No, the headline doesn’t refer to the Cubs. For a change, it’s the San Francisco Giants. After four consecutive years of not making the playoffs, and three years of not being close, management has finally realized they are going to have to revamp the club.

 As I prepare to visit my father-in-law in the Bay Area, which gives me a great excuse to go to a Giants game (front row, close to the dugout, baby!), I do so knowing that it’s likely it will be the last time that I’ll see several of my favorite Giants in a San Francisco jersey.

 There are certainly, as any member of the Giants faithful can tell you, many changes that need to be made. But is it as far away as it seems? Perhaps not. I think that you can break down the Giants into four areas…and two of them need dire work. The other two? Maybe not so much.

 STARTING PITCHING

 First and foremost…what the Giants need to do here is: EXACTLY NOTHING! Don’t touch a thing. This club has, in my mind, a chance to have one of the strongest starting rotations in baseball. I’m not talking just now, either…perhaps one of the strongest rotations ever. Yes, I’m talking ’71 Orioles, ’95 Braves…they could be that good.

Before you scoff…do you really think Barry Zito will be as bad as he has been this year? Look at former A’s teammate Tim Hudson. His ERA jumped his second year in the National League, and now it’s back to just above 3.00. I can’t see why Zito won’t do the same. Once Barry starts to relax, and not press trying to justify his contract, he should settle back into the Barry Zito that the Giants thought they were signing to a multi-year contract.

If you haven’t heard already, Tim Lincecum has some very scary stuff. He’s still learning to pitch at the major league level…but he’s proving to be a quick study. Once seasoned, he’s going to be something very special.

When you look at stats for Matt Cain, forget the won-loss record. He’s received god-awful run support, and can’t count on the bullpen to hold a lead for him on the rare occasions he leaves with a lead. Cain is a quality starter, period. He’s even younger than Lincecum, and throws wicked heat. Once Cain can relax because he can count on the offense to score some runs, he’ll be excellent.

All Noah Lowry has done is quietly posted one of the best ERAs in the National League this year. I’m looking forward to watching him pitch on Friday. I’ll give you a post-game report about Mr. Lowry when I return.

BULLPEN

 Okay, here it is…even more than working over the offense, HERE is the area the Giants need to concentrate on the most. The bullpen has been dismal this season. The club needs to beg, borrow, or steal relievers, and spare no expense. As admirably as Brad Hennessey has performed, he is not a closer. He’s a good long reliever, possibly a fifth starter…but a closer he is not. Kevin Correa might be worth keeping around, but not building around. Vinnie Chulk is the Giants version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde…you never know which one you’re going to see on the mound. Steve Kline may be a fun guy to have around, but his best days are behind him. You get my drift…the Giants need to rebuild a bullpen in the worst way, instead of having a bullpen that pitches in the worst way.

INFIELD

 The first part of my infield analysis may surprise some. I say, leave the left side of the infield alone! I know, Omar Vizquel is old and not hitting like he used to, and Pedro Feliz has still not been the monster at the plate he’s been touted to be for several years. But, I do think that in terms of defense alone, those two are worth keeping. Everyone knows about Vizquel…arguably, the best defensive shortstop to ever play the game. But few outside of San Francisco realize what a highlight reel season Feliz has put together at third base. Night after night he makes ridiculously hard plays look easy. And his plate discipline HAS improved a bit…not to the extent everyone would like to see, but he is putting up decent enough numbers to keep him around.

Where the Giants need to drastically improve is on the right side of the infield. As much as I like and respect Ray Durham, Rich Aurilia, and Ryan Klesko, they are clearly not the answer. The Giants need to be younger and stronger at both positions. Kevin Frandsen is NOT the answer. Frandsen has been getting a ton of at bats this year, with the hope that he’d be ready to step into a full time starting role. It’s not going to happen. His average is floundering down around .220.  The right side  would be an ideal place to pick up a big name…if the Giants let Bonds go, they need to have another big name to keep filling the seats. I’m all for keeping Rich Aurilia around as a utility infielder, however, particularly if they also name his lovely wife Raquel as the Giants Official Celebrity Spokesbabe.

(Did you honestly think I'd pass up an opportunity to put the lovely Ms. Aurilia in my blog????) 

The catching situation needs no change. Benjie Molina has been the best acquisition of last offseason. He’s been the Giants most consistent and clutch hitter.

OUTFIELD

The several million dollar question for the Giants is, what do you do with Bonds? Barry wants to come back one more year, and I’d love to see him keep hitting balls into McCovey Cove. But if the Giants are serious about getting younger, all three outfielders (Bonds, Roberts, and Winn) are likely to be gone. While I’d personally like to see Randy Winn, one of the most underrated players in baseball, stay, if they do indeed decide to go younger…it’s already done!

The Giants need to look no further than their own forty man roster to get younger, and potentially get really GOOD in the outfield. The trio of Rajai Davis, Dan Ortmeier, and Freddy Lewis is poised and ready to turn some heads. Ortmeier, while being the least impressive of the three, also has added versatility in that he can play first base. Davis and Lewis both display blazing speed, and have shown they can hit. Lewis (currently at Fresno) hit for the cycle in a call up earlier this season. Davis was an absolute steal from the Pirates (acquired in the Matt Morris deal). The Giants future certainly could look bright in the outfield.

I’ll be away from regular computer use for a few days. Thanks in advance for reading, and I’ll get to comments eventually, if not right away.

PART ONE

One week ago, the Giants appeared to be on the verge of being the first team eliminated from playoff contention.

Barry Zito and Matt Cain were both winless, the Giants were floundering at the bottom of a weak division at 3-7, and the team appeared headed nowhere fast.

Fast forward to today.

While Cain is still winless, Zito has picked up his second win, Barry Bonds is crushing homers at a regular pace, and most importantly, the Giants are riding a five game win steak, and have pushed above the .500 mark.

I'm more than happy to see the Gigantes coming around. Most experts predicted the Giants to have a poor season, but I was more optimistic. Hopefully this turnaround is a sign of better things to come for the boys by the bay.

I would certainly liked to have seen more of the Giants, however. Due to a screw up at my cable company, the games were not available on Extra Innings until Wednesday. Seems they had already allotted the channels to...get this...hockey playoffs. Hockey??? There are few things I'd rather see than a hockey game. Okay, maybe a soccer game. Or Nascar. But beyond that, there isn't much. Saturday, I cringed when I saw the start time...1:00 p.m. Pacific. I knew that the Fox Channel would only be showing the Yankees/Red Sox game, because, after all, those are the only baseball teams that exist. (more about the Red Sox later). For some unkown reason, the Sunday game wasn't carried on Extra Innings, either. That being said...I STILL am glad to have the Extra Innings option...because MLB.TV, quite frankly, bites the big one.

PART TWO

A week ago, even though they hadn't played many games due to weather, the Seattle Mariners looked, surprisingly to me at least, respectable.

One week later...oh my lord, what has happened?

Well, let's start with the starting pitching.

My apologies for the above formatting issues, but the gist is this: Mariner starting pitching sucks. The injury to Hernandez is indeed unfortunate, and Washburn was at least semi-respectable, but the newcomers? Well, they're just not getting the job done. And I can't say I'm surprised, in spite of what the illustrious Mr. Bavasi wanted us to believe before the season started.

In our latest "Meet the Mariners" segment, we asked Mr. Bavasi, "what did you do before you went into baseball?"

Okay...that explains a lot.

In the series against the Angels, Richie Sexson is 0-11. But in all fairness...will SOMEONE please explain to the umpires that when you are 6' 8", your knees are higher than most other players, and what is above the knees to David Eckstein may not be a strike to Richie? It gets old watching him get called out on strikes that are clearly out of HIS strike zone.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I fully expected to see Santa Claus throw out the first pitch in this game.

I guess what it does show is that Dan "Action Dan" Harrington has been ahead of his time all these years:

One final thought: My wife verbalized something yesterday that I had been thinking. She said, "What is with A-Rod and all these homers? Is he on something?" She said it tongue in cheek, but it was a valid point. If Barry Bonds was on a tear like A-Rods (which I will grudgingly agree is nothing short of phenomenal), everyone would be pointing fingers and blaming 'roids, even though testing would have busted him long ago. But with A-Rod, everything is clean right???

Have a great and wonderful week, all!

The San Francisco Giants, in their efforts to diversify into the music business, have signed guitarist Barry Zito to a 7-year, $126 million contract.

The twenty-eight year old guitarist plays a Taylor guitar.

"We knew we had to make a commitment to the music business when we resigned Rich and Raquel Aurilia", commented GM Brian Sabean. "Raquel is a real talent, but we knew that a voice like that without the proper supporting musicians wouldn't get the job done. In Barry, we have a first-rate guitarist, who will bring his varied influences (Led Zepplin, Dave Matthews, Carlos Jobim) to the studio. Plus, the connections of his father and his uncle (actor Patrick Duffy) can't hurt".

When asked about the expensive long-term contract, Sabean pointed out that Zito will play multiple roles for the club. "We also plan to utilize Barry's background by having him chose at-bat music for some of the players. If it works out, we may also have him pitch every five days or so."