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San Francisco Giants

2012 – Finished first in NL West

Record: 94-68

The Giants are the world champions, plain and simple. They don’t have a handful of superstars, and they don’t wow you with incredible play every single day. What they do, however, is stick together and do the little things that, clearly, bring the biggest results. Last season they completed one of the more unlikely World Series runs even after the rival Dodgers splashed the cash in mid-season to try and overhaul the Giants in the NL West. Instead the Giants got hot and ran away with the West behind catcher and two-time world champion Buster Posey, who is now one of the biggest names in baseball.

Hunter Pence was the lone addition during mid-season in 2012 and despite not bringing a lot on the field, Pence’s pre-game motivational speeches during the postseason are now a part of Giants folklore. San Francisco has largely stood still during this winter, instead deciding to stand pat and keep the guys that have made the team so successful two of the last three years. The only moves they have made have been re-signings, so you would think that for all the money the division rival Dodgers have spent, the Giants have to be favourites to go further over the course of the season because simply they are together and know how to get it done when it counts.

INCOMINGS

P Sandy Rosario

IF Tony Abreu

OF Andres Torres

OUTGOINGS

OF Xavier Nady, Melky Cabrera

C Eli Whiteside

Outfielders

The aforementioned Pence will man rightfield once again next season and is certainly a very reliable and hard working individual. He is a gutsy defender with a solid glove and last year had a career high 104 RBIs, although is batting average was strangely low. The Giants re-signed centrefielder Angel Pagan to a four-year, $40million deal and that was great business. Pagan earned his contract last season, batting .288 with 95 runs scored, 29 stolen bases and 38 doubles. In left will be Gregor Blanco, who is a good defender who possesses good speed. Gregor will split time with Brandon Belt because his bat isn’t great – in fact, his 26 stolen bases are the only thing on his stat line really standing out.

Infielders

Brandon Belt will split time between first and the outfield, and the Giants are still very high and hopeful of Belt after the player showed several signs of serious potential. His 2012 stats are OK – .275, 7 home runs, 56 RBIs and 12 stolen bases, but they will have to improve if he wants to be an everyday player. Marco Scutaro is at second and had a step up 2012, hitting .306 with seven homers, 74 RBIs and 87 runs. He also struck out only 50 times, and went on to win the NLCS MVP in 2012, and that led to a three-year, $20million deal. Brandon Crawford mans shortstop and while he won’t blow you away with the bat, he is one of the best gloves in the game. He made plenty of highlight reels during the postseason; the position is most certainly his. Pablo Sandoval is on the hot corner and will be relishing the new season after winning the World Series MVP. He missed 50 games last year due to injury so he will want to improve his regular season numbers (.283, 12 home runs, 63 RBIs in 2012).

Catchers

This position certainly isn’t an issue for the Giants. Ok, there has been talk that Posey will move to first in time because his knees won’t be able to take the amount of games at catcher, but Posey just won an MVP award in his first full season. He will play first more often this year to keep his dangerous bat in the game more, and even if that is the case Hector Sanchez has proven to be a reliable backup, driving in 34 RBIs last season in just 74 games while posting a .280 average.

Starters

It’s hard to match the quality of the Giants’ rotation. Health was a major benefactor to its success in 2012, but the names are just as good. Matt Cain is coming off a Cy Young-calibre season with his 16 wins (he was the winning pitcher in the All-Star game too) and 2.79 ERA. Madison Bumgarner has solidified himself as an elite pitcher with a 3.20 ERA in 534 major league innings so far. He is only 23 years old and won 16 games in 2012. Ryan Vogelsong has had two solid years in a row, winning 14 games last year while posting a 3.37 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. He also pitched 190 innings last year. Tim Lincecum was the ace of this staff in 2011 and has already won two Cy Young awards, but last year was a hugely disappointing one. He fell apart in 2012, losing 15 games with a 5.18 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. He is now the weakness in the rotation until he can prove he is back to his normal self, but one positive is that he revelled in his postseason role as multi-inning relief man. Barry Zito is reliable, once you get past his huge contract. For a fifth starter an ERA in the low-4’s is ok, and when you take into account that Zito won two do-or-die playoff games in 2012 for the Giants, he is worth every penny.

Relievers

Despite that solid rotation, this is certainly the Giants’ biggest weapon and you won’t find a better bullpen in the majors. The highest ERA in the pen’ was just 2.84 from Santiago Casilla. Sergio Romo is the closer and looked great last year through the regular season and playoffs, posting a 1.79 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. Jeremey Affeldt, Casilla and Javier Lopez bring a lot of experience and are all coming off great 2012’s, while the youngster Jose Mijares and the even younger George Kontos are certainly with the Giants for the long haul.