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Who's The Fifth Starter? (A Look at the Giants Rotation) posted on 11/05/2008

The question for Giant's fans going into spring training in recent years was who will take the final spot in the rotation: Kevin Correia or Brad Hennessey?  Last year the job was Correia's to lose, and unfortunately, due to injury, it looks like he lost it for good.  The Giants cut ties with both the starting pitchers and reliever Tyler Walker in October creating a spot in the 5 man rotation.

Anchored by Lincecum and Cain the rotation is complemented by Lefties Jonathon Sanchez and Barry Zito.  So the question remains who will round out one of the best rotations in the majors. 

The Giants 2007 wins leader Noah Lowry didn't throw a pitch in 2008 and had yet another surgery on his throwing arm in September.  While Giants fans remain hopeful to see Noah pitch next season he cannot be the only option the Giants have.

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Looking at the '09 Outfield posted on 10/29/2008

While it may have been a long 2008 season, it had many upsides.  Brian Wilson established himself as a legitimate closer in this league, Lincecum has every team in the league talking, and the Giants finally have some young talent to boast about.

Next years starting outfield has only one guarantee so far and that is Aaron Rowand.  He making to much money to be traded (not to mention his value is down after a bad year) and the organization loves his on-field leadership and club house presence.  So Rowand will start in center and hopefully have a better year offensively.

Left field will most likely be occupied by Fred Lewis assuming his off-season foot surgery is successful.  If he recovers in time for for the beginning of the 2009 season he could be the brightest spot of the lineup.  Lewis hit .282 in a year where he dealt with foot trouble Homering 9 times, tripling 11, doubling 25, and finished second only to Randy Winn in BB's.  His 40 RBI's were a small total for a man with so many extra base hits but he hit lead off most the year and the giants eighth place hitters (Bocock and Visquel) were dreadful leaving little for the Fred to drive in. 

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The Time Has Come to Say Goodbye to Rich Aurrilla posted on 07/31/2008

In what is shaping up to be one of the worst years in recent Giants history, it has come time to say goodbye to Rich Aurilia.  If it was just saying goodbye to the free agent that came over from Cincinnati two years ago it would be a piece of cake, but it's more than that.......

It's saying goodbye to first Giant's shortstop to blast thirty plus home runs in a season.

It's saying goodbye to a guy we watched break into the bigs thirteen years ago.

Its saying goodbye to the last offensive shortstop the Giants started regularly.

Its saying goodbye to the final member of the amazing 2002 National League Champion Giants.

Its saying goodbye to one of our favorites.

I glanced at my wall this morning and saw the Giants beanie with the number 35 on it.  Rich has been starting regularly for the Giants for the past few weeks, mostly to showcase him, and baseball insiders imagine he will be traded to Minnesota by the end of the day.  Even if he's not his playing time will greatly decrease.

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Giants Play Small Late to give Cain the Only Run Needed posted on 07/25/2008

The Giants won 1 to 0 yesterday on the back of a brilliant four hit complete game performance from Matt Cain. While Matt deserves an enormous amount of credit for even making the start while being ill (flu), the way the giants finally manufactured their one run was equally impressive.

When the eighth place hitter Steve Holms singled, immediately the giants called Velez out of the dugout to pinch run (for those of you that haven’t seen this kid run yet, tune in, your in for a real treat). Cain stayed in the game regardless of how late it was and the giants moved Velez up with a bunt. Dave Roberts then rewarded Cain with a single to score Velez.

The reason the run was so impressive was because the Giants have failed to sacrifice runners into position anymore than the Brewers a team that is loaded with power. The Giants are dead last in homeruns, and that really hasn’t surprised many people, so the question remains, why aren’t we bunting more? One answer is that the number eight hitter has been awful for the Giants this year (i.e. Bocock and Vizquel), leaving very few chances for the pitchers to bunt.

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Velez and Burriss Set to Deliever the Giant's Promise of Youth posted on 07/23/2008

By trading Ray Durham to Milwaukee this weekend the Giants finally began the youth movement they had been promising since announcing the departure of Barry Bonds last August. Durham, the Giant with the longest tenure on the active roster waived his no trade clause and was traded to the visiting Brewers Sunday for two minor league prospects.

Giants fans have been asking who these young prospects are, and the truth is, for now it doesn't matter. The important part of the trade is the playing time it frees up for Eugenio Velez and Emmanuel Burriss.

While the buzz has been about the future of the Velez, Burriss has been putting up the numbers that are turning heads in the organization. He is hitting just below .300 and has show patience at the plate to complement the defensive gems he has turned in at both second and shortstop. He has made the decision to start the season with Brian Bocock at shortstop look as stupid as most of us thought it was, and has stirred talks of the slumping Omar Vizquel taking a permanent backup spot sometime this week.

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