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On CSNBAYAREA.COM they posted a poll on who is the best 1,2 punch in the NL West? The nominees are as followed: Giants- Tim Lincecum/ Matt Cain, Dodgers- Chad Billingsley/ Randy Wolf, Padres- Jake Peavy/ Chris Young, Diamondbacks- Brandon Webb/ Dan Haren, and Rockies- Aaron Cook/ Ubaldo Jimenez.

In the past, the favorites for the best formidable 1,2 punch in the NL West would have been Cy Young Award winners Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, but in 2009, it has been a different story for the aces of the NL West.  My pick on who is the best 1,2 punch in the NL West is reigning 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum and the young powerballer Matt Cain.  They are both only 24 years old and both pitch like they have been veterans in the league.  Everytime they take the mound, you feel like you have a chance to win that game just like when many of the other aces in the NL West take the mound for their respective teams.

Let’s breakdown the 2009 seasons of the 1,2 punches in the NL West and also include some accolades to each player.

Giants:

Tim Lincecum RHP 3-1, 3.03 E.R.A 2008 NL Cy Young Award Winner, 2008 NL All-Star Nominee

Matt Cain        RHP 6-1, 2.31 E.R.A.

Dodgers:

Chad Billingsley RHP 6-3, 2.80 E.R.A.

Randy Wolf LHP 3-1, 2.84 E.R.A.

Padres:

Jake Peavy RHP 5-5, 3.67 E.R.A. 2007 NL Cy Young Award Winner

Chris Young RHP 4-3, 4.45 E.R.A.

D-Backs:

Brandon Webb RHP 0-0 13.50 E.R.A., 2006 NL Cy Young Award Winner

Dan Haren RHP 4-4, 2.54 E.R.A. , 2007 & 2008 All-Star Nominee

Rockies:

Aaron Cook RHP 3-3, 4.94 E.R.A., 2008 NL-All Star Nominee

Ubaldo Jimenez RHP 3-6, 4.37 E.R.A

Clearly, the 2009 numbers of these 1,2 punches favor the Giants young aces in Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, who combine with a 9-2 record. 

Stults is 4-1 with a 3.58 E.R.A now after beating the Giants in an 8-0 victory.

  Third time is a charm. Well the Manny-less Dodgers finally won a game without Manny Ramirez in their third try since Ramirez was suspended for 50 games for failing a drug test and using performance-enhancing drugs.  The Dodgers offensive attack were led by Manny’s replacement speedy outfielder Juan Pierre.  Pierre went 3 for 5 with a run scored and three RBI’s as the Dodgers cruised to an 8-0 victory.  Juan Castro also had 3 hits on the day as he filled in at shorstop for Rafael Furcal to give him a day off. 

Eric Stults (4-1), the Dodgers starter, also went the distance for a complete game shutout limiting the Giants to only 4 hits.  Stults was stellar, mixing pitches on both sides of the plate and changing speeds to keep the Giants offense in check all day.  Stults added 5 strikeouts and had no walks in the victory.  He also went 1 for 3 with an RBI. 

   The San Francisco Giants have to be happy to leaving San Diego after getting swept by the Padres. However, the Giants look to  bounce back in LA and right their ship against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. The Big Unit takes the ball for the Giants in game 1 of this three game series. Johnson will be opposing Dodgers young ace Chad Billingsley. The Giants need a strong start from Johnson and also need their bats to come alive. The key will be the Giants’ young corner infielders Pablo Sandoval and Travis Ishikawa, who went a combined 2 for 22 in the San Diego series. So look for them to bounce back and lead the Giants offense attack along with veterans Bengie Molina, Randy Winn and Aaron Rowand. The Giants also need outfielder Fred Lewis to stay hot, who is batting .450 on the year (9/20) and has a 6 game hitting streak going. Gametime is slated at 1 p.m. Beat LA!!!!!!!!

The Los Angeles had numerous free agents going into this offseason and they have brought a few of them back, with still one big one remaining on the market in Manny Ramirez.  The Dodgers have re-signed free agents shortstop Rafael Furcal and third baseman Casey Blake.  They are still negotiating with outfielder Manny Ramirez and his agent, Scott Boras. Boras wants a huge four or five year deal worth about 100 million and 25 million a year annualy for his client. However, that might be to deep and sweet for the Dodgers to bite into and might move on to other big bats left on the market, primarily Adam Dunn or Bobby Abreu or Garrett Anderson as fallback options.  So look for the Dodgers to either re-sign Manny Ramirez or sign Adam Dunn to fill their left field void.  The Dodgers also have restructured Andruw Jones contract and will save 12 million off their books and only pay Jones 5 million, whether they trade him (which is unlikely) and release him (more likely).  The Dodgers have signed Claudio Vargas on a low-risk one year deal to help shore the bottom two spots of their rotation.  Other contenders for the two remaining spots in the rotation are Jason Schmidt, looking to comeback from injury, and upcoming prospect pitcher James McDonald. I would say look for the Dodgers to sign one more starter or reliever to their staff and a corner outfielder.  But if Dodgers get Manny, I would have to say they are the favorites to win the NL West, and not the Giants. 

Projected Lineup:

1 Rafael Furcal SS- speedy leadoff hitter with some gap to gap power, looking to rebound after an injury-riddled season in 08′.

2 Matt Kemp CF- one of the upcoming players in the major leagues and a speedy outfielder with some pop in that bat

3 Russell Martin C- All-Star Catcher the past two seasons, enough said!

4 Adam Dunn or Manny Ramirez LF- both power hitting outfielders, but Ramirez the better and more impact-type player.

5 James Loney 1B- had a solid season in 2008 and was clutch in the playoffs.

6 Andre Ethier RF- Hit .305 20HR 77RBI in 2008.

7 Casey Blake 3B- Hit .275 21HR 81RBI in 2008.

8 Blake Dewitt 2B- replaces Jeff Kent as the everyday second baseman.

Projected Rotation:

SP1 Chad Billingsley- young stud, upcoming player like Lincecum of the Giants, ace of this staff!

SP2 Hiroki Koruda- moves to the #2 spot in the rotation with the loss of Derek Lowe and Brad Penny.

SP3 Clayton Kershaw- Kershaw got a mini-taste of what the playoffs is like. At 20 years old, look for him to grow up and breakout in 2009.

SP4 Jason Schmidt- Schmidt looks to make a comeback  and return to his old form when he was with Giants after some injuries hurt him the last two seasons. 

SP5 Claudio Vargas- Low-risk deal gives him a shot to anchor this rotation as the #5 guy. If he falters, James McDonald or another prospect can get a look.

Closer Jonathan Broxton- This big framed, power pitcher who throws in the upper 90’s looks to be the everyday closer in 2009, rather than the fill-in closer/setup guy as he was in 08′.

 I remember writing a post back in October on “Manny Ramirez in Orange and Black?”. Well  I guess my instincts were right that the Giants have sincere interest in him and Manny Ramirez makes sense for the Giants in the short term.  I think a two or three year deal at about 40-60 million makes sense with a fourth year vesting team option to sweeten the deal for Manny.  And Scott Boras and Ramirez would probably have to bite at that kind of deal and it would turn the Giants into contenders rather than pretenders.  Signing Manny Ramirez would also allow the Giants and GM Brian Sabean to fill their void at cleanup and furthermore deal from a position of depth in their outfield, as is their starting rotation. So either outfielders Randy Winn (FA after 09′), Aaron Rowand, or even Dave Roberts (also FA after 09′) could be dangled to a team in need of some outfield help for the short-term and  free up salary for the Giants long term. Or the Giants can increase payroll for 09′ and keep the team intact as is.  The Giants could also package a deal of Jonathan Sanchez and outfield prospect Nate Schierholtz or outfielder Randy Winn for a big corner bat, such as Prince Fielder.  Or the Giants could just go to the via free agency route and sign third baseman Joe Crede, who the Giants have showed some interest in and he makes sense for the Giants on a low-risk, low cost one or two year deal based on his recent injuries. But when healthy, Crede is an all-star caliber third baseman with some pop in his bat, something the Giants need to their offense. So you add in All-Stars Manny Ramirez and Joe Crede to a lineup that ranked  in the bottom of the league and you got a bigger payroll for 09, but you also have a contender and you’re getting your money worth in those guys. There should be more sellouts with future Hall of Famers Randy Johnson, in search of his 300th win (only 5 away) and Manny Ramirez (MVP of the Dodgers in 08′ and MVP of Red Sox before that) and with rising stars like 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, the new face of the Franchise and rookie sensation Pablo Sandoval, a young 22-year old corner infielder with some pop in that bat and can play three positions.  So the Giants fans have something to look forward to in 09′ if Giants add a couple more pieces and faces to this already talented bunch.  This will also allow Sabean some flexibility in the trade market and allow the Giants to contend now in 09′ and have financial flexibility for the future and it allows them to develop their younger prospects that are on the rise, such as pitchers Madison Bumgarner,  Tim Alderson, Kevin Pucetas and catcher Buster Posey.   And their should be about 29 million in payroll coming off the Giants book after the 2009 season.  So for now the Giants are in great position to strike forward and sign a couple bats or can stand pat with the team and roster intact right now and build for the future and still contend with a strong rotation and bullpen in this very weak and inconsistent NL West. 

Manny Ramirez hit .399 with 17HR and 53RBI’s with Dodgers in 2008.

     One thing you can say about the Los Angeles Dodgers is they have one of the game’s greatest managers in Joe Torre and they have a star and celebrity and future hall of famer in Manny Ramirez. The fans love him, pitchers fear him, and he makes everyone in the lineup around him better by his presence.  This theory proved again in the Divisional Series against the top seeded Chicago Cubs. Dodgers swept the series 3-0 and outscored the Cubs 20-6.  Manny Ramirez went 5 for 10 with 2 HR’s 3RBI’s 5 runs scored and 4 walks. That is what a star and a clutch player is supposed to do in the playoffs.  Ramirez is that star and the Dodgers feed off of him.  James Loney also was a key player in this series as he had that big grand slam in Game 1 of the series off all-star Ryan Dempster and in Game 3, he had another big hit in the two-run double off of Rich Harden.   Loney only hit .214 in the series, but had 1HR and 6 RBI’s and 2 runs scored in the series, along with some fine defense at first base.  Another player who stood out in this series was All-Star catcher Russell Martin.  Martin hit .308 with 1HR and 5 RBI’S and had 2 runs scored in this series and he played well behind the plate and called a good series.  Which brings me to the starting pitchers of the Dodgers. All three starters in this series pounded the zone with heavy sinkers and dominated the prolific Cubs lineup featuring many All-Stars.  All three starters (Derek Lowe, Chad Billingsley, and Hiroki Koruda) combined to go 3-0 with a 1.42 E.R.A in 19 IP and had a K/BB ratio of 17 to 4.  Now that is why the Dodgers won the series. To their timely hitting, big hits, and clutch pitching by their starters, not a supposedly 101- year curse. All the Cubs players and fans can do is tip their hats to the Dodgers, who were the better team in all aspects of the game in this divisional series. That is what it comes down to when you get into the playoffs. Who clutches up and picks their game in all aspects of the game: hitting, fielding, and pitching.   Dodgers did that and posted their ticket to the National League Championship Series and will face off against the winner of the Phillies/Brewers series.  Philadelphia currently leads the series 2-1. 

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.