The Giants Baseball Blog

Had enough speculation about who will get what roster spot and which prospect will end up where? Well, baseball has finally arrived, albeit of the exhibition variety. The Giants, being the defending World Champs, have plenty of interest surrounding them as Cactus League has gotten underway. Ryan Vogelsong and Pablo Sandoval led the Giants in the opener over the Angels, as Vogey had a solid a solid two innings of work to get the Giants spring underway, and Pablo Sandoval drove in the first Giants' run of the spring with an RBI line-drive single over the 2nd baseman's head. Matt Cain got knocked around a bit in game two, giving up 4 runs in his inning of work, but Pablo continued raking the baseball as he went 2 for 3 and has hit safely in all 3 games this spring. Madison Bumgarner fared similarly to Vogey in game 3, looking solid in his two innings of work, and the Giants have to be pretty pleased overall with the way they've started the Cactus League. Sergio Romo has turn...

Just like the offseason that preceded it, the Giants spring has been relatively quiet and uneventful, and now it's finally time to switch gears back to game action! Ryan Vogelsong will take the hill as the Giants will play host to the Angels in their first game action since winning the World Series in Detroit last October. Boch didn't say what Vogey's pitch limit will be but my guess is the Giants will try and get him to go two if possible. Vogelsong will depart to play in the WBC next week so I'm sure the Giants will want to get him some work beforehand as there's no real telling how much work he'll see on the US roster. Bochy said he plans to use Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt and George Kontos some work Saturday as well. Then depending on how things go, Chad Gaudin, Scott Proctor, Jean Machi and Dan Otero could all see an inning of work too, as the battle for the final bullpen spot officially begins. Another surprise contender for that final spot that Boch rev...

Finally, after what's seemed like a relatively slow and uneventful offseason, the Giants' pitchers and catchers reported to Scottsdale Tuesday and preparation for their tittle defense has officially begun. Being barely a day and a half into camp, there really hasn't been too much news to hit the wire out of Arizona yet, but there have certainly been some positive feedback regarding some of the pitchers first bullpen sessions. The one I was most curious about, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, was how Tim Lincecum looked fresh off a winter in which he had to work some issues out mechanically and physically. From everything I've heard on Timmy's first session though, apparently things couldn't have gone much better and Lincecum declared himself fully healthy and 100% focused after the practice. The Giants were able to win the world series last year without having their ace even in the playoff rotation, so obviously if the Giants get him back to his pre-...

With the Giants just a week away from getting back to work and officially starting work on their attempt at a 3rd tittle in 4 seasons, they have locked up all their arbitration eligibles and have just about reached their mandated $140 Million payroll. The two big moves this week were the inking 2010 bullpen stalwart Ramon Ramirez and the signing of expected closer Sergio Romo to a 2-year deal that buys out his remaining arbitration eligibility. With Romo expected to slide into the closers role full time this season, and Guillermo Mota not re-signing, it left another mid-relief spot vacant which is where Ramirez could fit in assuming he throws well this spring. He's coming off rough year in New York in which his ERA shot up to the high-4's after carrying one in the low-2's throughout his year-and-a-half in San Francisco. The Giants are hoping a return to the thick cool air by the bay will result in a return to form for Ramirez, but again, he's coming in on a minor leag...