Henry Schulman of the Chronicle put forth some questions about the 2007 Giants. We'd like to use some of his and a few of our own:
1) Which Barry will the Giants count on most? The easy answer is Barry Zito, the $126 million dollar man. But Barry Bonds will be important, too. Assuming all is calm in Bondsville (pending any investigations), Bonds will need to hit. And hit. And hit. Is he up to it? We've expressed our doubts in earlier blog posts. We still hold to that. But we hope we're wrong and he surprises us. It would be nice if he hit a lot more home runs than Zito wins games.
2) If the Giants fail, is Sabean gone? We doubt it. Peter Magowan tends to hang onto things like glue. Second basemen, left fielders and yes, g.m.s.
3) Will Pedro Felix be gone before the end of the season? Yes. Count on it.
4) Will the 2007 Giants win more games than last year? Yes.
5) Will they win the NL West? If the two Barrys have great years, yes. If not, it'll be another long season.
3)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Your 2007 Giants will be ... different
Is there anyone who anticipates how your 2007 San Francisco Giants will get along without Barry Bonds' estate of lockers?
OK, so we weren't entirely serious there. But c-c-c-c-changes are on the horizon.
Barry Bonds is not the forefront of the team anymore and he knows it (and is probably glad to let the younger guys take over). The team is split 20/20 with guys born before and since 1980. The non-roster invitees are composed of 16 born before 1980 and 13 born since. As long as all the veterans aren't on crutches, that's a good thing.
The Giants certainly remade the team from the top down. They literally stole Bruce Bochy from the Padres in one of the craftiest moves of the offseason by any team. And Bochy brought with him some well-known names: Dave Roberts (who will always be our hero for his steal against the Yankees in the Red Sox-Yankees playoff game) and Ryan Klesko. Neither of them will be the threats they were at their prime, but Roberts was a pesky pain to the Giants when he was with San Diego. It's good -- assuming he can stay healthy -- to have him on our side. Klesko is more a question mark. He hasn't hit great recently, but maybe the change in scene from San Diego's hitter unfriendly park will help.
We're also glad to see nuts-and-bolts guy infielder Rich Aurelia back. He bounced all over the place the past 3 years, going from Seattle and San Diego (2004) to Cincinnati (2005-06) after leaving the Giants. He's been a solid guy and an anchor in the infield.
Welcome back, too, to Russ Ortiz. Here's hoping he really has found his pitching stroke again. He was miserable in Arizona.
There are a couple of names on the roster that we question severely. One is Pedro Feliz, who we think needs to be shipped off somewhere. The Giants have been way too patient with his streaky hitting streaks. Enough is enough. And what the hell is Damian Moss doing on any roster? He was horrible the first time around for the Giants. What's he doing back here?
There are several upcoming talents to watch on the G's. Kevin Frandsen is getting a good look for the future. We'll never forget Travis Ishikawa's Giants' debut over a year ago and he'll be another one to keep an eye on.
Going into spring training, we're not expecting the Giants to roll over the division (or anyone else in the division to roll over the Giants). But they've got a solid foundation to build on.
Let's hope Bochy can put the pieces together.
OK, so we weren't entirely serious there. But c-c-c-c-changes are on the horizon.
Barry Bonds is not the forefront of the team anymore and he knows it (and is probably glad to let the younger guys take over). The team is split 20/20 with guys born before and since 1980. The non-roster invitees are composed of 16 born before 1980 and 13 born since. As long as all the veterans aren't on crutches, that's a good thing.
The Giants certainly remade the team from the top down. They literally stole Bruce Bochy from the Padres in one of the craftiest moves of the offseason by any team. And Bochy brought with him some well-known names: Dave Roberts (who will always be our hero for his steal against the Yankees in the Red Sox-Yankees playoff game) and Ryan Klesko. Neither of them will be the threats they were at their prime, but Roberts was a pesky pain to the Giants when he was with San Diego. It's good -- assuming he can stay healthy -- to have him on our side. Klesko is more a question mark. He hasn't hit great recently, but maybe the change in scene from San Diego's hitter unfriendly park will help.
We're also glad to see nuts-and-bolts guy infielder Rich Aurelia back. He bounced all over the place the past 3 years, going from Seattle and San Diego (2004) to Cincinnati (2005-06) after leaving the Giants. He's been a solid guy and an anchor in the infield.
Welcome back, too, to Russ Ortiz. Here's hoping he really has found his pitching stroke again. He was miserable in Arizona.
There are a couple of names on the roster that we question severely. One is Pedro Feliz, who we think needs to be shipped off somewhere. The Giants have been way too patient with his streaky hitting streaks. Enough is enough. And what the hell is Damian Moss doing on any roster? He was horrible the first time around for the Giants. What's he doing back here?
There are several upcoming talents to watch on the G's. Kevin Frandsen is getting a good look for the future. We'll never forget Travis Ishikawa's Giants' debut over a year ago and he'll be another one to keep an eye on.
Going into spring training, we're not expecting the Giants to roll over the division (or anyone else in the division to roll over the Giants). But they've got a solid foundation to build on.
Let's hope Bochy can put the pieces together.
Friday, February 02, 2007
And it's still not over
He's signed. He's not signed. Maybe. Maybe not. The endless soap opera of whether you've signed or not looks ridiculous, Barry. Quit the jostling and get it done. It looks silly.
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