[Willie Bee]

Post-Bonds Era begins for Giants

San Francisco was in the news often last offseason, but for all the wrong reasons in the Mitchell Report. Now the Giants are doing all they can to distance themselves from the Bonds Era.

Peter Magowan, president and managing general partner of the Giants, squeezed about all he could out of Barry Bonds. For 15 years, Bonds patrolled the San Francisco outfield, earning 12 All-Star nods, five NL MVP awards, five Gold Gloves, all while setting both the career and single season home run records. McGowan and his fellow partners no doubt enjoyed the tickets Barry helped sell, with the Giants ranking in the Top 5 in the NL in attendance record each year since 2000.

But with the mood of the fans and the media suddenly shifting away from all the cheering for bulked-up home run hitters, not to mention the backlash of the Balco scandal, Magowan and the Giants can’t seem to put Bonds in their rearview mirror fast enough.

While Magowan and his group continue to reap the benefits of having Bonds on the club all those years, GM Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy are trying to rebuild a team that has been among the oldest for several seasons. There are still some graybeards hanging around, but that is changing, especially on the mound.

Sabean and Bochy, not to mention Giants fans, can expect a year or two of growing pains.

PITCHING
The first three slots in the Giants’ rotation are spoken for with Barry Zito, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Not a bad trio to be tutoring if you’re pitching coach Dave Righetti who undoubtedly is hoping for no carry-over from this spring. All three are struggling so far with Cain’s 6.46 ERA In 15.1 spring innings the best of the trio.

Cain actually pitched much better than his 7-16 record would suggest last season, the offense failing to support him much while he toiled 200 innings exactly. Zito ran hot and cold all year long and Lincecum flashed signs of his potential while also hitting some rough spots, exactly what you’d expect from a rookie hurler.

Noah Lowry, off a very typical year for him, suffered a setback early in camp and now will not be ready until mid-April at the earliest. That leaves left-handers Jonathan Sanchez plus righties Brad Hennessey and Kevin Correia in a battle for the fourth and fifth starters’ roles coming out of spring. If there is a carry-over from spring to April for the front three, lord have mercy on the Giants. Hennessey is probably going to be the loser in the battle since he has been used to relief work in the past.

Regardless of whether Hennessey is in the rotation or the pen, the closer’s job is clearly Brian Wilson’s. The former LSU Tiger had the chore to finish ’07 and looked good. He’s also managed to give up less than a hit per inning and only two home runs total now in his first 53+ major league innings.

Penciled in currently as the primary setup arm in front of Wilson is Tyler Walker. Vinnie Chulk also figures into the middle or setup relief plans, as do non-roster invitees Victor Santos and Bartolome Fortunato.

Three southpaws are probably battling for two left-handed jobs. Veteran Steve Kline has the inside edge for one of the slots, with Jack Taschner and Erick Threets each having nice springs in a battle for the last job opening.

One other NRI in camp is Keiichi Yabu who is doing a decent job in game action.

OFFENSE/DEFENSE
How does a team with eagle eye Carney Lansford as its hitting coach plus Bonds and his .480 on-base percentage finish 15th in the NL in the category? The answer to that is the Giants had three regulars – Bengie Molina, Ray Durham and Pedro Feliz – in the lineup that sported on-base marks below .300. Ok, so Feliz is gone, taking his 20 homers along with his .288 career OB tally to Philadelphia. And Bonds won’t be back, meaning his club-leading 28 bombs are also gone.

The Giants finished 14th in home runs with Bonds and Feliz, and adding Aaron Rowand in the offseason isn’t going to suddenly boost that total. If what Roberto Kelly, the club’s first base coach, said recently is true, San Fran will simply run more than in the past to make up for the lack of power, and they do possess better than average speed to make that work.

Rowand will be flanked in left by Dave Roberts with Randy Winn over in right. It’s a trio that should cover the outfield pretty well in San Francisco, and combined they bring a nice offensive balance to the plate. Fred Lewis and Rajai Davis should nab the fourth and fifth OF jobs.

On the infield, veteran shortstop Omar Vizquel is not expected to be ready to play Opening Day as he rehabs a knee that got the knife just as Spring Training games were getting underway. Brian Bocock is the heir apparent to the job, but he’s struggling this spring and that could open the door for Eugenio Velez to play some short plus serve as the team’s primary midfield backup. Velez brings a lot of speed to the game, getting back to what Kelly noted about the club.

Kevin Frandsen will be at third and Ray Durham is back at second. Frandsen won’t hit the 20+ homers like Feliz, but he’s a better glove and will get on base far more frequently than Feliz.

Rich Aurilia and Dan Ortmeier will man first base, with Ortmeier a much bigger power threat than Aurilia at this stage of their careers. Justin Leone is a possibility to stick in a utility infield role.

Molina will be back as the primary catcher and San Francisco would love to see him at least duplicate if not exceed his 19-HR total from last season. All signs point to a tough decision on his backup between Guillermo Rodriguez and Eliezer Alfonzo. Considering Rodriguez is hitting .125 this spring compared to Alfonzo’s .079, maybe the decision won’t be so tough and Bochy will just flip a coin.

Key Player(s): Again, we’re looking at a team that is very likely headed towards another 90-loss season, so it’s a bit difficult to imagine one or two players being critical to the Giants this year. But they could avoid those 90 or more losses with solid seasons from their Big 3 in the rotation very easily. Bochy and his staff become the most critical members of the team, especially if they are going to play more small ball and try to manufacture extra runs with this less than potent collection of sticks.

Futures: In my simulations, San Francisco averaged 68.4 wins, with a high of 74. TheGreek must think I’m being a bit hard on Bochy’s crew with their win total set at 71½ currently. The Under is listed at +105 with the Over -125.

Prices on the Giants at 5Dimes include +2500 to win the NL West, +5000 to take home their 18th NL Pennant and +10000 to win their sixth World Series.

[OLGC_Slayer]

This is going to be an ugly baseball club, unless some guys have some career years.
I'm not sure what Sabeans master plan here is? Looks like he is rebuilding the pitching staff but that batting lineup looks old and bad and injury prone., and the young guys they are penciling in this year aren't exactly blowing my socks off.