The Giants suffered a bit of a hangover last year after all of the commotion that followed Barry Bonds and the all-time homerun record in 2007. In 2008, the Bonds-less Giants had an overall disappointing season which can be attributed to their lack of impact bats, now that the homerun king is gone. Last year did have it's bright spots though, Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young award and established himself as one of the NL's top pitchers despite being just 24 years old.
Projected Lineup:
C - Bengie Molina
1B - Travis Ishikawa
2B - Emmanuel Burris
SS - Edgar Renteria
3B - Pablo Sandovial
LF - Fred Lewis
CF - Aaron Rowand
RF - Randy Winn
Projected Rotation:
#1 - Tim Lincecum
#2 - Matt Cain
#3 - Randy Johnson
#4 - Jonathan Sanchez
#5 - Barry Zito
Closer - Brian Wilson
Position Battles:
2B - Really the only position up for grabs in spring training; right now Burris is the front runner for the starting job, but Kevin Frandson or Eugenio Velez could win some playing time with steady play in spring training or if Burris falters.
2009 Outlook: The Giants had a fantastic off-season, signing veteran shortstop Edgar Rentaria, future hall-of-famer Randy Johnson, and star set-up man Jeremy Affeldt to help sure up their bullpen. Both Pablo Sandovial and Travis Ishikawa should produce solid numbers from the corner infield positions and should be immediate steps up from Rich Aurellia and Jose Castillo who occupied first and third base respectively in 2008.
With the added offensive talent, and the extremely underrated pitching staff the Giants could be poised to make a run at the playoffs in 2008, though with the lack of a true impact bat in the lineup it seems like 2010 is more reasonable.
Projected Finish: 3rd Place, NL West
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