What else can baseball fans do in January but dream of October? In You May Say I’m a Dreamer, the Outside Corner staff will imagine the route to a World Series in 2012 title for all 30 teams.
I honestly have no idea how the Giants can win the World Series in 2012.
Wait! I know!
Okay, okay, stay with me here. So Buster Posey comes back, right? Horrible, horrible ankle injury that hasn’t happened to a catcher in a long, long time, but he’s a freak of nature and comes back to play the one position that puts more pressure on an ankle than anywhere else on the field and goes .310/.370/.470 with 20 home runs. So that’s worth a 3-4 win improvement right there after the trio of replacement level catchers they threw out there. On top of that, Pablo Sandoval gets on the Kung Fu Panda training regimen again and comes out with yet another awesome all-around season at third, going with a line similar to Posey’s with 25 homers and is worth at least a win defensively, as well, making him a 4-5 win player.
But wait! There’s more!
How about Aubrey Huff? The Eric Moulds of Major League Baseball, the guy who went out of his way to be the worst regular in all of baseball last year (non-Jeff Mathis Division), the man who came out and somehow got 500+ plate appearances even as a -1 WAR guy. That guy, yeah. It’s an even year! That means, homers! Lots of them! And a more patient batting eye! He’ll go .260/.380/.480 with 25 homers, and with him holding down first base, Brandon Belt knows he’ll stick in left and he’ll be okay with that, sitting against tough lefties and letting Brett Pill fill in for him. The two can combine to be a 3 win player. On top of that, the Melkman continues to be solid, playing well in center field and right field, and although he doesn’t walk as much as you’d like him to, he still goes out and has himself a 2-3 win season. The combination of himself, Angel Pagan and Nate Schierholtz in center and right combine to be much better than what Schierholtz, the injured Carlos Beltran and Andres Torres combined to do last year, and the Giants have themselves (gasp), a pretty dang good offense. And that’s counting noted offensive suckhole Brandon Crawford at shortstop (and his slick, slick glove) and the man with two bad shoulders at the keystone, Freddy Sanchez.
I can’t even fake excitment at the pitching because I’m truly excited about it and therefore can’t fake it. I don’t have to dream that the Giants have a Top 5 rotation in all of baseball, along with a good bullpen, even with Brian Wilson’s elbow coming up to bother him. He’ll have a good season, but look to Sergio Romo, master of the slider, to have another great setup season and spell Wilson in the 9th to avoid back-to-backs. Lincecum and Cain will both win 20, with Cain’s 20 coming after signing his extension halfway through Spring Training. On top of that, the best pitcher on the staff last year, Madison Bumgarner, rises up to become the third in the trio that will become “The Three Aces”.
And what does this lead to? A 94-win season thanks to the Diamondbacks just not having enough offense, and thanks to the pitching staff and a rejuvenated offense with Posey, Sandoval and Huff leading the way through the playoffs, the Giants go on to win their second World Series in three years. The only drawback? Barry Zito still has one more season left on his contract. But hey, in my 2012? He gets cut after 6 starts at the end of May. Why? Because it’s my dream, damn it.
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