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Matt Cain‘s struggle to remain healthy continues, as the San Francisco Giants right-hander is dealing with more arm problems early in spring training. It is uncertain when he will be able to return to action.

Continue for updates.  

Cain Comments on Recovery Timeline

Saturday, Feb. 27 

According to Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area, Cain told reporters he’s “confident” he’ll be ready for the season. He added the cyst he’d had removed was just above his elbow and ruptured.  

Cain Had Cyst Surgically Removed

Thursday, Feb. 25

According to Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, Cain had a cyst removed from his right (throwing) arm and will not start throwing again for 10 days. 

Per Pavlovic, the Giants said it is “too early” to know if Cain will be unavailable when the regular season starts on April 4 at Milwaukee. 

Cain’s Production Has Declined as Injuries Have Mounted

Once one of the most durable pitchers in baseball, Cain has fallen off a cliff since 2014. From 2006-13, the former All-Star made at least 30 starts per season and threw at least 184.1 innings. He had surgery to remove bone chips in his pitching elbow in August 2014. 

The 31-year-old started 2015 on the disabled list with a forearm strain, not debuting until July, before going back on the DL in late August with nerve problems in his right elbow. He’s made a total of 28 appearances over the past two seasons. 

There was a time when Cain’s absence would have devastated the Giants, but Madison Bumgarner is the team’s unquestioned ace. The front office also bolstered the rotation this offseason by signing Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto to give them a strong trio heading into 2016. 

A healthy, productive Cain would be a huge boost to the Giants, but given his injury problems the previous two years, all they should reasonably hope for is that he can avoid the disabled list. 

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The San Francisco Giants spent $220 million on Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto this winter. And they have Madison Bumgarner, tree-chopping stud and postseason demigod.

The key to the Giants rotation, however, and the piece that could push them unequivocally past the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West might be the man penciled in as the No. 5 starter.

That’d be Matt Cain, former workhorse and current enigma.

Right now, Cain is the guy who hasn’t posted a sub-4.00 ERA in any of the past three seasons. He’s the guy who had bone spurs removed from his elbow in 2014 and made just 11 starts last year after suffering a forearm strain in April.

On the other hand, he’s still just 31. And Giants fans don’t need to chase their garlic fries with ginkgo biloba to recall the run of success that made Cain one of the most consistent right-handers in the game not so long ago.

After debuting in 2005, Cain eclipsed 200 innings every season between 2007 and 2012, posting ERAs under 3.00 in three of those campaigns and making three All-Star appearances. Along the way, the Giants won a pair of their recent trio of titles, and Cain authored a perfect game for good measure.

Tim Lincecum commanded more attention with his flowing locks and unorthodox mechanics, but Cain was the backbone of San Francisco’s starting five for the better part of a decade.

Now, he’s in camp searching for answers and, more importantly, the results that once came so readily.

Cain said of his recent struggles, per Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News:

I’ve had long nights thinking about that one. I don’t know exactly what was keeping me from being consistent and making the pitches I wanted to make most of the time. I couldn’t tell you if it was something physical or something mental or if the wind was blowing the wrong way. But it was something that happened a lot and it was tough to go through, and the big plan is to be able to get past that.

Plans are one thing, execution is another. Everyone is in the best shape of his life and on the right track in late February (OK, not everyone). But Cain is now far enough removed from his salad days for the questions to become darker.

Like: Can he be an elite or even effective big league pitcher ever again?

Velocity isn’t the problem. In 2012, his last good season, Cain’s fastball averaged 91.1 mph, per FanGraphs. Last season, his average heater clocked in at 91.0 mph, while his ERA ballooned to 5.79. His issues, in other words, might be related to rust more than stuff.

There are case studies that point toward optimism, as McCovey Chronicles’ Grant Brisbee outlined:

Let’s look for pitchers who came back with a second stage of their careers, then. [Ryan] Vogelsong is an outlier, but he’s near and dear to our hearts. John Lackey isn’t quite so near and dear, but he was the most hated pitcher in Boston when he was Cain’s age. Three seasons later, he helped the Red Sox win a World Series. Three seasons after that, he picked up stray Cy Young votes. He was buried much deeper than Cain and he wasn’t as good in the first place. Edinson Volquez was waiver fodder for years before being a Game 1 starter again.

Pitchers come back from all sorts of calamity.

More often, they don’t. That’s the wet blanket. If you’re playing the odds, Cain will never again pitch like a No. 1 or anything close to it. FanGraphs projects a 4.35 ERA in 121 innings in 2016, while Steamer is a tick more optimistic, foretelling a 3.90 ERA in 130 innings.

Either one, or a split-the-difference stat line, would be perfectly palatable for a fifth starter. But what if Cain finds a way to wind back the clock? How scary would this already formidable Giants team become as it embarks on yet another even-year run?

Let’s assume Cueto and Samardzija both stay healthy and get boosts from the Giants’ stellar defense and pitcher-friendly park. Let’s say Bumgarner once again does Bumgarner things. And let’s stipulate veteran Jake Peavy has another year of effective grinding left in his arm. 

If Cain kicks in anything, that’s a strong rotation. And there are options behind him, including sophomore sinkerballer Chris Heston, who tossed a no-hitter last season.

But if Cain returns to All-Star level? You’re talking about easily the deepest, scariest starting five west of Queens.

Pair that with San Francisco’s balanced lineup littered with homegrown contributors, and Los Angeles’ run of three consecutive division titles is threatened, if not doomed.

The Dodgers boast plenty of talent. They’re baseball’s biggest spenders, after all, and while they lost Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks, they could fill the void with Japanese ace Kenta Maeda and the return of Hyun-Jin Ryu, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury.

Right now, the storied bicoastal rivals are neck and neck, with those Greinke-swiping Snakes coiled in the weeds. The NL West race could well turn on a comeback performance or larger-than-expected contribution from someone.

Every team can point to at least one player who potentially fits the bill. For San Francisco, it’s Cain. If he has a genuine renaissance in him, it could be bigger than any offseason addition.

The workhorse, in other words, has become the wild card. The question now is, can he be an ace?

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Former San Francisco Giants infielder and manager Jim Davenport died on Thursday night at the age of 82. 

The Giants released a statement about Davenport’s death on Twitter:  

As the Giants’ statement on Davenport’s passing noted, he spent most of his life with the franchise after beginning his Major League Baseball career as a player in 1958. 

Davenport played 13 seasons with the Giants, making one All-Star team and winning a Gold Glove at third base in 1962. He hit .258/.318/.367 with 77 home runs in 1,501 career games before hanging up the cleats following the 1970 season. 

After Davenport’s playing career ended, he remained a staple of the Giants organization, even managing the team for part of the 1985 season. The Alabama native did have brief coaching stints with other organizations even though his heart never really left San Francisco, per Chris Haft of MLB.com in February 2014:

Except for stints as a coach with San Diego (1974-75), Philadelphia (’88) and Cleveland (’89) and as an advance scout for Detroit (’91-92), Davenport has remained a Giant since he signed his first professional contract in 1955. He expects to begin his 50th Giants season in early March by visiting Minor League camp at Spring Training, where he’ll help tutor and evaluate players.

In Haft’s story on Davenport’s 50 years with the Giants, Hall of Famer Willie McCovey said his former teammate “was one of those steadying rods on that team,” adding Davenport is “as much a part of the Giant organization as me and [Willie] Mays.”

While not as well known to a mass audience like San Francisco legends McCovey and Mays, Davenport played a crucial role for the franchise during his playing days, helping the team reach the 1962 World Series before losing to the New York Yankees. 

Davenport’s love and commitment to the Giants will allow his legacy to live on long after his death. 

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The look on Bruce Bochy‘s face made it clear this wasn’t the first time he was hearing the phrase “even-year magic.” Heck, since leading the San Francisco Giants to the first of three straight even-year World Series titles in 2010, the veteran skipper has probably heard it a million times.

And he now seems prepared to hear it a million more times in 2016.

“A lot of us are already kidding around about the over/under on how many times we hear, ‘Hey, it’s an even year, so it must be our year!’” Bochy said when Bleacher Report asked about the Giants’ even-year magic during a Giants media function at AT&T Park last week.

Take the over? Yeah, take the over.

Just like in 2011 and 2013, the 2015 Giants responded to an even-year championship with an odd-year regression that kept them out of the postseason. But at 84-78, they at least finished with a winning record this time, unlike 2013.

And after a $250 million offseason spending spree that netted a pair of accomplished starters in Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija and a talented outfielder in Denard Span, they’re going into 2016 with all sorts of good vibrations.

And if nothing else, the mere mention of the magic that guided them to championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014 gets the juices flowing.

“I think it puts your mind in the right place early on,” first baseman Brandon Belt said. “Not that we don’t think about it in odd-numbered years, but just hearing it so much when it’s an even-numbered year makes you focus and say, ‘All right, our goal this year is to win a World Series.’”

From the outside looking in, what’s happened with the Giants in even years seems easy to explain. They had talented teams with noticeably good chemistry in 2010, 2012 and 2014, sure, but Robert De Niro’s character from Silver Linings Playbook would say it was all about the juju.

In October 2010, the juju took the form of unhittable pitching and an endless string of timely hits. In October 2012, the Giants won six elimination games just to get to the World Series. In October 2014, there was Travis Ishikawa’s Bobby Thomson impression and Madison Bumgarner‘s god mode.

During that most recent magical run, even a now-former adversary couldn’t ignore there was something different about the Giants.

“They just had a different aura about them,” Span said, referring to when San Francisco beat his Washington Nationals in the 2014 National League Division Series. “They were confident. They knew their jobs. And they did the little things right. I think that was the difference in them beating us. I felt like we had more talent on paper, but they just outplayed us.”

But for those who actually were involved? Well, they’re not in a hurry to sell anyone on the idea that they’ve had a special aura in even years. This is most certainly a team that prides itself on the chemistry that seems so instrumental in making the magic happen, but the Giants insist it’s there every year.

“We’re confident every season,” shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “Whether it’s an even year or odd year, it doesn’t really matter for us.”

Rather, it may not be a question of what goes right in even years. Instead of even-year magic, perhaps what the Giants have been dealing with is an odd-year curse.

“It just seems like bad luck,” Belt said. “We’ve had a lot of injuries, and it’s tough to go out there and win a World Series when you don’t have your best players. You don’t want to blame it all on that. There have been a lot of times when we haven’t really played well. But at the same time, you hope you can keep everyone healthy and on the field.”

The data nods its head. Per BaseballHeatMaps.com, the Giants have averaged about 730 disabled-list days in the last three even years. In the last three odd years, the average jumps to more than 880 days.

For this, the obvious scapegoat is the offseason that follows a World Series win. It doesn‘t provide an atmosphere conducive to recuperation, as there are frequent demands for attention and little time to rest before spring training. And some Giants don’t mind pointing a finger.

“We’re human beings,” outfielder Gregor Blanco said. “It’s not easy when you play all the way to the World Series because you play so many games. Your body is exhausted. You’re mentally tired. And then spring training comes quick. You only have about a month-and-a-half to prepare yourself for the next year.”

Crawford also lent some credence to the notion that the offseason following a World Series title can have an effect, noting in particular that it “might show towards the end of the year than it does toward the beginning.”

This bit of smoke also leads to fire. In 2011, the Giants fell apart in the second half. In 2013, they fell apart after starting strong in April and May. Last year, the club went 28-32 after August 1 and dealt with late-season injuries to Matt Cain, Hunter Pence, Joe Panik, Mike Leake, Angel Pagan and Nori Aoki.

After a full offseason, it’s easy to think things will be better in 2016. There’s also the notion the Giants’ solid 84-78 record in 2015 actually undersells how good they were, as their Pythagorean record—a projected record based on runs scored and runs allowed—was actually the same as the NL West champion (and archrival) Los Angeles Dodgers.

That’s to say, the 2015 Giants’ true talent level may have been better than that of an 84-win team. And following the club’s hot-stove wheelings and dealings, the total package for 2016 looks even better.

Among the things the Giants are carrying over from 2015 are an elite catcher in Buster Posey, an elite ace in Bumgarner and a bullpen that posted a top-10 ERA (3.33). And in Belt, Crawford, Panik and Matt Duffy, the Giants have a homegrown infield that is arguably baseball’s best.

“I look at that infield, and I think how lucky and fortunate we are to have these homegrown products that all came up through our system,” Bochy said. “I think it’s one of the best infields in baseball. And now that they’ve played a year together, I think they’re only going to get better.”

What clearly needed to be fixed, though, was the depth behind Bumgarner in the Giants’ starting rotation. Or, more accurately, the lack thereof. According to FanGraphs, there was nearly a four-win gap between Bumgarner and the Giants’ next-best starter, Chris Heston, in 2015.

Enter Cueto on a six-year, $130 million contract and Samardzija on a five-year, $90 million contract. Both are workhorses who were among the best pitchers in baseball as recently as 2014, so the Giants are right to have high hopes for how much they’ll help. And not just in the rotation, either.

“Now we’ve got two guys who can go out there and throw 200 innings and keep you in ballgames,” said George Kontos, who was one of three Giants relievers to top 70 appearances in 2015. “When you’ve got proven guys who can do that, it helps keep your bullpen fresher. And when you can keep the guys in the bullpen fresher for longer, you can have better success down the stretch.”

With Aoki departing via free agency, the only other notable item on the Giants’ checklist this winter was an outfielder. Enter Span on a three-year, $31 million deal. If he can stay healthy following an injury-plagued 2015, he figures to be a consistent presence atop Bochy‘s batting order, as well as a much-needed defensive upgrade in center field.

All told, Span likes his new team just as much, if not more, than his old one.

“I think this team is more well-rounded,” Span said. “We don’t have a lot of big hitters, per se, but we’ve got contact hitters and guys that will make you pay if you make a mistake. And it’s a very athletic team in the infield and in the outfield, and even with our catcher. And with the guys they’ve brought in, the pitching staff now speaks for itself. I definitely like where we are.”

For what it’s worth, the computers do, too. FanGraphs projects only three National League teams to do better than the Giants in 2016. If that pans out, San Francisco will be back in the postseason at year’s end.

And then, well, clearly all it would have to do is sit back and wait for the magic to take hold. The explanation for it may vary, depending on who you ask, but that doesn‘t mean the Giants can’t be excited about keeping the trend alive.

“We know what we’ve done in the past, and it would be pretty storybook if we pulled it off again this year,” Cain said. “And that’s the plan.”

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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In real life, Matt Duffy came out of Long Beach, California. But in 2015, he might as well have come out of Nowhere, USA.

Generally considered a non-prospect going into the season, the slender then-24-year-old earned a spot on the San Francisco Giants‘ bench with a hot spring and eventually found himself pressed into everyday action at third base. The next thing anyone knew, he was establishing himself as one of MLB‘s best third basemen and a contender for the National League Rookie of the Year.

But with the 2016 season drawing near, it’s time to ask the question that’s looming like so much San Francisco fog: After a breakout like that, can Duffy possibly avoid the dreaded sophomore slump?

The Giants certainly hope so. Duffy, now 25, carrying on as a star player would go a long way toward them keeping their even-year dominance alive. And for what it’s worth, his skipper has faith.

“He’s just a good ballplayer,” Bruce Bochy told Bleacher Report at a Giants media gathering Friday. “He’s a good offensive player [and] good defensive player. And he could be our best baserunner. He’s durable. He can go out there and play every day. I think he’s primed to have another good year for us.”

The projections for 2016 have Bochy’s back. Though neither the Steamer nor ZiPS projections featured at FanGraphs think Duffy will be quite as good as he was in 2015, both see him continuing to be an above-average hitter and ultimately producing more WAR than any Giants position player not named Buster Posey.

Of course, given Duffy’s modest background, determining whether he can avoid a sophomore slump in 2016 can’t be as simple as looking at a quote and a few calculations. Even upon a more exhaustive review, though, it’s hard to mistake his out-of-nowhere 2015 season for a fluke.

First of all, there’s no downplaying just how good Duffy was in 2015. He was a safely above-average hitter, as batting .295 with a .762 OPS despite regular action at AT&T Park is no small feat. Duffy was also one of the league’s most productive third basemen on the basepaths, and the defensive metrics agree he darn well deserved to be a Gold Glove finalist.

But was Duffy too good in 2015?

If you look at where Duffy’s coming from, the answer sure looks like a yes. He was only an 18th-round pick in 2012, and even that seems like a minor miracle considering he was exclusively a speed-and-defense guy in three seasons at Long Beach State. And throughout his career in the minors, the best Baseball America ever thought of him was as the Giants’ No. 9 prospect following the 2014 season.

Looking at all this, however, is only focusing on what Duffy was supposed to be. The picture is decidedly different when the focus is shifted to what he’s actually been.

Duffy hit over .300 across two low minor league levels in 2013 and .332 at Double-A in 2014, notably showing off a strong contact habit both seasons. And after a rough 34-game introduction to the pitching in The Show, he hit his way onto the Giants’ 25-man roster with a .361 average last spring.

“Even in spring training, I was thinking, ‘He should make this team,'” Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “He could play all over the place, and he was putting good at-bats together. And I figured it was probably just a matter of time before he came into his own.”

Crawford’s instincts were right. Duffy got his shot when it turned out Casey McGehee wasn’t the answer at third base, stepping into a full-time job in May. From then until late September, his average hovered right around .300. All told, he’s been a hitting machine for the better part of three years.

Duffy’s trick? Nothing too radical. He subscribes to the ol’ hitter’s creed of simply trying to see the ball well and put a good swing on it. He figures his success will continue if he keeps it up.

“There’s a big aspect of the uncontrollable when you’re hitting,” said Duffy. “I just try to keep my mind on what I can control, and it’s those two things: see the ball and put my best swing on it. If I can do that every pitch—and that’s a difficult thing to do, controlling your mind like that—then I think I’ll have a good chance at consistent results.”

Although, it would also help if Duffy maintains the swing he found last year. And there should be an emphasis on “found,” as it’s one he really had to look for.

Jorge L. Ortiz of USA Today noted Duffy began tinkering with his hitting mechanics while playing in the Cape Cod League during his collegiate years, and said tinkering seemed to culminate in 2015. On Fox Sports last summer, Owen Watson compared Duffy’s 2015 swing to his 2014 swing and found it had become quieter, more efficient and, therefore, more dangerous. 

The underlying numbers reflect that. Duffy bore the marks of a pure hitter in 2015, building on his 2014 major league debut by making more contact, making better contact and making better use of the whole field:

The bat control that allowed Duffy to use the whole field is arguably the most impressive aspect of his 2015 breakthrough. As hit maps at Baseball Savant show, Duffy could hit the ball to any field regardless of whether a pitch was inside, down the middle or away.

And as 2015 went on, that skill ended up being pretty important.

After being fairly predictable in the first half, pitchers began switching up their locations more against Duffy in the second half, again documented by Baseball Savant. This seemingly helped subdue his power, as his slugging percentage fell from .462 to .397. But where a lesser hitter might have been hurt by that, Duffy dropped his strikeout percentage from 18.2 to 13.5, started going the other way more and upped his average a couple of points from .293 to .296.

The notion Duffy can continue to be an above-average hitter in 2016 therefore rings pretty true. From his straightforward approach to his strong mechanics to his feel for hitting to his ability to adjust when the going gets tough, he fairly aces the smell test.

Arguably the bigger question relates to whether Duffy can be such a good defensive third baseman again—after all, his defense was an even bigger surprise than his offense. A natural shortstop, Duffy went into 2015 with all of 34 innings of experience at third base as a professional.

But not really. Duffy’s defensive skills are what got him drafted in the first place, and he got a hang of the quicker reactions a player is going to need when he moves from shortstop to third. Like so:

Though things move fast at the hot corner, Duffy worked with Giants bench coach Ron Wotus and special assistant Shawon Dunston and learned how to slow things down, gaining an understanding of how to play each ball. Basically, he learned control.

Earlier this winter, Duffy told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle his goal was to become even more comfortable at third base. If all goes well, he’ll soon look as natural at the hot corner as the guy immediately to his left looks at shortstop.

“My offseason defense-wise has been about just keeping everything under control,” Duffy said. He continued:

It’s more of a mental thing than anything, but doing it over and over and just keeping yourself calm [helps]. I look at Crawford, and he seems like he’s sleepwalking. He’s just so under control and so smooth. I try to emulate that when I’m at third base.

So things look good here too. Duffy may have surprised many with his defense at third base in 2015, but it was just a case of a player who was already a defensive whiz becoming a defensive whiz at a different position. And, clearly, he’s not taking his success for granted.

Is all of this to say Duffy is a foolproof star going into 2016? Relative to guys such as Posey, Mike Trout or Clayton Kershaw, goodness no. Duffy will need to ingrain his star status a bit more before anyone can slap that kind of label on him.

It’s good enough, however, that he doesn’t look like an obvious candidate for a sophomore slump. What Duffy built in 2015 looks not like a house of cards but a rock-solid foundation.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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The San Francisco Giants‘ offseason shopping spree is almost certainly over. After adding outfielder Denard Span and a pair of starting pitchers in Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto, the club has plugged its most glaring holes.

Oh, the Giants might go after a spare bullpen arm or some infield depth (Grant Brisbee at McCovey Chronicles recently floated old friend Juan Uribe). But what you see is likely what you get, roster-wise, for the Giants.

“I couldn’t ask for more,” manager Bruce Bochy said, per Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. “It’s been a terrific offseason.”

Come on, Bruce, get greedy. You can always ask for more.

See, active as they’ve been, there is a missing ingredient that could propel the Giants from contender to legitimate National League favorite in this—wait for it—even year: one more big-time slugger.

The Giants offense was far from abysmal last season. They finished fifth in the National League in runs scored and led the Senior Circuit in team batting average. It was a dearth of starting pitching behind ace Madison Bumgarner, more than anything else, that led to San Francisco’s distant second-place finish.

The Giants, however, didn’t loom large in the power department, clubbing just 136 home runs—fourth-fewest in baseball. Partly that’s a function of playing half their games at AT&T Park, with its spacious dimensions and long-ball-suffocating marine layer.

But it’s also because this lineup isn’t loaded with boppers.

The Giants are flush with capable hitters. Span figures to take over leadoff duties with his combination of speed, contact and on-base ability. Joe Panik and Matt Duffy boast solid gap power. Brandon Crawford flashed surprising pop last season, cracking 21 home runs to pair with his Gold Glove defense at shortstop.

And the middle of the order—Buster Posey, Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt—brings some thump.

No current Giants hitter, however, has ever hit 30 home runs in a season. Pence came the closest, with 27 in 2013.

That’s not a prerequisite for success, as San Francisco has demonstrated with its recent trio of titles. But if there’s one area where this club could use a boost, it’s the game-changing ability to send the ball sailing over the fence.

And, look at that, a few star sluggers remain unsigned two weeks into January.

There’s Justin Upton, a five-tool 28-year-old who hit 26 home runs last year while making pitcher-friendly Petco Park his home. There’s Yoenis Cespedes, who bashed a career-high 35 home runs in 2015, to go along with 105 RBI and an .870 OPS. And there’s Chris Davis, MLB‘s reigning home run leader, whose 47 home runs jump off the stat sheet in this power-starved era.

Upton and Cespedes both profile best as left fielders. Angel Pagan, the presumed left fielder after the Span signing, is a capable hitter when healthy. But he turns 35 in July and has missed 186 games over the last three seasons with hamstring, back and knee issues. 

Instead, imagine if San Francisco added Upton or Cespedes. Or Davis, who could alternate between the outfield and spelling Belt at first base.

Then there’s the possibility of trading for a hitter. Like, say, the Colorado Rockies‘ Carlos Gonzalez. 

Gonzalez, whose name has been tumbling through the rumor mill since before the offseason began, is coming off a strong bounce-back season that saw him club 40 home runs. And the two years, $37 million left on his contract make him a bargain in today’s market.

He’d cost more than money, of course. Any deal would surely start with one (or two) of the Giants’ top prospects, including right-hander Tyler Beede and shortstop Christian Arroyo, and possibly a big league player like backup catcher Andrew Susac.

All right, what the hell, let’s lay out this fantasy lineup:

1. CF Denard Span

2. 2B Joe Panik

3. C Buster Posey

4. LF Upton/Cespedes/Davis/Gonzalez

5. RF Hunter Pence

6. 1B Brandon Belt

7. 3B Matt Duffy

8. SS Brandon Crawford

Pair that with a bench suddenly bolstered by spare outfielders Pagan and Gregor Blanco, the Giants’ revamped rotation and a battle-tested bullpen and you’ve got the makings of a world-beater. We’re talking about a squad that would easily challenge the Chicago Cubs for NL supremacy and quite possibly leave Bay Area fans covered in more orange and black confetti.

Again, it almost definitely won’t happen, and it might not need to. The Giants are a good group as currently constructed; they’re more than capable of challenging the Los Angeles Dodgers and reloaded Arizona Diamondbacks for NL West supremacy.

But, hey, why not dream big? Remember, this is the franchise that set a National League record for the most consecutive sellouts. What’s one more big contract?

With Pagan and Blanco both possibly exiting next winter via free agency and a thin hitters market in the 2016-17 offseason, the Giants would be setting themselves up down the road as well. And an ownership group that’s already the most well-liked in baseball, according to a poll conducted by FanGraphs‘ Jeff Sullivan, could make itself even more beloved.

San Francisco needs more power, and there are premier power hitters left on the shelf. As long as both of those things are true, it’s acceptable to dream. There’s a month left before pitchers and catchers. You got something better to do?

All statistics courtesy of MLB.com unless otherwise noted.

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Denard Span isn’t Yoenis Cespedes or Justin Upton. So if you were a San Francisco Giants fan hoping for another top-shelf addition in what has been a splashy offseason, perhaps Span’s signing—first reported by CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman—leaves you feeling underwhelmed. 

It shouldn’t. Span may not be a superstar, and he comes with a degree of risk, but he’s a solid, savvy addition who should fit in nicely with the Giants’ overall vibe, as Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan opined:

Span’s deal with San Francisco, pending a physical, is for three years and $31 million plus performance incentives, per Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. It’s not the $130 million the Giants invested in Johnny Cueto or the $90 million they gave Jeff Samardzija, but it’s a significant investment in a significant player.

That “pending a physical” bit up there is important, as we’ll delve into momentarily. First, though, let’s make the case for Span as a strong, needed addition to the Giants’ outfield.

He joins a group that includes veteran right fielder Hunter Pence, incumbent center fielder Angel Pagan and Gregor Blanco, who has seen extended stints as a starter during his four seasons in San Francisco.

Span supplants Blanco on the depth chart and makes the most sense in center field, where he’s been good for nine defensive runs saved and a 15.0 ultimate zone rating in his career, per FanGraphs. That would allow Pagan, whose defense has slipped precipitously in recent years as he’s battled back and leg injuries, to slide over to left. And it puts Blanco back into the fitting role of fourth outfielder.

Regardless of position, Span should provide the Giants with an offensive spark. His best season came in 2014, when he posted a .302/.355/.416 slash line with 31 stolen bases and a National League-leading 184 hits and finished 19th in NL MVP voting.

But he’s been a consistently valuable contributor for his entire eight-year career with the Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals, averaging 3.0 WAR per season, according to Baseball-Reference.com. More than anything, he knows how to put the bat on the ball: Over the last three seasons, Span has the second-highest contact percentage in the game, per FanGraphs. 

Signing a speedy, slick-fielding outfielder, and a Scott Boras client to boot, for around $10 million a season is a notable bargain for San Francisco. And since Span didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Nats, he won’t cost the Giants a draft pick.

Which brings us back to that risk business. Span, who turns 32 in February, suffered through an injury-riddled 2015, playing in just 61 games and undergoing core muscle and hip surgeries. 

Presumably, the Giants will keep a wary eye out for signs of lingering issues when they conduct their physical. But even if Span checks out, he’ll enter 2016 with reasonable doubts about his durability, to which he recently responded:

Impressive tweet-delivered clips notwithstanding, the injury stuff matters. Pagan, as mentioned, has battled multiple ailments, and Pence, once a noted iron man, missed extended time last year with a fractured wrist and oblique strain.

This group isn’t free from red flags. Aside from Blanco, the Giants don’t have a ton of outfield depth, though youngsters Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker and imposing journeyman Kyle Blanks could factor into the equation. 

If we assume good health, however, this is a high-upside outfield. Marry it to the Giants’ enviable homegrown infield, revamped rotation, battle-tested bullpen and face of the franchise Buster Posey, and you’ve got the makings of an NL West favorite and legitimate October contender.

Nothing’s guaranteed in January, obviously. Like Span, Cueto and Samardzija bring some risk-reward baggage of their own. Samardzija led the league in earned runs and hits allowed in 2015, and Cueto saw his numbers tumble after a trade-deadline swap to the Kansas City Royals.

On the other hand, Cueto also hoisted a trophy with Kansas City. Now, with two splashy arms and a talented outfielder in the fold, greedy Giants fans can realistically dream about more hardware, confetti and even-year mojo. 

As Cueto put it at his introductory press conference, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle: “It’s a team of champions.”

Span has never won a championship, but he should fit right in.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted. 

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The San Francisco Giants plunged into the offseason with two clear and pressing needs: upgrades in the starting rotation and reinforcements in the outfield.

The signings of Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto equal mission accomplished on item one. Now, it’s time to add the final piece, a scary bat in left, and cement this all-in winter.

First, a few words abut those pitching upgrades. Samardzija is an intriguing reclamation project who should benefit from the Giants’ excellent defense and the spacious confines of AT&T Park. And Cueto, as I recently argued, could join forces with ace Madison Bumgarner to form the most potent one-two pitching punch of San Francisco’s recent title era.

The Giants’ outfield situation, however, is unsettled. Right fielder and former iron man Hunter Pence, who turns 33 in April, is coming off an injury-riddled campaign. Center fielder Angel Pagan, who turns 35 in July, has missed 186 games over the last three seasons with hamstring, back and knee issues. 

After declining team options on Nori Aoki and Marlon Byrd, San Francisco is penciling 32-year-old Gregor Blanco into left. No offense to Blanco, who’s been a valuable contributor in his four seasons by the Bay, but he’s a fourth outfielder on a team with championship aspirations. 

The good news for the Giants is that this winter is laden with available outfielders. The Chicago Cubs snapped up Jason Heyward, but a trio of All-Star-quality players—Alex Gordon, Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes—sit unsigned.

And, look at that, all three profile best as left fielders.

They also won’t come cheap. Gordon is seeking somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million annually, per CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman. Cespedes will likely demand at least that much and told ESPN in September that any contract he signs “has to be six years or more.” 

Upton, a 28-year-old five-tool talent, can use Heyward’s eight-year, $184 million deal as a comp. He may not match it, but he could come close.

The Giants have already invested $220 million into Samardzija and Cueto (assuming Cueto doesn’t pull the opt-out ripcord two years into his deal). Will they really dole out another eight- or nine-figure contract?

General manager Bobby Evans sounded skeptical in recent remarks on MLB Network Radio.

“The middle-of-the-order bat is probably harder to get,” Evans said regarding left field. “We’ve seen guys stay on the market a lot longer, so there’s clearly an expectation as to where they’re going to be [financially]. And I think at some point, the market will get them what they’re looking for. And that could put us in a tough spot.”

Translation: We’re not getting a Gordon, a Cespedes or an Upton unless their prices come down. Which, you know, probably isn’t happening.

It’s an assessment shared by Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News, who predicted after the Cueto signing that “the Giants will lower their sights in left field…”

That shouldn’t shock Giants fans. After all, prior to this offseason, the team hadn’t made a major commitment to an outside free agent (meaning a player who wasn’t already a Giant) since Aaron Rowand in 2007. Before that, it was Barry Zito in 2006.

Neither of those contracts worked out especially well, to put it mildly. Rowand’s production tumbled in his four seasons in San Francisco, to the point where the Giants paid the veteran outfielder $12 million to stay away in 2012. And Zito, transcendant postseason moments aside, never lived up to his seven-year, $126 million payday, which was a true headline-grabber by 2006 standards.

So there may be a bit of gun-shyness in the Giants’ front office. If so, however, they obviously pushed past it to nab Cueto and Samardzija and address a glaring need.

Now, they should do the same in left. Not because it’s an even year or any such nonsense (although it is an even year).

Rather, they should do it because a right-handed power bat like Cespedes sandwiched between Pence and Buster Posey in the middle of the lineup would make this club exponentially more dangerous. Also because they set a National League record for the most consecutive sellouts. And, finally, because it’s not my money, or yours either.

The Giants are set with an enviable homegrown infield of Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, Brandon Crawford and last season’s surprise rookie, Matt Duffy. They’ve got a battle-tested bullpen, a revamped rotation and Posey, the face of the franchise and the best backstop in baseball.

They just need to find that missing piece, one way or another.

Here’s another interesting nugget from Evans’ MLB Network Radio interview: “We have the flexibility to spend some money now. But we also recognize a good number of options in the trade market, too.”

If your mind didn’t immediately go to the Colorado Rockies‘ Carlos Gonzalez, you’re not dreaming big enough.

Gonzalez’s name has been churning through the rumor mill since before the offseason began. He’s coming off a strong bounce-back season that saw him club 40 home runs and post an .864 OPS. And the two years, $37 million left on his contract make him a bargain in today’s market.

He’d cost more than money, of course. It’s unclear what, exactly, the Rockies would demand. But any deal would surely start with one (or two) of the Giants’ top prospects, including right-hander Tyler Beede and shortstop Christian Arroyo.

If Colorado asks for Panik or Duffy, forget it. But if the Giants could get this done without sacrificing any current big league starters—backup catcher Andrew Susac could be an enticing chip—they should make a serious play.

Any trade or free-agent signing carries risk. Gonzalez’s injury history is a red flag and AT&T’s right-field dimensions are an imposing sight for left-handed hitters not named Barry Bonds. If you’re playing pessimist, Gordon, Cespedes and Upton could all succumb to ailments or declines, as well. That’s the nature of the beast.

So, yes, the safe move is probably for San Francisco to give fewer dollars and years to someone like Gerardo Parra and call it an offseason. Or they could pair Blanco with a young player from their system such as Mac Williamson, Jarrett Parker or journeyman/mountain-of-a-man Kyle Blanks and hope for the best.

They’d still arguably be the favorite to win the NL West, though the Arizona Diamondbacks are loading up on pitching and the Los Angeles Dodgers are perennial contenders, despite an underwhelming offseason.

This is a chance, however, for the Giants to get greedy and charge full steam toward their fourth title in seven years. 

They can solidify their dynasty beyond reproach. They can reward the fans who religiously pack their sparkling waterfront ballpark. They can hoist the trophy yet again. 

All they need to do is be bold and, OK, a little reckless. It is an even year, after all.

All statistics and contract information courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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It’s an even year, San Francisco Giants fans. And that means—well, here’s the thing. You want honesty?

It means nothing.

There is no mystical energy that binds the galaxy together and decrees the Giants must hoist a Commissioner’s Trophy in 2016. Yes, they won titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. That’s a fascinating numerical anomaly, but it’s not a harbinger of things to come.

On the other hand, here’s something that could help San Francisco add to its gaudy championship heap: the dynamic duo of Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto.

The Giants built each of their recent World Series runs around pitching. In 2010, it was a young, homegrown rotation headlined by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. In 2012, it was Bumgarner and Cain, with a surprise assist from redeemed albatross Barry Zito.

And in 2014, it was basically Bumgarner all by himself, including one of the most transcendent postseason relief appearances in baseball history in Game 7 of the Fall Classic:

Last year, the Giants led the National League in batting average and finished among the top five in hits, runs and OPS. Yet their starting pitchers posted a 3.95 ERA and were a mixture of inconsistent and mediocre after Bumgarner. Unsurprisingly, they missed the playoffs.

Also unsurprisingly, the Giants front office made pitching a priority this winter. First, it inked Jeff Samardzija to a five-year, $90 million deal. Then, it nabbed Cueto for six years and $130 million.

Samardzija, an All-Star in 2014 who led both leagues in earned runs and hits allowed last year with the Chicago White Sox, is an intriguing reclamation project who should benefit from San Francisco’s strong defense and the spacious confines of AT&T Park.

But the real prize is Cueto, a legitimate ace-level arm who joins Bumgarner to form one of MLB‘s best lefty-righty tandems, especially now that Zack Greinke has left Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers for a mercenary’s payday in Arizona.

So where do Cueto/Bumgarner rank in the pantheon of Giants’ title-run twosomes? We won’t know the answer until the season plays out, obviously, and we see whether San Francisco actually makes a title run.

But let’s say S.F. does charge back into the October picture. If Bumgarner and Cueto replicated their 2015 regular-season numbers, here’s how they’d stack up against Lincecum/Cain from 2010 and Cain/Bumgarner from 2012:

Bumgarner and Cueto would have the highest combined WAR, if that stat does anything for you, and the highest strikeout total. It’s tough to discount Lincecum at the height of his powers coupled with vintage workhorse Cain. But Johnny and MadBum are squarely in the mix.

Bumgarner, quite simply, just keeps getting better. He’s eclipsed 200 frames in each of the last five seasons, has kept his ERA under 3.00 for three consecutive campaigns and has made three straight All-Star teams.

And he’s locked into a ridiculously affordable contract with the Giants through 2019, assuming they pick up a pair of $12 million team options (a safe assumption).

Cueto‘s 2015 numbers, meanwhile, were skewed by a late-season slide that saw him post a 4.76 ERA after a trade-deadline swap from the Cincinnati Reds to the Kansas City Royals.

Many theories were floated to explain his K.C. malaise, including an elbow strain that cost him a couple of starts in May with the Reds. That may have limited the pool of offseason bidders, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post noted:

But the Giants conducted an MRI and were apparently satisfied. “His elbow looks great,” San Francisco general manager Bobby Evans said, per CSN Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic. “It really looked good.”

Speaking of which, Cueto looked more than good in his final start of 2015, a complete-game masterpiece in Game 2 of the World Series against the New York Mets.

That gem didn’t erase all doubt about Cueto‘s struggles with the Royals, but it was about as emphatic a punctuation mark as anyone could hope for.

Still, he languished unsigned while David Price and Greinke inked contracts north of $200 million. And he “settled” for his deal with the Giants, which allows him to opt out after two years if he thinks he can get more on the open market.

For now, he can settle into a pitchers’ yard with an all-world catcher in Buster Posey and a widely respected pitching coach in Dave Righetti.

“It’s already a great rotation,” Cueto said of the group that will include himself, Bumgarner, Samardzija, veteran Jake Peavy and a recovering Cain, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com). “I will just come here to complement the rest of the guys.”

The Giants are hoping he can do more than complement. They want him to turn the clock back, just a couple ticks, to 2014, when he led the Senior Circuit in strikeouts and innings pitched with his vast repertoire and signature herky-jerky delivery.

Putting that guy next to a still just 26-year-old Bumgarner is a scary thought for opposing hitters. Heck, Cueto won’t be 30 until February, meaning time as well as stuff is on this duo’s side.

They may not have that much in common, the dreadlocked right-hander from the Dominican Republic and the tree-chopping southpaw from North Carolina. And there are legitimate questions about durability on Cueto‘s part.

But they’ve got the Giants. They’ve got immense combined ability and potential. And they’ve got an even year ahead.

Probably that last bit means nothing. Then again, it could mean everything.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

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Knowing that they are a safe bet to win the 2016 World Series given their recent history in even years, the San Francisco Giants took steps to ensure a fourth title in seven seasons by signing Johnny Cueto. 

Coming off a World Series win with the Kansas City Royals, Cueto agreed to a six-year, $130 million deal with the Giants on Wednesday, per MLB.com’s Chris Haft.   

The even-year phenomenon was not lost on Cueto, who posted a special Twitter message to Giants fans on Wednesday:

On Thursday, the Giants unveiled their prized free-agent acquisition with Cueto meeting the San Francisco media for the first time. 

Giants general manager Bobby Evans kicked off the festivities by expressing his gratitude to Cueto, per the team’s official Twitter account:

Evans also talked about how the Giants were able to land Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to bolster their starting rotation, per Steve Bitker of KCBS Radio:

After Evans got the chance to thank Cueto, the 29-year-old right-hander returned the favor to the team, per the Giants’ official Twitter account:

Cueto and the Giants officially unveiled his jersey and uniform number as well, per the team’s official Twitter account:

One of the big concerns around giving Cueto a long-term deal this offseason revolved around his health. He made just 11 starts in 2013 because of injuries, was briefly shut down early in 2015 because of elbow problems and struggled with a 4.76 ERA in 13 starts with the Royals after a midseason trade. 

The discussion around Cueto’s health was certainly not lost on him, and he addressed it during Thursday’s press conference, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Evans also discussed the injury concerns, per Andrew Baggarly of the Bay Area News Group:

After Cueto’s deal with the Giants was announced, he said one of San Francisco’s biggest stars got hold of him to offer a warm welcome, per the team’s official Twitter account:

Cueto has a high opinion of Buster Posey and all of his new teammates, calling the Giants a “team of champions,” per Janie McCauley of the Associated Press. 

Things have opened up in the National League West with the Giants adding Cueto and Samardzija to their rotation behind Madison Bumgarner, while Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller joined the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Los Angeles Dodgers have surprisingly been relatively quiet. 

If Cueto can pitch at the level he did in 2014, leading the league in innings pitched and finishing second in NL Cy Young voting, the Giants are going to be dangerous.

He’s been given a clean bill of health and ended 2015 on a high note with a complete-game two-hitter against the New York Mets in Game 2 of the World Series, so all signs point to a stellar 2016 campaign for San Francisco’s newest starting pitcher. 

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