obtain a more suitable middle infield option, cause right now, the pickings are slim!

If you've been on any Giants sites or listened to KNBR over the last few days, you'll know too that the Giants have "quietly" begun possible long-term contract extension talks with Buster Posey. I love the idea of locking the 25 year-old backstop up now, especially since he's already shown the ability to play first base and should be able to move there seamlessly in a few years when the Giants want to move him from behind the plate. I don't know what kind of numbers are being discussed, but with Posey's credentials and age, a 5-year, $75M deal wouldn't sound too bad to me at all. Heck, he's going to start making 12+ million in arbitration starting next year, so why not just get this done if they can come to a reasonable agreement?

2013 MLB Previews: AL West

2013-03-21T15:27:00.001-07:00

On we move to the AL West, which I think will be the most competitive division in the AL. There's the newly stocked out Angels, but the Rangers aren't going anywhere yet, even without Hamilton, and the A's are always good for a surprise run, especially with that pitching staff.

1st Place, Los Angeles Angels

LF Mike Trout
SS Erik Aybar
1B Albert Pujols
LF Josh Hamilton
DH Mark Trumbo
2B Howie Kendrick
C Chris Ianetta
3B Alberto Callaspo
CF Peter Bourjos

RHP Jered Weaver
LHP C.J. Wilson
RHP Tommy Hanson
LHP Jason Vargas
RHP Joe Blanton
SU: Ernesto Frieri
CL: Ryan Madson

The Angels have it all when it comes to that lineup: speed, average, power and consistency. They have the right mixture of youth (Trout, Bourjos, Trumbo) and players in their prime (Pujols, Hamilton, Kendrick) to be serious World Series contenders. Their pitching staff should be a strength too, once Tommy Hanson figures out the AL. The one question I have with them lies in their bullpen. They're banking on the return of Ryan Madson who missed all of 2012, or the young Frieri kid to close out games for them, and they need one of them to succeed. They have enough talent in that lineup though, and enough solid starting pitchers to help overcome the bullpen weakness though, and should win 95 games.

2nd Place, Oakland Athletics (AL Wild Card)

CF Coco Crisp
2B Jemile Weeks
LF Yoenis Cespedes
DH Josh Reddick
SS Jed Lowrie
1B Brandon Moss
RF Chris Young
3B Scott Sizemore
C John Jaso

LHP Brett Anderson
RHP Jarrod Parker
LHP Tommy Millone
RHP A.J. Griffin
RHP Bartolo Colon
SU: Ryan Cook
CL: Grant Balfour

I just really like the make-up of this young A's squad. They play hard, sound baseball and utilize the solid pitching they get. They don't have a lineup that will overwhelm you, but they have speed and guys that can get on base and cause some havoc. I think a huge key for them will be Jemile Weeks, who showed in his rookie year he can be an All-Star level player when he's right. Cespedes has MVP potential and Josh Reddick is just tapping into his abilities, so this team will only get better. That young staff will also rival any ones in the game, especially if Anderson is on like he was after returning last season. With good health and continued growth, the A's should definitely lock down one of the AL Wild Card spots.

3rd Place, Texas Rangers

2B Ian Kinsler
SS Elvis Andrus
DH Lance Berkman
3B Adrian Beltre
RF Nelson Cruz
LF David Murphy
C A.J. Pierzynski
1B Mitch Moreland
CF Craig Gentry

RHP Yu Darvish
LHP Matt Harrison
LHP Derek Holland
RHP Alexi Ogando
RHP Colby Lewis*
SU: Jason Frasor
CL: Joe Nathan

I'm sorry, but you can't replace Josh Hamilton with Lance Berkman and expect to be the same team you where the last 3 seasons. The team that repped the AL in the 2010 and 2011 World Series needs to rebuild that lineup a little bit, and not try and patch together aging vets like Bekrman and Pierzynski to try and fill the void. I love Darvish as their ace, but the rest of that rotation is under-whelming, and the bullpen is hardly one of the premiere ones in the league. The Rangers are in for a drop off this year, but still have enough offense to stay competitive. It wouldn't surprise me if they finish right around .500.

4th Place, Seattle Mariners

2B Dustin Ackley
3B Kyle Seager
DH Kendrys Morales
LF Michael Morse
C Jesus Montero
1B Justin Smoak
RF Michael Saunders
CF Franklin Gutierrez
SS Brendan Ryan

RHP Felix Hernandez
RHP Hisashi Iwakuma
LHP Joe Saunders
RHP Erasmo Ramirez
RHP Jon Garland
SU: Charlie Furbish
CL: Tom Wilhelmsen

I like what the Mariners have done with their lineup, now they just need those number one picks Ackley and Smoak to start playing like the guys they were drafted to be. If that happens, the M's should be able to put runs on the board. It's keeping opposing teams off the board is what will be their biggest challenge. Their rotation after King Felix could be one of the worst in baseball, and their bullpen is stocked with young, unproven guys who will be learning on the go. I know Seattle fans would hate them for it, but I think now is the time to cash in on Hernandez and turn him into 2-3 legit, big time prospects. They probably won't ever win with Felix in his prime and could use a few good young arms to help balance out that pitching staff.

5th Place, Houston Astros

2B Jose Altuve
SS Tyler Green
LF Chris Carter
DH Carlos Pena
1B Brett Wallace
RF Rick Ankiel
3B Matt Dominguez
CF Justin Maxwell
C Jason Castro

RHP Bud Norris
RHP Lucas Harrell
RHP Jordan Lyles
RHP Phillip Humber
LHP Erik Bedard
SU: Wesley Wright
CL: Jose Veras

The newcomers to the AL may very well end up in the cellar of not only the AL West, but the entire American League. Heck, they could be the worst team in baseball. Their lineup is half full of players who'd be AAA'ers on most competitive squads, and their bullpen has more holes than Swiss cheese. Surprisingly, their rotation has some guys with potential (Norris, Lyles, Humber), but this is still a team well within the grasp of 100 losses.

2013 MLB Previews: AL Central

2013-03-19T16:07:00.003-07:00

1st Place, Detroit Tigers

CF Austin Jackson
RF Torii Hunter
3B Miguel Cabrera
1B Prince Fielder
DH Victor Martinez
SS Jhonny Peralta
LF Andy Dirks
C Alex Avila
2B Omar Infante

RHP Justin Verlander
RHP Max Scherzer
RHP Anibal Sanchez
RHP Doug Fister
LHP Drew Smyly
SU: Joaquin Benoit
CL: Bruce Rondon

The reigning League Champions are returning pretty much the same squad that took them to the Series' a year ago, they just hope their bullpen holds up a little better this time around. They're getting V-Mart back, so their offense will get a boost, but they don't have a ton of team speed, so they'll need those big hitters to be on their game. That pitching staff is one of the stronger ones in baseball, and should again have them in the running for the AL crown. I think the addition of Hunter and the return of Martinez have improved this team a lot, but they could still use some help at short and at the back end of the bullpen. Still, they're clear-cut favorites in a weak Central Division.

2nd Place, Chicago White Sox

CF Alejandro De Aza
3B Jeff Keppinger
RF Alex Rios
1B Paul Konerko
DH Adam Dunn
SS Alexi Ramirez
LF Dayan Viciedo
2B Gordon Beckam
C Tyler Flowers

LHP Chris Sale
RHP Jake Peavy
LHP Jose Quintana
RHP Gavin Floyd
LHP John Danks
SU: Matt Thronton
CL: Addison Reed

The Sox could give Detroit a run for their money in the Central with the pitching staff they've lined up. It's not quite up to Detroit's level, but it's a young one with big potential. Chris Sale is one of the most underrated arms in the game and John Danks as a number 5 just shows you their depth.They also have a more sound bullpen than Detroit, led by young closer Addison Reed. They're hoping the addition of Jeff Keppinger will help solidify the top of the order, which hasn't been good for them for a while. They have the boppers in the middle, but they need the 1-2 guys to get on base and set the table.

3rd Place, Kansas City Royals

LF Alex Gordon
SS Aclides Escobar
1B Eric Hosmer
DH Billy Butler
C Salvador Perez
3B Mike Moustakas
CF Lorenzo Cain
RF Jeff Francoeur
2B Chris Getz

RHP James Shields
RHP Ervin Santana
RHP Jeremy Guthrie
LHP Bruce Chen
RHP Wade Davis
SU: Aaron Crow
CL: Greg Holland

Once again, the Royals success will rely on whether or not their key young players can take that next step. Moustakas, Gordon, Hosmer and Cain are all legit players who could be future all-stars. Billy Butler is a legit run producer in that middle. If the youngsters start putting it together this year, this team could be a lot like that surprise Tampa Bay Rays team from a few years back. Their starting pitching after Shields and Santana is spotty, but they have one my favorite young closers in the game in Greg Holland shutting the door for them. Also, that young catcher Perez may be the 2nd best young catcher in the game behind Buster Posey.

4th Place, Cleveland Indians

CF Michael Bourne
2B Jason Kipnis
SS Asdrubal Cabrera
1B Nick Swisher
C Carlos Santana
DH Mark Reynolds
LF Michael Brantley
RF Drew Stubbs
3B Lonnie Chisenhall

RHP Justin Masterson
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez
RHP Brett Myers
RHP Zach McCallister
RHP Trevor Bauer
SU: Vinnie Pestano
CL: Chris Perez

I loved the addition of Bourne for this team, but I don't know how well Swisher will turn out for them. Their lineup is decent, they have a lot of speed and have some power, but not a lot of guys hit for very high averages, so they'll have trouble getting guys on base consistently. They've improved from last year and are on the up though, so if Ubaldo Jimenez magically re-finds his ace-like form he had in Colorado, they too could surprise a lot of people. Too many things need to go right in order for them to compete this year though.

5th Place, Minnesota Twins

CF Aaron Hicks
2B Jamey Carroll
C Joe Mauer
LF Josh Willingham
1B Justin Morneau
3B Trevor Plouffe
DH Ryan Doumit
RF Chris Parmelee
SS Pedro Florimon

LHP Scott Diamond
RHP Vance Worley
RHP Kevin Correia
RHP Mike Pelfrey
RHP Liam Hendriks
SU: Jared Burton
CL: Glen Perkins

The Twins are filled with some many holes that I just can't see them being very competitive this season. Sure, Mauer will still give you his typical .300/10/80 line, and Willingham will hit 30 jacks with a .250 average, but outside of that, everything is a crap-shoot. Who knows how the top of the order will fare with the rookie Hicks and the ancient Carroll? I don't really like anything about their pitching staff either, bullpen or starters. I could see this team being one of the worst in baseball in 2013.

2013 MLB Previews: AL East

2013-03-15T17:16:00.002-07:00

Since things are going along smoothly in Giants camp, and Brandon Belt continues to stick out as the star of the spring, I figured it would be a good time to start to get to know the enemy for the upcoming season with our annual divisional previews.

As always, we'll start in the AL East, which is one of the tougher divisions to line up this year outside of Toronto being the consensus favorite. Here's how I see it playing out:

1st Place, Toronto Blue Jays

Projected Lineup
SS Jose Reyes
LF Melky Cabrera
RF Jose Bautista
1B Edwin Encarnacion
3B Brett Lawrie
DH Adam Lind
C J.P. Arrencibia
CF Colby Rasmus
2B Maicer Izturis

Rotation
RHP R.A. Dickey
RHP Brandon Morrow
LHP Mark Buehrle
RHP Josh Johnson
LHP Ricky Romero
SU: Sergio Santos
CL: Casey Janssen

Adding a bunch of payroll and big names didn't quite work for the Dodgers last summer, but things should be different north of the border. The Blue Jays new pieces all have time to mesh in spring training and they added professionals like Mark Buehrle and Jose Reyes, who are both notoriously strong clubhouse presences. I absolutely love their rotation, where they have 2011 staff ace and 20-game winner Ricky Romero as their fifth guy. The only question I have with this squad lies in their bullpen where their closer is a little banged up heading into the season and they aren't extremely deep. As long as they keep their key cogs healthy though, they should be the clear-cut favorites in a weakened AL East.

2nd Place, New York Yankees

Lineup
SS Derek Jeter
RF Ichiro Suzuki
2B Robinson Cano
1B Mark Teixiera*
LF Curtis Granderson*
3B Kevin Youkilis
DH Travis Hafner
C Francisco Cervelli
CF Brett Gardner

Rotation
LHP C.C. Sabathia
RHP Hiroki Kiroda
LHP Andy Pettite
RHP Phil Hughes
RHP Ivan Nova
SU: Dave Robertson
CL: Mariano Rivera

*ETA early May

The Yankees have some big injuries to overcome with Tex and Granderson out to start the year, but I think they can get by with small ball until then with Ichiro, Jeter and Gardner. Getting Mo back in the 9th should help solidify things a lot though, and I think Youkilis will be a steady add to the lineup after the ARod debacle. They're obviously a team built to win now and have the oldest roster in baseball, but I can see them staying strong for another run. As long as their two injured sluggers return in good shape by their estimated time-table (early May), Andy Pettite's arm holds up for one more year, and Phil Hughes can continue to take strides forward, I think the Yanks will be in the mix for one of the Wild Card spots. Plus it's the Yankees we're talking about, so even if they're falling short, they'll do whatever they can at the trade deadline to help themselves.

3rd Place, Tampa Bay Rays

Lineup
CF Desmond Jennings
SS Yunel Escobar
3B Evan Longoria
RF Ben Zobrist
LF Matt Joyce
DH Luke Scott
2B Kelly Johnson
1B James Loney
C Jose Molina

Rotation
LHP David Price
RHP Jeremy Hellickson
LHP Matt Moore
RHP Alex Cobb
RHP Jeff Niemann
SU: Joel Peralta
CL: Fernando Rodney

I don't love Tampa's lineup, but I really like their pitching staff, despite the loss of James Shields. Price, Hellickson, Moore and Cobb are all bright young arms who've already had success at the big league level and will only get better. Then there's that bullpen, which is one of the better ones in the league and won't be coughing up many leads they take into the 7th inning. If they can get Jennings, Joyce, Johnson and Escobar to all get back to their standard level of play, and they keep Zobrist and Longoria on the field together, then they're going to be a solid squad. If they could have gotten one more big bat for the middle of the order, they'd be a lot better off. They certainly have one of the best in the game pushing the buttons for them in Joe Maddon, who's had that team a perennial contender since taking over as manager. If the Yanks can't get/stay healthy, then they slide up to 2nd and NY sinks down.

4th Place, Boston Red Sox

Lineup
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
RF Shane Victorino
2B Dustin Pedroia
DH David Ortiz*
1B Mike Napoli
3B Will Middlebrooks
LF Jonny Gomes
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
SS Stephen Drew

Rotation
LHP Jon Lester
RHP Clay Bucholtz
RHP Ryan Dempster
LHP Felix Doubront
RHP John Lackey
SU: Andrew Bailey
CL: Joel Hanrahan

*Will miss opening day, no concrete ETA

The Red Sox lineup will take a huge hit if David Ortiz's injury continues to linger and hold him out of significant action. I don't like their pitching staff as much as Tampa's, but even without Ortiz, that lineup should still put some runs on the board, especially in Fenway. A healthy Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan pose one of the best 1-2 punches to end games, but the bullpen has a lot of question marks aside from that. Ellsbury and Pedroia are two of the best at their positions in the game, but the Red Sox are no longer the AL East powerhouse they've been ever since breaking the curse in 2004.

5th Place, Baltimore Orioles

Lineup
2B Brian Roberts
DH Nolan Reimold
RF Nick Markakis
CF Adam Jones
C Matt Wieters
SS J.J. Hardy
1B Chris Davis
3B Manny Machado
LF Nate McLouth

Rotation
RHP Jason Hammel
LHP Wei-Yen Chen
RHP Chris Tillman
RHP Miguel Gonzalez
RHP Steve Johnson
SU: Pedro Strop
CL: Jim Johnson

The O's surprised everyone with their Wild Card birth in '12, but the stars kind of had to align for it to happen. I do like the makeup of their young pitching staff, but they don't have a true ace. Jason Hammel will carry that role but he has a career ERA of 4.78 and I expect him to return closer to that level than the 3.43 number he put up last season . They do have bright young arms like Tillman and Chen, and there's Dylan Bundy waiting in the wings, and I like the middle of their order. However, unless Brian Roberts returns to form, they really don't have a true leadoff hitter either.

Spring Training Notes

2013-03-05T12:28:00.000-08:00

We're about two weeks into the exhibition season, and so far things have been running as smoothly as hoped for in Scottsdale, with just a few minor dings (injury wise) so far.

The Giants have started out the spring 4-5 heading into play Wednesday, and since there are no real health concerns with anyone at the moment (fingers crossed), a lot of attention has been placed on the competition for the few remaining roster spots, which will only heat up in the coming weeks. But before jumping into that, I wanted to talk about the guy who's started out this spring at a torrid pace, and a someone who I'm really expecting big things from, and that's Brandon Belt. I did a small interview with Razzball.com at the start of spring discussing some of the issues for the Giants' season and I was asked specifically about Belt and my expectations for him this upcoming season. I really feel like this is the year Belt will start putting things together, and so far this spring, he's certainly looked like he's on that path. I know spring numbers are spring numbers and are taken with a grain of salt, but the way he's seeing the ball right now obviously bodes well for his development and confidence. So far in 25 at-bats, Belt's collected 12 hits, 3 HR's, 6 RBI and 5 extra-base hits. All those numbers lead the team, and it's especially encouraging to see that early on in spring when the pitchers are supposedly ahead of the hitters. Belt has the abilities to be a force in the Giants lineup, and with their lack of power in the outfield, they could sure use it!

Now, in terms of the battle for the fifth outfield spot and 2nd utility opening, there have been a few guys who have jumped out to clear early leads. In the outfield spot, nobody has made an impression so far like Francisco Peguero, period. I know it's spring, but he's hit .563 through his first 7 games, and has driven in 5 run while displaying that strong defense and speed. Cole Gillaspie is still in the running too, starting out the first few games on fire, Then cooling off until going 2 for 2 Tuesday. I'd say the battle at this point is really between those, though Bochy won't say it publicly. In the infield, nobody has really stood out except for Brock Bond, who can't play short so it really doesn't matter unless there's an injury or he's used as trade bait. Tony Abreu, the former Dodger top-prospect, has still yet to suit up for a spring game, but the consensus on him is that he'll become the front-runner once he does. He's still got those tools that made him an elite-level prospect not too long ago, can play all over the infield, and he's simply the most talented of all those in the running.As far as the others are concerned, Kensuke Tanaka has been overwhelmed at the plate and at short, which is where the Giants would need his availability. 35 year-old Wilson Valdez can pick it, but seems like a last-resort, AAA depth-filler and Brett Pill is, well, Brett Pill (will connect every 20 ab's or so, but will hit .200 in the process). Abreu, while he's never translated his success to the big league level, did have a .322/9/73/.849 line in AAA last season (in just 102 games) and at 28 years of age, still could turn into a useful player. His big weakness is his lack of discipline which, unfortunately, "Bam Bam" Muellens and Joe Lefebvre struggle to impose.

Extras: As far as the final bullpen slot is concerned, the Giants coaching staff (mainly Boch) has been strongly hinting towards Scott Proctor thus far, who's gone five innings giving up just a run on 4 hits. Dan Runzler, Shane Loux and Chad Gaudin have all fared pretty well also though, so it's really too early to judge outside of Proctor being the early front-runner. As far as the youngsters go, I've been impressed with Michael Kickham and Heath Hembree, who've seen the most action thus far but aren't candidates to make the squad... Outside of Belt, the other Brandon (Crawford) has looked pretty good early on, homering for the first time this spring on Tuesday. He's hitting .333 and slugging 1.114 in 6 games and should be another Giant who's in for an upgrade in 2013.

Also, I wanted to give a heads up that we'll be starting our divisional previews and MLB Picks for awards and postseason coming up in about a week or so. Like we always do, we'll continue to mix in Giants news and notes during that time, so it shouldn't take too much Giants talk away. And with the season just weeks away, and your one that likes to wager on games, you can find all your Sports Betting Odds.

Finally, I wanted to thank our readers here at The Giants Baseball Blog. This is our 800th post, starting way back in October of 2005, remember these days. We hope to be around another 800+ more with a handful of championships along the way. I sincerely appreciate all those that read, contribute and follow us here at the site and I look forward to new readers and further improvements here for the 2013 season!

Romo, Sandoval Starting off Strongly

2013-02-25T20:56:00.003-08:00

Had enough speculation about who will get what roster spot and which prospect will end up where? Well, baseball has finally arrived, albeit of the exhibition variety.

The Giants, being the defending World Champs, have plenty of interest surrounding them as Cactus League has gotten underway. Ryan Vogelsong and Pablo Sandoval led the Giants in the opener over the Angels, as Vogey had a solid a solid two innings of work to get the Giants spring underway, and Pablo Sandoval drove in the first Giants' run of the spring with an RBI line-drive single over the 2nd baseman's head. Matt Cain got knocked around a bit in game two, giving up 4 runs in his inning of work, but Pablo continued raking the baseball as he went 2 for 3 and has hit safely in all 3 games this spring. Madison Bumgarner fared similarly to Vogey in game 3, looking solid in his two innings of work, and the Giants have to be pretty pleased overall with the way they've started the Cactus League. Sergio Romo has turned in a couple of scoreless performances as well as the Giants will begin to work him on back-to-back days to get him ready for the full-time closers role. Other than the late inning meltdown Monday and Matt Cain's forgettable Cactus League debut Sunday, so far so good in Giants camp.

As for the competitions for certain spots, it's still way to early to tell for the most part. Francisco Peguero had a nice game Monday going 2-3 with a double and an RBI and he looks like he's primed to make a strong run at a 5th outfield spot, especially when you consider the Giants need another righty. Gary Brown has seen action in all three games as well to start out, but hasn't done much outside of smoking a double in his first at-bat on Saturday. There's no real shot at Brown making the roster out of the gate, but with the Giants unimpressive left-field combo of Gregor Blanco and Andres Torres, I'm sure they'd be all for the youngster playing his way onto the big league squad and possibly into a significant role. If Brown's hitting .320 with a bunch of steals in Fresno by the end of May, and the Blanco/Torres platoon his hitting .220 without making much happen at the plate, then I'm sure the Giants would have no problem throwing the youngster into the fire. We saw them do it with Buster Posey and even Brandon Belt to a degree, and I think they do have those type of expectations for Brown. I really hope he gets 50+ at-bats this spring so we can see just how close he is.

Giants Set for Cactus League Opener

2013-02-22T15:31:00.001-08:00

Just like the offseason that preceded it, the Giants spring has been relatively quiet and uneventful, and now it's finally time to switch gears back to game action!

Ryan Vogelsong will take the hill as the Giants will play host to the Angels in their first game action since winning the World Series in Detroit last October. Boch didn't say what Vogey's pitch limit will be but my guess is the Giants will try and get him to go two if possible. Vogelsong will depart to play in the WBC next week so I'm sure the Giants will want to get him some work beforehand as there's no real telling how much work he'll see on the US roster. Bochy said he plans to use Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and George Kontos some work Saturday as well. Then depending on how things go, Chad Gaudin, Scott Proctor, Jean Machi and Dan Otero could all see an inning of work too, as the battle for the final bullpen spot officially begins. Another surprise contender for that final spot that Boch revealed earlier this week is Dan Runzler, who's apparently looking the best he's looked in a Giants uni early on this spring. He can have Jonny Venters-type stuff when he's on, and would be incredible to watch if he can finally put it all together and stay healthy. Bochy said he'd carry four lefties in the pen if the issue forces itself, but something tells me that if Runzler really impresses this spring, one will be used as trade ammunition for some need at the end of spring.

Now, as I said at the top of the post, outside of the minor battles for the only three roster spots that have yet to be determined, there really hasn't been many headlines coming out of Giants' camp. They did have a minor scare earlier this week as Javier Lopez took a Madison Bumgarner throw off the back of his pitching hand. What could have been a lot worse was diagnosed as only a bruise and Lopez shouldn't be out of action more than a week or so. It did, however, make his decision easy to skip out on the WBC. That isn't the case for Pablo Sandoval though. Once again, the Giants' third basemen arrived in camp significantly over the weight limit the Giants' staff would like him to be at. It hasn't effected him at the plate one bit, as he's put up some of the Giants' most impressive batting sessions in practices, but it will effect him when it comes time to do more than stand in the cage and rake. He'll be working hard on shedding some of that winter weight between now and the start of the WBC, which unfortunately isn't that much time. Ideally, I think the Giants would prefer he opt out of the tourney to stay in Scottsdale and work like he did in the spring of 2011, but instead he'll have to get his conditioning in while traveling with the Venezuelan squad.

The Giants did make a minor trade on Friday afternoon, sending Connor Gillaspie, who's been at a stand-still in the organization for years now, to the White Sox for relief prospect Jeff Soptic. Gillaspie wasn't going to make the 25-man roster and would have likely been lost on waivers at the end of spring, so at least the Giants got something for him. I don't know much about 21 year-old right-hander other than the fact that he throws hard and is tough to hit, but still is learning how to harness his stuff. Drafted in the 3rd round in 2011, he went 3-2 with a 5.40 ERA in his first full season as a pro with Chicago's low-A squad.

Back to Work!

2013-02-14T14:30:00.003-08:00

Finally, after what's seemed like a relatively slow and uneventful offseason, the Giants' pitchers and catchers reported to Scottsdale Tuesday and preparation for their tittle defense has officially begun.

Being barely a day and a half into camp, there really hasn't been too much news to hit the wire out of Arizona yet, but there have certainly been some positive feedback regarding some of the pitchers first bullpen sessions. The one I was most curious about, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, was how Tim Lincecum looked fresh off a winter in which he had to work some issues out mechanically and physically. From everything I've heard on Timmy's first session though, apparently things couldn't have gone much better and Lincecum declared himself fully healthy and 100% focused after the practice. The Giants were able to win the world series last year without having their ace even in the playoff rotation, so obviously if the Giants get him back to his pre-2012 form, this rotation returns to one of the elite (if not the best) rotation in all of baseball. Of course, a lot of that will lie with whether or not Barry Zito can carry over his 2012 rebound year into 2013, but Bruce Bochy has to be feeling just fine with how things are looking here early on.

Since the positional players aren't required to report until later this week, there aren't many in camp quite yet, however, one guy who has shown up early is Pablo Sandoval. The Panda had the health scare that required a hospital stint last month, and apparently he's still feeling some of the effects of that and as a result, hasn't been able to take on his full workload. Bochy acknowledged that Sandoval needs to shed some pounds and the Giants will used these next few weeks before the Cactus League starts to get him completely healthy and work his conditioning. At the same time, Pablo won the World Series MVP last fall playing at a weight that was significantly higher than the Giants' brass would prefer as the weight doesn't really affect his hitting ability. Where it does come into play though is with his range at third base as well as increasing his chances to injuries like hamstring pulls and muscle strains. Last time Pablo played close to a full season, he hit .330 with 25 jacks and 90 RBI. The goal for the Giants this year with Pablo has to be avoiding that disabled list.

There will be much more to talk about as the players start trickling into camp and the activities increase beyond bullpen sessions and catchers batting practice. There are also still expected to be 3 open spots for the opening day roster, so even though the starting lineup, rotation and back-end of the bullpen is virtually set, there will be some lower-scale competitions to monitor starting here shortly.

Romo, Ramirez Signings Should Wrap Offseason

2013-02-06T18:57:00.001-08:00

With the Giants just a week away from getting back to work and officially starting work on their attempt at a 3rd tittle in 4 seasons, they have locked up all their arbitration eligibles and have just about reached their mandated $140 Million payroll.

The two big moves this week were the inking 2010 bullpen stalwart Ramon Ramirez and the signing of expected closer Sergio Romo to a 2-year deal that buys out his remaining arbitration eligibility. With Romo expected to slide into the closers role full time this season, and Guillermo Mota not re-signing, it left another mid-relief spot vacant which is where Ramirez could fit in assuming he throws well this spring. He's coming off rough year in New York in which his ERA shot up to the high-4's after carrying one in the low-2's throughout his year-and-a-half in San Francisco. The Giants are hoping a return to the thick cool air by the bay will result in a return to form for Ramirez, but again, he's coming in on a minor league deal and will have a lot to prove in Scottsdale. The one thing in his favor though, is he's the most experienced arm in that race for the 12th bullpen spot. I expect to see guys like Jean Machi, Brett Bochy and Heath Hembree also get some looks early in spring as the Giants try and size them up, but the job should be Ramirez's to lose.

So, after the two signings, the Giants team payroll is just about maxed out for their projected 2013 figure, but like they've made clear in the past, they may be willing to surpass that number a bit should they find the right fit. That being said, I'm extremely surprised that they didn't make a more serious run at Scott Hairston, a guy who I've mentioned numerous times here this winter and just signed a 2 year, $5M deal with the Cubs. I just felt Hairston was exactly what this team was lacking, a right-handed outfielder with big power in his bat that could sufficiently platoon with, or even replace Gregor Blanco. I mean, you give Hairston 400 at-bats in a season and he's going to put up some numbers for you. For a team that lacks players with the ability to hit the 3-run homer and create some runs when the offense is struggling, it seems like he would have been an ideal target, especially after seeing his price tag. Not that I don't like Blanco, but I think he gets overmatched vs. a lot of lefties at the plate and is still a question mark as an everyday corner outfielder.

Giants' Top 20 Prospects for 2013: GBB Edition

2013-01-31T19:29:00.001-08:00

Like we try and always do about this time of year, I wanted to get our version of the Giants top-20 prospect list out before spring training starts up. You'll find a lot of the names in pretty similar spots to last year, but with Gary Brown's off-year and the trade of Tommy Joseph, there has been some shuffling atop the list.

1. Kyle Crick, RHP: The toughest part of this list was picking between Blackburn and Crick for the number one spot, but I have to roll with Crick because of his off-the-charts potential. As far as pure stuff and 'strike you out' ability, the big right-hander is second to none. Giants scouts have compared him favorably to both Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, and both those guys were able to cruise through the minors quickly. Perhaps the most telling sign of his dominance though is his 1 HR allowed in 118 minor league innings thus far. The only knock on Crick is his knack for walking batters.

2. Clayton Blackburn, RHP: I seem to like this young right-hander a lot more than most scouts do. Andrew Baggarly had him 6th in his prospect list for Baseball America, but I really like the kids makeup. His winning percentage and K:BB ratio last year with Augusta stood out big time, and although he doesn't really overpower you like Crick does, his control is far more advanced. I can't wait to see how the 20 year-old does in the offensive-happy Cal League this year.

3. Chris Stratton, RHP: I really liked the selection of Stratton at pick 20 in last years draft, and I think this kid will be on the fast track to the big leagues starting in 2013. He didn't get to do much after being drafted last year as he got hurt and missed some time, but he showed hints in Salem that he'll make a smooth transition into the professional ranks. The last time the Giants selected a college arm that high in a draft was when they got Lincecum in '06 and we all saw how quickly he ascended to the big leagues.

4. Gary Brown, OF: His .279/7/42 line with 33 steals was a major fall-back from his 2011 line of .339/14/80 and 55 SB's. However, he was playing the notoriously pitcher-friendly Eastern League, and did come on strong in the second half. 2013 will be a crucial year for the 24 year-old, as he's entering that phase where it's put up or shut up time. He's going to start the year in Fresno, but in a perfect world, the Giants would love to see him force his way onto the big league roster at some point this season. His glove is polished, but I'd like to see his stolen base percentage and batting average go up a little bit.

5. Joe Panik, SS: Like with Brown, Panik had a somewhat pedestrian 2012 season. His batting average (.296) and OBP (.368) were solid, but his slugging numbers left something to be desired. After hitting 6 homers in 300 at-bats in 2011, he managed just 7 in 600 at-bats playing in the friendly confines of the California League. The 23 year-old should start the year in AA, but it wouldn't surprise me if he's moved up to AAA at some point if he's handling the bat well.

6. Heath Hembree, RHP: Hembree's injury-plagued off-year really came at a tough time for the youngster. The Giants lost Brian Wilson early in the year and probably would have brought Hembree up at some point if he were pitching better. After carrying an ERA under 2 for his first two seasons in the minors, it shot up to 4.76 as he struggled in Fresno. The silver lining here is that he wasn't fully healthy for most of last season, so hopefully he gets back on track in 2013. I'll be watching him especially closely this spring.

7. Mike Kickham, LHP: The 24 year-old lefty put together a real strong year for Richmond in 2012, and it really put him on the map. He's always had good stuff plus he's a lefty, so he's been on the radar, but he seemed to put it together in 2012 (11-10, 3.05 ERA, 137 K's in 150 innings). I'm looking for big things from him in 2013 as he should begin the year in Fresno and would be amongst the first guys looked at should the Giants need an extra starter to fill in at some point.

8. Martin Agosta, RHP: The 2nd round pick from 2012 didn't do a whole lot in the minors after being drafted, but he did show his ability to dominate with 19 K's in 10+ innings in the rookie league. He's got a little bit of Tim Lincecum in him as he's got a slender frame but can really hike up the velocity. With a good year in 2013, he could catapult into the top-5 based on his ability and long term potential.

9. Andrew Sussac, C: The 23 year-old catcher had plenty of hype after the Giants drafted him in the 2nd round in 2011, but he disappointed in his first full year as a pro. Still, he's got the skill-set, and the bat to adjust to pro ball, and it would surprise me to see him struggle with the bat again in 2013. Although he's not the athlete that Posey is, he's got a lot of similar skill-sets, and he's another guy who could find himself in the top-5 next year with a nice 2013 campaign.

10. Edwin Escobar, LHP: This guy is one of the most intriguing young arms in the Giants system. He was only 19 in 2012, and he put up some very impressive numbers in A-ball. He's got a lively fastball that sits around 91 MPH, and he's got a solid curve and change to go with it. Many who've seen more of the young lefty than I have believe his ceiling to be a mid-rotation guy, with his floor being a big league middle reliever.

11. Adalberto Mejia, LHP: Mejia is another young lefty (19 years old) with tremendous upside and is coming off a solid 2012 season. He's got above average command and stuff for his age and he rarely gives up the long ball. Between he and Escobar, the Giants have some very talented young lefties in low in their system who appear ready to really start making some noise.

12. Mac Williamson, OF: The Giants third round selection in last June's draft did nothing but impress in limited time after arriving in the organization. Between rookie ball and low-A, he managed a .321/9/32 line with a .965 OPS in just 145 at-bats. This guy has legit pop, and I think he could be in for a huge year in San Jose.

13. Roger Kieschnick, OF: Much like Hembree last season, Kieschnick got bitten by the injury bug at the worst possible time. He was tearing up AAA pitching, and would have been the Giants clear-cut choice to take Melky's roster spot had he been healthy, but he went down. In only 55 games before going down, he was hitting .295 with 15 jacks, 14 doubles and a .942 OPS. If he's healthy this spring, and the Giants want to go with 5 outfielders out of the gate, he may be first in line for that 5th spot.

14. Chris Heston, RHP: This guy has done nothing but improve each year since he became a pro, with 2012 being his big breakout year. The 24 year-old went 9-8 with a 2.24 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 148 innings in AA Richmond. Will start 2013 in AAA, and is likely the 6th starter on the organizational depth chart after Barry Zito, meaning he's first in line should one of the top-5 go down with injury.

15. Francisco Peguero, OF: We saw a small sample of Peguero after Melky Cabrera's suspension in August, and although he didn't particularly stick out, he showed he can handle the glove and has some good wheels. I think he needs some more time in Fresno to fine-tune some things, but the 24 year-old very much in the mix for one of the remaining bench spots on the 25-man roster.

16. Josh Osich, LHP: Osich is intriguing for a number of reasons. He's a big lefty who hits the upper 90's with his heater, was dominant in college and has already overcome Tommy John surgery. He was used mostly as a starter in school at Oregon State, where he threw a no-hitter. With his history of being a starter and his ability to go multiple innings in relief, he reminds me a bit of Jeremy Affeldt, and I think he's going to be a plus big league reliever in the very near future (so long as he keeps that left arm healthy of course).

17. Adam Duvall, 2B: Duvall was one of the most talked about prospects in the Giants system in 2012, as he led the whole organization with 30 long balls to go with 100 RBI in high-A ball. He'll enter 2013 at 24 years of age, and after his success in 2012, the Giants will let his play dictate how quickly he advances. I would be surprised if he's not in AAA early in 2013 and earn an eventual September call-up.

18. Stephen Johnson, RHP: The 22 year-old flamethrower makes the list without having thrown but 19 innings as a pro, and the reason why, he can hit triple digits with that fastball of his. So long as he can harness it, and polish up his secondary pitches, he's got future set-up man, or possibly even closer, written all over him.

19. Brett Bochy, RHP: The younger Bochy really reminds me a lot of Sergio Romo. Both are ridiculously effective without being terribly overpowering. Then there's also the late-bloomer aspect to both. Brett will be 26 in August, but he's only had two minor league years under his belt. He's been dominant in those two though, and I think he's shown he's more than prepared for AAA and extremely close to being big league ready.

20. Gustavo Cabrera, OF: To round things out, I had to go with the guy with perhaps the most raw talent in the organization. The Giants signed the 17 year-old last summer as he was rated by BA as baseball's the top international prospect. He's drawn comparisons to Justin Upton, and he's going to have plenty of time to piece everything together as the Giants can afford to bring him along slowly.

Honorable Mention: Ehire Adrianza-SS; Bryce Bandilla-LHP, Nick Noonan-IF; Ricky Oropesa-1B; Chris Marlowe-RHP; Eric Surkamp-LHP; Steven Okert-LHP; Angel Villalona-1B

Giants Notes: Pence, Posey and the WBC

2013-01-23T18:55:00.000-08:00

The Giants probably could have done with the offseason ending in mid-December, as they really haven't doen much since. However, with Spring Training just over 2 weeks out, and players still waiting for 2013 contracts, I expect things to start picking up in this final phase of the offseason.

One thing I was curiously waiting for all offseason was to see what kind of money the Giants' top two arbitration eligibles would get, and we got the answer a few days ago when Buster Posey and Hunter Pence each inked their 2013 contracts. That leaves only Sergio Romo and Joaquin Arias as the last two guys without a deal for 2013 (though both are expected to avoid arbitration). For Buster to get that high of a figure with basically just one full major league season under his belt tells you plenty of how much the Giants value this kid and he's got to be grateful to SF for showing the willingness to go that high. The Giants goal is to get this guy signed to a long-term deal, and although it may not happen before the season starts, I think it's something we'll see by next winter. The guy who protects Buster in the lineup, Hunter Pence, got a little bit higher of a figure than I was anticipating as well. I guessed $12.5M but he'll be up closer to $14M in 2013. I know he was a nice presence in the playoffs and fit in tremendously well with this team, but that money has got to get the Giants some better production in 2013. I do expect that to be the case too. This is Hunter's walk year, and he's got to envision this season as the one that really could make his career.

Elsewhere, most of the Giants news this month has been about Pablo Sandoval's minor health scare in the Domincan Republic as well as Sergio Romo's issue with the Las Vegas airport. As far as Romo's little spat is concerned, I don't really consider it an issue in the least and don't really feel the need to discuss it further. Pablo's situation, however, could play a factor into whether he decides to play for the Dominican in the upcoming WBC, or whether he'll withdraw from the even and focus on getting in shape in Giants' camp. I personally would like to see him come in early to Scottsdalle and work his tail off like he did before the 2011 season and avoid the WBC at all costs. The expectations are going to be huge for Panda this year, I know mine are, and if this is the year he can stay in shape and avoid those nagging DL stints, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a career year out of the Panda. He's got legit protetion in Posey and Pence, and he's got the table setters in front of him with Scutaro and Pagan, so Panda is going to have a large say in whether the Giants offense thrives or not. We saw how well he played in October and how he we able to carry the team at certain points. I expect a lot more of that in 2013.

As for the other Giants expected to take part in the World Baseball Classic, Ryan Vogelsong has agreed to be part of the US squad, Marco Scutaro is expected to suit up for his native Dominican Republic team and Angel Pagan will play for Puerto Rico. Also, over half the Giants bullpen will take part in the tournament with Sergio Romo pitching for Mexico, Javy Lopez for Puerto Rico, Santiago Casilla for the DR, Jeremy Affeldt for the US and Jose Mijares for Venezuela. The one name that I'm looking most forward to watching compete from the Giants' oranization though is prospect Clayton Tanner. The right-handed pitcher solidified his spot amongst the Giants premiere prospects with a great 2012 season, and was named to the Italian team as a projected starter.