Your 2010 Giants are 2010 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS: After the Bliss

It is all still sinking in.  The glory of it.  The joy of it!

While the game was going, I was anxiously nervous, but not worried, as I've been for a while now.  I had gotten used to the magic that the Giants would somehow win 2 of 3, and that the losses along the way were just part of the process, just as the wins were too.  So the losses did not bother me much, we still had the rest of the series or had already won that series.  And like that tired marathon racer, the Giants fell across the line and won the race to the NL West title.

So as Lincecum dueled with Lee, like a good novel, like a good thriller movie, I was anxious as the drama built up, pitch by pitch, inning by inning, until the 7th inning began.  First, of course, for this season, this playoffs, Cody Ross singles to get on firstbase.  Second, Uribe singles for runners on firstbase and secondbase, first time in the game that either team had a runner in scoring position.

Huff's Beautifully Placed Bunt

Then Huff, oh my gosh, Huff Daddy Rally Thong, our big hitter and RBI during the season, surprises the WORLD by dropping the most beautiful bunt, he almost got a hit with that, if not for a great play by Lee, but the more important thing is he did the job, he got the runners to second and third.  It wasn't surprising to hear that it was his first sacrifice bunt in the season, but not only that, it was his first sacrifice bunt in his MLB CAREER EVER!  You give the best bunters in the game today 10 good pitches to make as good a bunt and they probably couldn't do it 10 times, it was not that easy to do.

The more surprising thing is, and I heard this on KNBR radio, in early September (recall person saying Sept. 1), Bochy pulls Huff aside, said that he's not sure he'll ever call for it, but since Huff might be batting down in the order against a LHP, might give him the call to do it.  In an interview after the clinching game, Huff said that even if Bochy didn't order the bunt, he would have done it anyway.  And that bunt was masterfully done.

That epitomizes the Aubrey Huff that Giants fans have fallen in love with this season.  They said that he's pretty bad on defense, and he works his thong off so that he wasn't half bad.  The way Burrell was coming out for Schierholtz for most of the season, that was suppose to be the plan for Huff and Ishikawa, only Huff played defense well enough that Bochy did not do that in every game played.  I do not doubt that he worked hard to be able to drop that bunt.

Connection with 1962 World Series

I doubt I was the only one thinking of this, but when he dropped that bunt, I immediately thought of how Felipe Alou failed to bunt in a similar situation in 1962's World Series, and how that taught him a lesson in being prepared for anything, of knowing the fundamentals.  Felipe has talked of this moment often and the story was reported again for this World Series.  I'm sure Huff knows the story as well, and maybe that gave him added motivation to learn to bunt well.  Still, I think he would have done the work anyway (just like he would have bunted anyway), he's just that type of player.

Anyway, when Huff was successful at the bunt, I immediately thought of the connection with 1962 and how it was like we went back in time to redo the moment and this time the batter was successful bunting instead of failing, and it seemed like something was going to happen.

Burrell would have made the story great, I thought, took out because he wasn't hitting and especially because he was striking out all the time.  Unfortunately, he could not deliver, though he battled Lee for so many pitches  that I thought he was going to get to lee, he struck out - again.  Then Edgar Renteria strode to the plate...

Renteria 3-Run Blast:  It is Gaaawwwn!

I'll never forget Dave Flemming's classic call on that homer.  The emotion in his voice makes me weepy now, hearing it again.  I was screaming my head off, fist pumping, giving off random yells for the next few minutes.  I couldn't believe it, the Giants led 3-0, and we only needed 9 more outs.

Renteria had apparently jokingly told other players (such as Torres) that he was going to hit one out before the game, so he proved prophetic nonetheless.  He said that Burrell's AB was critical because it allowed him to see a bunch of Lee's pitches and he decided to focus on Lee's cutter to swing at.  His swing was a thing of beauty, and the ball just looked so good coming off the bat too.  And he got enough of it that it went over the fence.

Timmy made me nervous with his 7th, but he calmed down (he admitted he was a bit amped by the homer), and shut the Rangers down the rest of the way in the 7th and 8th.  At only 106 pitches, he probably would normally be given the chance to close it down.  As some said, he earned that honor, but this is why I've been so supportive of Bochy during the playoffs, he played it to win, and to do that, you go all in with your closer, who is fresh and pretty much shut down lately.  People forget, too, that Lincecum is only human, and he and the other starters are going far beyond the IP he had done previously.  Some of them were running on fumes.

Pandamonium

Wilson, as he has in the latter part of the season, shut down the Rangers in order, none of the drama people are used to in his prior incarnation.  Somewhere, in the latter part of the season, it just clicked for him.  Wish I knew when the Beard started up, but he suddenly just started becoming The Machine, getting outs without a lot of the drama that giving up runners generates.  Nen-like, even.

I was shopping with my wife and daughter (she's going on a Girl Scout backpacking outing and need equipment), so I brought my portable radio so that I could listen while shopping, but it failed me in the Target store, missing the drama (luckily) but held in suspense, because Timmy had just gave up the homer and was in the process of walking Kinsler.

But as fate would have it, the next store was Costco, and as we stroke into the store, the game was being played on one of their big screen TVs, and the bottom of the 9th was starting, so I stayed and watched to the clinching strikeout of Nelson Cruz.  I gave out a yelp, among the people who were suddenly my friends, and hugged my daughter, who stayed and watched with me while my wife was away.

It was so great getting to see that joyous celebration and not just listen to it.  I wish Fox would have followed it live, it was neat that they repeated the scene, over and over again, from seemingly each of the cameras they had operating at the game, but after a while, I just really wanted to see the live celebration, but then they cut to a commercial and reality returned and I had to go shopping.

Giants Random Thoughts

I have been reveling in the joy that I'm experiencing now that my Giants are World Series Champions.  I've been reading articles and watching videos, and my reaction to the win was actually pretty understated.  I was so pumped by Renteria's homer, I was screaming and yelling for a while, but as the game wound down, the win seemed anti-climatic somehow.  But I would now be reading or watching, and something would hit me randomly, and I would get all weepy with joy.  I expect this to last a while.

This was a team effort.  That was clear by the new hero every night, and yet certain names would continually pop up:  Torres, Sanchez, Huff, Posey, Burrell, Ross, Uribe, and now Renteria.   And, of course, the pitching staff epitomizes the team concept, each pitcher can only take care of what they can, then let another pitcher try to do the same, and win.  Having a Tim Lincecum is great (Cliff Lee), but how much better is it having Matt Cain (Colby Lewis), and then there is Jonathan Sanchez (CJ Wilson), and then the coup de grace, we also have Madison Bumgarner (no answer).  Then you have the bullpen, because no starter finishes all their games now, Cainer had 4 and people are amazed.  And THEN you have BWills, Fear the Beard, The Machine, and he shut down the opposition.

This team reminded me of the 1990 Reds, a team that didn't have any superstars, had a lot of players who had career years that you couldn't expect to do ever again.  Of course, we do have Timmy, 2-time Cy Young winner, but he had a down season (for him) in 2010.  This thought came to me during the end of the season, and it still seems like it is something that still fits, now that they won.

Off-Season:  Sign 'em Up!

Now comes the hard work of figuring out who stays and who goes, plus who wants to go.  Huff is probably the number one priority and I just don't see him not signing with the Giants.  He "only" got a 2-year, $16M contract in his last big contract, and he was three years younger.  I don't see how he doesn't sign a 2-year, $12M contract like Franchez and DeRosa did.

Number two is Cody Ross, and the Giants control him for one more year of arbitration, so it should be easy to get him on board.  I don't see him going to arb, the Giants are usually fair, and he is like Cinderella, with the pumpkin ride and dancing with royalty now, he will want to be here.  He made around $4.5M in the 2010 season and reports had him at $6M for arb in 2011.  But with his down year in 2010, I think somewhere in the $5M range is probably what he gets.  The team needs power and he can provide it, I see him being like the Jeff Kent acquisition, not that he's as good, but he has shown power before and should be able to deliver it for us in RF in 2011.

Number three is Pat Burrell.  He has already said that he's willing to come back as a bench player in 2011.  I don't see him changing his mind, though the Giants might have other plans for him eventually and start him again.  And if he's willing to be a bench player, that means he's only looking for $1-2M in salary.  He should be a slamdunk.

However, I'm not sure how this works in the outfield.  It actually works best if Burrell is on the bench, as the Giants will have Torres, Ross, Rowand, and Schierholtz battling for the starting spots.  Nate could be odd man out or maybe in a platoon with Rowand, perhaps.  Then there is 1B and if the Giants go with Ishikawa at 1B, then Huff would be in the OF for sure.  Lots of decisions to be made.

Shortstop is another area.  Renteria is certainly not getting his option picked up.  He might be good as a utility MI for $1-2M, but I doubt he would want to do that, he has his money, he has his business ventures, he'll probably want to retire up on top, and move on to the businesses he wants to do.  Uribe is probably going to be offered more by another team than the Giants are willing (able?) to pay.

The Giants could go with Brandon Crawford, as his D has gotten rave reviews, while his O hasn't, as a lineup with Torres, Sanchez, Huff, Posey, Ross, Burrell, Sandoval, SS is actually pretty good, particularly if Sandoval started hitting like Pandoval again.  That would save money as well as give a prospect a chance to start.  There is also Emmanuel Burriss as well, though most had him pegged as a 2B in the majors.

The pitching rotation, as I noted in a prior post, is set for years.  The bullpen is pretty much set for 2011, with the only probable change being Mota being let go as a free agent, as the Giants still have Chris Ray from the Molina trade and still control his contract, I think he's up for arb.

It was also announced that Dan Runzler will be tried at starting pitcher for 2011, so he's out of the bullpen now and will be the emergency starter in training in 2011, as the Giants traded away Pucetas and Martinez and don't really have anyone high in the system who might be able to step in, just in case of injury.

Re-Peat?  Three-Peat?  Quad-Peat?

So most of the Giants keys to the playoffs should be back next season, and there are a lot of situations that suggest improvement.  The Giants were winning at over a 2 of 3 pace after Posey took over, for half a season and into the playoffs.  He'll be starting all season in 2011. Sandoval should be back to normal now that his personal travails are over.  We'll have Torres for a full season too.  Probably Burrell too.  Bumgarner definitely, and a newly mature Jonathan Sanchez will be dealing for more of the season than he was in 2010, when he seemed up and down until September and DeRosa gave him that tip.  Lopez and Ramirez all season, plus Affeldt look like his old self by the end of the season, if he can approach his 2009 form, that would be a great addition.  I think Ray can be helpful in the setup situation as well.  And, of course, Cody Ross all season.  There is no reason right now to think that 2011 couldn't be a similar season.

Now that the Giants got their first World Series championship, now I want more.  I think we have the base core of players who can lead us to multiple trip to the big show during the 2010's, as I've been writing here for a while.  With our pitching, we should be able to seal the deal at least another time or maybe two.  The A's and their fans have been flaunting their championships for many years now, and we need three more to catch up, four to pass.  Of course, most of them happened 40 years ago and the last one 20 years ago, so they are like the Raiders, living on former glories.  Maybe they'll have better luck in San Jose.  In any case, I think we can come closer but that's a tall order to catch up and to pass.  Nonetheless:  Go Giants!

Your 2010 Giants are 2010 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!

Woo hoo!

Edgar Renteria MVP for his superlative work:  he has earned his $18.5M!  Maybe he'll be willing to come back for less ($1-2M) and be back-up MI, but I doubt it.  But then he could start in playoffs again after resting most of the season.

Q for Posey about a week ago:  "This can't happen every year, can it?"  Buster Posey:  "Why Not?"

Why not indeed!  As Timmy would say, "F' Yeah!"

ADDENDUM:  I added this video as I thought it was appropriate when the playoffs started, and it really seems appropriate now.  Again, I'll note the singer's passing resemblance for Tim Lincecum.

Your 2010 Giants are 3-1 in World Series: No Leeway for Rangers Please

Bumgarner-Posey:  What is a battery for the Giants for the next six seasons?

And to think some Giants fans howled about how the Giants should have brought both of them up earlier, or even to start the season, but by keeping them in the minors, it not only allowed them to figure out how to improve themselves, it allows the Giants to control them for the next six seasons instead of the next five.  Together, they have put the Giants at the brink of finally winning a World Series in San Francisco.

Wow, what a game for Bumgarner!  He did it with a curveball that he was working on in spring training.  He did it with a 94 MPH fastball that was AWOL in spring training (many had written him off as an elite prospect, dropping him down in the prospect ranks).  He shut out a potent Rangers offense, particularly at home, who were only shut out at home once during the regular season, on August 28th, by A's Dallas Braden.  And he only turned 21 recently, he is the second-youngest pitcher in World Series history with at least eight shutout innings and the fourth youngest to win a World Series game, and the FIRST rookie in World Series history to throw eight shutout innings (got that from Baggarly's report on the game).  Fifth youngest pitcher to ever start a World Series game and the youngest since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981, and he had 22 first-pitch strikes in 28 batters.  Also, according to this MLB article:

"Bumgarner's eight scoreless innings made him the youngest rookie pitcher (21 years old, 91 days) in World Series history to make a scoreless start of six innings or more, and overall, he is only the seventh rookie to make a start of that kind -- the first since Les Straker pitched six scoreless innings in Game 3 of the 1987 World Series for the Minnesota Twins at the age of 28."

Moreover, he struck out VLAD THE IMPALER Guerrero, the guy the Rangers wanted in their lineup so much against the Giants that they stuck him out in RF in game 1 to get his offense in there, three times, and the only other time in his career that Vlad struck out three times vs. a left-handed starting pitcher in regular season was against Al Leiter on June 16, 1998, in other words, not even once in a blue moon, once every dozen years!  Keith Law tweeted that he loved seeing MadBum throw breaking ball for strikes, noting that left-handers who can do that will work for a long, long time in the MLB.

In post-game interview, he noted that he used his changeup a lot more than he usually does.  I think that is a sign of Posey trying to change up Bumgarner's repertoire in order to counter Molina's knowledge of Bumgarner.  And thus he probably has been doing that this whole series.  So far, so good.

And Posey, man, what a home run!  I knew it was a deep fly, but it didn't seem like it would go out, but it just kept going and going and going, and then before you knew it, it was out of here, almost dead centerfield, thanks to one of his "patented backspin shots" (quote from Baggarly's column).  He became the youngest catcher to hit a homer in the World Series since Johnny Bench in 1970.  While the game was pretty much in hand by that point, that was still an important run, 4-0 is a pretty sizable lead, 3-0 is only two bloop hits or walks away from the tying run coming up to the plate.

Baggarly reported that Bumgarner-Posey became the first all-rookie battery to start a World Series game since Spec Shea and Yogi Berra for the Yankees in the 1947 World Series.  "With the young pitching this team has and Buster behind the plate, this team has a chance to do something special for quite some time," said Huff.

And what about the Huff Papi?  He and his red thong went red-ass on a pitch from Hunter and he hit it deep in the heart of Texas, where the red-necks roam, for a 2-0 lead that proved enough for Bumgarner and the Giants to win with.  The red thong is now 30-14, a .682 winning percentage, which over a whole season would result in 110 wins.  He finally hit his first post-season homer (and thus also first World Series homer; great timing!) and he did it in the park/city that he roamed when he was a kid growing up in Texas and idolizing Nolan Ryan (he went to games at the old and new parks).  And he got all of that pitch, it was a no-doubter.

Got to give Renteria some love for his play during the playoffs and especially during the World Series, he's even gotten an article too.  From the way he's been playing, it is like he's found the Fountain of Youth somewhere;  Krukow said that it was from the adrenaline of playing in the playoffs, that has given Renteria a boost.  If the Giants do seal the deal and win the World Series, to me, Renteria would have earned his entire $18.5M with his play and veteran leadership during these playoffs, including his hitting in the World Series and his simple tip to Cody Ross about what he was doing wrong at the plate, which is a reason for Ross's hot hitting during the playoffs (had his 10 playoff game hitting streak ended yesterday; I think 11 is the record, from what I recall from the TV broadcast of the game).

Also have to mention Andres Torres 3-hit game as well, which led to two runs:  one he scored on Huff's homer, the other when he drove in Renteria.  He has finally either recovered from his surgery and/or nerves from playing in his first MLB playoffs, and in any case, has been an offensive catalyst up top the lineup.  He, along with Franchez, Huff, Ross, and Renteria have been providing enough offense to get the Giants to the precipice of their first World Series championship.

Lastly, the Giants are only the third team in MLB history to pitch 4 shutouts in one postseason, including one other historic Giants team and one influenced by current Giants:  Christy Mathewson-led 1905 NY Giants and the 1998 Yankees, which had key players scouted and drafted/signed by Brian Sabean when he worked for the Yankees.

I'll end with a quote of Brian Sabean (captured aptly by Andy Baggarly, who ended with this), when asked for perspective on Bumgarner's performance:  "Can't.  I have a lump in my throat. I can't even talk, that was so amazing."  Amen to that, amen to that.

Game 5:  Lee vs. Lincecum

I've covered this for Game 1:  two great pitchers, mano-a-mano.  Neither pitched particularly that well in that start, though at least Lincecum calmed down enough to pitch effectively enough.  This game should be the game everyone expected in Game 1, a tight pitchers' duel.  Lee should be good because he don't usually have two lousy games in a row.  

Lincecum for much the same reason, but also because he's usually suffered from nerves whenever the game was important for some reason, like first game of season, etc., though he was great for his first start of the playoffs, but there was not a lot of pressure for that, 0-0 for first game.  This being his second World Series start, I expect his mind to be more locked down, though nerves might still creep in the early innings, as it is still, after all, the World Series.  But he should also be pitching much better too, and may the best man win.  

Giants Thoughts

I'm thinking that Bochy will keep the same lineup, except that he has said that Burrell would start in LF in Game 5, so Schierholtz would be out.  

I was so impressed that Bochy went with both Schierholtz and Ishikawa to start Game 4.  Gutsy call on two reserves who haven't started in ages.  Though they did not do anything offensively, Ishikawa looked good around 1B and Schierholtz being in RF meant that Ross was in LF, and he got to a lot of balls that Burrell either wouldn't or would have had trouble with or getting to.  

That was the right call yesterday.  Hunter had not pitched well all through the playoffs.  He didn't last past the 5th in any game.  Offense should happen with or without Schierholtz and Ishikawa, giving the Giants the advantage since we had Bumgarner going for us.  However, if the defense gives anything to the Rangers, they might be able to create runs and negate that advantage.  So Bochy relied on his starting pitchers and fielding defense to keep the Ranger's scoring down, while the Giants offense takes care of Hunter enough to win the game.

The Giants only need to win one of the next three games to win the World Series;  the Rangers must win them all to win the World Series.  The Giants haven't lost three in a row since late August, and by the same team since early August (D-gers).  Only 6 teams out of 44 have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series, the last one being the KC Royals in 1985.  So the odds look pretty good for the Giants (though, still, roughly 15% of teams have come back from 3-1 deficit).

However, as Cain noted, "But there's 27 outs, and that's a lot of baseball left."  That's a theme repeated over and over again by any of the Giants interviewed before or after each game, about how they take nothing for granted, sure, they are in great position, but the Rangers are a good team (else they wouldn't be here too) and they approach each game as if the other team was ahead, and not the other way around.  I am gratified and heartened to hear them talk this way, as you never know until you seal the deal and win the four games you need.  They are taking nothing for granted, something Bumgarner noted in an interview, because you never know if you will ever be in this position again.

According to reports, Bochy has not discussed changing his pitching plans regarding Sanchez in Game 7 yet, despite Righetti's concerns over Sanchez's reduced velocity.  And pooh-poohed the thought of bringing in Zito for an injured Sanchez, noting that Jonathan isn't injured or receiving any treatment.  And any injury replacement would have to be approved by the league officials.  

2010's:  The Decade of the Giants

"With the young pitching this team has and Buster behind the plate, this team has a chance to do something special for quite some time," said Huff.  

I've been saying this for a couple of years now:  this will be the decade known for the Giants.  I was sure of that then, I'm surer of it now.  I've said this because I think that they will be in the playoffs nearly every season and making a number of World Series with the core that they have.  I thought it would be pushing it to say that they would make it this season, so they are ahead of the schedule that I had envisioned, but, you know, I'm OK with that.  :^)  

Look at who we have control over and to when, all at minimum because the Giants could always sign them to extensions for more years:

• Lincecum:  2013
• Cain:  2012
• Sanchez:  2013
• Bumgarner:  2016
• Wilson:  2013
• Posey:  2016
• Sandoval:  2014

With pitching like that - and more playoff experienced too - the Giants should be dominating great MLB hitters and lineups for years to come.  I have no doubt that the Giants will eventually sign Lincecum and Cain to contracts that extend into at least to 2015, Wilson probably, Sanchez maybe too if they got enough money:  Rowand's $12M off books in 2013, Zito's $20M off in 2014, Renteria's $10M off in 2011, DeRosa and Franchez $6M in 2012, Huff probably re-signed to $6M for 2011 and 2012, Burrell says he's willing to come back as bench player in 2011, maybe re-sign Uribe too, or go with young SS, Brandon Crawford, whose bat is suspect, but his defense is suppose to be pretty good. Heck, I would be OK signing Renteria to $1M to be MI-utility off the bench, but he would probably pass on that, he was already thinking of retirement and going into business.

Before the season, one thought was that the Giants would ideally acquire Carl Crawford as a free agent this off-season to become our lead-off hitter and offensive sparkplug.  I haven't gone through the numbers, but while it would be great to have him as our starting LF, I'm worried that the big contract he would demand and get might make it hard to keep our core together in the mid-2010's unless there is a plan for the Giants to acquire additional investments.  Plus, the emergence of Andres Torres make that need less acute.

As I noted above, the Giants have been 30-14 with the red thong, a .681 pace that would result in a 110 win season if continued.  While that seems like a lot to hope for in 2011 and would be a pace that maybe one team in any decade could achieve, that winning percentage was actually a SLOWING of the Giants pace of winning during the Posey era.  From the time Molina was traded on July 1st and Posey took his first start as the Giants starting catcher, the team has gone 52-23 (and that includes them losing his first game as starting catcher), a .693 winning percentage, which over a full season would result in a 112 win season.  

While I would never predict such a win total for any particular season, it would not surprise me if they did it at some point in the 2010's nor that they did it multiple times.  We will have both Bumgarner and Posey for a full season going forward, plus both should be able to push up their production over time as they mature and develop and become more experienced.  Jonathan Sanchez too should be even more consistent.  Lincecum too, I think he'll revert back to his Cy Young winning form of the past two seasons going forward.  And I truly believe that Sandoval will revert to his 2009 form once his personal problems become less onerous (divorce, child custody, mother's near-death).

Of course, injuries could put a huge hamper on this.  That's why the Giants need to keep all the pitchers, because if one goes down, you will have the three plus Zito and then you bring up someone or hire a rental.  Having three great starters is still a great situation to be in, hence why you don't go trading them away.  

Giants Gauntlet

It will be the Giants Gauntlet of Lincecum, Zito, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner for the next few years.  Zito would be the weak link, but he could be the #2 starter for any number of teams, who would be happy to have him.  Just like there are lineups where there is no rest for the pitcher, our rotation will provide no rest for opposing hitters, no obvious weakness where the other team could hope to bash against.  Oh, you avoided twice-Cy Young winner Lincecum, oops, you get to face Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner.  You miss Cain?  BAM, see how you like Sanchez, Bumgarner, Lincecum.  And the way Bumgarner is growing and developing, teams might soon be happy that they missed him and got Lincecum, Zito, Cain.

Showing how rare this is, the Giants playoff rotation of Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Bumgarner is the first since the 1986 Red Sox.  And we should have them for years together.  And they should only get better as a group.

This is the rotation I've been talking about for years now, people would ask me when the Giants should trade a pitcher and while I'm not against trading any of our starters, just on the principle that there ARE offers that you can't refuse, I don't expect to trade any of them because I doubt any team would give me what I would want in return for them.  People have been undervaluing Cain and Sanchez for years, but hopefully this glorious gallop towards the World Series championship over the past two months has shown the value of keeping both of them on our team, and how any of the players contemplated as equal value for them (Alex Rios, Prince Fielder, Jorge Cantu, Cory Hart) were not really.

With a pitching rotation like this, the offense does not have to do much in order for the team to win the 90-95 games necessary to win the NL West division each season.  People don't realize how powerful an advantage it is to have pitchers like this on your staff.  Huge advantage.  That is why you don't want to trade any of them, while it might be tempting to do so to boost your offense, by trading, you just made your pitching that much worse, so all you are hoping to do is break even in the trade, and if the player you trade for declines (see Prince Fielder in 2010 after many wanted to trade Cain for him in 2009), then your team declines along with him.

I don't see any being traded unless we couldn't afford them (Neukom:  work on that!!!  Or maybe the A's can help with that in exchange for South Bay rights) or if they don't want to sign extensions with us at a fair salary.  I don't see the latter happening, the players all seem to love playing for the Giants.  

But should that happen, hopefully Sabean will trade him before his last contract year and get us some great prospects, meanwhile, hopefully we will be able to bring up Zach Wheeler, or maybe Eric Surkamp, and any of the nice pitchers we picked up in the 2011 draft who look interesting at the moment.  

With the team looking good as perennial pennant contenders, we'll be having lousy first round draft picks for a long time, so the only way to pick up good prospects would be trading a young stud pitcher under some control to a team needing that one great starter.  I use the Haren example of what the Giants should shoot for, that was a great package of quality and quantity.  That would be the catalyst for continuing being successful in the second half of the 2010's, plus a key free agent signing here and there.

Which brings me back to Carl Crawford.  It is rare when you can sign such a great player at a young age.  He'll only be 29 next season.  He would be an improvement over Torres at leadoff because he can steal so many bases, and would allow us to field lineup of Crawford, Franchez, Torres, Huff, Posey (or Posey, Huff vs. LHP), Ross, Sandoval, plus SS (which would probably allow us to start Brandon Crawford at SS).  If Neukom can make the money work so that we still can keep our starting pitchers into the mid-2010's, then I would be happy with that.