The Giants Baseball Blog

1. St. Louis Cardinals *Division Winner Lineup: SS David Eckstein 2B Junior Spivey 1B Albert Pujols CF Jim Edmonds 3B Scott Rolen RF Juan Encarnacion RF Larry Bigbie C Yadier Molina Rotation: RHP Chris Carpentar LHP Mark Mulder RHP Jeff Suppan RHP Jason Marques RHP Sidney Ponson Closer: Jason Isringausen The Cards lost a lot this off-season, but they still have a strong enough pitching staff and a good enough middle-of-the-order that they should hold off the Astros. Carpentar is one of the best pitchers in the game and Mulder is one of the winningest lefties in the game today. Besides maybe Barry Bonds, there is no scarier hitter in the game than Albert Pujols. Look for the Cards' to be front runners in the Alfonso Soriano sweepstakes when there becomes one. If they get him, look out. 2. Houston Astros *Wild Card Winners Lineup: CF Willy Taveras 2B Craig Biggio 1B Lance Berkman 3B Morgan Ensberg RF Preston Wilson LF Jason Lane SS Adam Everett C Brad Ausmus Rotation: RHP Roy Oswalt...

It's been a while since I posted strictly about the Giants, partly because of my preview through the rest of baseball, and partly because there just hasn't been a whole lot of news out of Scottsdale. Barry Bonds is on fire, batting close to .700 with 4 jacks and a handfull of RBI's. He has had a little setback with an inflamed elbow, but the Giants don't believe it to be serious and he should be ready to roll April 3rd in San Diego when the curtin unveils on the '06 MLB season. Also, Jamey Wright has beaten out Kevin Corriea and Brad Hennessey to win the 5th starters job. Wright has allowed only 2 earned runs in 14+ innings and the 31 year-old has earned his way onto the staff, which is the way it should have been. People feared that Wright would be granted a roster spot over a younger, better player due to his experience, but so far this spring, he has showed that maybe things can be different for him outside of Coors Field. As i've said before, he can be no wo...

1. Atlanta Braves *Division Winners Lineup: 2BMarcus Giles SS Edgar Renteria 3B Chipper Jones CF Andrew Jones RF Jeff Franceur 1B Adam LaRoche C. Brian McCann LF. Ryan Langerhans/Kelly Johnson Rotation: RHP Tim Hudson RHP John Smoltz RHP John Thompson RHP Jorge Sosa LHP Horacio Ramirez/Mike Hampton Closer: Chris Reitsma Very close call here, but I have to roll with the Braves after the display they put on last seaosn. Bobby Cox is brilliant at bringing up youngsters and getting them to succeed quickley. The only problem with the Braves is their bullpen. Reitsma did ok at times last season as the stopper, but the pen is a little weaker overall this year. It's going to be interesting to see how well Giles adapts to the leadoff spot. 2. New York Mets Lineup: SS Jose Reyes CF Carlos Beltran 1B Carlos Delgado 3B David Wright LF Cliff Floyd C Paul LoDuca RF Xavier Nady 2B Kaz Matsui Rotation: RHP Pedro Martinez LHP Tom Glavine RHP Steve Trachsel RHP Victor Zambrano RHP Aaron Heilman Clos...

1. Oakland Athletics * Division Winners Lineup: C Jason Kendall CF Mark Kotsay RF Milton Bradley 3B Eric Chavez C Bobby Crosby 1B Dan Johnson DH Frank Thomas 2B Mark Ellis LF Nick Swisher Rotation: LHP Barry Zito RHP Rich Harden RHP Estaban Loazia RHP Danny Haren RHP Joe Blanton Closer: Houston Street The Al West looks to be a very tough division with every team (besides the Angels) improving in the offseason. The A's look to have the deepest overall squad with a tremendously strong pitching staff. The A's need to get a full season out of Milton Bradley and Rich Harden, but this is the most talented A's team since the days of Giambi, Damon and Isringhousen. 2. Los Angeles Angels Lineup: 3B Chone Figgins SS Orlando Cabrera RF Vlademir Guerrero LF Garret Anderson 1B Casey Kotchman CF Darrin Erstad DH Juan Rivera/Dallas McCpherson 2B Adam Kennedy C Jose Molina Rotation: RHP Bartolo Colon RHP John Lackey RHP Kelvim Escobar RHP Jeff Weaver RHP Ervin Santana Closer: Francisco Ro...

1. Chicago White Sox * Division Winners Lineup: LF Scott Podsednik 2B Tadhito Iguchi DH Jim Thome 1B Paul Konerko RF Jermaine Dye 3B Joe Crede C A.J. Pierzynski SS Juan Uribe CF Brian Anderson Rotation: LHP Mark Buerhle RHPJon Garland RHP Jose Contraras RHP Freddy Garcia RHP Javier Vazquez Closer: Bobby Jenks The White Sox have improved on the team that won the 2005 World Series and they look like they are primed to make it deep into the playoffs once again. Jim Thome should return to 40+ home run form to give the White Sox one of the most feared lineups in the league to go along with a power staff. 2. Cleveland Indians Lineup: CF Grady Sizemore LF Jason Michaels SS Johnny Peralta DH Travis Halfner C Victor Martinez 2B Ronnie Belliard 1B Ben Broussard 3B Aaron Boone RF Casey Blake Rotation: LHP C.C. Sabathia RHP Paul Byrd LHP Cliff Lee RHP Jake Westbrook RHP Jason Johnson Closer: Bob Wickman The young Indians have another year under their belt and look to be slightly stronger than the ...

Over the next few posts, I will do a small breakdown of each division reanking each team in the order I think they will finish. I am going to start with the AL East, and end with the NL West in detail. 1. New York Yankees * Divison Winner Projected Line-up: CF Johnny Damon SS Derrick Jeter 3B Alex Rodriguiz RF Gary Sheffield LF Hideki Matsui 1B Jason Giambi C Jorge Posada 2B Robinson Cano DH Bernie Williams Rotation: LHP Randy Johnson RHP Mike Mussina RHP Chin Ming Wang RHP Carl Pavano RHP Shawn Chacon/ RHP Jaret Wright Closer: RHP Marino Riveria I hate to pick them first, but that scary line-up got even better with the addition of Damon. It is going to be a nice 3-way race between the Yanks, Sox and Jays, but I think the Yankees will once again pull out the division tittle. The AL East looks like baseball's premier division this season. Their pitching is a question mark, but Johnson and Mussina have looked great this spring and Pavano should bounce back f...

Here we are, a little over a week into spring training and the World Baseball Classic, and already the first huge Barry Bonds story has broken, before he even made his spring debut thursday. I am so sick of hearing all this stuff and I'm tired of the constant attack on Barry Bonds. There are players that have been caught using steroids and guys who where obvious users that are getting nowhere near the riddiculing that Bonds is getting. I am not going to jump too far into this topic, but notice how all Barry Bonds accusations come from second hand sources. There is nobody who has stepped up and said, "I've seen him do it, first hand." Rafeal Palmeiro was a huge part of this game over the last fifteen years, he tests positive and people forget about it after a few weeks and continue to concentrate on Bonds. Chances are that Barry has taken roids at some point in his carreer, he admitted so, but I am nowhere near ready to attribute Barry Bonds accomplishments to steriods...