OK, so many here don't care about the Giants... But you guys are the most intelligent baseball fans I know, so here is where I will discuss this...

 

This has been old news, but just became official today.. The Giants have signed Rich Aurilia to play 1b. I've said it all along. I love the fact that Rich Aurilia is coming back to San Fran. He's one of my favorite Giants of all time. But I was really hoping he would be playing 3b, with the Giants acquiring a 1b.

 

I must say I like the signing of Bengie Molina. He's still a solid offensive player. Maybe after seeing him play for a bit, I'll change my mind. But I think he's coming back with something to prove. He signed with the Jays last year as one of the premier catchers, and now he's beeing viewed as an aging catcher on the decline. I hope he sees that as motivation.

 

Having said all this, I don't know why Sabean had said early in the offseason that the Giants were going young. So far, they've signed Dave Roberts, Aurilia, Molina and re-signed Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz. I like the fact that Durham is coming back, but I can't express how disappointed I am to see Feliz back.. So the lineup will most likely look like this (Because I still strongly believe Barry is coming back - whether I like it or not)... If these guys play to their potential, they'll be able to score some runs, but there are a lot of "what-if's"....

 

CF - Dave Roberts

SS - Omar Vizquel

RF - Randy Winn

LF - Barry Bonds

2b - Ray Durham

1b - Rich Aurilia

3b - Pedro Feliz

C - Bengie Molina

 

And I imagine the rotation will look something like this, although the Giants are actively pursuing another veteran starting pitcher..

 

RHP - Matt Cain

RHP - Matt Morris

LHP - Noah Lowry

RHP - Brad Hennessey

LHP - Jonathan Sanchez

 

I'm excited to see what Sanchez can do. He looked damn good in his brief stint out of the bullpen last year. He even made a decent start or two..

 

The other big question mark is the closer... Armando Benitez has a helluva a lot to prove. Bochy has apparently gone to his home, down here in South Florida, to have a talk with him. I'm hoping to see a bounce back year, like he had in 2004. He had something to prove then, and maybe even moreso now.. I'm not sure how the rest of the bullpen is gonna play out. Guys like Vinnie Chulk, Kevin Correia, and Scott Munter figure to be in there. Then guys like Jack Taschner and Brian Wilson figure to have a good shot too.. I still think they need some help there..

 

So my prediction, as of right now, is a .500 season at best... I'm one of the most optimistic people I know, so I won't rule out a surprising season.. But this is what I'm expecting..

 

Anyways, for those still reading.. I'm done now... Thanks for giving me a place to talk about my beloved G-Men...

that lineup is very very ugly, and that is with Barry in there

I agree.. that team is brutal. Almost as if the Giants' morph in to the Royals is just around the corner.

I agree.. that team is brutal. Almost as if the Giants' morph in to the Royals is just around the corner.

 

It's not that bad.. I'll admit, I'm obviously biased here. But there are young guys that seem to be ready to step in.. Kevin Frandsen, Todd Linden, Fred Lewis.... But since they are unproven, I like the fact that there are some veterans signed to multi year deals to balance the lineup. For at least the next couple of years, we'll have Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Ray Durham, Bengie Molina.... Not the biggest names out there, but solid Major League players..

 

I must reiterate though... I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, saying that this team will be in the postseason.. I'm not even saying they'll have a winning record. Realistically, I see them hovering around the .500 mark. I'm hoping Sabean still has a few things up his sleeve, cause I see the Giants mentioned in half the trade rumors out there.. So we'll see.... But to compare them to the Royals, made me cringe...

Why would Winn bat third over Aurilia or Durham?

Why would Winn bat third over Aurilia or Durham?

 

That's just how I see it... When Winn first came to the Giants, he either hit 1st or 3rd... With Dave Roberts in the lineup now, and Vizquel hitting 2nd, that just seeme like the logical place... Durham started tearing the cover off the ball when he moved to the 5th spot. The Giants like him protecting Barry... As for Aurilia, I can see them moving him to the 3 hole if he or Randy Winn struggle..

 

Then again, this is very much like the lineup that Felipe Alou filled out, so I have no idea what Bochy plans on doing. But Rotoworld predicted the same exact lineup the other day...

Winn can hit and sometimes for power but I don't think he has too much power left, the only other reason I could see him hitting 3rd is if Bochy wanted nothing but speed at the top to fly through the base paths, but going even as far as the 3 hole with speed seems kind of weird. I would understand if Winn had power, but he doesn't.

He's got decent power.. He had an off year last season, but he hit 20 homeruns the season before. 14 of those with the Giants (58 games) the last couple of months of the season. He was absolutely amazing the second half of 2005. If he can reproduce half that performance next season, I'll be happy.

CF - Dave Roberts (34 years old)

SS - Omar Vizquel (39)

RF - Randy Winn (32)

LF - Barry Bonds (42)

2b - Ray Durham (35)

1b - Rich Aurilia (35)

3b - Pedro Feliz (31)

C - Bengie Molina (32)

Average age of starters= 35!

:blink: