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  OF Nate Schierholtz who’s tearing it up in Triple-A is ready to be an everyday player in the big leagues.   

  Giants have many needs going into the offseason, but  are only a few pieces away from contention. They need to continue their addition by substraction mode. They need to get rid of the contracts of OF Dave Roberts (who is 36), Tyler Walker (33) who has been inconsistent the whole year. They are not future pieces that are going to help us contend for many years.  To replace those two guys: we have 1B/OF John Bowker, who could be a good fourth outfielder and can also play first base if needed, and RP Merkin Valdez, who is coming off an arm injury but has pitched well in the Giants late-innings and could serve as a reliable setup man to closer Brian Wilson as Valdez can throw 95 plus on the fastball and has a slider and split to add to his repertoire.  Giants don’t need to sign too much in the offseason and can really fix most of their problems internally and some guys getting healthy and returning to their old form such as 2B/3B Kevin Frandsen and SP Noah Lowry.  So the question going into the offseason is what pieces do we need in the offseason that we don’t have within the organization.  The answer is we need to sign a proven reliever, such as Chad Bradford or Latroy Hawkins, to help our bullpen and young arms out. Correia should help moving to the bullpen and pitching long and middle relief for us. The other piece we need is a third baseman with some pop. Rohlinger and I hate to say Rich Aurilia are really not options going forward. We thank Aurilia for the years he has given us throughout his career but he isn’t getting younger and isn’t putting up game-changing numbers. The problem with the Giants is they have too many complementary players and no threats in the lineup. Randy Winn and Bengie Molina are both good complementary players. But both are 34 and are free agents after 2009 season. So the Giants need to trade one of them in return for a reliever or some good prospects.  Winn having a solid 2008 season and his consistency should raise some value there to teams in need of a proven outfielder.  It doesn’t hurt that Giants have a surplus of outfielders as Nate Schierholtz is ready to step in as an everyday player and field right field for the Giants in 09′.  John Bowker, Dan Ortmeir, and Brian Horwitz are other young outfielders that can serve and battle for the backup spot in the outfield.  If I was GM, I would trade Randy Winn and keep Bengie Molina atleast for the first half of the season. Pablo Sandoval is opening some eyes and could be the catcher until Buster Posey is ready. But Sandoval’s versatility should help to keep Molina for atleast one more season and allow Sandoval to have plenty of playing time next year as he can play first base and play third base if needed to get his bat in there. It doesn’t hurt to have two solid catchers, especially in a 162-game season. So basically, the Giants just need to bolster the bullpen, sign a third baseman with some pop, such as Joe Crede or Hank Blalock. Beltre has some pop but may be too expensive for our taste and he is having a terrible 2nd half and strikes out way too much.  I feel that all-star 3B Joe Crede is the best option and since he is coming off injury recently, that could drop his value and could be cheaper for us to sign and he will fit well in the clubhouse and has some pop in his bat and some good defense at the hot corner. He is also good friends with Aaron Rowand and could help in the leadership department alongside Rowand. Team chemistry is everything in baseball and I feel that Crede, Rowand, and Molina well mix well with guys like Frandsen, Burriss, and Sandoval, even Ishikawa.  And our rotation is tight and strong on and off the field.  Here is my prediction  on what the rotation and lineup will and should like in 2009:

Rotation:

SP1 Matt Cain RHP

SP2 Jonathan Sanchez LHP

SP3 Tim Lincecum RHP

SP4 Noah Lowry LHP

SP5 Barry Zito LHP

MRP/SP6 Kevin Correia RHP

MRP Billy Sadler

MRP Sergio Romo

LRP Jack Taschner

LRP Alex Hinshaw

SU Merkin Valdez

CL Brian Wilson

Out: Tyler Walker, Vinnie Chulk, Brad Hennessey

Lineup:

C- Bengie Molina- Right

1B- Travis Ishikawa- Left

2B- Kevin Frandsen- Right

3B- Joe Crede- Right

SS- Emmanuel Burriss- Switch

LF- Fred Lewis- Left

CF- Aaron Rowand- Right

RF- Nate Schierholtz- Left

Bench:

1B/OF John Bowker- Left

C/1B/3B Pablo Sandoval- Switch

3B/SS/2B Ivan Ochoa- Right

2B/OF Eugenio Velez- Switch

OF Dan Ortmeir- Switch

or OF Brian Horwitz- Right

Out: Rich Aurilia, Dave Roberts, Omar Vizquel, Randy Winn

This team is balanced with some more depth, speed, little more power, and energy in the rotation, bullpen, and lineup!

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