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     The Giants look to be contenders in 2009. After a long season of giving many young guys the chance to prove themselves and get some experience and seeing many rookies make their debuts this year, some have proved to be capable everyday guys, such as left fielder Fred Lewis, short stop Emmanuel Burriss, and catcher-Infielder Pablo Sandoval.  And the bullpen has many holes to fill for next season, but two young players have emerged to be late inning relievers to bridge the gap to closer Brian Wilson and they are Alex Hinshaw and Sergio Romo. They obviously will supplant Jack Taschner and Tyler Walker who both mightily struggled as late-inning, setup guys this year.  And their starting rotation has been a strength.  But they have enough guys in the minors capable of being a starting pitcher in the majors, such as Minor League Pitcher of the Year Madison Bumgarner and Futures’ Game selection Kevin Pucetas.  With Noah Lowry having to get elbow surgery, he might not be ready and able to contribute till mid-season.  But one big named free agent, whose preference may be to return to the Bay Area, and Giants could be one of his top choices, is C.C. Sabathia.  Throw in Sabathia along with Tim Lincecum, southpaw Jonathan Sanchez, Barry Zito, and Brad Hennessey until Lowry returns or throw in Bumgarner for the 5th spot. This rotation looks to be one of the best in the National League and maybe even the Majors.  And Sabean said Cain is deemed untouchable, but could you imagine trading Cain for Prince Fielder and a prospect. You would fill the void at first base and get your power-hitting first baseman and cleanup hitter. And the Brewers, most likely losing Sheets and Sabathia to free agency would almost be willingly to trade Fielder for Cain. This would allow the Giants to move Sandoval to third base and he could also spell Fielder at first base and Bengie at catcher.  Also, signing utility man Rich Aurilia to back up third base and first base would be a strong piece for the clubhouse and the bench.  Aurilia would take a pay cut and be a cheaper alternative.  Sabathia would ask for a big contract, but freeing some guys like Walker, Taschner, Vizquel, even and if Giants could trade Winn and free up his contract and allow room for Nate Schierholtz, who I think could put up similar numbers to Winn and has showed he can play right field at AT & T, with some spectacular diving plays.  I know Winn has been solid and the model of consistency, but trading him and Cain would allow the Giants to sign a top-tier starter like Sabathia and also add a reliever through free agency to help the bullpen out. There are so many options. And Eugenio Velez emerging to be capable as a starter at best and utilityman and stolen base threat off the bench at least, depending on Kevin Frandsen, who could capably be a great defensive second baseman and be a solid 7 hitter for the Giants.  Basically, if I was GM, you would have an infield of Sandoval (third base), Burriss (shortstop), Frandsen or Velez (Second base), and Fielder (first base) and the outfield would be Lewis (left field), Rowand (center) and Schierholtz (right) and Dave Roberts as the veteran fourth outfielder who can play all three outfield spots.  And your rotation would be a 1,2 punch of Cy Young studs, Tim Lincecum and C.C. Sabathia, and Zito, Sanchez, and Lowry/Hennessey anchoring the rotation.  And throw in Merkin Valdez, Billy Sadler, Sergio Romo, Alex Hinshaw, closer Brian Wilson and adding an arm to shore the bullpen, along with another one who steps up either Kevin Correia or even Keiichi Yabu as the long reliever.  Your bullpen, rotation, and lineup is set.  Also, new owner Neukem said he would increase payroll and the budget in order to get a better product. And losing Cain and Winn via trade, and Vizquel, Taschner, and Walker to free agency only helps your ballclub’s flexibility. Therefore my starting rotation, lineup, and bench would like this in 2009 if these moves are made.

Starting Rotation:

SP1 C.C. Sabathia

SP2 Tim Lincecum

SP3 Barry Zito

SP4 Jonathan Sanchez

SP5 Brad Hennessey/ Noah Lowry

Bullpen:

MRP  Kevin Correia

MRP Billy Sadler

MRP Merkin Valdez

MRP Free Agent Pickup

LRP Alex Hinshaw

SU Sergio Romo

CL Brian Wilson

Lineup:

1 Fred Lewis LF

2 Nate Schierholtz RF

3 Pablo Sandoval 3B

4 Prince Fielder 1B

5 Bengie Molina C

6 Aaron Rowand CF

7 Kevin Frandsen 2B

8 Emmanuel Burriss SS

Bench:

Util/IF Rich Aurilia

2B/OF Eugenio Velez

OF Dave Roberts

1B Travis Ishikawa

OF John Bowker

Giants would be contenders with this projected lineup, rotation and bullpen in the crazy and weak NL West in 2009!

Tim Lincecum finishes season 18-5 with a 2.62 E.R.A

     Tim Lincecum ended his incredible season with an amazing performance to solidify his Cy Young case and end the Giants’ season on a positive note.  Lincecum threw seven dominant innings of one-run ball and had 13 strikeouts to finish the season with 265 in a 3-1 win against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.  Lincecum was so dominant that he struck out nine hitters for his first nine outs to pace his 13 strikeout performance.  However, he trailed 1-0 until the bottom of the 7th.  With runners on 1st and 2nd, Lincecum was pulled out for a pinch hitter, and that hitter was Pablo Sandoval.  And what do you know, Sandoval striked a hit to left field for an rbi single and tie the game at 1 a piece.  Sandoval never ceases to amaze as he comes through again to cap off his rookie season on a good note.  A couple batters later Nate Schierholtz hit a go-ahead RBI single off of reliever Joe Beimel to give the Giants a 2-1 lead and put Lincecum in line for the win.  In the 8th, Randy Winn hit an insurance RBI single to give the Giants a 3-1 lead and cap off his third straight season of batting atleast .300.  Winn finishes the year batting .306 with 10HR and 64 RBI’s and added 25 stolen bases to his resume.  Then All-Star closer Brian Wilson came into the ninth and shut the door and picked up his 41st save of the season and give Timmy his 18th win of the year.  This all-star duo of Lincecum and Wilson is what kept the Giants somewhat respectable in the National League.  Lincecum performed like the top of the notch ace and Wilson performed like the shut-down closer that the Giants have been missing for the past few seasons.  Giants finished the year 72-90, one more win than last season so this season was an improvement from last one in a sense that they developed many of their young guys and they got to see what kind of talent and development they had in their minor league system and what pieces they need for next year.  One thing I know is, Tim Lincecum will be the ace of the staff for many years to come and rookie sensation Pablo Sandoval has emerged to be a player with star-potential and be an everyday bat for this Giants lineup that has been missing for awhile now. I couldn’t say the same for Matt Cain, but I would only trade him if we got a big bat in return and a solid prospect or second-tier player on top of it.  And I would only trade Winn if we got something good in return, too. There is nothing wrong with being four-deep in the outfield. This just creates more flexibility for the coach to work with. 

  The Patten University Baseball Team based out of Oakland, CA led by skipper and head coach Darin Wright,has started fall workouts and is already counting down the days to the 2009 season. And it is only September. The Patten University Lions are coming off of a dismal 2007-2008 season after finishing with a record of 11-42.  It was some rough times last season, but with some players gone and some returning, and many newcomers and new recruits, the Lions look to work hard this fall and build some team camaraderie and chemistry, which was missing through most and all of last season. The returners like the core coming back and the new guys that have come in to this program.  Some of the guys on the team are already talking about a motto of “Distribution”, meaning everyone has their own part and role on this team and everyone will contribute to the team’s success, as well as some failures. And another side motto of “Heart”. Heart is something what was missing a lot on our team last season. My hopes for this season, as a current player of this team, is to give everything to my team and to this program everyday and get better everyday and put your faith in your coaching staff to help you. 

Patten returns 13 players from last season’s squad.  Returning as followed are pitchers Larry Collins, Kurtis Brown, Graig Whelan, Charlie Baker (me), and Kevin Cheechov; first baseman/pitcher Brian Peat, catcher/pitcher Joe Salazar, catcher/first baseman Jordan Wesley, second baseman Jeremy Wells, infielder/utility man Luke Heil, third baseman Deandre Walker, outfielder David Deyess and shortstop Brett Korporal.  We think we have a good core returning as far as experience and having the same team attitude. We all know as returners that we didn’t have a good season and didn’t have good numbers, but we have put that in the past and our starting this season with a clean slate.  And it has started since Day 1 of fall workouts to get better everyday and step our game up on all aspects of this game. 

Also coming in for the 2008-2009 season, is the new recruits and transfers, who look to bring some new energy and style to this team.  Transfers coming in is Fresno City College outfielder/pitcher Phil Gonzalez, who is ambidextrous by the way as he pitches left-handed and plays the field right handed, San Diego Mesa College’s speedy second baseman/outfielder Anthony Phillips, LA City College outfielder Ryan Davis, Saddleback College’s catcher Max Burnett; and new recruits and freshmen coming in are pitcher Chris Berens (Falcon HS in Colorado), first baseman Phil Nyoff, outfielder Beau Delis, third baseman/pitcher Billy Moss (Silver Stage HS in Nevada). Thus, these newcomers and returners look to form a solid, fundamentally sound team and work hard and live one day at a time. And to get better everyday.

   After honoring all of the past Giants greats on  that came and gone in the Giants Organization on the Wall of Fame and honoring the top minor league players within the organization (Madison Bumgarner: Minor League’s Most Spectacular Pitcher Award and Pablo Sandoval: Minor League Player of the Year) and welcoming and introducing 2008 top draft pick Buster Posey, one would’ve thought it would be a Giant night with Tim Lincecum on the hill. 

However, from the start of the game, you can tell it was going to be a long night for Timmy. Giants ended up losing 9-3. Clearly, Lincecum didn’t have his best stuff as he loaded the bases and allowed one run in the first inning, struggling from the start.  Lincecum was in strikeout mode from the start and didn’t have command of all his pitches.  He did have nine strikeouts and set a franchise record for strikeouts in a season with 252.  Lincecum left with two-runners on base in the 5th inning, only down 4-3, lasting only 4 1/3 innings pitched.  However, he was barely over the 100 pitch mark and manager Bruce Bochy seen enough and didn’t want to overwork his young stud.  The move backfired as Keiichi Yabu gave up a two-run double and then gave up another run to put the game somewhat out of reach 7-3.  Lincecum’s stat line for the night was 4.1IP 6H 6R 6ER 5BB 9K.  He had 6 ER, but two of them should’ve been unearned due to an error on a groundball by Rich Aurilia, but the official scorer changed the error to hit after initially ruling it an error. Giants have protested that ruling, in hopes of giving Lincecum a fair stat line of only 4 earned runs. Lincecum doesn’t really care about stats or the Cy Young Award. He clearly just wants to win and give his team a chance to win.  He stated that this was a “garbage start” and was clearly frustrated by this start. The good news is he has one more start to finish on a good note and make a final case for Cy Young. However, chances are slimmer after losing two straight decisions, while other Cy Young contender Webb has won his past two decisions.  Things could be interesting if Webb falters in his final start and Lincecum bounces back and pitches well in his final start. We will see what happens.  Another thing to add is Lincecum will be facing the rival Dodgers and there is no other team that you want to finish your season against with a win.  This last week also marks a chance for the young guys to make a case for spots and roles on next season’s squad. However, Sabean has a lot of work to do in the offseason and hopefully make a couple moves, but either way he has found out a lot about this season’s squad and few young guys emerged to be everyday players, such as outfielder Fred Lewis, catcher-infielder Pablo Sandoval, and shortstop/second baseman Emmanuel Burriss.   Only time will tell, what the future of the Giants roster will look like in 2009.

Tim Lincecum is 17-4 with a 2.46 E.R.A in 2008.

     Tim Lincecum a.k.a “The  Freak” a.k.a “The Franchise takes the ball tonight for the San Francisco Giants as they take on the Colorado Rockies at 7:15 p.m. tonight at AT & T Park.  It should be a packed house and the fan frenzy and hometown Giants fans want to see another pitching gem by Timmy.  Going into tonight’s game the Giants and Lincecum have three goals in mind.  First they want to equal and eventually surpass their win total of 71 from last year with 6 games to go left on the season. They are currently 70-86.  Their next goal is to take third place from these Rockies as they trail them by a game.  So it is a battle for third place in a way.  This is the Giants playoff series.  And their last and final goal is to get a win for Timmy and get him that Cy Young award he utterly deserves over favorite Brandon Webb.  He trails Webb in wins 22-17 but if he can pull off a couple wins in his two remaining starts and Webb falters in his final start, then Lincecum should make this an interesting race that came down to the wire and the final day of 2008 season.  Final Verdict: Lincecum (19-4) over Brandon Webb (22-8)

It was your typical Giants-Dodgers rivalry game. It was a pitcher Brad Hennessey stealing his first base and scoring the go-ahead and eventual winning run. It was Brian Wilson striking out Manny Ramirez with a 100 MPH fastball. It was centerfielder Aaron Rowand making a golden play with his putout at home to prevent a run from scoring. It was Derek Lowe throwing seven shutout innings. It was Matt Cain throwing six shutout innings. It was great defense by the Giants and couple good plays by the Dodgers. In the end, it was a game of tradition, with Rich Aurilia hitting the game-winning single in an 11-inning affair in a 1-0 Giants victory. Rich Aurilia, who is the last remaining player from the Candlestick days, thought he might welcome the young guys to this heated rivalry and on-going tradition. He was the right guy up in the right spot for the Giants in this rivalry game. Aurilia enjoyed every second and minute of it as he said “it is always fun to beat up on those guys (Dodgers).” Basically, every Giants-Dodgers game is meaningful no matter if one team is in contention and the other is out of contention. It was a big game for the Dodgers and with that loss, their lead shrunk in the NL West to 2 1/2 games with 6 games to go. And their magic number remains at five. So the Giants take on the Dodgers for one more three-game series that could be huge and very meaningful. After avoiding Giants ace Tim Lincecum all year since the third game of the season, the Dodgers get to see Tim Lincecum on the final day and game of 2008 season at AT & T Park. And facing off against Timmy is young phenom Chad Billingsley. So it should be an exciting game to watch. We will see how meaningful it is in the next few days. Hopefully, it will be a big game where Giants and Lincecum could be spoilers to Manny and the Dodgers playoff hopes and World Series aspirations.

    Pablo Sandoval has been a Godsend for the Giants since his callup in August.  He has proven to be that everyday type of player who can impact a game and an offense.  He has complemented well, batting in front of Bengie Molina and sparking this Giants offense.  He is batting .349 with 3HR and 21RBI in 34 games. That is pretty impressive for a kid who started in A-ball at the beginning of this year. Cumulatively for the year through minors and the bigs, Sandoval is hitting .350 with 23HR and 117RBI’s.  He looks to be the everyday first baseman next year with Molina under contract in 2009 and Buster Posey waiting in the wings. 

     However, if the Giants can pull a blockbuster deal with the Brewers trading young pitching star Matt Cain and maybe throw in 1B Travis Ishikawa or a prospect, who is decent but is expendable with Sandoval’s versatility for 1B Prince Fielder and SS J.J. Hardy and maybe a low-level prospect if needed.  This potential deal would trigger the Giants to instant contenders and sending an exciting buzz to the Giants’ fan as the 2009 season nears.  Their lineup would be stacked with speed, power, and All-Star caliber players.  They would lose a potential ace to the staff, however, but Cain would benefit from more run support on another team with little more offensive power than the Giants.  And the Giants have plenty of star arms in the  Minors, such as SAL Pitcher of the Year Madison Bumgarner, Future’s Game star Kevin Pucetas, and Tim Alderson.  Also, the return of Noah Lowry even excites you more, as he led the Giants in wins (14) in 2007 and would fill the void left by Cain.  I really hope this rumor that was started by ESPN analyst Peter Gammons recently.  With an improved  Zito next season, a consistent Sanchez, a dominating Lincecum, a resurged Hennessey and the return of Noah Lowry or bring in new blood Madison Bumgarner (whom I regarded as the Next Tim Lincecum, but left-handed), this rotation has a chance to be one of the best in the National League, however, only if Sabean can pull a deal in moving Cain for Fielder for sure and possibly Hardy.  However, to get all-star caliber SS J.J. Hardy (26), they would most likely have to give up prized prospect and rising rookie SS/2B Emmanuell Burriss. But Hardy would be an upgrade offensively at short stop for the Giants and he isn’t no slouch with the glove either.  And Fielder, well he would upgrade the Giants in the power department and brings star potential to a lineup missing it.  You throw in Sandoval at third base and spell Molina at catcher if needed. Giants team looks stacked on paper and would be contenders in the weak NL West division.  

Rotation:

SP1- Tim Lincecum

SP2- Jonathan Sanchez

SP3- Barry Zito

SP4- Noah Lowry

SP5- Brad Hennessey/ Madison Bumgarner

Lineup:

C- Bengie Molina

1B- Prince Fielder

2B- Kevin Frandsen/ Emmanuell Burriss

3B- Pablo Sandoval

SS- J.J. Hardy

LF- Fred Lewis

CF- Aaron Rowand

RF- Randy Winn

OF- Nate Schierholtz

Evan Longoria is hitting .281 with 25HR and 81 RBI as a rookie in 2008.

         Evan Longoria is starting to heat back up again as the Rays continue their winning ways.  The Rays missed much of Longoria in August and parts of September, but his return has sparked this Rays team as they are one win away or a Yankees loss of clinching a playoff spot.  They beat up on the Twins last night in a 11-1 victory. Longoria with 1 for 3 with 3 RBI’s and a walk and a couple nights before hit three home runs in one game.  Longoria is pretty much the unanimous Rookie of the Year and if weren’t for injuries, he might be considered for MVP. On the other side of things, Edwin Jackson picked up his 12th victory of the season in the 11-1 win as the fifth starter, which is a pretty good accomplishment. Other bright spots for the Rays is Carlos Pena swatted his 31st homer of the season and has 96 RBI’s, 4 away from the century mark.  Cliff Floyd’s bat has started to heat up, too.  He has battled injuries all season, but has hit a respectable .275 avg. with 10HR and 37 RBI’s.  Sonnanstine and Garza have had pretty solid seasons on the pitching side.   Garza is 11-9 with a 3.66 E.R.A and Sonnanstine is

On Tap for Tonight: The Rays take on the Twins in Game 2 of the three game set. Scott Kazmir (11-7, 3.50 E.R.A) takes the ball for the Rays.  There is no other guy you would want on the mound than the ace of the staff.  Kazmir is that ace and has a chance to clinch a playoff spot for Tampa Bay! 

  Tim Lincecum did throw his second consecutive complete game, but this time in a nail-biter loss to the Diamondbacks, falling to an incredible 17-4 record.  Lincecum pitched well, but a defensive miscue by infielder Eugenio Velez, who was playing left field misplayed a routine long drive fly ball that ended up being a two-run scoring triple by Justin Upton that ended up being the difference in a 3-2 game.  Lincecum clearly looked frustrated by that play and didn’t have his best stuff but pitched effectively in giving up only 3 runs in 8 complete innings and had 6 strikeouts to no walks.  The night before Brandon Webb pitched effectively well in giving up 3 runs in a 7-6 D-Backs win to pick up his 21st victory.  So the Cy Young race heated up with about a week or so left in the season. It clearly is going to come down to the wire for the Cy Young in the National League. Lincecum has one or two more starts left and Webb has one or two more starts left.  Regardless, both have pitched well for their teams and have been the aces of their squads with Webb getting more help from his bullpen and defense than Lincecum has all season.  To me, Lincecum clearly is still the Cy Young.  He is 17-4 on a 4th-place lowly Giants team and leads the NL in E.R.A (2.46) and the majors in strikeouts (243).  He also ranks in the top in innings pitched and has two complete games to add to his resume.  If he finishes strong in his last start and picks up his 18th victory regardless of what Webb does, I think he is and deserves the Cy Young award. Webb has 21 wins, but has 7 losses and Lincecum has had 5 blown wins for him by the bullpen in the late innings.  So he should be right up there in wins with Webb. We’ll see what the voters decide to do.  Anyways, Giants are coming off getting swept by the D-Backs and have a chance to make the NL West more interesting as they take on the rival Dodgers tonight in Los Angeles.  Barry Zito takes the ball for the Giants and searches for his 10th victory. 

    The San Francisco Giants have been playing well since August and now in September. They have leapfrogged into third place in the NL West and trail the 2nd place D-Backs by 5.5 games with 12 games left in the Season. They just lost a 3-1 nailbiter last night to the D-Backs with Pablo Sandoval continuing his hot bat, going 2 for 4 and Brad Hennessey went the distance for the Giants, but the two-run homer he gave up to Adam Dunn in the bottom of the 8th gave him the hard luck loss in only his second major league start in two years.  Anyways, Giants continue to play good ball and look to finish strong these last 12 games, with a strong sense of what their ballclub will look like in opening day of 2009 season.  Their offense seems to be sparked by rookie first baseman-catcher Pablo Sandoval and rookie first baseman Travis Ishikawa and their pitching staff obviously spearheaded by Cy Young ace Tim Lincecum, who has two or three starts remaining on the season, with a goal of 20 wins and a Cy Young on his mind!  Hence, I feel the Giants strong finish to this season will set the momentum for them next season and look for Giants to be contenders next year, rather than pretenders this year.  Most of the Giants offense should be returning via trade or what happens in free agency and their rotation returning with a battle for the fifth spot between incumbent Brad Hennessey and the return of Noah Lowry, the model of consistency.