The Giants Baseball Blog

AMERICAN LEAGUE AWARDS AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Det.(First year in Detroit's potent lineup should yield huge numbers and a trip to the postseason) AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander, Det. (Has improved over the last 2 years and could win 22 this year with that lineup behind him) Rookie of the Year: Evan Longoria, Tam. (Will be called upon early in the season, and should be a full time starter after that) Manager of the Year: John McClaren, Sea. ( Seattle is poised to break out with a big year this year and McClaren will be pushing all the buttons) Comeback Player: Francisco Liriaino, Min. (After missing all of the '07 season recovering from TJ surgery, he should return to form in '08) NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARDS NL MVP : David Wright, NYM ( Look for his 4th full season to be his best yet: .320, 40-30 with 120+ rbi) NL Cy Young: Johan Santana, NY (After winning 2 AL Cy Young awards, he figures to start collecting a few in the NL) Rookie of the Year: Kosuke Fukudome, Chi. (31-yea...

1st Place, Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup: SS Rafael Furcal LF Andre Eithier/Juan Pierre RF Matt Kemp 2B Jeff Kent CF Andruw Jones C Russel Martin 1B James Loney 3B Nomar Garciapara/Andy LaRoche Rotation: RHP Brad Penny RHP Derrick Lowe RHP Chad Billingsly RHP Hiroki Kuroda RHP Esteban Loazia SU: Jonathon Broxton CL: Takashi Saito DL: RHP Jason Schmidt (at least July) As much as it pains me to do so, It's hard not to pick the Dodgers to win the NL West this season. They have an excellent blend of productive veterans, and youngsters on the rise. Even if Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciapara cannot stay healthy all year, the Dodgers have a ton of talent who could come up and take those positions from them. Andre Either and Matt Kemp have already put Juan Pierre and his 11 million dollar-a-year salary on the bench. Their pitching has the same depth as Chad Billingsly proved last year that he's ready and capable. The Dodgers also have young lefty Clayton Kershaw waiting in the wings. If Jason...

1st Place, Chicago Cubs Lineup: SS Ryan Theriot LF Alfonso Soriano 1B Derrick Lee 3B Aramis Ramirez RF Kasuke Fukudome 2B Mark DeRosa C Geovany Soto CF Felix Pie Rotation: RHP Carlos Zambrano LHP Ted Lilly RHP Ryan Dempster LHP Rich Hill RHP Jason Marquis SU: Carlos Marmol CL: Kerry Wood The Cubs brought over Kasuke Fukudome from Japan this winter to help solidify the middle of their order. It's still tough to tell what kind of power numbers he will put up in America, but he should be around .300 providing speed and solid defense. If Derrick Lee rebounds this year and can stay healthy, the Cubs should score plenty of runs. I like Theriot and Soriano at the top of the lineup. While their offense may not have quite the weapons that a few of the other division contenders do, they have the best pitching. Carlos Zambrano and Rich Hill haven't even hit their prime yet and both are among the better starters in the NL already. Lilly is very steady in the 2 spot. It will be interestin...

1st Place, New York Mets Lineup: SS Jose Reyes 2B Louis Castillo 3B David Wright CF Carlos Beltran 1B Carlos Delgado LF Moises Alou RF Ryan Church C Brian Schnieder Rotation: LHP Johan Santana RHP Pedro Martinez RHP John Maine LHP Oliver Perez RHP Orlando Hernandez SU: Aaron Heilman CL: Billy Wagner The Mets' acquisition of Johan Santana, the games best starting pitcher, should finally put them over the hump in the National League. They have 3 legit MVP candidates in their everyday lineup and their starting pitching has looked incredibly strong this spring. Pedro Martinez looks healthy and ready to go and he and Santana should form a nice 1-2 punch. Jose Reyes took a small step back last season after a great '06 campaign. I'm expecting him to have his best year yet hitting over .300 with 20 home runs and 70 stolen bases at the top of that lineup. Their outfield surrounding Carlos Beltran is their only question mark heading into the season. Moises Alou is hurt and going to s...

1st Place, Seattle Mariners Lineup: RF Ichiro DH Jose Vidro 3B Adrian Beltre LF Raul Ibanez 1B Richie Sexson CF Brad Wilkerson C Kenji Johjima SS Yuneski Betancourt 2B Jose Lopez Rotation: LHP Erik Bedard RHP Felix Hernandez RHP Miguel Bautista LHP Jarrod Washburn RHP Carlos Silva SU : Brandon Morrow CL: J.J. Putz I really like the Mariners coming into this year. Anytime you have a fifth starter that won 13 games the previous season (Silva), you know you got some pitching. They made the Erik Bedard deal thinking that this is their time to win and they should be right. Their bullpen features one of the best closers in the game in J.J. Putz. I don't think they can overtake the current Angels' squad to win the division, but playing in a weak AL West will only boost their wild card chances. I'm just not sold on their overall lineup yet. Richie Sexson has to be more of the 30 hr-100 rbi type than the 20-60 type he was last year. Also they would love to see Brad Wilker...

1st Place, Detroit Tigers Lineup: CF Curtis Granderson 1B Carlos Guillen 3B Miguel Cabrera RF Maglio Ordonez DH Gary Sheffield SS Edgar Renteria C Ivan Rodriguez 2B Placido Polanco LF Jacque Jones/Marcus Thames Rotation: RHP Justin Verlander LHP Kenny Rogers RHP Jeremy Bonderman LHP Dontrelle Willis LHP Nate Robertson SU: Fernando Rodney CL: Todd Jones The Tigers pushed themselves ahead of the rest of the AL Central after the blockbuster deal in December that landed them Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. Cabrera makes the Tigers offense one of the best (if not the top) offenses in the league. Their pitching has some question marks, but so does every other team in the division. Verlander is solid, but Bonderman and Willis are coming off sub-par years and need to pitch like they're capable of. Getting a full season out of Kenny Rogers should help. The bullpen, led by Todd Jones, is fragile and a little thin at the moment, but the team is expecting Fernando Rodney to start the year...

Every year, at about the middle of March, I break down the divisions in baseball and pick how I think they will finish. As always, I will start in the AL East and finish in the NL West. 1st Place, Boston Red Sox Lineup: CF Jacob Ellsbury 2B Dustin Peroia DH David Ortiz LF Manny Ramirez 3B Mike Lowell 1B Kevin Youkilis RF J.D. Drew C Jason Varitek SS Julio Lugo Rotation: RHP Josh Beckett RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka RHP Tim Wakefield LHP Jon Lester RHP Bartolo Colon SU: Hideki Okajiema CL: Jonathan Papelbon DL: RHP Curt Schilling The Red Sox return practically the same exact team that cruised to an easy World Series tittle just five months ago. Their bullpen is second to none in all of baseball and their offense is always going to be among the leagues best. The lineup should be even better than last years' if they can get bounce back seasons from J.D. Drew and Manny Ramirez who both performed way below their career standards last season. Their starting pitching is very solid, but still ha...

With about 2 1/2 weeks of Cactus league play left, some of the Giants' roster questions are starting to become more clear, but now they have another one. The biggest uncertainty that faces the Giants as they round out the Cactus league is who will start the season with Noah Lowry's spot in the starting rotation. The Giants rotation is supposed to be the teams strength, but Lowry , their number three starter and their top winner from a year ago had surgery just last Thursday and isn't expected to start the season in the Giants rotation. It looks like Pat Misch may have a leg up on Jonathon Sanchez for the opening at this point, but both guys will have about 3 more starts until anything is determined. Misch continues to have a good spring while Sanchez is still trying to figure out his mechanics. The Lowry injury has also apparently staled whatever conversations the Giants have had with the White Sox about Joe Crede . Brian Sabean was asked about the chances of pursuin...

Noah Lowry's recent bout with wildness has had people wondering whether the 27 year old lefty has gone Rick Ankiel, or if he possibly has a serious elbow issue. The Giants are hoping it's neither, but they are shutting him down for a while to hopefully get a grasp on some elbow tendinitis issues that have been bothering him. Lowry had to cut short his 2007 season by a month due to elbow stiffness and Bruce Bochy is wondering if he's fully recovered yet. Anytime there are on going elbow problems, you can't help but thinking of the worst case scenario which is the ligament transplant operation that all pitchers fear, Tommy John Surgery. I'm not saying that I think Lowry will eventually need the surgery, but if he comes back in a few weeks and is still having issues, the question may be raised. Going into the off-season, Lowry was talked about as being the most likely trading chip for the Giants in their search for offense, but other GM's had their questions about ...

The Giants have looked sloppy through the first week of spring training, but there have been a some bright spots. Eugenio Velez and Freddy Lewis, two guys who are fighting for an opening day roster spot, have absolutely torn up the cactus league thus far. Lewis is leading the Giants with a .500 average, .700 slugging percentage and 4 rbi's through his first 4 games. Velez has been on base seven times, scored 6 runs and stolen 5 bases. Both of these players are out of options so they can no longer be sent to the minor leagues without first clearing waivers. It's a pretty safe bet that neither player would clear waivers, so it would be in the Giants best interest to have them on the team come March 31st in Los Angeles. Lewis has thoroughly outplayed Nate Schierholtz and Rajai Davis so far this spring, and if he keeps it up, it's likely that Schierholtz will start the year in Fresno as he still has an option year left. A couple young players who won't make the team right a...