Kuzul

It’s tempting for the more seasoned (really old) followers of the San Francisco Giants to sit back and enjoy what has been a fabulous start to the second half of the season.

The club’s record is third-best in the National League and seventh in the big leagues three games into the Florida Marlins series in San Francisco. The Giants are 2 1/2 games out of the NL West lead and are atop the NL wild-card race.

Fans and media-types have to work, or ignore reality, to be critical of what were considered shortcomings with the Giants on a 11-3 streak since the All-Star break.

The team’s starting pitching has been superb. The bullpen has done a surprisingly good job getting games to closer Brian Wilson.

Manager Bruce Bochy has, apparently, become a great deal smarter in the second half. Unless he, alone, blew the three games the club lost in the last couple of weeks.

Every club can use another hitter, but the Giants are scoring plenty of runs. And, knocking situational hitting when a team is 11-3 seems silly.

Fans and the media should be relaxing and enjoying the fact that the Giants jumped from 10th to seventh on ESPN.com’s MLB power rankings this week.

Why bother worrying about the trade deadline when the Giants have one of the best records in baseball? Well, the cyclical nature of baseball indicates that the club’s flaws will become apparent again soon. So…

The Giants desperately need relief pitching (specifically left-handed relievers). The only way to get help for the bullpen is in trade. No help coming from the minor leagues and even the happiest of Giants fan likely quivers at the thought of relying too heavily on Denny Bautista, Joe Martinez, and Santiago Casilla.

While they’re poking around for a reliever or two, the Giants might as well see if any hitters are available for a decent asking price. Pablo Sandoval might return to first-half form. And Buster Posey just might not bat .368, with a .975 OPS and .571 slugging percentage for the final three months of the season. Although, nothing the kid does should surprise anybody.

There just isn’t a great deal of bullpen talent on the market, so trade rumors have focused on the organization’s reported interest in finding another proven hitter.

Oh, the Giants are going to get relief help. Before giving up anything in trade, the Giants might want to consider calling lefty Alex Hinshaw up to see if he can get outs or about giving Dontrelle Willis a shot as a lefty-vs.-lefty reliever.

The Giants have the luxury of giving a young farmhand and a fallen star a chance to stabilize the pen.

The club is a lot more likely to land an outfielder like Washington’s Josh Willingham or Kansas City veteran Jose Guillen than they are to trade for Adam Dunn. (Although, Dunn is on record now as denying that he ever said he would refuse to play in San Francisco. That, apparently, was an urban legend based on the assumption that AT&T Park is death to all lefty swingers who aren’t Barry Bonds.)

Dunn’s going to be a free agent at the end of the year, so the Giants aren’t interested unless they can sign him to a long-term deal before any trade is consumated. Teams typically allow for negotiations between a trade partner and a player in such a situation.

The Giants just aren’t willing to offer the type of package necessary to lure Dunn to San Francisco. The Nationals apparently turned down a Chicago White Sox offer featuring starting second baseman Gordon Beckham and insisted on a package featuring three top prospects headed by pitcher Daniel Hudson. Translation: Madison Bumgarner and two top prospects would, maybe, bring Dunn west.

Tampa Bay asked the Nats about Dunn and the Rays were told that any package for the slugger would have to include starting pitcher Matt Garza, who is having an outstanding season and pitched a no-hitter on Monday night. Translation: If Bumgarner’s untouchable, toss Matt Cain into the deal.

The Giants discussed Guillen with the Royals, the New York Post reported. The 34-year-old would, reportedly, go to San Francisco with cash to cover some of the $4.55 million left on his contract. ESPN’s Jayson Stark, however, reported that the Royals “have no real options” to trade Guillen—even while asking for little in return.

There’s word that the Giants are, again, interested in free agent-to-be Prince Fielder. Any package would start with trading left-hander Madison Bumgarner. Fielder’s out of the question.

Willingham can play right field, where he wouldn’t take any more at-bats from Pat Burrell.

The Giants had interest in Royals base-stealing outfielder Scott Podsednik, but the Los Angeles Dodgers wound up acquiring the left-hand hitter in exchange for two minor leaguers.

If first baseman Travis Ishikawa keeps producing, Aubrey Huff will split time between the outfield and first and the Giants wouldn’t necessarily have to add a hitter, because it appears that Aaron Rowand might be inching back to reasonable productivity after his single started Thursday’s game-winning rally against the Marlins.

It could be that this is the time for Giants fans to step back and acknowledge that the call for homegrown talent has gone on for years and, well, it could be that Nate Schierholtz, Ishikawa and, perhaps, a minor leaguer like infielders Emmanuel Burris or Ryan Rohlinger team to produce the runs the Giants need.

Why deal for a .260 hitter in Guillen if Schierholtz can hit .250 and contribute in every other area of the game, too?

The Giants are inching toward the trade deadline in position, remarkably, to just keep doing what they’ve been doing. That’s been plenty good enough over the last 14 games.

Ted Sillanpaa is a Northern California sports writer and columnist. Reach Ted at tsillanpaa1956@gmail.com

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The San Francisco Giants enter the last week before the Major League Baseball trade deadline three games behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West. The Giants have so far won on the heels of their tremendous starting rotation, but there are other pieces needed if the Giants are to return to the postseason. Those pieces? Bats.

The Giants are 10th in the National League in runs scored but still have won eight of their last 10. Now is the time for the Giants to get the big piece at the plate that will help them get over their offensive inconsistencies and put pressure on the front-running Padres.

Begin Slideshow

Ah, the Major League Baseball All-Star break.

It marks the Show’s midway point even though most teams have played 88 contests, which is seven past the actual hump in the 162-game slate.

Regardless, the breather in the figurative middle of the season means it’s time for every club to take stock of the first half and decide what the modified plan of attack will be for the last three months.

More specifically, it’s about time to decide whether you’re a buyer or a seller.

To be or not to be…a contender.

For some, that’s easier said than done.

For the San Francisco Giants, it’s an especially tenuous time because the squad is obviously a contender in the National League West and the Wild Card.

As flawed as the team may be, nobody else in either race can claim to be running on all cylinders.

That generally means general manager Brian Sabean would be looking for shiny toys to shore up the roster.

Namely, a big bat.

The perception of San Francisco is that it’s all pitch and no hit. In reality, the pitching hasn’t been as good as its reputation, and the hitting hasn’t been as bad.

The arms have still been excellent, but the sharp edge that both the rotation and bullpen began the year with has disappeared. Walks and sloppy innings have replaced it.

Meanwhile, the offense has been anemic, but the emergence of Aubrey Huff (.295/.384/.544 and 17 HR), Buster Posey (.350/.389/.569 and 7 HR in 137 AB), Andres Torres (.281/.378/.483 and 17 SB), and the steadying presence of Freddy Sanchez (.285/.348/.360) have given los Gigantes a solid quartet of contributors.

What’s more, Buster and Franchez didn’t join the lads until late May, whereas Torres spent most of April in a platoon before running away with a regular spot in the lineup.

That putrid smell wafting from the bats should smell a lot sweeter as those three pile up the PT.

Finally, the overdue trade of Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers has allowed Posey to assume the catcher-of-the-future mantle. Consequently, Gerald Demp the Third no longer needs to jam up the works at first base.

With the kid behind the dish, it’s opened up more playing time for first baseman Travis Ishikawa (.354/.394/.538 and 15 RBI in 65 AB), outfielder Pat Burrell (.286/.365/.484 and 5 HR in 91 AB), and outfielder Nate Schierholtz.

Nate the Great’s been struggling of late at the plate (take that, Dr. Seuss) so his numbers won’t blow your skirt up, but his fleet feet and cannon arm are large assets even when his bat goes limp.

Plus, he hadn’t been seeing regular plate appearances so don’t judge the 26-year-old too harshly.

Ultimately, jettisoning Big Money has created some semblance of consistency in manager Bruce Bochy’s game of musical lineup cards, and the early returns have been promising.

Since the Molina trade on July 1, the Orange and Black has seen its runs-scored per at-bat jump to 0.18—San Francisco had registered a 0.12 R/AB from April through June. That’s about a 50 percent hop.

Granted, the post-trade sample size of 11 games is quite small and eight of the contests came against the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals (two of the less impressive pitching staffs in the National League).

But it bears mentioning nonetheless, especially because the Gents were matched up with Ubaldo Jimenez (whom they roughed up) and Stephen Strasburg (whom they did not) for two of those 11.

Translation: there’s reason to believe the Giant offense will continue to improve on the season’s back slope, just as there is to believe the pitching will rediscover its April/May rhythm.

Nevertheless, trade rumors are very much driven by public perception.

As mentioned, that means the winds have been blowing whispers of San Francisco sniffing around lumber at various times.

Names like Prince Fielder and Corey Hart of the Brew Crew have been most frequent, but the Nats’ Adam Dunn and Josh Willingham have surfaced, as have the Kansas City Royals’ David DeJesus and Jose Guillen .

The two Royals could probably be acquired on the cheap, so I wouldn’t necessarily be against either addition.

DeJesus is steady across the board, but not spectacular in any facet; plus, he’s 30. Guillen is one-dimensional and 34—enough said.

So the asking price shouldn’t be prohibitive. The problem is that, while neither would be too expensive, neither would be an emphatic upgrade.

Which begs the question, why insert another body into an already crowded outfield situation?

Depth is fine, but only if it doesn’t cost a genuine prospect.

On the other hand, the remaining blips on the rumor radar—Dunn, Fielder, Hart, and Willingham—would all be considerable improvements. Each one would also cost an arm and a leg.

The snag here comes in two flavors of budgetary inefficiency.

Mr. Sunglasses at Night or Willingham would immediately become the best outfielder in Orange and Black, unless Huff plans to make this a yearlong renaissance. Unfortunately, the brass would be walking right into a nightmare:

—Check the links, both players are having career years, so SF would be buying high on both players. That’s no bueno.

—Hart enjoys the protection of Fielder and another beast in Ryan Braun. Willingham has Dunn and dazzler Ryan Zimmerman to do the heavy-lifting. They’d be moving from third fiddle to first (or very close to it) as a Giant.

—Miller Park is a band box and Nationals Park has to be a better offensive yard than AT&T Park just because of the scalding D.C. summers. The deep alleys of the City’s jewel and the heavy Bay Area air crush all newcomers holding a bat.

To me, that list screams bad ending to a bad beginning.

On the other hand, the two bigger fellas would require the Price-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named and would be short-term solutions.

Thankfully, Adam Dunn seems like a non-starter, because he’s a free agent following 2010.

The Prince would be a slightly longer rental, since he hits the market following 2011, but who really cares?

The Burly Brewer is represented by a coprophagous (which is a fancy way of saying “s***-eating,” so it should be more popular) insect that will DEFINITELY have his young lefty slugger in the free agent waters following the expiration of his current deal.

There’s also this suspicious little home/away split in almost the exact same number of plate appearances: .275/.414/.544 with 12 HR at home vs. .256/.387/.445 with 8 HR on the road.

So the club would have to mortgage the future and part with one of the rotation studs for a guy who isn’t necessarily a lock to solve its offensive woes? And who’s gonna walk after a year and a half?

No, thanks.

The Giants are most definitely contenders as MLB’s second act opens, which means extra bullpen arms and bench help will probably join the roster.

But when it comes to the big-ticket items, San Francisco should walk away.

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Bruce Bochy isn’t the worst manager in San Francisco Giants history.

That designation is reserved for a man most modern day fans have never heard of, who was scouting for the club when a mid-season manager’s change suddenly put him in control.

Where Bochy ranks among the best to manage the Giants in San Francisco is open for debate.

Here’s a look at how the skippers who’ve called the shots at Seals Stadium, Candlestick Park and AT&T Park rank:

16. Tom Sheehan (1960)—He was a former big league pitcher who had last coached in 1944 when owner Horace Stoneham gave Sheehan the call to take over a club that was floundering. Sheehan had been a big league scout before returning to uniform and became the oldest man to make his big league managing debut at 66. The Giants stumbled home 46-50 and Sheehan was replaced before the 1961 season.

15. Jim Davenport (1985)—One of the great all-time Giants players, the former third baseman had spent his entire career with the organization when he was tabbed to run the club entering the 1985 season. Aside from using the word “certainly” a million different way, most incorrectly, during interviews—Davenport was a forgettable manager. The Giants were 56-88 late in ’85 when he was fired.

But, Davy was certainly one of the most gifted defensive third basemen certainly in the, um, history of the Giants certainly…

14. Danny Ozark (1984)—The pennant-winning Philadelphia Phillies manager too over from Frank Robinson and piloted the club to a 24-32 mark. Bad as it seemed, the club might’ve wished it had stuck with Ozark. He was replaced by Davenport in the middle of one of lowest points in San Francisco Giants history.

13. Dave Bristol (1979-80)—This is a guy fans calling for Bochy to turn over the food table and raise hell in the dugout should wish could take over this year’s club. Bristol had managed three other big league teams to limited success. He was, however, an old-school tough guy.

It’s worth noting, for those who want Bochy to throw a fit to inspire the boys, that Bristol got into a fistfight with star pitcher John Montefusco and gave “The Count” a black eye. Bristol proceeded to go 85-98 with the Giants. So much for lashing out leading to victories.

12. Wes Westrum (1974-75)—Westrum was the starting catcher for the New York Giants 1951 NL champions and the 1954 world champions. He was only the second manager in the history of the New York Mets, replacing Casey Stengel in 1965 to run one of the worst teams in big league history. He returned to lead his old club that  His 1975 team finished a stunning 80-81—wildly over-achieving with Montefusco becoming a surprise star and Bobby Murcer hating every minute he spent in San Francisco after being traded from the New York Yankees for Bobby Bonds.

11. Clyde King (1969-70)—The former big league pitcher was the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching coach when he landed what was a prime gig leading the Giants at the end of the Mays, McCovey, Marichal era. He went 90-72 in 1969. Then, ownership showed what panic will do by firing King after a 19-23 start and turning the club over to Charlie Fox, who proceeded to let the aging but gifted team get into gear and finish 67-53.

10. Bill Rigney (1958-60, 1976)—Led the original San Francisco Giants to third-place finishes in 1958 and 1959. (Those were great teams!) For reasons unknown he was fired in 1960 with a 33-25 mark. The reigns were handed to …Sheehan. Yes, the worst manager in Giants history took over a team eight games over .500. Rigney was a baseball man to the core, did some broadcasting, told great stories and didn’t know when to say “no.” He returned to manage a horrendous group of Giants to a 74-88 mark, drawing 626,868 fans to Candlestick, in 1976.

9. Felipe Alou (2004-06)—His first two Giants teams were a combined 191-132. The first-round playoff loss to the Florida Marlins in 2004, along with the inability to get along with reliever Joe Nathan hurt Alou’s legacy. Nathan was traded to the Twins in, arguably, the worst deal in modern club history. Alou’s final two teams finished well under .500. He starred for the club from 1958-1963, but is sadly remembered by younger folks for sounding as though he was somehow managing to do the “Felipe Alou Show” half asleep before every game on KNBR.

8. Bruce Bochy (2007-present)—Fans will look back on Bochy’s tenure and realize he got a lot out of very limited teams that had good pitching and little else.

7. Joe Altobelli (1977-79)—Altobelli waited a long time hoping to get the Baltimore Orioles job, but wound up being hired by the Giants. After going 77-85 in 1977, he led the club to a thrilling third-place finish in 1978. An offense led by 22-year-old Jack Clark, 40-year-old Willie McCovey and former NL batting champion Bill Madlock finished 89-73 after Vida Blue was dealt from the Oakland A’s to go 18-11 and inspire more 1,700,000 fans who flocked to the ‘Stick.

6. Alvin Dark (1961-1964)—He managed the Giants to the 1962 NL championship, after starring at shortstop for the 1950s New York Giants. Dark managed the Giants in their golden era—Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, Marichal, Gaylord Perry, the Alou brothers and a young Jim Ray Hart starred. His tenure went up in smoke because he insisted that the club’s many Latin players not speak in their native tongue while in uniform. He also refused to rest Mays, who twice collapsed from exhaustion in the dugout.

5. Frank Robinson (1981-1984)—Anyone who follows Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow on Comcast Cable TV games knows that Robinson was a tough guy, a former superstar who became the first black manager in big league history. His 1982 Giants, a motley crew at best, finished 87-75 and provided an exciting summer. Robinson knew something. He won with a starting rotation that included Bill Laskey, Atlee Hammaker, Rich Gale, Fred Breining and Alan Fowlkes. Robby effectively used Greg Minton in the still evolving closer’s role. “The Moon Man” earned 30 saves in ’82.

4. Charlie Fox (1970-1974)—The Giants won the NL West in 1971—giving Mays, McCovey, Marichal and Perry the spotlight together one last time. The 1973 club also finished over .500. It wasn’t the fault of Fox that his superstars got old together—or that somebody thought trading Gaylord Perry for erratic left-hander Sam McDowell made sense. While it was overlooked in the NL West title season of ’71, Fox hung around long enough to suffer the decision to trade future MVP George Foster to Cincinnati for shortstop Frank Duffy and pitcher Vern Geishert.

3. Herman Franks (1965-68)—After answering a question I mailed to the “Herman Franks Show” in 1966, this skipper won a special place in Giants history. For the record, he explained that the Giants likely weren’t really considering trading Mays for Mickey Mantle. Franks made Dark look foolish by leading the club to seasons of 95 wins, 93 wins, 91 wins and 88 wins respectively. He helped tear the hearts out of Giants fans everywhere when each team finished second—the first two seasons right on the heels of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and the last two behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

Note: Franks had to try to beat a Cardinals team led by NL MVP Orlando Cepeda, who the Giants had deal for lefty Ray Sadecki in the middle of Franks’ tenure.

2. Dusty Baker (1993-2002)—Baker will be remembered for one thing and fans everywhere know what it was. Game Six of the 2002 World Series and the Giants are nursing a comfortable lead behind starter Russ Ortiz. With millions of Giants fans tearing at their skin and screaming, “Don’t do it,” Baker pulled Ortiz, gave him the game ball as he left the mound and turned the game over to his overworked, but brilliant bullpen. Tim Worrell, Felix Rodriguez and Rob Nen looked mostly overworked. The Angels rallied to win, then won Game Seven. But, really, Baker did do great things while managing the Giants.

1. Roger Craig (1985-1992)—”Humm Baby” was the last old-school, scratch n’ spit genius to run the Giants. Craig’s 1987 team won 90 games and the 1989 club won 92. They were sandwiched around teams that finished over .500. He handled pitchers magnificently and was a wildly creative offensive tactician for a former big league pitcher who enjoyed marginal success in a long career. Craig oversaw the debut of stars like Will Clark, Robbie Thompson and Matt Williams.

Craig managed guys who’d been trouble elsewhere—Jeff Leonard and Kevin Mitchell—to their finest season. In fairness, Craig was part of a tag team with crafty general manager Al Rosen. Rosen was the last wheeler-dealer to be in charge before the GM job became overrun by talk of Type A free agents, arbitration clocks, etc.

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Take a peek at the San Francisco Giants’ active roster and you’ll see a curious thing. You’ll see Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey checking in at a green 23 years of age—the Kung Fu Panda’s birthday is coming up in August whereas Gerald Demp the Third just had his in March.

There’s also newbie reliever Dan Runzler, who’s recently turned a grizzled 25.

Other than those three, there’s nobody else on the 25-man docket wetter behind the ears than stud right-hander Matt Cain (who turns 26 on October 1).

Perhaps it doesn’t jump off the page if you’re not amongst the team’s die-hards, but Cainer also happens to be the longest-tenured Giant player. He entered the organization soon after being drafted as a 17-year-old in 2002 and made his big league debut about a month shy of 21 in 2005, making this his sixth year by the Bay.

Granted, the margin’s not exactly huge.

Southpaw starter Jonathan Sanchez and closer Brian Wilson would join up in 2006. Meanwhile, the infamous Barry Zito deal would be signed before the 2007 season as would Bengie Molina’s first contract with the franchise. Lastly, the ’07 campaign saw Tim Lincecum’s much-anticipated premiere as well as Nate Schierholtz’s less heralded one.

Nevertheless, it bears mentioning that not a single player who suited up with Cain during his first experiences in Major League Baseball is still donning the Orange and Black.

That’s pretty crazy when you consider how young he still is and the fact that the Gents current roster doesn’t exactly give off that new car smell.

I mention this because his experience-beyond-years is underrated, like pretty much everything the Quiet Kid has done with San Francisco.

You might say it’s an odd time to be singing the praises of the Alabama native, considering he got absolutely torched by the Houston Astros on Thursday. I mean, he got battered from start to premature finish—Matty served up a three-run bomb to Hunter Pence in the first inning that might as well have been on a tee.

Carlos Lee, the dormant Lance Berkman—I drafted him in one fantasy league because he always seems to hit .400 against my make-believe squads and this is what I get, awesome—and rookie catcher Jason Castro each hit lasers off los Gigantes’ second ace. Luckily, only Castro’s ball left the yard, otherwise Cain’s final line would’ve been even uglier than it was.

And it was already every shade of ugly—2 2/3 IP (or eight outs), 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, and 4 2B. Yeah, that’s six hits for extra bases in less than three innings of work.

Oof.

Ironically, though, all that carnage should give you a better understanding of just how excellent the product of Tennessee high school baseball has been thus far in 2010.

Despite all the hideous Houston gore, Cain saw his earned run average skyrocket all the way up to 2.72 and his WHIP balloon to 1.10. Opponents can’t exactly brag about their .219 average, .61 HR/9, or .624 OPSA, either. Finally, his 1.9 wins above replacement ties him for ninth-best in the National League.

Those are superlative numbers even in a vacuum, but reconsider just how awful his twirl against the ‘Stros was. Of course, the statistics don’t tell the whole story.

Any assessor must also appreciate the intangibles.

Everyone realizes the San Francisco Giants are defined by their pitching staff and Lincecum sets that unit’s pace. But the two-time Cy Young struggled through a brutal month of May as his command abandoned him. When the Freak lost his control, the Giant ship lost its rudder.

Enter Matt Cain—with No. 1A in shambles, No. 1B stepped into the void.

Lincecum posted a 4.95 ERA, a 1.54 WHIP, a 5.70 BB/9, and was oddly hittable as the opposition tallied a .244 average for the entire month.

By contrast, Cain was a virtually untouchable workhorse—6 GS, 44 2/3 IP, 1.81 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, .154 BAA, .468 OPSA—and threw consecutive complete games without allowing an earned run. If not for his worst start of the season until the Houston debacle (against the San Diego Padres on May 12), he would’ve given Ubaldo Jimenez some stiff competition for Pitcher of the Month honors.

Instead, he had to settle for playing the Franchise’s role perfectly.

Actually, he one-upped his diminutive stablemate because Lincecum’s always enjoyed ample run support with San Francisco. Cain, on the other hand, constantly seems to draw the iron from the offense’s blood—he somehow managed to lose three May starts, including one of the complete games by virtue of a solitary, unearned run.

Regardless of what the record says, the youngest member of the starting staff led by example and became the reliable option at the front of the rotation that had gone missing.

In the process, he did as much as anyone to rescue the Giants’ season from sliding off a cliff.

Matt Cain’s demeanor and approach won’t earn him much attention outside the Bay Area, but the locals already revere him.

Thanks to his performances on the mound, the rest of baseball is beginning to catch on.

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The San Francisco Giants are hanging around in the wide open NL West.

Only 1.5 games out of first (as of Wednesday), the Giants should get strong consideration for spots in the NL All-Star Game.

Many newcomers, like Pat Burrell (three homers since coming over from Tampa), Buster Posey, and Edgar Renteria (.326 in 26 games), have come on strong for the Giants as of late.

Due to their lack of a complete resume, most of these guys won’t be All-Star candidates. However, they are definitely key players for the Giants.

Here are five players who have held things together while waiting for these guys to come around. They should get All-Star consideration to represent the Giants in Los Angeles/Anaheim/wherever they play.

I’m not saying that these guys should definitely make it. In fact, some of them may be completely overlooked and not even considered. But that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve consideration (it’s the MLB All-Star Game, what else is new?).

These are my top five candidates to make it to where the stars shine.

Begin Slideshow

Even after absorbing Tuesday’s loss to the visiting Baltimore Orioles, the San Francisco Giants are humming along now that May is but a memory.

Since the calendar flipped to June, the Gents (quick note—I don’t care that the New York nickname was Gints and neither does anyone else in the Bay Area) are 9-5. If you include the last five games of a mediocre preceding month, San Francisco is 13-6.

So things are good for the baseball-conscious in the City.

Nevertheless, there are three glaring and potentially enduring problems with the club.

Forget about the recent rockiness from the bullpen and the struggles out of the No. 5 slot in the rotation. Neither is serious.

The ‘pen has too many talented arms for this stretch to be anything more than the periodic lull that even the best units suffer. Dirt merchants like Sergio Romo, lefty Dan Runzler, lefty Jeremy Affeldt and newcomer Santiago Casilla all have top-shelf arsenals plus each fireman has shown signs of snapping back to form in their latest outings.

More importantly, closer Brian Wilson hasn’t been perfect, but he’s been consistently dandy. There’s little sense in hitting the panic button when the most critical arm isn’t inducing ulcers.

As for the final spot in the rotation, it admittedly hasn’t been pretty.

But that can be said of virtually every team in Major League Baseball and Todd Wellemeyer has actually been splendid at home—2.97 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, .209 BAA, .606 OPSA and 1.71 K:BB in 36 1/3 IP.

Granted, Wellemeyer’s been the batting practice pitcher every group wants to face on the road, but he’s currently hurt i.e. he’s moot for a while.

Joe Martinez is now manning the position and, though the results weren’t what fans wanted to see in his first start on Tuesday, there is ample reason to be optimistic.

Martinez was erratic as a starter in 2009 but remember he was coming back from that fractured skull courtesy of a Mike Cameron line drive. Those episodes tend to rattle a hurler so it’s not unreasonable to overlook the initial returns.

In 2010, the 27-year-old was tossing it nicely at Triple-A in the Pacific Coast League. His line of a 3.06 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 2.36 K:BB in 67 1/3 IP in 11 GS is quite fine considering the PCL is apparently like playing in an entire league full of pre-humidor Coors Fields.

Furthermore, Martinez twirled it better than his final line (6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K and 1 HR) looked. His sinker was working; the grounders just found too many holes. That could be attributed to a range-challenged defense, but it seemed more like bad luck.

Regardless, the Orange and Black pitching is rarely cause for concern.

Nah, the three biggest bugaboos facing the squad now and potentially for the foreseeable future are catcher Bengie Molina, shortstop Edgar Renteria and center fielder Aaron Rowand.

Let’s work from the easiest solved up.

Molina is simple—the pitching staff loves him enough to justify his presence even when not hitting and his lumber is showing signs of life after an atrocious May. Giant fans also need to remember that backstops are rarely a source of offensive production and that’s OK because they contribute in so many other ways.

Bengie doesn’t do everything well in the Tools of Ignorance, but he does enough to win the praise of some very good pitchers. If Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are happy, so am I.

And he’s only on a one-year contract so if Big Money goes Big Arctic again, Buster Posey’s here to stay.

Renteria’s imminent return isn’t too tough a situation to deal with, either. It actually could prove to be a positive moving forward if handled correctly by all involved.

Once the veteran finishes his rehab assignment (from a hamstring strain), he’ll expect and receive playing time. Fine, except it can’t come at the expense of arguably the Giants’ best hitter to date and the man who’s been patrolling the hole in Edgar’s absence.

Juan Uribe leads the team with 41 runs batted in and is tied with Aubrey Huff for the lead in home runs with 10.

His 41 ribbies are also a high for all MLB shortstops. His tater total is good for second in that regard, his .843 OPS ranks third and his .289 average is tied for fourth. If you’re hip to those sexy sabermetrics, his wins above replacement (WAR) is 1.8, which trails only Troy Tulowitzki’s 2.1, Derek Jeter’s 2.0 and Hanley Ramirez’s 1.9.

In other words, Uribe must play as much as possible.

The keys, however, are health and versatility.

Los Gigantes have two crucial bats that demand playing time, but would benefit from rest due to injury issues.

Uribe, who is dealing with a balky hammy of his own, is one and the other is Freddy Sanchez, who has been raking since finally recovering from off-season surgeries to knee and shoulder. Both have been invaluable so they haven’t seen much down time, but a blow here and there would probably be beneficial come August and September.

So Renteria, whose bat was blazing prior to the hamstring snag, shouldn’t disrupt the mix too much or dilute the suddenly respectable offense.

He can be used at short to directly spell Uribe. Additionally, he can be used to rest Sanchez, third baseman Pablo Sandoval, or first baseman Posey thanks to jack-of-all-infield-trades Uribe (and a touch of the Kung Fu Panda).

As San Francisco fans have seen, Uribe can play second base or the hot corner with excellent ease. Since Pablo can also play a quality first sack, manager Bruce Bochy essentially has a game of musical chairs on his hands.

If you want to get really creative, the 34-year-old Renteria could even be used to give fellow sore spot Molina a break. Uribe would move to third, Sandoval to first, and Posey behind the dish.

Finally, Renteria’s contract is also up at the end of ’10.

If he hits, SF gets the best of both worlds—it eases off some valuable assets without losing production. If he doesn’t hit, there’s less artificial incentive to play him.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Rowand. The center fielder is a large and sincerely troublesome thorn in the franchise’s side.

A-Row’s been swinging a flaccid noodle since mid-May (sub-.200 BA, sub-.300 OBP). It’s gotten so bad that he’s begun to lose reps because (A) he’s shown no hints of pulling out of the massive slump; and (B) the Giants have Andres Torres, Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell smoking the ball while flashing adequate-to-insane leather.

Further complicating matters are the atrophying five tools of Nate Schierholtz on the bench.

Usually, the answer is easy—bench Rowand until someone cools off or he gets hot. The rub is that the Giants must deal with an unusual kick to the groin—Aaron’s bloated contract for five years and $60 million, running through 2012.

That money is a sunk cost , but try convincing baseball executives and managers. The average member of that group will tell you it’s not sunk because Rowand could still be productive again and they’ll waste at-bats or innings in tribute to the idea.

To a degree, the logic is sound.

Aaron Rowand is notoriously streaky and that means a hot one might be just a matter of time—the gamble could pay out. But the San Fran lineup isn’t all that prolific even when cruising along; it can’t afford 0-fers when there’s a more attractive option available.

Right now, the fellas have four such players.

Uh oh.

Aaron Rowand doesn’t seem the type to become a distraction nor does he seem like the sort who would be thrilled about cooling his cleats. Yet it’s almost impossible to justify his presence on the field as anything but a defensive replacement at the moment.

Something’s gotta/will give.

Which means the San Francisco Giants could find themselves in a particularly awkward spot. For two more years.

**www.pva.org**

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The current conventional wisdom is that the AL is the better of the two major leagues.  The Giants seem to be taking advantage of this fact.

Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Pat Burrell, and Santiago Casilla are all AL cast-offs who seem to have rediscovered their old glory coming (or returning) to the NL.  In the case of Burrell and Casilla, in particular, the sample sizes are too small to draw any firm conclusions.  However, even with them, the changes have been so dramatic that they’re worth commenting on.

Juan Uribe, in his five seasons with the White Sox from age 25 through 29, had the following OPS numbers: .833, .713, .698, .678, and .682.  That looks an awful lot like a one-way ticket to palookaville.

Yet upon arriving in San Francisco, Uribe had .824 OPS last season and an .836 OPS so far in 2010.  At age 31 this season, Uribe isn’t yet past his prime years.  Also, his numbers could drop suddenly going forward this year, just as Aaron Rowand’s have in the last month.  Still, the change is striking.

Aubrey Huff is 33 this year, which is definitely past his prime years, but not so old that he couldn’t be having a last-hurrah season.  In 2008 at age 31, Huff had a .912 OPS, the second highest of his career, for the Orioles.  Last year, his OPS fell to an awful-for-a-first baseman .694.

Yet after tonight’s two-home run performance against the A’s, Huff has a .926 OPS so far in 2010.  Now, I don’t expect Huff to have a .926 OPS come season’s end.  Nonetheless, the change is striking.

In Pat Burrell’s last year with the Phillies, he had an .874 OPS.  With the Rays last year, his OPS plummeted to .682, and this year in limited playing time, his OPS fell again to .625, at which point the Rays released him.  So far as a Giant, Burrell has a 1.054 OPS.  Sure, it’s only 24 at-bats as a Giant, but the change is again striking.

In his three seasons as a regular reliever for the A’s, Santiago Casilla had ERAs of 4.44, 3.93, and 5.96 last season, which caused the A’s to send him packing.  In 12 2010 appearances for the Giants, Casilla has an 0.96 ERA with two saves, four walks, and 15 Ks in 9.1 IP.  It’s an extremely small sample size, and the A’s arguably gave up too soon on Casilla—who throws extremely hard—but the change is striking.

The most reasonable theories I’ve heard for why the AL is the better league, is that the best teams in the AL are the wealthiest in baseball, and the worst teams are not as bad as the worst teams in the NL.  Another theory I’ve heard is that the NL is a fastball league—teams look for fastball pitchers and hitters who can hit the fastball.  In the AL, pitchers are alleged to throw more breaking balls.

I haven’t seen the data (or read any recent articles by those who have) to render an opinion on the last point.  However, I do suspect that certain players play better in one league than in the other. 

For what it’s worth, Casilla throws a mid-90s fastball, which may account for his sudden success in the NL.  Of course, it could just be that he’s finally found the command that bullet-throwers have more time to find before they start to lose their good fastballs.

Interestingly, Barry Zito, whose famed best pitch is his curveball, is a player who has pitched worse since coming over to the Giants from the AL. 

While I think that Zito’s problems the last two years have more to do with the heavy workloads he had as a starter for six seasons in Oakland (his numbers had started to drop before he left), and the fact that pitching in Oakland, which is one of the best pitchers’ parks in MLB, masked his decline in the seasons immediately before he became a free agent, it’s still obvious that his record in the NL (until this season at least), doesn’t compare to his record in the AL.

The question, I guess, is whether the Giants have recently identified something that has enabled them to pick former AL players likely to have better success in the NL or whether they’ve just been lucky.  I suspect more of the latter than the former.

However, the Giants have been extremely successful the last couple of seasons in identifying cast-off relief pitchers who have really been able to help them: Justin Miller and Brandon Medders last year, and Guillermo Mota, Santiago Casilla, and Denny Bautista in 2010. 

It’s helped to balance out somewhat oft-injured veterans like Mark DeRosa, Freddie Sanchez, and Edgar Renteria, who the Giants have committed way too much money to the last two seasons.

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Ever since the Giants parted ways with Barry Bonds in 2008, wait check that, ever since the last couple seasons of Bonds’s career, the San Francisco Giants simply couldn’t score runs.

From 2006-2009, the Giants lived and died with their pitching staff. And prior to 2009, they did nothing but die with their pitching staff because in each of the previous four seasons, San Francisco finished under .500.

But then came 2009, and the Giants pitching staff put together one of the best seasons a staff has ever had.

Tim Lincecum won a second straight Cy Young Award, Matt Cain was an All-Star, Jonathan Sanchez threw a no-hitter, Randy Johnson provided quality starts and won his 300th game, and set-up man Jeremy Affeldt was the reliever of the year for the MLB.

The rest of the staff filled their roles and drove the team to an impressive 88-74 record despite scoring an abysmal 657 runs on offense.

Now with the same staff (more or less) back for a second straight year, the question was if the Giants could put together a lineup that would catapult them to the playoffs.

Well, that lineup has arrived.

Finally, the Giants have a lineup of multiple threats instead of automatic outs like Randy Winn, Dave Roberts, Edgar Renteria, Aaron Rowand, and Travis Ishikawa.

Now could the Giants still use that prototypical 40 homer bat in the middle of the lineup? Sure, and they will probably need said hitter if they want to consistently make the postseason year-in and year-out.

But for 2010? The lineup is finally shaping up into a formidable attack. From No. 1-7, the Giants have consistently productive hitters.

Never mind the struggles of Bengie Molina, Aaron Rowand, and Nate Schierholtz, only one of those three seems to be in the lineup on any given game.

And the rest of the seven starters are producing big time.

Andres Torres, Freddy Sanchez, Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, Pat Burrell, and Buster Posey make up the top seven hitters in the Giants lineup in recent weeks.

San Francisco may be lucky to have a single one of them hit over 30 homers, but both Huff and Uribe are on pace for 25, Sandoval hit 25 last season, Burrell hit 33 two years ago with Philadelphia, and the trio of Torres, Sanchez, and Posey are elite gap-to-gap hitters who can all work counts.

It didn’t matter for the Giants that the recently on fire Buster Posey went 0-8 these past two games against Oakland, because when any of these hitters has an off day, somebody else goes off for a gigantic day.

San Francisco completed the sweep of the A’s this afternoon behind a pair of two-run homers by Aubrey Huff.

That’s right, their 33-year-old cleanup hitter who posted an atrocious OPS mark of .694 last season between Baltimore and Detroit is having a renaissance by the bay.

Coming into the series finale with Oakland, Huff was hitting right at .300 and with his big day at the plate today he now has an OPS over .900.

Combine his year thus far with his partner in crime Juan Uribe, and the Giants have a dangerous middle of the order.

Uribe, whose career averages are as follows: .258/.301/.433/.744 and whose career marks in home runs and RBI are 23 and 74, was hitting .291/.358/.478/.836 with nine homers and 40 RBI coming into Sunday’s game.

He now has 10 homers and 41 RBI on the season, on pace for 28 homers and 119 RBI.

Talk about having a year to remember, and one that actually isn’t surprising to the Giants brass.

Earlier this year, a bunch of Giants management and coaches stated that they feel Uribe is clearly a better player now than he was when he won the World Series with the White Sox back in 2005.

And with Uribe’s numbers in two years as a Giant, clearly San Francisco has scored with the veteran shortstop.

He’s on pace to shatter his career averages as well as blow by his career mark in RBI and he is only making $3.5 million this season!

Add that to the fact Huff is only making three million this year, and the Giants have a two-headed monster in the heart of their order that is only making a combined 6.5 million.

So while Giants fans can complain about the undeserved fat contracts to Rowand, Renteria, and Zito, at least GM Brian Sabean has found a couple of gems for cheap.

Furthermore, the newest Giant Pat Burrell is another offensive force that the Giants are paying very little for what so far has been tons of production.

Now fans shouldn’t get too excited, as the Giants don’t yet have an offense that can consistently win them the division year after year.

And plenty of other teams have a scarier “two-headed monster” than the Giants but when it comes to right here and now, Giant fans should be riding high with the utmost confidence.

The way their team has played the last few weeks should continue over the course of the season. And if it does, the Giants will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

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If you talk to any Giants fan this year, they’ll probably talk to you about Aaron Rowand’s dismal slump, the equally underwhelming season by Bengie Molina, and the slight concern about franchise players Tim Lincecum and Pablo Sandoval and their sub-par seasons.

You’ll hear stories about the lack of opportunity for young guys like Nate Schierholtz and John Bowker and the clamoring for youngsters like Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner.

And, as always, you’ll hear plenty of criticism for San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean and manager Bruce Bochy.

Admittedly, there are things that I will never understand, like why Rowand and Molina are still playing so much even though they’re slumping so hard, or why Nate Schierholtz doesn’t play against left-handed batters even those he’s smoking them for a .375 average.

But there is one thing that Giants faithful can’t argue with, and that’s the fact that Sabean has made some more bargain moves this year that have really paid off.

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