The Giants Baseball Blog

With under a week to go until the non-waiver trade deadline, the Giants urgent needs have become apparent. On Saturday, they made a move to attempt to tackle one need, but they shouldn't be done quite yet. With Matt Cain's uncertain health status and off year to this point, another veteran starter that can be used in the rotation while Cain is on the mend was something Brian Sabean felt was a necessity. The one guy that was linked to them early and made some sense was Boston's Jake Peavy and on Saturday evening, the Giants went out and obtained him from the Red Sox for two of their more prominent minor league arms. He's no stranger to the NL West either and a move to the spacious AT&T Park  should probably work wonders for the 33 year-old. Just look how well it's worked out for Tim Hudson. Peavy certainly hopes it boosts his production, because his season to this point in Boston has been downright dreadful (1-9, 4.79 ERA). That's where there's some cau...

As a team limping into it, the all-star break couldn't have come quick enough for the Giants after their downward spiral that started in early June. Over the last several weeks, they've demoted their closer, lost their leadoff hitting center fielder and have gotten next to nothing offensively from the second base, shortstop, center field and left field positions over the last 4-6 weeks. That's 1/2 your lineup vastly underachieving so it's easy to see where the chunk of the Giants' downfall blame should lay. Hunter Pence has been about as steady as they come after a quiet week or two to start the year, and he earned himself a trip to Minnesota because of it. I'd say, that despite his major slump and lack of production since the team started losing, Michael Morse has been a plus. His surge early in the year helped the Giants build that record and lead in the NL West, so I'd say when all things are considered, you have to  be happy with what you got from Mors...

For a club with the recent struggles the Giants have had and the way they're banged up and in need of a rest right now, the All-Star break cannot come soon enough. Last week, we discussed at length some of the issues with the pitching staff, both relief and in the rotation, but right now the team's offense looks tired and are in the midst of a prolonged slump. This offense went through the first 2 months of the season hitting for both power and average, making run-scoring pretty much a non-issue. It helped them get out to that huge lead in the West and to the best record in all of baseball. However, injuries have struck, and some of the guys that started out the year on a tear have mellowed out a bit, and all of the sudden the offense is looking like it's 2013 all over again. OK, not quite that bad, but not certainly not good. The Giants are hoping to get Angel Pagan back soon after the All-Star break, but an exact date has yet to be determined. Losing him really has cau...

One Month ago today, pretty much everything was going in the Giants favor. They were the ones getting the big hit late in games and getting the excellent starting pitching which led to the best record in baseball and a comfortable led in the West. Fast forward four weeks, however, and all of the sudden they're neck and neck with the Dodgers for a stranglehold on the division with the All-Star break quickly approaching. It hasn't just been one area of the team that caused the 10-16 June and a 1-6 stretch over their last 7 games. The lineup has been struggling majorly as they try and endure some missing components and I'm not going to rip them too much in this one. The starting five is fully in tact and apparently healthy and need to be setting the tone for this team right now. The rotation has had each guy (sans Tim Lincecum) has been hit hard in recent outings. Even Tim Hudson, who's essentially been "Mr. Perfect" since dawning the orange and black, had a ...