Ortiz Stars in First Spring Outing

Russ Ortiz made his first appearance back with the Giants a good one as he not only pitched very well in his perfect 3 innings of work, but he also came up with a 2 rbi double in the 4th inning. He struck out 3, and although it's only the spring, this is very good news. Barry Zito also pitched a scoreless inning in his only frame of work to start the game. The offensive star so far (posted in 5th inning) besides Ortiz has been Tomas De La Rosa who hit a solo jack. I never once questioned taking a flier on Ortiz, and if things pan out, the Giants are getting a steal for $380K this season. Ortiz is fighting for the 5th spot in the rotation, but unless he gets injured or something drastic happens, the spot will be his, and Jonathen Sanchez will start the year off in the bullpen. I was glad to hear Bochy say that he plans to use Sanchez in only one role this season, and that role likely being late relief. I think it's crucial to have some continuity within the pitching staff and the everyday lineup, something Felipe Alou didn't stick to, but it appears Bochy will.

Before the Cactus league games started, the Giants' announced

that they had signed Matt Cain to a 4 year contract which allows him to avoid arbitration until the day he becomes a free agent. I didn't see the exact financial terms of the deal, but I think he'll get an annual payment of about 1.5 million dollars which is peanuts compared to what even mediocre starters are now commanding on the open market. They did the same type deal with Noah Lowry prior to last season, and probably will do the same thing with Jonathen Sanchez after this year if he performs well in '07. I don't think anybody at this point is doubting Cain's ability or work ethic, so I'm sure it would be tough to find anybody who would disagree with this deal in anyway. This kid is well on his way to becoming one of the premiere pitchers in the game, if he's not there already. The only thing you always worry about with young power pitchers is the chance for injury. Even with Barry Zito on the staff, Matt Cain is still the best pitcher the Giants have and he's only 22. I can't wait to see how this guy has built on his rookie season.

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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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