Article:SF Giants 2008 Season Preview

The Major League Baseball season is right around the corner, a season that is the beginning of a new San Francisco Giants team. In baseball minds around the nation, the Giants have pretty much reserved their spot in the fifth spot in the west division. The west is arguably the best division in the National League, if not the Majors. The Giants are going to have a really hard time this years trying to keep up with the four teams ahead of them. Especially with the VERY quiet off-season the front office had.

NL West Teams > > Arizona Diamond Backs > > * 90-72 1st in 2007 season > * Head Coach: Bob Melvin (399-410) > * Team Batting AVG in 07: .250 (5th in West) > * Team ERA in 07: 4.13 (2nd in West) > * Big Addition: Danny Haren > * Big Loss: Jose Velarde > > Colorado Rockies > > * 90-73 2nd in 2007 season (NL Champs)  > * Head Coach: Clint Hurdle (441-509) > * Team Batting AVG in 07: .280 (1st in West) > * Team ERA in 07: 4.32 (5th in West) > * Big Addition: Kip Wells > * Big Loss: Kaz Matsui > > San Diego Padres > > * 89-74 3rd in 2007 season > * Head Coach: Bud Black (89-74) > * Team Batting AVG in 07: .251 (4th in West) > * Team ERA in 07: 3.70 (1st in West) > * Big Addition: Randy Wolf/Jim Edmonds > * Big Loss: Milton Bradley/Marcus Giles > > Los Angeles Dodgers > > * 82-80 4th in 2007 season > * Head Coach: Joe Torre (2067-1769) > * Team Batting AVG in 07: .275 (2nd in West) > * Team ERA in 07: 4.20 (4th in West) > * Big Addition: Andruw Jones/Hiroki Kuroda > * Big Loss: Randy Wolf > > San Francisco Giants > > * 71-91 5th in 2007 season > * Head Coach: Bruce Bochy (1022-1066) > * Team Batting AVG in 07: .254 (3rd in West) > * Team ERA in 07: 4.19 (3rd in West) > * Big Addition: Aaron Rowand > * Big Loss: Barry Bonds

The Giants' Pitching Preview > > Starting Rotation: ''Pitching is the key to winning for the Giants, due to their lack of offense. It might not be as bad as it seems due to the fact that in my opinion the Giants have one of the best rotation in the majors. With young stars and catalysts of the rotation, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Cain and Lincecum need to be able to carry this Giants' team, if they can go deep into games and let up minimal runs the Giants will have good odds of winning the games they pitch. Barry Zito has to have a rebound year, the Giants are paying him way to much to turn out a season containing an 11-13 record with a 4.53 ERA. The rotation will look something like this:'' > > # Barry Zito > # Matt Cain > # Tim Lincecum > # Noah Lowry > # Jonathan Sanchez > > The Bullpen: ''One word can describe this part of the team...Shaky. The Giants don't have anyone that really stands out. No one in the pen can come in and totally shut down a team. Brad Hennessey and Brian Wilson are slightly above average relievers and once you start looking past those two, the bullpen looks pretty bad. Bruce Bochy is going to be hoping that the starters eat up a lot of innings.'' > > The Outfield:  ''Overcrowded...With Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn manning CF and RF, Dave Roberts seems to be the man in LF. I personally feel we should be letting the young guys play in that LF spot, but Bochy and Roberts are butt-buddies and Roberts will most likely man that position. Fred Lewis, Rajai Davis, and Nate Schierholtz are the three young outfielders that are battling to make the 25-man roster for the regular season. Rajai Davis did enough last season to prove himself to have a starting spot on this Giants team. Really it'll be between Lewis and Schierholtz for that last backup outfielder spot. All three could make the team depending on how many pitchers Bochy keeps.'' > > Infield: ''Omar Vizquel (shortstop) and Benjie Molina (catcher) seem to be the only for sure holders of a position. Dan Ortmeier has been making good progress in spring training and will most likely be the opening day starter. Kevin Frandsen is battling for two positions against two veteran Giants players. He battles Ray Durham at second base and Rich Aurillia at third. Right now it seems as though the Giants are once again going to give the aging Durham, who is in the very steep decline of his career, the starting spot at second. Which leaves Aurillia and Frandsen battling for the spot at third base and in my eyes I see Frandsen beating out Aurillia. Having Aurillia as a utility man doesn't look that bad, he can play all four infield position spots very well and he benefits the team more coming off the bench.'' > > The Line-up: ''This is the teams big WEAKness. They are going to have to resort to a lot of small-ball. Rowand will have to step up and be the offensive catalyst and Benjie Molina needs to have a good year in the clean-up spot. The Giants are hoping Randy Winn can return to 2006 form and help out at the top of the line-up. The line-up really is not set, but I see it as this:'' > > # SS Omar Vizquel (.246) > # RF Randy Winn (.300) > # CF Aaron Rowand (.309) > # C Benjie Molina (.276) > # 2B Ray Durham (.218) > # 1B Dan Ortmeier (.287) > # LF Dave Roberts (.260) > # 3B Kevin Frandsen (.269)

Wrap-Up > > I'm just praying that the Giants can keep it together and that this new found chemistry can carry this team through the season. Hopefully the Giants can find themselves in the heat of the playoff race come September, but realistically they will be buried at the bottom of the division. The Giants and I alike have hope that the Giants can pull of a miracle run. Can the new style of small-ball work for the Giants? Can the Pitching Staff carry this team to the playoffs? These are the two big questions for the Giants this year. > >  > > http://cglzero2hero.wordpress.com