Kuzul

What a slow and boring past three years it has been for the Oakland Athletics organization regarding its interest in moving to the Silicon Valley.

Three bogus years of contrived interest in solving the issue of the Athletics’ owner Lew Wolff’s desire to move the team down to San Jose. Three years later, and there’s still no resolution. Not even close.

It’s almost as if nothing has happened.

In March of 2009, MLB commissioner Bud Selig appointed a committee to explore options for providing the A’s with a new ballpark—be it in Oakland or in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The hope was that a consensus would be found for what would be the most feasible solution given Wolff’s desire to move to San Jose. Or at least one would assume that some movement would be made in one particular direction—either I-880 North or I-880 South.

But, sorrowfully, seemingly nothing has been decided.

Fast-forward to May 2012, and this relocation issue remains a cold case. Selig’s detectives have come no closer to solving this problem. Though Selig did his first direct comments about the Athletics’ future in quite some time last Thursday, at MLB’s quarterly owners meeting, according to the commissioner, “there’s no timetable” for a judgment on this matter.

Which is the complete opposite of what he should be saying. The A’s need desperately to find a resolution to this problem. This dilly-dallying has completely taken its toll on the franchise as a whole, the team itself and, most importantly, the rabid fans—both the dedicated Oakland fanbase as well as the excited prospect South Bay fans.

Everyone knows about the territorial rights over the city of San Jose that belong to the San Francisco Giants. That has been a poignant factor from the get-go. The Giants have repeatedly affirmed they will not relinquish San Jose to the Athletics. At least, likely, not without some compensation.

But this is where Selig needs to step in and lay down the gauntlet and take a stand one way or the other about this humongous territorial roadblock. That’s what commissioners do—they make the hard decisions, swiftly, with conviction and confidence.

Could you imagine NBA commissioner David Stern dragging his feet in the sand regarding a franchise relocation possibility? No way.

The Seattle SuperSonics disappeared from the Pacific Northwest in the time it takes to finish an NBA postseason schedule—which as we all know is excruciatingly long. Just like that, they were relocated. No waffling. No debate.

And just last season, the Sacramento Kings petitioned to keep their franchise in California’s state capital, a move that Stern approved with uninhibited celerity. Closer to home, on Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors announced plans to relocate to San Francisco, a decision that went from desired rumor to stark reality in seemingly no time.

Yes, the NBA seems to have a firm grasp on how to properly handle relocation issues. No politicking. No preservation of feelings. Just going about the business as if the NBA is—a business.

Go figure.

Meanwhile, business as usual for Selig and MLB is blatant procrastination of a firm decision. On Thursday, Selig basically shrugged his shoulders, contending that Wolff could in essence consider alternative site options anywhere else outside of the Bay Area.

In fact, Selig suggested that Wolff had the authority to move the A’s anywhere, saying, “They could be all over the world, for that matter.”

That ambiguity is often ascribed to Selig’s longtime relationship with his college bud, Wolff. Selig certainly doesn’t want to deny his friend’s ambitions. Which is why the commissioner hasn’t completely shut the door despite the Giants’ territorial rights.

But he also knows not to offend an Oakland fanbase that has loyally stood by the A’s for more than 40 years, creating a support system for six American League pennants, four World Series titles and numerous superstar accolades.

How can Selig unconsciously exile the Athletics, a team with such a storied history? In an area—the East Bay—that has produced such rich talent (local baseball products include Hall-of-Famers Frank Robinson, Joe Morgan and Rickey Henderson).

Selig knows he can’t unemotionally move the A’s to San Jose. He has chosen to be diplomatic about the entire idea, keeping one foot in Oakland with one of baseball’s more successful franchises (the Athletics rank third all-time with nine World Series titles) and one foot with his homeboy Lew Wolff.

But it’s that game of footsie that has turned out to be a big tease for the city of San Jose and its fans who await a ruling. Wolff, himself, is ultimately losing this battle of attrition with MLB. Will he patiently wait longer? Will he grow tired of reiterated parroting from Selig?

Absolutely not. But Selig’s decision not to decide makes things murkier than they already are—if that’s possible. He needs to put his foot down, be firm and take a stance—either denying the Athletics’ move due to the Giants’ ownership of San Jose or overturning those rights and allowing the A’s to relocate.

Selig and MLB need to take a page out of the NBA’s relocation playbook, taking a gander at the Athletics’ roommates, the Warriors. If the Dubs can be so decisive with their move to San Francisco, why can’t the A’s as well?

A settlement to this drawn-out ordeal has to be made. But that will happen only if Selig steps up to the plate.

Until then, this story will just become an incredibly beaten dead horse.

Follow me on Twitter: @nathanieljue

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There is no way I can hide my excitement.

Watching the Angels and Nationals play today will be equal to my tearing open a retail pack of baseball cards as a 12-year-old.

Last night I wrote a piece on Bryce Harper. In that story, I said I would be glued to my television screen when Harper makes his Major League Debut versus the high flying Los Angeles Dodgers.

When I first heard Harper was coming to the show, I could not help but feel for Mike Trout, who still had not gotten the call.

I could see Trout sitting at his locker in Salt Lake and screaming to the heavens, “What more must I do to get the call?”

To this Trout is right. He is hitting .403 with 31 hits and an OPS of 1.091 through 20 games with the Bees.

Apparently, the baseball gods heard Trout’s question and were like, “yeah, what the heck are the Angels thinking?”

Divine intervention or not, now that Trout has gotten the call, he has a golden opportunity to become the 2012 version of Buster Posey from 2010.

Never will I forget how Posey electrified the Giants, not only in spirit but in offense. After getting called up in May, Posey hit .305 with 18 home runs and 67 RBI in just 108 games. Nor will I forget Posey’s poised play during the playoffs. It was like watching a seasoned veteran on the baseball diamond.

Giving Tim Lincecum utmost credit, I have to beg the following question. 

Would the Giants have won the World Series that year without Posey?

Not sure.

Back to Trout, he can provide the spark the Halos critically need at a point they cannot afford to fall any further behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West. At 6-14, the Angels are already nine games back.

Should Trout excel, he will give the Angels much needed potency at the top of the lineup. 

In time the Angels can place Trout in the two spot of the batting order, smack between Bourjos at the top and Albert Pujols in the three hole. The Angels can also take the training wheels off Mark Trumbo by placing him in the cleanup spot. Or they could put Bourjos in the nine spot and put Trout up top. Either way, you keep speed back to back.

This gives the Halos the ability to combine bunting and scrappy hitting. This puts speed on base for the middle of the lineup to feast on. This will not only create nightmares for opposing pitchers, but it will also take pressure off guys like Howie Kendrick, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells.

This speed meets power kind of offense excites baseball fans, as Texas Rangers fans can surely attest to.

It makes me want to go get a blaster box of baseball cards and go buck wild like a 12-year-old!

James is a huge baseball fan who loves to write and make new friends. You can follow James on Twitter by clicking HITHA!  

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Matt Cain, starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, will be cashing in loads of money if he hits free agency. 

Cain has spent his whole big league career in San Francisco and the Giants cannot let Cain hit the open market after the 2012 season. The righty could be an ace for most teams, and don’t let his wins and losses fool you. 

After the Giants’ atrocious offense in 2011, the last thing they need to do is lose pitching. If the Giants cannot sign Cain before Opening Day, they will have plenty of competition is signing the big righty. If the Giants want to be contenders for years to come, they have to sign him as soon as possible. 

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It’s like choosing which of your children is most expendable. Nobody wants to ask the question, and for sure nobody wants to answer it. However, the 2011 San Francisco Giants‘ offensive woes were such that many Giants fans were ready to sell their first born in exchange for a hitter. Ok, not quite, but two runs per game for long stretches will make people do crazy things.  

However, management seems intent on sticking to a strict budget this winter, and the stated top priority is to lock down the pitching staff for the future. Meanwhile, the plan for improving the offense seems to be: 1) hope Buster Posey stays healthy and hits; 2) Hope Freddy Sanchez stays healthy and hits; 3) Hope Brandon Crawford learns how to hit, and 4) throw some extra pennies in the fountain at the mall. 

But what if there were a better solution? What if that solution involved giving up one of our beloved pitchers for an offensive force? 

Granted, this is completely hypothetical, as the Giants seem intent on locking down both Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum to long-term deals. But hypotheticals are what get us through the dreary abyss of the offseason. If you were the Giants GM and the cupboard was bare, who would you sacrifice for the greater good? 

This is not meant to be a prediction or even a good idea. But in December, these are the debates baseball fans have. Which pitcher is most valuable? Which one would you put on the block first? Here are my ideas. Feel free to differ.  

It’s Not Madison Bumgarner

After a rough start, Bumgarner was lights out in 2011. He sported a 4.1 K/BB ratio, good for 10th in the Major Leagues, including a ridiculous 9.1 in June and July. As the Giants’ ship sank in August and September, Bumgarner was outright dominant, posting a 2.18 ERA over his last 11 starts. 

The advanced metrics suggest that Bumgarner may have been the best starting pitcher on the team last season. He led the staff in Wins Above Replacement (5.4) and xFIP (3.10). His opponents had a batting average on balls in play of .322, easily the highest among Giants regulars, which suggests a measure of bad luck. 

Right now, Bumgarner is a veritable Tom Glavine to Cain’s and Lincecum’s Maddux and Smoltz. He’s also under team control until 2017. The Giants are sitting on a gold mine, and I can’t imagine Bumgarner coming up in any trade talks for years. 

That leaves Cain and Lincecum…  

Surely Not Tim Lincecum

The face of the franchise, Lincecum may go down as the most popular Giant ever. When he was promoted from Fresno, the expectations were impossible. And he fulfilled them anyway. 

When Lincecum won two Cy Young Awards in his first two years, we said, “Yeah, Timmy’s right on schedule.” And when Giants fans were worried that Lincecum might finally be getting tired in late 2010, he inflicted this on the Braves:

9 IP, 2 H, 14 K

Throw in a dominating performance to clinch the World Series, and Lincecum is a true Bay Area legend.  

The main concern with Lincecum is whether or not he will hold up as the years wear on. Many still believe Lincecum is a flash in the pan whose flame will burn out quickly. However, these ideas are based on negative scouting stereotypes of pitchers with small frames and funky windups. There is no evidence that Lincecum is breaking down any time soon.  

Lincecum is a proven bona-fide ace. He’s the guy you throw in Game 7. Every time. He’s in an elite class of undisputed aces with a history of clutch performances. Sabathia, Lee, Halladay, Beckett, Carpenter, Lincecum. You hold on to guys like that regardless of the cost.  

Yes Indeed, It’s Matt Cain

If Lincecum and Bumgarner are Bieber and Britney, Matt Cain is the underground garage band we told everyone would hit it big. Cain is as reliable a starter as there is in the big leagues. As traditional right-handed aces go, Cain is easier on the eyes than Lincecum. He is big, broad-shouldered, doesn’t have a wiffle-ball windup and keeps his hair groomed.  

Cain’s career statistics contain some amusing contradictions. Despite posting a 3.26 ERA since 2007, Cain has compiled a record of 54-60 during that time period with abysmal run support. These funky stats make Cain even more endearing to Giants fans. Wins were irrelevant to Cain’s success long before it was cool to not care about wins. 

Cain, however, is the odd man out in my hopefully-never-gonna-happen hypothetical. Bumgarner is younger and left-handed. Lincecum is the undisputed ace. If Brian Sabean has a drug-induced moment of weakness next week at the Winter Meetings and Brian Cashman offers Cano, Teixeira and Granderson, Cain is the one to go. 

But don’t worry. It’s only hypothetical. For now.  

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I think people are starting to get the idea. If you don’t get the idea yet, then you are either an exceptionally optimistic fan, or delusional.

The San Francisco Giants are not a good baseball team.

Perhaps they were at one point in the season. Perhaps they were until the acquisition of Carlos Beltran. But they certainly aren’t now.

Granted, they have extraordinary pitching. Ryan Vogelsong threw seven innings of two earned-run ball, and remains second in the league in ERA.

The key word in the previous sentence is earned. Errors by Mark DeRosa and Nate Schierholtz enabled the Houston Astros to score three unearned runs off of Vogelsong. Guillermo Mota’s bogus home run to Bogusevic extended the lead to 6-0, which turned out to be the final score of the ballgame.

Realistically, though, it wouldn’t have mattered if Vogelsong had pitched a shutout—he still would have received a no decision at best.

The San Francisco Giants were completely baffled by left hander Wandy Rodriguez, who, like so many pitchers, had his finest outing of the season against the Giants’ hapless offense.

While the Giants are still only 2.5 games out of first place behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, the deficit seems nigh insurmountable.

In fact, a more realistic goal for the Giants this season than the playoffs is to finish the season above .500. At 67-59, the Giants would need to go 14-22 to finish the season at .500. Given the way this team has been playing recently, even that goal seems lofty.

The excellent Bleacher Report sportswriter Manny Randhawa will have to search deep into his bag of tricks to justify the Giants’ “excellence” in losing 6-0 to a team that was 44 games under .500 coming into the ballgame.

“It’s only just one game.” But is it? Is it really? Or is this game just an accurate representation of a disturbing trend?

One thing is certain: People should be fired after tonight’s travesty. Or at least demoted. Or, if Bruce Bochy prefers, they should come up with a mysterious foot strain. Mark DeRosa and Aaron Rowand are two examples of this type of person who does not belong on a Major League baseball field, contract or no. It’s already a “sunk cost.”

Am I overreacting? Is this a knee jerk reaction? I don’t think so. These are calculated statements backed up by on-field performances and statistics.

The Giants need to dramatically overhaul their lineup to put a competitive team on the field, or risk seeing their attendance and reputation plummet.

Not to mention, the Giants should be interested in keeping the sole bright spot on the team (pitching) intact. With free agency looming in the not too distant future for Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, do you think either starter would be willing to play for a team wherein they get no offensive support?

Regardless of the pitchers’ unflappable coolness in the clubhouse in the face of losing and shouldering of responsibility for each loss, you know that these pitchers want to win. Not only do they want to win, they want to win championships.

And no team ranked last in the league in offense has ever made the playoffs, let alone won a championship.

In conclusion, if the Giants come out and score seven runs tomorrow, please save your “I Told You So’s.” After scoring seven runs against the Braves in game three of their series, they have been shut out twice consecutively.

For those keeping track, that is an average of 2.33 runs per game.

Even the lowly Giants are capable of scoring seven runs once in a while. A playoff caliber professional baseball club, however, will perform on a regular basis and demonstrate at least a modicum of consistency.

Madison Bumgarner (7-11, 3.49ERA) pitches next against Jordan Lyles (1-7, 5.31ERA). The ingredients are in place for a 5-3 Giants victory, if each pitcher pitches to their potential. Something tells me, however, that Bumgarner will lower his ERA once again, and loss number twelve will materialize as he is out-dueled by Roger Clemens…er…Jordan Lyles. 

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Moneyball isn’t set to hit theaters until later this year, but it’s already creating quite a stir on the web.

I’ve recently read everything from Brad Pitt not being a good fit as Billy Beane to people anointing the flick as the greatest baseball movie ever made—and it hasn’t even been seen yet!

While the buzz surrounding Moneyball is well-deserved—and it will surely land somewhere on this list after its release—I think it’s safe to say it won’t dethrone some of the all-time classics atop of the baseball-movie list.

In celebration of Americas Pastime, along with all the great quips and immortalized characters we have enjoyed over the years, here are the 25 Greatest Baseball Movies of All Time. 

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At a Seattle Mariners professional baseball game last night, we were parked in the garage between the football and baseball stadiums in Seattle.  This was a perk for the front-row tickets given my wife by supervisors for all her good work of the past few months.  No nose-bleeders for this group on this warm late-spring night! 

And no hiking tens of miles to the car following the game.  This time we would be the snooty royalty that annoys the masses of peons, and like snooty royalty, we would be parking across the street from the baseball stadium free of charge with the BMWs, Mercedes and exotic sports cars of the world.

Walking only a few yards to the car was really cool. 

But after the game, not getting out of the same parking garage for over an hour, gridlocked in non-moving vehicles just outside the stadium, sort of ruined the thrill of parking in the garage where they charge mere mortals up to $50.  

More disturbing, it became apparent that the traffic planners in our city were either crazy, or deliberately making traffic as bad as they could following typical sporting events.  It was almost as if they were making traffic worse—far worse than had there been no helpful, friendly Seattle police officers supervising traffic flow after games.

How do I know this? 

Because after waiting an hour in toxic fumes that could melt steel, I finally managed to escape the confines of the concrete garage, but was immediately ushered to the east side of Safeco Field where all vehicles did not move.  Nor could they move, because helpful, friendly Seattle police traffic officers were routing all 45,000 vehicles into the same one-lane alley south of the stadium. 

Ironic, because I sort of wanted to go north, and catch the freeway on-ramp that would take me north, that I could see…ever so close.

But the friendly, helpful police traffic officers were having none of that!  Nope, they insisted all traffic go south, right into a big gridlocked mess where nobody could move out of because other helpful police traffic officers were routing everyone where they should not be.   

So there we sat.  For a very long time.  Nobody moving and everybody getting extremely agitated.

Finally, the two-hour mark after the game hit, and like magic all the police officers hopped on their little parked motorcycles and sped away into the night, suddenly leaving all the gridlocked intersections unregulated. 

And once they did, within five minutes the traffic had completely cleared out. 

No more helpful traffic cops equaled no more gridlock.  Who would have thought?

At that point many of us, as we drove home, asked the important and profound question most citizens in Washington State have asked after sporting events: 

“Hey, if traffic is better without the friendly, helpful police regulation following games, perhaps the city is wasting its money by having each and every intersection littered with these fine, uniformed folks?”

Maybe a prudent plan would be to not spend the money for all these lovely traffic heroes, and instead let things be like they are during the rest of the week? 

Why not let traffic do what traffic does, without the “help”?

Once, several years ago, following another game in which this exact same thing happened, I emailed the beloved traffic commission chairperson and suggested this wonderful and intellectual idea. 

And just like the friendly, helpful police traffic officers at every corner last night, he eventually emailed me back with suggestions of various physical activities that I could do to myself. 

He also mentioned that people as stupid as me don’t realize that this was actually a huge traffic improvement.  “You idiot!”

See this is because the Seattle Police Department, in co-operation with the City of Seattle and various inept mayors, has carefully crafted a set of hiring guidelines for every single traffic planner.  Here’s how it goes:

Clause No. 1

If the applicant shows college education or traffic planning experience, that person will immediately be disqualified for employment consideration by the PGSTPC (Postgame Seattle Traffic Planning Commission).

Clause No. 2

If said applicant shows any natural talent for common-sense thinking, that person too, will immediately be disqualified for employment consideration by the PGSTPC.

Clause No. 3

Preferred applicants will normally be found in chimpanzee cages at the Woodland Park Zoo, or found sleeping under bridges in frigid temperatures.

Clause No. 4

Habitual inebriation for each traffic planner is a plus.  In fact, if said applicant arrives at job interview immediately after consuming a fifth of Jack Daniels straight up, that applicant will vault to the top of the stack and may be immediately hired and assigned to supervise all traffic planning for the day, before sobering up.

Contrary to what you might think, the goal of the PGSTPC is not to clear traffic out.  Nope.  The goal is to keep traffic confined in unmoving gridlock for as long as possible. 

Speculation persists that the local business community is behind this reasoning, insisting that the longer you stay in their neighborhood, the more crap you may buy.  Oh sure, most of those businesses are closed by the time the Mariners games are over, but…well, please see Clauses No. 1 through No. 4 if you are confused about this policy.

Also, within the traffic code is the north/south directional concept.  If said vehicle prefers to travel north (because your house is north of the stadium), each and every regulated traffic corridor will insist you go south.  For many miles too.  Conversely, if your house is situated to the south, then the very same traffic corridors will route you north in the opposite direction you wish to go, usually into gridlock and parked contraptions that cannot move.

Years and millions of dollars were spent on little, unknown GPS chips that police officers read from your vehicle as you approach, like they do for the toll bridges.  Particular effort is put into stringent requirements insisting the direction of your vehicle goes in the opposite direction that it should.   

Why? 

Because it’s fun for intoxicated traffic planners to see all the cars not moving for hours after a sporting event.

And don’t bother screaming at localized traffic cops on corners about all of this, because that will merely make them cranky.  They didn’t do the traffic plan, they merely enforce it.  In fact, when frustrated motorists yell at cops, frustrated motorists may soon find themselves charged with heinous crimes and strip-searched in public. 

What frustrated motorists can do, however, is write sarcastic articles like this one when they get home several weeks later, and then send them to every public official they can find. 

That’ll teach those jerks.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Quick Note before we begin.  Here’s a rule for catchers straight out of the MLB Rulebook:

“The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.”

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what went wrong, and why the only person at fault is Buster Posey. It’s an easy thing to figure out if you actually watch the video. It was his own fault he got hurt on that play.  

Before you Giants fans freak out and tell me about how Scott Cousins needs to be fined or anything like that, take a look at the video. The sequence of events clearly shows that the injury was a result of Buster Posey making two, very distinct, very bad decisions, and leaving Scott Cousins with only one choice.

Those bad decisions:

1. Posey started in front of the plate. If you talk to any catcher, especially in the majors, they will tell you exactly what you’re supposed to do on a play where the ball is hit to right field with a runner coming home. You are supposed to start behind the plate, so you have a good view of the runner coming, and move forward as the ball comes in. Otherwise, you can’t see him coming at all if you’re looking into right field for the ball. 

Posey didn’t do that. As soon as the ball was hit, he made up his mind that he was going forward, and that he was going to sit on the line and wait for the throw. It goes against common sense as well as baseball playing basics. And don’t give me that crap that it was the speed of the play. That play took a while to develop, and if Posey is as good as everyone claims, he should have known better.

2. Posey didn’t catch the ball, but acted like he did. He didn’t catch the ball. No disputing that. It’s clear that he gave up catching the ball in lieu of taking the hit. Which, by itself, is pure idiocy. Let me explain. If the object is to catch the ball and tag the runner out, and the only way to do that is to take the hit, I get that. But when you don’t catch the ball, doesn’t that make the idea of taking the hit to get the runner out kind of, I don’t know, pointless? But he did it anyway.

After not catching the ball, Posey turned toward Cousins and lowered his shoulder for the hit. Posey wasn’t lying when he said he gave Cousins a lane to slide for the plate. He did. Until the last second, that is. Just before Cousins, who was running full speed toward the plate, gets about two feet away, Buster turns into him. He didn’t even have the ball, why did he turn? He’s good enough to know he didn’t catch the ball. He had no business sliding toward Cousins.

Cousins’ Only Choice

Take a good look at the video. You can clearly see that Cousins was heading toward the outside of the plate, away from Posey. He saw the ball come in, and knowing the caliber of catcher he was up against, assumed Posey would catch the ball. Given how the ball beat him to the plate with a great throw from right field, he had two choices.  

One…go for the head-first slide and pretty much be guaranteed an out. Or two, try to break up the play. Buster Posey made the choice for him. Posey turned into the base path and acted like he had the ball, cutting off Cousins from the plate. Cousins lowered his body to chest level, totally avoiding any head-to-head or shoulder-to-head contact. It was about as clean a hit as you can get between runner and catcher.

The Fallout

I find it funny that no one, with the exception of Giants fans and employees, is demonizing the actual hit. Oh sure, there’s a lot of people out there talking about how the rules need to be changed, or how catchers need to be protected, but that’s the gist of it. 

Anyone who sees the video can see the hit was clean. That’s not really up for debate. What has become the debate, is whether or not we need to change the rules to protect catchers. In my mind, that’s a little bit of an overreaction.  

If this hit happens to Buck, the Marlins catcher, we don’t have this debate. If Buster Posey isn’t the cleanup hitter on the reigning world champions, it’s just another play. But because it happened to a young and promising player like Posey, we should enact rule changes? After 142 years of baseball, we need to change the rules to better protect catchers? I don’t think so.  

Even if we were going to change the rules, what would we change them to?

Let’s say we changed the rule and made it so you are not allowed to hit the catcher. If that were the rule, what would Cousins have had to do? Leap over Posey? He couldn’t have reached the plate without going through him since Buster took it upon himself to step directly in the base path, even though he didn’t even have the ball.

Who would be at fault then? It would have to be Posey. He was in the base path and Cousins didn’t have anywhere to go.

And since Buster Posey himself has said that it was a legal play, why is he complaining? What does he want Cousins to do? Stop making legal plays? He’s being a baby. So is Giants GM Brian Sabean. Injuries happen, guys. Just because they happen to players we love to watch play doesn’t mean we need drastic rule changes.

Major League Baseball survived without Buster Posey for 140 years. It can stand another one.  

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The 2010 San Francisco Giants shocked the baseball world when they tore through the postseason with an 11-4 record to win their first World Series championship since 1954.

How did they do it?  One word would suffice in explaining their amazing run—pitching.

San Francisco’s staff gave observers of the game something to remember.  With performance after performance of historic proportions, Giants hurlers utterly shut down offensive juggernauts from Philadelphia and Texas on their way to claiming the crown.

When all was said and done, San Francisco’s arms had produced four shutouts, compiled an ERA of 2.47, and struck out 133 opposing hitters while limiting opponents’ batting average to just .196 in 15 postseason games.

After being labeled underdogs in the NLCS and the World Series, with the chief reason being that their opponents had better offensive capabilities, the Giants proved the old adage true yet again—good pitching always beats good hitting—always.

In a season that was called the “Year of the Pitcher”, pitching won the day when Tim Lincecum tossed eight masterful innings in Game 5 of last year’s fall classic, helping his Giants clinch the title.

San Francisco’s success has led many baseball analysts to ask, who will be 2011’s version of the Giants that won it all last season?

Looking Across the Bay

The search for this year’s version of the 2010 Giants could involve just a short drive across the Bay.

The Oakland A’s led the American League with a 3.56 team ERA in 2010.  Oakland’s staff also led the league in shutouts, with 17.  A’s arms yielded just 566 earned runs last season, lowest in the league, while holding opposing hitters to just a .245 batting average.

This season, the staff in Oakland has picked up right where it left off, leading the American League, with a 2.86 team ERA and just 127 earned runs allowed so far in 2011.  And opponents’ batting average?  Just .244, a point lower than in 2010.

The A’s, much like the Giants in 2010, are struggling offensively in 2011.  They currently rank 23rd in baseball in runs scored, and 25th in team batting average.

But if there’s one thing the 2010 Giants proved about winning, it was that a lot of pitching mixed with a little timely hitting is a recipe for success.

Potential World Series Preview?

The Giants and A’s are two teams on very different tracks.  While the composition of their clubs may be very similar, with pitching as the centerpiece and strength, and hitting being almost a secondary consideration, the Giants are the defending world champions while the A’s are still in a success-building mode.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we won’t see both of these clubs in the playoffs.  The Giants are primed to make another serious run in the NL West, having nearly the same personnel back to defend the title. 

The A’s have the potential to become what the Giants were last season, given their young pitching talent and the presence of veterans Hideki Matsui and Josh Willingham to provide just enough offense.

Much like San Francisco last season, if Oakland can just reach the playoffs, whether by winning the AL West or claiming the AL Wild Card spot, anything can happen.  With the likes of Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, and Gio Gonzalez leading a stellar pitching staff in a short series, the A’s could find themselves in the American League Championship Series before they know it.

With the A’s visiting AT&T Park this weekend for a three-game set with the Giants, look for low-scoring games, playoff-caliber baseball, and maybe even a preview of what’s to come this October.

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The Giants offense has been lifeless over the past week and now, their best offensive threat is injured.  Third baseman Pablo Sandoval broke the hamate bone in his right hand while taking a swing in Washington on Friday and will have surgery to remove it this Tuesday in Arizona.  He will likely miss at least 4-6 weeks, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

The injury to Sandoval couldn’t come at a worse time for a Giants lineup that is struggling to score runs.  The Giants have been shutout twice in the past four games and many of their key hitters currently have batting averages in the low .200s.

Ryan Rohlinger, who got some playing time with the Giants last season, has been called up from Triple-A Fresno and should be with the club for Sunday’s game against the Nationals.  On Saturday, Bruce Bochy moved Miguel Tejada, who has played the last several years at third base, to the hot corner and gave Mike Fontenot a start at shortstop.

After their dismal offensive start to the current ten-game road trip, questions arose about what the Giants need to do to wake up at the plate.  Now those questions will only intensify, as the Giants’ leading hitter, Sandoval, is out for at least a month.

One of the questions that is certain to come up is whether the Giants should recall Brandon Belt, who was sent down to Fresno to work on what has been called a minor tweak needed for him to square up fastballs.  Belt, since being sent back to Triple-A, is hitting .429 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBI’s in just five games.

It appears that Belt has made the minor adjustment to his swing and, from all accounts, he looked to be a very patient hitter at the plate during his 17 games with the Giants, walking eight times in 52 at-bats.  His high strikeout total and lack of productivity when swinging, however, led to his demotion to Fresno.

The Giants will need to give serious thought to the idea of bringing Belt back to bolster a lineup that is in dire need of new blood.  Last season, when Buster Posey was called up from Fresno in May, his presence gave the Giants a spark that led to a remarkable turnaround, from a .500 ballclub just prior to the All-Star break to a postseason berth and eventually, a world championship.

Perhaps what this club needs now is another infusion of new blood in the form of Brandon Belt’s bat.

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