30 Teams in 30 Days

San Francisco Giants: If They Only Had One Major League Quality Hitter...

(Over the next 30 days, BERNing on Sports will be previewing every team in the Majors, yes, even the Royals. Only one a day, every day, so try not to get too hooked)

Keeping It Real

This team's lineup is so f**cking bad, it's not even funny. Well, maybe a little funny. Though, to be honest, it was funnier a few years ago, when it looked like something out of Ken Griffey baseball game. Now, it's just sad. Why this team refused to go out and get a hitter, either via free agency or trading on of their million quality starting pitchers, I have no idea. I mean, come on already. Bengie Molina as the cleanup hitter? If this is Brian Sabean's idea of a joke, he really has one twisted sense of humor. The rest of the lineup (if it's possible) only gets less intimidating. The staff, as was the case with the D-backs as Eddie pointed out, is the only reason this team will remain competitive. Tim Lincecum is obviously legit, Matt Cain doesn't win too much (but who would when your team refuses to score for you) but he's pretty good, and Randy Johnson may still be a miserable SOB, but he should be OK in the Bay. Actually, as bad as the Diamondback's lineup is, consider that it scored 80 runs more than the Giants. Yes, the G-men are that bad.

Not One Offensive Player Remotely Scares Me

Aaron Rowand has had two seasons where he was a powerful hitter. Outside of that, nothing much. Then again, that's more than Mr. September, Pablo Sandoval, can say and he's scheduled to bat third. Randy Winn's rarely been a bad player, but, nothing worth worrying over. Same goes for Edgar Renteria, especially at this point in his career. You could go on and on. The problem is, there's no real big hitting prospect on this team. Matt Wieters ain't walking through that door, folks. So, for now, the Giants will have to hope that scoring under 4 runs a game will be good enough.

I'm Sorry, But One More Note Regarding How Poor Hitting Is In This Division

Four of the five teams in the division (damn you Colorado!) ranked in the bottom 11 in the league as far as runs scored is concerned. The only team to score fewer runs than the Giants? The Padres. Only a few spots above the Giants? The Dodgers. Go and get some hitters! These other divisions seem to have a bunch of them. Figure a way to get them to your division.

Beach Boys

If this Brian Wilson switched with this Brian Wilson, but put up similar numbers, would anyone outside of San Francisco even notice the difference. I mean, how many of you would be able to identify this Brian Wilson if he walked into the room you're in right now?

What Will Tiny Tim Do For An Encore?

So much for not being tall enough, not being big enough, having to funky of a delivery. Tim Lincecum lit it up all year last year, leading the NL in K's, while coming in the top 3 in wins, innings pitched, and ERA. His acting might not be Oscar-worthy, and his game may be downright terrible (go and get The Show if you're in the market for a baseball video game), but the 2009 Cy Young winner seems like he's the real thing. Not that anyone in the Bay Area is really surprised by this, but the question now is, what can he do to top it? Probably not a lot, and you'd have to expect his win total to shrink, if only because the law of averages says that such a terrible offense will wind up letting you down more often than not.

Bold Predictions

Matt Cain, not Tim Lincecum, will lead the Giants in wins this year.

Emmanuel Burriss, now officially the 2B for the Giants, will steal at least 35 bases this year.

For the second year in a row, not one Giant will hit 20 or more home runs. Last guys to do it? Pete Happy and Barry Bonds in 2007.

The Fantasy Baseball Nerd: All Bargain Team

On Sunday night I went through the best part of any fantasy baseball season, bar none:  the draft.

The excitement that accompanies each pick, wondering the seemingly eternal questions like, will this be the year Rich Harden stays healthy?  It's great fun.  After that, the season pretty much goes down hill.

The answer, by the way, is no.

Any how, we're all looking for bargains, players on the cheap that everyone else is going to sleep on.  You know what I'm talking about, the proverbial Jermaine Dye, that produces way above where he's selected on average in most drafts.

And so, I present my All-Bargain Team.  By the by, I'm judging what is a "bargain" on value as opposed to ADP (average draft position) in Yahoo drafts.

C - I've never understood the idea of taking any catcher before the, I don't know, 15th round?  Maybe later.  You really shouldn't have to.  Ramon Hernandez and Kelly Shoppach are two guys that will have similar numbers (lower average, but still...) to most top tier catchers.  Difference?  You can get those two guys on average 15 rounds lower.  I'd take the slight hit in BA.

1B - A deep position, no doubt, but you shouldn't have to go with a first basemen in the 1st round if you don't want to.  Sure, guys like Mark Teixeira will put up .300/30/100+, but, so do 4th and 5th round guys like Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis.  People sleep on Gonzo, and I don't know why.  Forget the ballpark, forget how bad his team is.  They've been bad and good for a while now, and the ballpark is the same size.  3 of 5 fantasy cat's have increased since he got to San Diego (R, HR, RBIs).  As for the Greek God, he's another one that has trended upwards each year over the past 3, and plays in a great lineup in a great park.

2B - One idea I had here was Robinson Cano, primed for a bounce back year.  But, if you're not much for banking on that type of thing, Jose Lopez (on average taken in round 15) is your guy.  He'll be in the middle of the Seattle order (feigned Oh My!), has shown some pop (17 HRs) and only 2 other second basemen had as many RBIs as he did last year.

SS - The top few guys here are amazing, no doubt.  Hanley Ramirez, Jimmy Rollins and Jose Reyes produce on a level that later round guys can not match.  But, there are a few really good shortstops out there to be had later in the draft.  J.J. Hardy and Jhonny Peralta are generally available in the 9th and 10th rounds.  Both have hit over 20 homers each of the last two years, are improving, and don't have real first names.  

3B - You could go with Youk here, but a name that seems to be garnering a ton of buzz in the fantasy world is Pablo Sandoval.  People around baseball have been known to say that the two months not to pay attention to statistics in are March and September.  If you hold to that belief, you might want to stay away from Sandoval.  In a half of August and full September, the burly Sandoval (with catcher, 3b, and 1b eligibility, I believe) hit over .340 and knocked in 24.  If he's for real, who knows, but someone needs to drive in runs for San Fran, and he'll get his shot.

OF - Mark Nickakis (either way, really) is one guy you can get in the 4th round on average, that's a good bet to get somewhere near .290/25/100.  Magglio Ordonez isn't as fun or up-and-coming as a guy like Nate McClouth, but he's a near lock to mash.  Over the last 3 seasons, he's never had less than 21 HRs, 103 RBIs, or batted under .298 (all, curiously, right near what his career averages are).  Same goes for Raul Ibanez, especially in a hitter's park now.  Mags' (6th round) and Ibanez's (11th round) statistics compare quite favorably to those a few rounds higher.

SP - My theory is, if you pitch in the NL West, you're A-OKay with me.  There's one hitter, one real hitter in that whole division.  You know who I'm talking about.  So, in that line of thinking, the first guy I'd recommend is Chad Billingsley (7th round), who should be fine for Opening Day, already had his first big season innings-wise, and should be ready to stay strong the whole season this year.  Teammates Derek Lowe (13th round) and Javier Vazquez (11th round) are consistently producing, and the National League never hurt anyone.  Ted Lilly (17th round) is a steal, considering he could won that many games last year, and has had at least 15 three years in a row.  Other post 10th round names are John Danks (14th, same as Billingsley, should be ready to handle full year of pitching after big innings year last year), Scott Baker (14th, over 3 to 1 K:BB ratio last season), and Zack Greinke (12th, don't let impending psychosis, team, or my man-crush get in the way).

I'm leaving RPs off this list because there so unpredictable.  People in firm closer seats pop in and out all year, it's not worth getting excited over.  What I will say is, you can find value late, and that it's not worth going too early for them.  Brian Wilson, Joakim Soria, Jose Valverde had as many as or more saves than Jonathan Papelbon.  Not saying those guys will do it again, but the point is, it could be anyone.

Coming up next...All-Breakout Year