It’s an odd number year so the Giants aren’t going to win the World Series, right?
I’m not going to say anything original about the Giants run last year that isn’t original, so we’ll leave last year to last year and look ahead to this year.
The Giants success of course starts and finishes with Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner, not sure anyone anywhere would argue with that.
I have a couple glue guys that will be key to the Giants getting not only back to the postseason, but to the World Series.
Last year with the Royals, Nori Aoki was second among Royals regulars in OBP. I thought his addition was huge because the Royals needed guys to get on base. I’m not going to say the Royals got to the playoffs or to the World Series on his account, but I think Aoki was really an unsung asset for KC in ‘14.
A regular .350 or better OBP guy, Aoki is so steady and so consistent. He’s such an underrated player, and I think the Giants are going to find him to be a great value.
Casey McGehee career revival in Miami last year earned him a nice $5-million contract with San Francisco for 2015.
And like Aoki, McGehee is just a solid baseball player. I think the Casey McGehee that hits 15-20 home runs a year is likely gone, but McGehee, who played in 160 games last year, will be a solid everyday player that will get on base consistently.
Pencil McGehee in for an OBP of around .350, 160-175 hits and again, just a steady presence in the middle of the order, and will be more than an adequate replacement for the Panda.
My final glue guy in the San Fran lineup is Joe Panik.
While Panik struggled in the postseason, he was exceptionally solid in his short time up with the Giants. His high average and high OBP translated well late in the season.
While he may take a step back, I think Panik will be a solid contributor to this team again in 2015 and would expect him to play a major role in their success.
The Giants have always been able to piece together a nice bullpen, even when their closers struggle.
There aren’t many areas of concern if you look at this year’s squad, but two concerns I would have are first, Angel Pagan’s health, and can the Giants keep afloat with Hunter Pence on the shelf.
In my opinion, Pagan has always teased his employers with his ability, but his inability to stay healthy consistently gets frustrating. When on the field, the guy is an All-Star player.
While his presence in the lineup is a great boost, the Giants have obviously won without him and the past if they must, they will do so again this year.
Hunter Pence could miss the first month of the season, and championships are never won in April, getting Pence into the lineup makes the middle of the San Fran order all the more dangerous.
The pitching in this division is now stellar and is only going to get better when the young Arizona arms start to emerge, but overall, it’s just a solid rotation.
Again, it’s not a star studded group, but they are all professional, solid pitchers that will keep this team in 80% of the games they play, and that’s about all you can ask for from a bunch of guys on the back-end of their careers.
The Giants will once again contend not only for the NL West but for the National League pennant.
Of course, it’s an odd-numbered year, so they won’t win the World Series right?
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