My editor has told me 1,000 words per article but with this being my team, add another zero on the end. (I’m joking. Maybe.) The 2010 World Series champions experienced a few hiccups in 2011 after so many things went right for them on their way to their first championship since moving to San Francisco over half a decade ago. However, there were some things that could have been avoided…yet were still prevalent by the end of the season.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
The starting pitching staff was absolutely incredible. Top to bottom, they were the best in baseball and the main reason the team was in contention heading towards September. Tim Lincecum was not a Cy-Young caliber pitcher but still fantastic, with Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner stepping up to make up a trio of aces, essentially. They also got an incredible run by Ryan Vogelsong, who was left for dead, basically, but became a reclamation project worth getting behind. Sergio Romo was a force of nature out of the bullpen, with a ridiculous 14:1 K/BB ratio and 2.2 WAR in only 48 total innings. Offensively, Kung Fu Panda lost 40 pounds and came back to his 2009 ways, being a force with the bat and the best third baseman in baseball by UZR, hopefully earning him a Gold Glove. After arriving by trade, Carlos Beltran was a great addition, even with him missing two weeks with a wrist injury.
WHAT WENT WRONG
The rest of the offense was basically pathetic. Even with the problems the Dodgers had offensively, the next player down on the WAR list for the Giants was Andres Torres at 2.1, and that was mainly due to his defense. They continued to give Cody Ross at bats, continued to play Aaron Rowand, and didn’t throw in the towel on Aubrey Huff for Brandon Belt. In fact, Belt got the yo-yo treatment all season and didn’t get a chance to settle down. By the time he looked like he was getting it, the Giants were out of the race. They gave Zito chance after chance when it’s apparent that he’s done. Freddy Sanchez went down to yet another injury, and still has $6 million remaining on his contract. They also signed Miguel Tejada to a $6.5 million deal, where he played like he wasn’t work $600,000. Finally, the unfortunate injury to Buster Posey that early in the season meant the Giants had a chance to go out and get a catcher to fill in the rest of the year (read: Hernandez, Ramon), but they instead stood pat with perennial backups Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart and got replacement level play from both of them.
SURPRISES
Vogelsong was obviously the biggest surprise, stepping into the #5 starter role and earning an All-Star berth in the process, even though he did trail off in the second half. He’ll get another shot next season, it seems, and should be brought back on a one-year contract. Guillermo Mota also wasn’t that bad, coming through as a long relief guy and even spot starting.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
Posey’s injury was the biggest surprise play of the season, and although there are no measurables for it, it can’t be denied the mental hit the team took when he went down. He commanded the team’s attention from the moment he became a part of it, and losing him was not just a big deal from a production standpoint, but from that anti-Sabermetric thinking “intangible” standpoint, as well. Finally, Aubrey Huff taking a dump on his MVP-caliber 2010 season with yet another odd-numbered year disasterpiece was a surprise in the sense that many believed he wouldn’t repeat his 2010 performance, but not in that manner.
2012 CHANGES
The team is missing a lot of valuable pieces to being a World Series caliber team that aren’t related to the battery. Outside of Pablo Sandoval, the team can stand to improve at every position on the field. In the outfield, Nate Schierholtz was exactly what Nate Schierholtz was going to be and if the Giants can, they should improve upon him in right. Given that they will give Huff a chance to play out from under that contract, Brandon Left is okay in left, but is better suited for first base. In center, the bloom seems to be off the Andres Torres rose, and just in time for the arrival of Gary Brown, who if he isn’t the starting center fielder on Opening Day, has a chance to be the starting center fielder by midseason.
On the infield, the Giants will have to figure out what to do up the middle, with Freddy Sanchez having now two bad shoulders and is barely anything more than a slap hitter at this point with diminishing range. Conor Gillaspie is supposedly getting a chance there in Spring Training, but the Giants can do better than him. At shortstop, the Giants really have nobody to fit the bill, as Brandon Crawford is all glove and no bat.
So what can they do? Well, the payroll stands at $118 million for 2011, but next year, they have only have $71 million in necessary salary before arbitration. There has been talk about an increase for the next year, but the problem comes in for 2013, when Cain becomes a free agent. Lincecum’s contract is up and he has two years of arbitration left, but he obviously would set a record for arbitration should he actually go to it. The Giants will need to give him a new contract that buys out some free agency years, but by doing that, they might buy themselves out of getting Cain locked in, as well, as he moves into his final year making $15 million. Beltran won’t come back without an offensive boost (think Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins or even Prince Fielder), but the Giants won’t be able to afford it if they need to pay off their two pitching stalwarts. Also, they DO need a fifth starter, as Zito will not be returning to the rotation at all after his disastrous end of 2011.
POSITION BATTLES
Belt might battle Huff for the 1B job if they decide to put Huff on notice. Brandon Crawford will have someone battle him at shortstop, and if Brown gets a Major League invite, he’ll battle Torres in CF. At 2B, Gillaspie and Sanchez will battle it out, while out in RF, Schierholtz will try to hold off whoever gets signed as free agent. With the farm system basically drained at this point after Brown, the Giants need to figure out how to fill gaps via free agency without overpaying for veterans, which is sadly GM Brian Sabean’s MO. There will also be a battle for the fifth spot in the rotation, and if Brian Wilson can’t come back to be the closer that has dominated the last few years, you might see Sergio Romo get his spot.
