Are We Having Fun Yet?: Padres 2, Giants 1

Not much to write about this one. Again, the Giants couldn't score (for the second straight night their one run was a pathetic excuse for one which came on an out and nearly a double-play). Again, they left a man at 3rd with one out to cost them the run which could've sent the game into extra innings. Again, they wasted a great pitching performance -- though for a welcome change it came from Jonathan Sanchez, who'd been struggling. Again, the Giants lost 2-1. Again, they lost at San Diego -- 0-5 to start the year.

The Giants fell below .500 for the first time since April, and things are looking pretty bleak from the offensive side. They can hit with no one on, but they can't get a big hit to drive in a run to save their lives, and the panic at the plate in those situations is palpable. The panic in the manager's office is pretty obvious too, judging from Bruce Bochy's comments on the feeble offense on Tuesday, and by the fact he wrote out a lineup for Wednesday with Aaron Rowand leading off. That might have been the one bright spot -- Rowand had 3 hits.

TOMORROW: Tim Lincecum loses 2-1 to ex-Giants Kevin Correia as the Giants set a major league record by stranding runners at 3rd with less than 2 out in every inning.

...And That's When Depression Set In: Mets 8, Giants 6

So many things went wrong for the Giants on Friday night -- starting pitching, bullpen, defense, clutch hitting, managing, luck -- you could write a long, detailed essay on the multi-faceted failure. But that could take years and cost millions of lives. In my opinion, this game came down to one boneheaded decision by Bruce Bochy. And now, because of it, the Giants have a 3-game losing streak, and are back to letting the Dodgers (now 6 games up) run away with the division.

It was the 6th inning, and the Giants looked to have the game well in hand. It was 5-1, and Lincecum had struck out the side the previous inning. But his fastball velocity was a bit down, and he was leaning heavily on his changeup. In the top of the 6th, as his pitch count rose over 100, he allowed 2 runs, closing the gab to 5-3. It was pretty clear he was done. Sure, if the Giants went -2-3, and his spot didn't come up, maybe you could send him out until a baserunner got on, and hope he had a quick inning. Only the Giants didn't go 1-2-3, and Lincecum's spot did come up -- with a man on 2nd base. An insurance run. An engraved invitation to pinch-hit. Somewhere deep in the recesses of Bruce Bochy's brain he thought"Pinch hit? But that's just what they're expecting me to do."

Bochy let Lincecum hit, and briefly looked smart, as Lincecum singled in the runner. That positivity didn't last long. In the top of the 7th, Lincecum allowed a hit and a walk, and was pulled from the game without recording another out. Merkin Valdez also faced two hitters, and failed to record an out -- a walk to Gary Sheffield, and a 3-run double by David Wright to tie the game, 6-6. Jeremy Affeldt came in and did a great job of holding the score right there by striking out the side after Wright stole 3rd with nobody out, but it was useless -- the Giants were going to do whatever it took to lose this game.

They proved that yet again when they stranded Randy Winn at 3rd with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, although that had as much to do with bad luck (Winn's ball missed being a HR by a foot, and with 2 outs, Rich Aurilia scorched a liner that Alex Cora stabbed at SS) as it did poor hitting (Aaron Rowand continued his LVP-caliber season by grounding weakly to 3rd with 1 out).

The Mets eventually won by beating Brian Wilson in the 9th inning of a tie game (for the second straight night), but the dye was cast when Bochy (who would later be ejected) left a spent Lincecum in, needlessly risking an insurance run, the lead, and most importantly, Lincecum's arm, by overworking him on a night what he was clearly not his best, after a tough inning. I don't care how tired the bullpen was, especially since Affeldt, their best set-up man, went 2 innings anyway. Boo Bochy. Boo.

TOMORROW: The Big Unit takes the hill in a semi-nationally televised game, trying end the the Giants 3-game losing streak, trying to keep alive his streak of pitching well at home, and trying to help continue the Giants streak of not losing series by giving them a chance to split on Sunday. That's a lot of streaks. Unfortunately, their all going up against Johan Santana, quite possibly the best pitcher in baseball.

The Blahs: Mets 7, Giants 4

The Giants had been playing well recently, but their series winning streak seemed more like an oddity than a barometer of their strength as a team. They've been a bit lucky play the Nats, and the Dodgers right after they lost Manny. Sure, they were playing well, but so many of those wins were predicated on infield hits and 1-run victories. That trend was bound to turn. A lull in momentum is inevitable in baseball no matter how good you are. When they lost to the Nats on the eve of the Mets visit for a 4-game series, I wondered if this might be the time. Tonight did nothing to quell those fears.

The Giants scored 2 runs in the 8th, tying the game with an improbable comeback. Well, improbable besides the fact that the "rally" was started by an infield hit (Fred Lewis, leading off the inning), and ended with an infield hit (Edgar Renteria drove in the tying run, but appeared to injure his hammy legging out the hit*). But Brian Wilson continued to struggle in non-save opportunities, surrendering 3 runs to Mets in the 9th, allowing them to ice the game.

TOMORROW: The Giants need a win if they plan to at least split this series with New York -- remember, Johan Santana is scheduled to pitch over the weekend. The Good News: The Giants have ace Tim Lincecum taking the hill tomorrow. The Bad News: They'll face Livan Hernandez. I know, Livo is not so good anymore, and comes in with a 5+ ERA, but he's exactly the kind of pitcher who dominates the Giants, and it's the kind of thing that would drive me up the wall. So it's bound to happen.

* The way he left the field, I could easily see Renteria going on the disabled list, so you better get used to Juan Uribe at SS for while.

O.M.G.: Giants 7, Dodgers 5

The Giants kept a streak alive by going against a trend. They won another series -- extending their streak of non-losing series to eight -- by winning a game in which they didn't score first. With the victory they're now only 3-14 when failing to score first. They did, however, continue a much happier trend -- scoring a lot of runs (for them) in the final games of series. On this road trip, they put 6 on getaway day in Chicago when needing a win Denver in the same situation, and 7 on getaway day in LA to take this series.

More than that, they won a game when several important factors broke against them -- Tim Lincecum wasn't as sharp as usual (though he still had great numbers everywhere but the "Runs" column), they continued to flail with men in scoring position (including two particularly poor AB's from Pablo Sandoval, who swung at first-pitch low-and-away sinkers to ground out with ducks on the pond), Juan Pierre could do no wrong, and Brian Wilson blew a save.

They won a game they needed to be able to feel like they're still in the race -- 4.5 out, but 2 over .500 -- even though it took 13 innings, they were on the road, and had every reason to believe they should lose. They scored in the 12th and 13th innings just when you might expect them to pack it in, After Wilson blew the save in the 12th, he came back to get the Dodgers 1-2-3 in the 13th, but that didn't stop him from fuming afterwards over mocking from Casey Blake, who took him deep to tie the game. Twitter, mohawks, mocking -- Brian Wilson is a walking controversy.

TOMORROW: The Giants come home to play the resurgent Nats, as The Unit takes on Daniel Cabrera at Mays Field.

Baseball Like It Oughta Be: Giants 6, Cubs 2

Today was good day. I woke up late, watched the Giants beat the Cubs behind Lincecum and two 3-run innings. Bengie Molina got the Giants started in fine fashion, as his 3-run HR in the 1st gave Lincecum 3 runs to play with before he ever took the mound. As soon as the TV cameras showed Lincecum in the dugout, pumping his fist like he'd already won, I thought, "That better be enough, Timmy, because that might be all you get". For a long time, it looked like I was right. Lincecum led by the slim margin of 3-2 after 7 innings before the Giants added 3 in the top of the 8th, highlighted by a 2-run double by the eternally-slumping Aaron Rowand.

Getting to watch the Giants play a day game at Wrigley is one of life's simple pleasures. Getting to see Lincecum hold down the Cubbies for the win is the cherry on top. The Giants scoring 6 runs is the tab of acid on top of the cherry.

Bright spots: Merkin Valdez was nasty, and struck out 2 in an inning of work -- he hit 99 and had a devastating slider. Emmanuel Burriss had 2 hits, albeit from the right side. Molina continues to be a not-as-embarrassing-as-it-should-be cleanup hitter. Rowand (see above).

Downside: After getting hot the last 2 games, Fred Lewis looked very bad at the plate, taking a collar and still hasn't homered. Before looking nasty and striking out 2, Valdez couldn't get the ball over the plate with a 4 run lead in the 8th -- he was lucky to get his first out on what would've been ball 4.

Again, just awesome -- real grass, real sunshine, real baseball. Giants at Wrigley. Lincecum. Runs. Not working. Today represented everything great about America.

TOMORROW: The Giants travel to Colorado to play the Rockies, the Big Unit taking the hill against Ubaldo Jimenez (a.k.a. "Battle of The Uglies 2: Rocky Mountain Ugly").

Insert Title Here: Cubs 4, Giants 2

Didn't see the game. Don't plan to either, though I have it on TiVo. It didn't look like much to see -- Jonathan Sanchez too wild again, offense dominated by Ryan Dempster (who shared a flight with my wife and I to Australia, where we were going to get married in 2004). Ho-hum. Move along. Besides, there's more baseball around the corner: I have the next three days off work -- during which the Giants will play two day games, including tomorrow.

The good news from tonight: Pablo Sandoval is back where he belongs -- hitting .320+ with gap power -- and so is Fred Lewis, who's hitting .312 and taking his fair share of walks. Though I'd love to see him take a couple of trots around the bases before too long, if you catch my drift (Chicago and Colorado aren't bad places to find your power stroke -- hint, hint). Another bright side: The 'pen. The Giants got 2 shutout innings out of both Bob Howry, who's been struggling, and Justin Miller, who'd been surprisingly good.

TOMORROW: An awesome fucking display of baseball -- Tim Lincecum at Wrigley Field in an 11:20 PDT start. God bless America!

April Flowers: Giants 9, Dodgers 4

The Giants April schedule is over, and they end it with a 10-10 record. From where I'm sitting, that's something to build on. They were 2-7, and looking lost. Since then, the starting pitching has been every bit as good as I thought it might -- even better, considering Zito's newfound decentness -- and the everything else has been just good enough to win.

Tonight was more of the same -- Lincecum dominating, the offense contributing more than usual, the bullpen less. The Giants rarely score 9 runs (or get 4 hits from Renteria), but Lincecum pitched well enough to win 4-3. The Giants team which played the Dodgers in this series was a complete turnaround from the one which was swept in LA on a 0-6 road trip. They very well could've swept this series, but for a total fundamental breakdown on Tuesday.

If you believe the starters can keep this up, which is unlikely, then the Giants are in good shape. The hitting will likely improve at least a bit as the year goes on as young players get some experience, and the overworked troika in the bullpen (Wilson, Affeldt, Howry) should get another arm when Sergio Romo comes off the DL soon. With lots of young stars coming up through the minors, the future would look mighty bright.

If the starting pitching falters, however, it could get ugly very quickly. While Giants have lots of good young starters in the minors, the ones at AAA Fresno are not particularly enticing. The hitting will likely improve, but I don't expect it to be much above average if at all. And the D and bullpen aren't good enough to save the day. Barring a major trade, the starters are the keystone the season rests on.

So far, so good.

TOMORROW: Off-day. The Giants are back at it Friday night as they host the Rockies. The Big Unit will take on Ubaldo Jimenez in a battle of historically ugly vs epically ugly.

In The Zone: Giants 5, D-Backs 1

Again, this was how Brian Sabean drew it up before the season -- great starting pitching, decent enough hitting, and solid defense. The defense and the hitting haven't been very dependable this year, but the pitching is starting to look like something the team can count on.

Counting on opposite-field HR's by Edgar Renteria, and getting 12 K's from your starter is not something they can do on most nights, but when Lincecum pitches it's certainly not surprising. Unfortunately, it's also not suprising to see the Giants leave runners at 3rd with less than 2 out again and again. Tonight, Aaron Rowand did it twice himself, and he wasn't alone. But when Lincecum is on, it doesn't matter much, as long as you score him a couple.

Rowand helped him off to a good start with a fabulous play to save a run in the 1st inning, cutting off a Stephen Drew double into the gap with a quick slide, then popping up and, in one motion, hitting the cutoff man with a strong throw. Lincecum then struck out Mark Reynolds to keep him there, and got out of the inning unscathed, going 8 innings and allowing only a single run and walk to go with the dozen K's (he struck out 13 D-Backs in SF less than a week ago).

The Giants managed to score 5 runs despite their lack of good situational hitting, mainly because of Bengie Molina, who hit one HR with the bases empty, and one ringing double with the bases full, driving in 3 runs total. He may not be the ideal cleanup hitter, but he's our cleanup hitter, dammit. Other highlights included Pablo Sandoval's 2 hits and a walk (yes, you read that right), and Fred Lewis chipping in 2 more hits to raise his average to .360.

For six straight games, the Giants have had dominant starting pitching -- not just in terms of results, but also peripherals -- and have won 5 of those 6 games. Lincecum has been the poster boy of the rotation, and for good reason, but it's nice to see all 5 guys contributing so well at once. It's gotten so good that the team can skip Jonathan Sanchez after a great start and not skip a beat., there might have been some controversy over choosing him and not Zito, but not when The Albatross goes out and mows down a division rival in a 1-0 extra inning win. It's too early to take these types of numbers too seriously, but there's no reason we shouldn't enjoy it.

Impotent: D-Backs 2, Giants 0

It's good to see the pitching is back. Not that there was any question in my mind Lincecum would bounce back, but it was still nice to see. Of course, it was not nice to see that performance wasted by the Giants offense, which continues to be anemic on a good night and non-existent on a bad one. Tonight was a bad one.

Both teams are playing so poorly offensively, it's to know how much to credit the pitching. When Dan Haren continues to dominate while getting no support (1 run in 3 starts), it's clear he's that good. The same can obviously said for Lincecum, especially on a day when he tied his career-high with 13 K's.

Add to Lincecum's dominance the performances of Cain and Sanchez, and there's plenty of reason for excitement about the Giants young pitching. Unfortunately, until they trade for Albert Pujols the offense comes around, they will suffer many wasted efforts and earn lots of undeserved L's and ND's. Today, they left two men at third with less than two outs, one in the 1st inning. Conversely, Arizona did really come close to scoring until the 9th, when they plated two to win it.

Also unfortunately, the Giants haven't gotten much from the older guys in the rotation -- Zito and Johnson. They'll never get anything from Zito, but I'm still holding out a lot of hope for Johnson. Speaking of which...

TOMORROW: The Big Unit takes on D-Back youngster Max Sherzer as the Giants try to avoid a third straight series loss.

Dealin': Giants 2, D-Backs 0

Now that's more like it.

Pitching, defense, and just enough O -- that's what this team looked like in the catalog when I ordered. Jonathan Sanchez was dominant against a team who's hit him well in the past (and shut down Connor Jackson, who'd owned him). Fred Lewis kept hitting, and stopped misplaying flyballs (at least for one night). The bullpen finished off the effort, Wednesday night's goat Bob Howry getting a key strikeout when it was needed to pick a Bengie Molina error, and Brian Wilson notching his first save of the year. Just like they drew it up.

That doesn't all mean a lot -- certainly not as much as the six piss poor outings which preceded it -- but it was nice all the same. It was also nice to see longtime minor leaguer and 31-year old rookie Andres Torres hit just his second career HR and then sprint around the bases as if he thought he was on the 24 second clock. It was also good to see my first KNBR post-game wrap (featuring Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Jon Miller, Dave Fleming) of the year. Unfortunately, the post game show this year looks worse than ever -- some forgettable guy and a stumbling, mumbling JT Snow (Sorry, JT).

The Diamondbacks were struggling almost as bad as the Giants coming in, so hopefully they can get well against Arizona. Speaking of which...

TOMORROW: Ace Tim Lincecum tries to get well -- from a slow start, and from an ailment which has caused him to lose some weight and velocity -- against Doug Davis.

One False Move: Padres 6, Giants 1

The Padres were ugly today, but the Giants were uglier. The issue I wrote about yesterday -- the Giants starters inability to go deep into the game, and keep the team in it -- reared its ugly head yet again. More vexing is the fact Tim Lincecum struggled for the second time, against a team he's dominated in the past. Along the way, a couple of other problems have come to light. Like rivers running into the ocean, these two other factors are helping contribute to the larger issue:

1) One bad inning. The starters haven't really pitched all that poorly overall, but three of the six starts went from soild/spectacular to crummy/crappy in one inning -- a couple on one swing of the bat.

Randy Johnson's dominant start was ruined by his first ever HR allowed to a pitcher, and he ended up only going 5 and allowing 4 runs. Johnathan Sanchez was dealing last night -- save for some control issues, and Henry Blanco -- but lost on two walks, an infield hit, and a two-out double, which turned a 2-1 game into a 5-1 game over. Today, Lincecum was his usual self until two outs in the 3rd when a defensive mistake cost him three runs and many, many pitches, blowing open a taut, 0-0 affair. In each of the latter cases, the pitchers actually retired Brian Giles with a runner on 3rd and one out with the run scoring, and only needed to get Giant-killer Adrian Gonzalez to escape the inning without any damage. Close, but no cigar.

2) Bad defense. In each of those aforementioned jams, the pitcher could've also escaped if just for some solid defensive play, but both were let down by young player's gaffes. Last night, sandwiched between Sanchez's costly walks, he got what should've been a huge out when Jody Gerut hit a roller to 3B, but Pablo Sandoval couldn't field it cleanly, then turned the wrong way when attempting to throw to 2B. The play was ruled an infield hit, but a good 3B could've made the play. Sandoval is not a good 3B, time will tell if he's good enough to not stay there, but the early results have been a little shaky.

Today, Fred Lewis was the culprit. Lincecum got what he needed from his face-off with Gonzalez -- a meekly-hit fly ball -- but Lewis butchered it badly. First, he got no jump at all on the ball, standing flat-footed for a moment. It seemed obvious to me the ball was a bloop, not a blast, but these things do happen -- especially on a sunny day. But the next mistake is much harder to understand: He charged in on the ball, then, for no apparent reason, stopped for a beat as if he thought the ball would go over his head*. By the time he recovered to keep coming in on the ball, it was too late. He dove and came up with the ball, but it was clearly on a short-hop. The run scored, the inning continued, and the next batter homered, and suddenly it was 3-0 Pads and the game was over for all intents and purposes.

If the Giants don't mend these cracks in the facade, they seemingly have no chance to be competitive. Winning with pitching and defense only works when the defense shows up. And it also helps if the pitchers don't invite trouble with walks, and implode when things go sour. Because the offense certainly can't be depended upon to bail them out of a hole. They looked bad on Sunday, particularly Lewis, who continued his bad day by striking out with a runner on third and one out in the 6th, swinging for the fences when he should've been trying to make contact and halve San Diego's 2 run lead.

* Lewis let this happen to him in that same inning as well -- drifting back on a ball which then sailed over his head.

TOMORROW: The Giants travel up the 5 to LA, where they'll take on the Dodgers in their home opener. Randy Johnson will take on some Dodger jerk (Chad Billingsley, to be specific).

A Giant Problem: Padres 6, Giants 3

It's much too early in the season to make any kind of long-term judgments about the Giants, but an alarming trend has begun to show itself. We all knew thee starting rotation could be a huge strength for the team, but the dirty little secret no one wanted to mention were all the questions on the staff -- three youthful, relatively inexperienced starters, two old folks (one in age, the other in stuff) with decline questions.

So far, we've a little bit of everything -- Lincecum and Sanchez were amped and wild, and wasted great strikeout stuff by falling behind hitters. Zito still looks done, and while Randy Johnson looked good, he could break down at any moment. Cain was solid, but he hasn't proven to be over the occasional youthful wildness, either. Because they're not eating very many innings -- only Cain got past the 5th -- the bullpen is being taxed. This is a recipe for disaster, especially with so much youth in the 'pen -- Valdez, Hinshaw, Martinez*.

Sanchez's performance on Saturday night was maddeningly familiar. He was very successful when he got the ball over the plate against the Padres -- at least when he wasn't pitching to Henry Blanco -- but he spit the bit in the 5th, done in primarily by a walk to Jake Peavy. He almost recovered to get out of it, retiring Brian Giles on a shallow fly with the bases loaded, but got burned on a game-deciding, two-out, three-run double by Adrian Gonzalez. Sanchez tempted fate and lost, and when you're up against Peavy that's all it takes to lose.

The Giants offense didn't pick him up, and can't be counted on to bail out many starters from big deficits. They look a little feisty, like they could be decent, but they're not carrying anybody. That means the starters need to pull it together quick or the Giants could find themselves at the bottom of the NL West. Which is kind of like being the flabbiest, most bruised up stripper at the club. Bottom of the barrel time.

* According to the excellent Andrew Baggarly, Joey Martinez is still in the ICU for precautionary reasons, but could be back pitching as early as the end of May.

TOMORROW: The Giants send their top dog out to avoid the embarrassing sweep at the hands of the downtrodden Pads as Lincecum takes on the crafty Chris Young.

Day 2, Game 1: Giants 10, Brewers 6

This season, the Giants will survive only if their pitching holds up, because their offense won't give them much. In their first game of the 2009 season, not so much. It was Opposite Day at Mays Field, as Tim Lincecum struggled mightily -- as did a couple of the relievers who followed him (though Joe Martinez vltured a win in his big league debut despite struggling) -- the the prolific Giants offense out-scored the Brewers 10-6. While Lincecum struggled with his command all day (which was just three innings -- the shortest start of his career), just about every hitter had a big day.

The Giants compiled 12 hits, hit three HR's (something it took them 64 innings to accomplish last season), and even did a lot of the little things right (sac fly, successful hit-and-run, even a perfectly-executed butcher boy base hit by Lincecum). They also did some things very sloppily -- particularly Pablo Sandoval's D at 3B, but also including a very bad throwing error by Fred Lewis in LF.

The power came from Randy Winn, Bengie Molina, and Aaron Rowand, who bounced back from a terrible Spring to have two hits and a walk. Travis Ishikawa hit what would've been a grand slam in almost any other park in the first inning, but since it was to Triple's Alley, he had to "settle" for a three-run triple. Sandoval, Burris, and Lewis all chipped in, and one can only hope this was a sign of good things to come. Though, definitely not this good.

The pitching, likewise, will likely not be this bad. Lincecum didn't appear hurt, or really that far off -- it seemed to be a case of overthrowing leading to poor mechanics and rhythm, which isn't hard to understand. He is the defending Cy Young winner, and this was his first Opening Day start. Plus he met Sully Sullenberger like two minutes before the game started, and that can't help but throw you.

Watching the game on TiVo this afternoon after I got off work, I was reminded why Kruk and Kuip are tow of the best announcers in the game. They pointed out how small Ryan Braun is for a power hitter, and Krukow likened him to Will Clark, showing his swing, and how he maximized his strength with toque and timing. Moments later, they showed video of The Thrill hitting one out to compare and contrast. Kruk capped it off with a quote from Rick Reuschel, inspired by Clark's ability to hit: "A genius is a guy who makes something hard look easy".

This first game could be viewed by those looking to jump to conclusions as the first win of many for a maturing team, or a sign of the youthful, sloppy play which will plague the Giants all year. But it's probably neither -- just one game of 162. Who knows what the next 161 will bring. Whatever it is, I'm ready. Baseball is back. Yippee.

TOMORROW: A night game, so I might actually get to catch some of it live. The Giants will whip out the Big Unit, as Randy Johnson makes his SF debut against Yovani Gallardo.

Opening Day... Sort Of

It's only opening day, and I'm already struggling to get in my promised daily post about baseball. This is true for two reasons: 1) I finally got a job* -- and a damn well-paying one at that -- and today was first day, so I'm very tired, and 2) The Giants didn't play today, and most of the teams which did, played to blowouts. And the most interesting matchup on opening day -- Red Sox vs. Rays -- was rained out. It just as well -- I would've missed all the action anyway, while at work. I won't be working completely full time, though, and will be able to make my own flexible hours (Hooray!), so I'll still be able to catch all the Giants games (live or on TiVo), plus a lot of other games this season. That's the good news.

The bad news is, the Giants might not play for awhile. They're scheduled to play tomorrow, but Andrew Baggarly (and everyone else) is predicting rain, so who knows. The only thing worse than not playing on opening day is following that with a rainout -- or worse, a long rain-delay, which could waste a Tim Lincecum start.

The best game from today was probably the crazy comeback in St. Louis, where brand new closer Jason Motte blew his first save chance. The most interesting performance probably belonged to C.C. Sabathia, who got smoked in Baltimore. Mark Texiera also took a collar and left five men on base. Think the Yanks fans are already getting heated on the talk shows about those contracts?

* I still have lots of things from my job search I'd like to write about. Hopefully, I'll still have the time now that it's over for awhile (knock on wood)

MORALLY OUTRAGED UPDATE: According to the excellent El Lefty Malo, the only reason the Giants didn't play on opening day is because they chose to have one more exhibition game. Why schedule yet another spring training game at the end of the longest exhibition season ever? For money of course. And let me tell you, without an ounce of irony, that I am shocked -- shocked! -- that a major baseball owner would place the pursuit of money above the enjoyment of the fans.

It's (Almost) On!

Don't let the fact I haven't written much about the Giants, or baseball in general, convince you I've given up on this whole Giants Diary idea. I still plan to write a little something -- usually a very little something -- every day of the baseball season, I just haven't had much to say during Spring training -- there's just something so meaningless and hypothetical about it. More like a tease, then the real thing. This year, because of the WBC, Spring training lasted even longer, giving it an even more useless feel.

But now the clubs are back in their big league cities -- I'm watching Tim Lincecum mow down the A's right now (3-0 Giants in the middle of the 3rd) on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (thanks, DirecTV!) -- and the season finally feels like it's actually going to happen. The first game (or "Opening Night" as ESPN prefers to call it) is Sunday, most teams open Monday, and the first Giants game (against Milwaukee) is Tuesday.

It's great to see the big league parks again -- especially PacBell Park SBC Park AT&T Park Mays Field -- and it doesn't hurt when the first time up in their home park your team puts up three runs. That's not likely happen too often this year with a Giant offense everyone agrees is a weak spot, but I think they have a few hitters who could be better than a lot of people think. Fred Lewis, coming off an impressive first full year in the majors, is one. Travis Ishikawa, a once-fallen prospect coming off a revitalizing and dominant minor league season, is another. But the most excitement surrounds fan favorite, Pablo Sandoval, who's already starting to earn some national recognition.

Only time will tell, but as a Giants fan, I go into this year with much more enthusiasm than in any year since at least 2004. It may come to nothing, but at least for now, it's Spring and I'm hopeful, and there's something to be said for that.

The Big Ugly

This year's Giants team intrigues me. They should be mediocre at best, and bad if a few things (namely, age and injury) don't go their way. Their offense is well below average, not boasting one legitimate middle-of-the-order hitter. Their defense is nothing special, with a few real question marks. Their bullpen is still largely unproven.* But their rotation, on the other hand, looks to be a strength, and could be a tremendous strength.

Everybody knows about reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum. Matt Cain has been one of the most underrated starters in baseball over the last few years (mainly because of the bad record he's compiled due to fact the team scores an average of -1.6 runs a game in his starts). Jonathan Sanchez seems to be an up-and-comer, and was one of the top strikeout pitchers in baseball among starters last season. Barry Zito is probably a lost cause. That leaves Randy Johnson, and on his left may hang much of the potential and intrigue for this Giants team.

When the Giants signed Johnson this year, it seemed like a good deal -- he still strikes out a lot of guys, had decent overall numbers last year (3.91 ERA, 1.24 WHIP), and stayed relatively healthy (184 IP). But the deal has gotten better and better ever since. First it came out that Johnson's back wasn't completely healed from surgery last season, and is much better now. Then he showed up in camp and reportedly started teaching Matt Cain all sorts of tips on pitching. Now, he's started actually pitching in games, and the results are dominating. Today, pitching against his old club, the D-Bags, The Unit dominated, putting up this line: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 7 K.

If he can stay healthy and put up numbers as good as or better than last year (playing half his games in a much better pitcher's park), he could give the Giants a powerful, potentially dominating top three starters with Lincecum and Cain. If Sanchez can continue to harness his potential, they could have four starters who strike out as many as any in the game (all in the top 22 of the NL last year in K/9). Reports out of Arizona even have Zito throwing harder this year and looking much more athletic after his rigorous off-season training program ("He's in the best shape of his life!!!"). If he could stay even around league average, and the others thrive, they could potentially have one of the best rotations in baseball. In their park, that could keep them in contention for a bad NL West even with a weak offense.

Of course, the more likely scenario is Johnson is effective, but misses time due to injury. Sanchez probably puts up some great outings, but also suffers through some growing pains. Cain could easily continue to suffer from poor run support. Lincecum could... No, I refuse to admit that Lincecum is anything less than super-human. The team very well suck, they may go weeks between home runs, but we will always be able to rely on little Timmy for entertainment. Speaking of which, here's Tim (and Randy Johnson) in the entertaining new ad for the video game MLB 2K9 (for which, Lincecum is the cover boy):



* The 'pen suffered a potentially major blow today when it was announced that Sergio Romo is hurt. Romo was fan-freakin'-tastic as a rookie last year (3-1, 2.12 ERA, 34 IP, 16 H, 33 K, 8 BB), and the team was/is counting on him to play a big role this year, so all us Romosexuals need to keep our fingers crossed.

BREAKING NEWS: GIANTS SIGN RANDY JOHNSON

The Giants just got a whole lot uglier. They also now have three Cy Young winners in their starting rotation (the last team to boast that was the 2002 Atlanta Braves, with John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux).

That's right, the Giants have signed Bay Area native and future Hall of Famer, Randy Johnson. The five-time Cy Young Award winner has 295 victories, so if he can stay at all healthy next year, he should rack up his 300th in in a Giants uniform, and has a shot at 5,000 K's (His 4,789 strikeouts are second most in history to Nolan Ryan).

According to the San Jose Mercury News' Andrew Baggarly, it's a one-year contract worth a base salary of $8 million, with incentives with could add another $5 million. Not bad for a guy who went 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts last year with the D-Bags (2.41 after the All-Star break). He also had some good-looking peripheral stats -- 3.93 K/BB, 8.46 K/9 (6th in NL). So far, The McCoven generally seem pleased, with a only a few of the "OMG! He's 45! Sabean raids AARP again!" variety.

The Giants aren't exactly building their 2009 squad like they're re-building. It's more like they're trying to ad the final pieces to a championship puzzle -- a couple of experienced bullpen arms in Bob Howry and Jeremy Affeldt, An aging SS in Edgar Renteria, and an ancient SP in Randy Johnson. But none of those players are signed for more than two years, and none for as much as $10 million in any season. Sure, it would've been nice to have Teixeira, but that kind of money -- along with the growing albatross that is The Barry Zito Contract -- could've hamstrung the team for years if it didn't work out. And if they happen to over-perform, then all the better.

These lesser deals, while they may be lipstick on a pig -- or worse -- should not affect the team's long-term development. In other words: So far, so good. But Sabean did say recently that a deal for Johnson could open up the door for a trade of Jonathan Sanchez for a bat. If the bat is young, quality, plays a corner infield position, and has a reasonable contract, then so be it. If he ends up panicking that the offense may suck, and unloads Sanchez for a Jorge Cantu-like stopgap, then I will be greatly displeased.

In the meantime, though, I'll maintain my (slightly) improved opinion of Sabean. And the thought of this rotation makes me feel very excited:

Lincecum
Johnson
Cain
Sanchez
Zito

That's the NL leader in K's followed by #13, #8, and #22. < cough >Then Barry Zito< /cough > Again, my excitement is tempered by the possibility of a trade -- and because I'm afraid Bruce "Old School" Bochy will look at that list and see Zito as the #2 starter. But until then -- or another move the D-Bags or Dodgers -- the Giants have the best rotation in the NL West. And that makes me feel very much like this:

BREAKING NEWS: TIM LINCECUM WINS NL CY YOUNG!!!

It's official -- there is a God. His name is Tim Lincecum, and he just won the NL Cy Young award in just his first full season in the majors (and second overall), joining the likes of Doc Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, and Fernando Valenzuela as the quickest to achieve the award. Turns out, the writers have more going on upstairs than I thought. I had anticipated a tight race due to some carrying a torch for the "old school" (read: "antiquated") methods of determining Cy Youngs -- i.e. just picking the guy with the most wins. Turns out, the vote wasn't even close:

Player, team -- 1st Place Votes (Total Points)
Lincecum, SFG -- 23 (137)
Webb, ARI -- 4 (73)
Santana, NYM -- 4 (55)
Lidge, PHI -- 0 (10)
Sabathia, MIL -- 1 (9)
Dempster, CHC -- 0 (4)

I, for one, welcome our new teenage-looking, bad teeth-having, acrobatic, fireballin' Cy Young overloard!