Chances Giants Repeat as NL West Champs

[love_that_reefer]

This Giants had a disappointing offseason to put it kindly. The only real move they made was bringing in Miguel Tejada which is a downgrade at SS from 2010 when the Giants won the World Series. Sorry, just had to mention we're champs because it is fun Other than that, the Giants just kept the same crew. We brought back Huff for two years and $22 million and Pat the Bat came back for a very generous hometown discount on $1 million for one year. Looks like the Giants are hoping to capture lightning in a bottle two years in a row. The Giants are good don't get me wrong but they really haven't improved on the team that went on the WS run last year. Sure, the team is better now than it was last Opening Day and can make moves during the season to better but there are some real concerns. Thankfully, the rest of the division didn't do much either. But let's go over how the Giants look first.

The Giants pitching is the heart and soul of this team. Lincecum is due to bounce back after seeing his ERA jump nearly a whole run. He still lead the league in strikeouts and K/9 but his control was a problem and he had a terrible August after tinkering with his mechanics. I think he learned his lesson. Matt Cain continues to baffle the experts with his success even though his peripherals say he isn't that good year after year after year. He just loves proving them wrong. Sanchez can go either way really. You're going to get a lot of walks and a lot of strikeouts. Plus his velocity was down towards the end but that's probably just from the workload. As wild as he is, people don't really hit him. Batters have combined to collect a lousy .699 OPS over the past three seasons to go along with a .226 BA. He's still a mystery to me and expect a slight regression from '10. Bumgarner will be a mystery too. Will the league catch up to him? Will the workload affect him? These are real concerns and with the lack of starting pitching depth, I for one think this should have been addressed a lot more than the Giants did. Jeff Suppan and Josh Banks aren't exactly great backup plans. Plus it took the Giants a long time to address this need thus missing out on a lot better options. Runzler will be counted on too as they are trying to stretch him out to be a starter. I expect a regression from Bumgarner as well. Finally we get to Zito who had to sit and watch his team win the WS from the bench. We wouldn't have won the West without Zito but I think this will add some much needed motivation and Zito will continue to be one of the better 5th starters in the league. All in all the rotation is still one of the best in all of baseball and I would rank it right behind the Phillies right now.

The bullpen looks to be solid yet again. No real changes to be spoken of. Mota and Marc Kroon will be fighting for one of the last spots in the bullpen. Kroon is coming over from a successful comeback in Japan so who knows what he's got but he's supposedly a fireballer who hit 100 mph a couple of seasons ago. Lopez and Ramirez (our big midseason pickups last year) will be coming back as will Casilla, Romo, and Affeldt. They will all be helping our top five closer in Brian Wilson. I know Lopez and Ramirez won't be as good as they were last year, not too many people are but I do think this will be one of the better bullpens in the league. Overall, our starters and relievers will be very good.

The everyday guys will be the biggest question mark on this squad. I've already mentioned the newcomer in Tejada and how he is a downgrade. His defense at SS won't be as good and neither will his power numbers. My only hope is that his OBP will be higher. Actually my real hope is that he is closer to his '09 numbers. Same goes for Sandoval who has lost 20+ pounds this offseason. That should help him defensively and a little offensively. I still think his problem lies between his ears. The league caught up with him so he has to adjust but losing the weight will help his overall game. I am expecting a better year than last year. Huff is another year older as is Torres and Burrell. I expect some regression from all three but Torres will still play excellent defense. Sanchez I expect either the same or better numbers. He really battled injuries last year and it took him til late in the season to find a real groove. He might not be there Opening Day, but he won't be far off. Posey is who I'm not worried about at all. His approach at the plate is that of a veteran's and he has a smooth stroke. He should be on track for another great year. Ross is one I can't figure out. His numbers have dropped in each of the past three seasons so hopefully those can rise after a successful postseason. Bochy has already come out and said he will most likely be hitting 8th. Brandon Belt could be this year's version of Buster Posey, an impact rookie. He had an astounding first year of professional ball. He rose through the ranks ending up in AAA and having a great AFL after that. He looks like the real deal. He will start in AAA but he could be called up at any time move Huff to LF. Rowand, Schierholtz, Ishikawa, Whiteside, Fontenot and Mark DeRosa should be solid backups. The bench looks great. DeRosa is the only big question mark since no one knows how his wrist will hold up. If Sandoval can return to form, that's like getting another free agent. With him, Sanchez and Ross improving, that could more than make up for the slight regression of Huff, Torres and Burrell. Overall the defense should be improved even after getting Tejada. Sandoval's slimmer, Sanchez should be healthier, Ross in RF and Posey all year will help. Lot of if's but what team doesn't this time of year. This has the potential to be a better lineup than last year's.

Now we come to our competition, the rest of the division. The Dodgers improved the rotation and bullpen and should be better offensively if they can stay healthy. They got our old friend Uribe who is an upgrade and Ethier and Kemp should have better numbers. Torre is gone and Mattingly is in which I think will do more good than bad. The Dodgers underachieved last season so I think they are our biggest competition going in. Adding Garland to an already good rotation makes them deeper and better. The moves in the bullpen should really help them a ton. The Padres were just a game away from forcing a playoff but they fell short. They improved their middle infield with Bartlett and Hudson but they lost their best hitter and only force in their lineup. They also got weaker at catcher. The offense has no real thunder and that will hurt them in the long run.Mat Latos was their ace but should regress after his first full year in the MLB. The rotation isn't as deep either after losing Garland and Correia. The bullpen is still amazing and better than ours so they will still be winning those one run ballgames. The Rockies are the Rockies, strong offense with an okay pitching staff. Jimenez fizzled out in the second half but Chacin looks good. I'm not sold on de la Rosa like everyone else this offseason was but he could shock me, wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. The bullpen isn't that strong but the offense is. Tulo and Cargo anchor this offense and they got a deeper bench by adding Wiggington and Jose Lopez, taking some pressure off Helton. Ianetta and Stewart best start living up to expectations if they want to be near the top of the West. The Dbacks have good pitching and should have an improved bullpen with Putz closing games out. The offense is patchwork. Upton, Drew, Young and Johnson are the core and then they are surrounded by utility players. Expect a last place finish but that rotation will cause the rest of the division some frustration.

In summary, I like the Giants chances to repeat as West champs. The rotation and bullpen are the foundation of this team and no team in the West has a strong offense. No team really improved all that much either. I'd say the Dodgers are the most improved but they also finished 12 games out last year. Come September, I expect the Giants, Dodgers and Rockies to be fighting it out for the top spot. One thing is certain, the defending WS champs are the team to beat and will have a huge target going into 2011. What do you think of the Giants chances to repeat?

[Kingdom]

On paper, I'd say great but since things hardly ever play out that easily, I'll go with good. Colorado lacks pitching depth, Arizona doesn't matter, San Diego will sell their mother if they had the opportunity, and who the Hell knows with LA right? San Fran seems to be in the best shape and position at the moment.

[love_that_reefer]

Giants signed Elmer Dessens to a minor league deal. This changes everything

[love_that_reefer]

42 views, 3 votes. Pathetic

[HollywoodLeo]

Maybe Mofo will come in here and demand that you tell him the order of teams finishing behind the Giants...and then not vote.

[realmofotalk]

I'll go with "good", but only because you won't get a "great" from me and none of you can call me out for getting it wrong on "good".

But dear God, this has the potential to be worse for the Dodgers than the 1997-2003 era with 0 playoff appearances. Fuck my life.

[love_that_reefer]

Great to me would be going wire to wire or winning by 7+games so I think you're safe Mofo

[realmofotalk]

Logic: the opposite is "not good" for me. Hence the way I voted.

[Tobywan]

I also went with good, because like mentioned you never know, you still have to play the season.

This Giants had a disappointing offseason to put it kindly. The only real move they made was bringing in Miguel Tejada which is a downgrade at SS from 2010 when the Giants won the World Series. Sorry, just had to mention we're champs because it is fun

C'mon, they won the WS very decidedly, how much did they really have to "tweak"?

[love_that_reefer]

C'mon, they won the WS very decidedly, how much did they really have to "tweak"?

When others teams improve, you need to do the same. Going from Tejada to Uribe is not an upgrade. Plus not having much starting pitching depth after your starters just threw more pitches than ever is also not good. Every WS can get better and should, especially now that this year the target will be on their backs.

[Tobywan]

Every WS can get better and should, especially now that this year the target will be on their backs.

Did you mean every WS team can get better & should? In my view since realistically it is rare for teams to repeat I doubt any upgrade/downgrade makes a difference, besides the majority of teams don't have much depth past their starting rotation, in fact many don't have depth IN their starting rotation.

[love_that_reefer]

Did you mean every WS team can get better & should?

Yes, they should. It is rare for teams to repeat as champions but keeping the exact same team isn't going to help be one of those rare teams. Every offseason teams try to better themselves for a WS run or at the very least be competitive. If you go by the "If is ain't broke, don't fix it" model, you will soon find it is indeed broke.

[Kingdom]

Reefer is right. There's also luck and health involved and there is no guarantee the rotation and pitching stays healthy, considering it is the most they have ever pitched in a season.

Plus they can't afford a sophomore slump from Posey and Huff becoming complacent after a big year.

[Kingdom]

But they should still be favorites in the division until they're knocked out.

[GiantsFanatic]

Did you mean every WS team can get better & should? In my view since realistically it is rare for teams to repeat I doubt any upgrade/downgrade makes a difference, besides the majority of teams don't have much depth past their starting rotation, in fact many don't have depth IN their starting rotation.

Unless your the Marlins.