Giants Talk With Lou Piniella

ESPN reported Tuesday that the Giants have had preliminary discussions with Lou Piniella about their managerial opening. Pinella was supposedly the front runner to take the New York Yankee job if it became available, but Joe Torre reported Tuesday that he'll be back with the Yankees next year. Now that the Yankees are out of the mix, it appears that the Giants, Cubs and Rangers are the 3 most likely destinations for Pinella. Pinella was interviewed Monday about all the possibilities, and he surprisingly had the most to say about the Giants. Pinella mentioned how much he likes the city of San Francisco and also said that he and GM Brian Sabean are very close friends. If the Giants did hire Pinella, it would give Brian Sabean a manager who he would actually be on speaking terms with. It wasn't a secret that Felipe Alou and Brian Sabean, while they did respect each other and got along okay, weren't friends. That being said, I also think that if the Giants did hire Piniella, they would probably continue on the path they have been over the last 4 years. Each year over that span, the Giants have added various veteran free agents to try and keep them in the mix each year and they haven't been successful. I'm afraid that bringing in a high profile, big name manager like that would tempt Brian Sabean to continue to add age and experience to the roster rather then sticking by his plan to get younger and more athletic just like he did when they hired Felipe Alou. I still think Bob Brenley will be the Giants' next manager.

Barry Bonds and the Giants front office have had some choice words indirectly towards each

other over the past couple weeks. It all started when Barry was asked if he would come back to the Giants under an incentive laden contract and Bonds' shot that down with a quickness. In response to that, Peter Magowan announced that even if Barry does come back, he won't be the centerpiece of the team. What that essentially means is that he isn't going to spend 20 percent of the Giants payroll on a 42 year-old aging outfielder, no matter what he's done for the team over the past decade. Who knows if Magowan and the Giants will stick to this plan, but by hearing that, it makes me think that Barry Bonds returning to the Giants next year may not be as sure of thing as everybody thought.

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WORLD SERIES: Giants Move Up 2-0 on Texas

PreGame After taking game one in a surprising slug-fest , the Giants look to go up 2-0 on the Rangers in the World Series on Thursday night. The Giants are sending out Matt Cain, a guy who I'm sure every Giants' fan is pretty confident in. He'll be a opposed by C.J. Wilson, who's in his first year as a full-time starter, but has been brilliant in the role. He did struggle his last time out though, so hopefully the Giants can get to him early and get into his head a bit. I'm going to do something I've never done here on this unique occasion, and sort of do an in-game post. updating this post every time I feel I have something to add. So go Giants, and be sure to check back throughout the game, and after, to vent or whatever! As long as Matt Cain keeps rolling, and the Giants keep coming up with those clutch 2-out hits, we should be OK. Texas has that high-powered offense that can score in a hurry, as we saw last night, so the Giants cannot let down and have to t

Giants Still Need Infield Help

On Saturday, the Giants finalized a 2 year contract extension with Freddy Sanchez, who they acquired in July for Tim Alderson. The new deal for Sanchez will pay him 12 million over the next 2 seasons instead of 8.5 million for just 2010, which was his option for 2010. I've voiced my disappointment in Sanchez a few times here since the Giants dealt for him over the summer. He wasn't able to stay on the field full time to help this club with their run at the NL Wild Card, and even when he was in there, he didn't seem to make much of an impact in th e lineup. Now, I wasn't necessarily hoping the Giants would cut ties with Sanchez (they probably would have had to pay 4 million or so to buy him out), just didn't think he was worth upwards of 10 million dollars, and would have liked to see the Giants pursue someone like Orlando Hudson with that money. The Giants already have an infielder who's being paid about 3-4 times what his play over the last 2 seasons would indi

Giants Notes: Lincecum Signs, Ross to Boston

Well, even though I touched on it a little bit in our last post, I haven't really had a chance to get my thoughts out on the new Lincecum deal since he and the Giants agreed earlier in the week. Also, on the other end of things, the Giants missed out on shoring up their outfield by letting Cody Ross sign in Boston for only $3 million in 2012. First off, obviously, wanted to talk a bit about Lincecum. I've already said here that I didn't expect him to sign a long-term deal that takes him through free agency, but it doesn't mean he wants to leave San Francisco like everyone is suspecting. I mean, if I were Lincecum, I'd probably do the same thing, even if I planned on eventually signing with the Giants long-term. Why take a chance at mitigating your value to just sign a deal? Granted, a 5 year, $100 million deal isn't anything to sneeze at, in this market, if he were a free agent, Lincecum could probably easily command a 8 year, $200 million deal. If he could get

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