MLB Playoffs 2010

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721

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
LOL @ NL West being the toughest division in baseball. Rays stinking it up? They won 96 games last year and they’re still a good team even with the losses in free agency. If you want to compete in the AL East you HAVE TO win 95 games.

You talk a lot about pitching, but the Giants still have a shitty offence and they have done nothing to address it. I can see them doing damage in the playoffs but only if they make it, which I’m unsure if they will.

[/quote]

The second-best team in the NL West last year took a major hit and you think the defending WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS, who have literally the entire team returning might not even make the playoffs? I laugh. I would say any division with the best team in baseball is a pretty tough division. And like I said earlier, there’s actually a good reason to think that the staff in general will be even better this year than it was last year. And that shitty offense knocked around Halladay, Hamels, Lee and Oswalt much more than the vaunted Rangers and Phillies offense could do against the Giants staff.

And of course I talk a lot about pitching. It’s what separates the good teams from the great teams and it always has. The great Yankees teams from the 90’s won with pitching, not offense. The Indians teams from back then had great offenses, decent pitching and look where it got them. The Rangers had a great offensive team and the great pitching of the Giants shoved it right up their ass to the tune of a 4-1 series win. Great pitching masks any other weaknesses, as the Giants proved beyond doubt last year. It doesn’t work the other way around, as the 2010 Yankees can fully attest to.

I don’t think the Rays will finish .500 this year. They lost too much and they don’t have enough coming in to replace them. Plus, what kind of mental drag do you think those losses will be, combined with the fact that the fans (who didn’t show up to begin with) are definitely not going to be showing up?[/quote]

Of course, no one is denying the Giants pitching prowess, but it’s very difficult to make the post season with a shitty offence. I know winning teams are built around pitching and pitching rules in the post season.

The fact is the Giants offence also got weaker when they lost a 20+ HR hitting Uribe and they have done little to replace him. Why is it such a stretch that the World Series Champions (who barely got into the playoffs the year they won) miss the playoffs next year? If they had lost one more game last season you guys wouldn’t be celebrating. This isn’t basketball 16 teams do not make the playoffs, margin of error is much smaller. Look I’m not saying they won’t make the playoffs, but I think it’s far from a lock and there’s a decent chance they won’t.

What are you expecting out of Cody Ross this season? He’s never had a good season before.

What are you expecting out of Pat Burrell? Good move to bring him back cheap but the guys skillset is seriously declining.

What are you expecting out of a 37 year old Miguel Tejada?

What are you expecting out Renteria if he returns? He didn’t put up good regular season numbers this year or 2009. And I’m talking about during the 72 games he played, not for 162 games.

This team has a lot of holes in the offensive side.

722

Also you’re insane to think TB won’t finish .500 this year. That would mean 31 more losses in 2011.

723

TB still has amazing pitching.

724

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
LOL @ NL West being the toughest division in baseball. Rays stinking it up? They won 96 games last year and they’re still a good team even with the losses in free agency. If you want to compete in the AL East you HAVE TO win 95 games.

You talk a lot about pitching, but the Giants still have a shitty offence and they have done nothing to address it. I can see them doing damage in the playoffs but only if they make it, which I’m unsure if they will.

[/quote]

The second-best team in the NL West last year took a major hit and you think the defending WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS, who have literally the entire team returning might not even make the playoffs? I laugh. I would say any division with the best team in baseball is a pretty tough division. And like I said earlier, there’s actually a good reason to think that the staff in general will be even better this year than it was last year. And that shitty offense knocked around Halladay, Hamels, Lee and Oswalt much more than the vaunted Rangers and Phillies offense could do against the Giants staff.

And of course I talk a lot about pitching. It’s what separates the good teams from the great teams and it always has. The great Yankees teams from the 90’s won with pitching, not offense. The Indians teams from back then had great offenses, decent pitching and look where it got them. The Rangers had a great offensive team and the great pitching of the Giants shoved it right up their ass to the tune of a 4-1 series win. Great pitching masks any other weaknesses, as the Giants proved beyond doubt last year. It doesn’t work the other way around, as the 2010 Yankees can fully attest to.

I don’t think the Rays will finish .500 this year. They lost too much and they don’t have enough coming in to replace them. Plus, what kind of mental drag do you think those losses will be, combined with the fact that the fans (who didn’t show up to begin with) are definitely not going to be showing up?[/quote]

Of course, no one is denying the Giants pitching prowess, but it’s very difficult to make the post season with a shitty offence. I know winning teams are built around pitching and pitching rules in the post season.

The fact is the Giants offence also got weaker when they lost a 20+ HR hitting Uribe and they have done little to replace him. Why is it such a stretch that the World Series Champions (who barely got into the playoffs the year they won) miss the playoffs next year? If they had lost one more game last season you guys wouldn’t be celebrating. This isn’t basketball 16 teams do not make the playoffs, margin of error is much smaller. Look I’m not saying they won’t make the playoffs, but I think it’s far from a lock and there’s a decent chance they won’t.

What are you expecting out of Cody Ross this season? He’s never had a good season before.

What are you expecting out of Pat Burrell? Good move to bring him back cheap but the guys skillset is seriously declining.

What are you expecting out of a 37 year old Miguel Tejada?

What are you expecting out Renteria if he returns? He didn’t put up good regular season numbers this year or 2009. And I’m talking about during the 72 games he played, not for 162 games.

This team has a lot of holes in the offensive side.

[/quote]

Extremely difficult to make the postseason with shitty offenses? Tell that to every Dodgers team from the 60’s. It’s difficult to make it to the postseason with shitty play on either side of the ball, regardless of what side it is. But it’s way harder to make it with shitty pitching and it’s WAY harder to succeed IN the postseason with subpar pitching. This last postseason proved that in spades.

725

Want to add:

You keep talking about post season ball in your argument, but I’m talking about making the playoffs. Beating the Phillies and Rangers was great and all, but it’s hard to see Cody Ross and bunch of the other players hit like they did in the post season over a 162 game season.

Also man, shorten your damn posts!

726

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

Tejada’s past his prime, but the Giants have a stud coming out of their system in Brandon Belt who’s expected to compete for either the 1st base job or LF. He blew right through every level of the minors, hit well above .300 at all levels and has legit power to all fields. He could be a huge addition if he lives up to the potential he’s displayed at every professional level.[/quote]

I have heard this Belt talk also! SO MUCH buzz around him. We raised all our pitchers from pups why not bring up a star bat too.

Panda is a major question mark. HE potentially IS the great hitter we need. He can be. He has been… its just so damn iffy.

[quote]There are a couple other potential sources of offense that the Giants didn’t have last year. DeRosa could be a big addition to the bench if he’s healthy. And a healthy Mark DeRosa, Fontenot, Belt and/or Sandoval could leave the Giants with a pretty nice-looking bench. I like Cody Ross, and not just because of his postseason. He’s not a big-time threat, but he’s a ballplayer. And I’ll take eight ballplayers and the best staff in baseball any day of the week.

Plus, the Giants aren’t done yet. They got Huff last year after the winter meetings and they made some wise mid-season moves.

And don’t forget: Posey could be even better this year than he was last year. He tapered off considerably at the end of the year and his power was lacking, except for a couple of hot streaks. Now that he has the valuable experience of playing a full postseason, I expect him to come back stronger next year, even more disciplined at the plate, and I think he’ll button up some deficiencies that showed down the stretch, specifically his tendency to chase off-speed stuff down and away. Posey definitely strikes me as the type to make an adjustment like that over the course of an offseason. [/quote]

lovely.

[quote]But all this might not even matter, because their staff will be better than it was last year, which could further mask any offensive shortcomings. Dan Runzler will have a big role this year and Bumgarner should make big strides in his development as well. If I had to pick one pitcher off their staff to build around, I’d think long and hard about taking Bumgarner. When you can add a lefty starter and a lefty reliever who throw in the mid-90’s who weren’t on the team last April, that’s huge. So is having Zito finally relegated to the 5th spot where he belongs. In fact, I’ve heard that Runzler might start out in long relief to build his arm strength up to start, which would mean Zito goes to the 'pen. If that happens and Runzler can throw with the same stuff as a starter that he does as a reliever, then the Giants will not only have the best starters in baseball, they’ll have an even better staff for postseason ball. Why? All 5 of their starters would be big-time strikeout pitchers, with the excpetion of Cain. And in the postseason striking batters out means less balls in play which means less opportunities for something to go wrong.

Like I said earlier, there’s a lot of ifs in there, but those ifs have a bigger upside than any other team in the league. It’s scary to think that the strength of the best team in baseball might even get better this year.

If I were a betting man, I’d put it all on the Giants to dominate the NL this year.[/quote]

I agree that the stats that matter are the other teams stats against YOU. And thats where the Giants dominate… because of the staff. agree agree agree though as a lifetime Giant’s fan… well expecting to win it all just isn’t in me.

727

I don’t expect much out of Burrell or Renteria. But I don’t have to expect much from them because they’re returning (if Renteria signs) as bench players. That alone makes their offense stronger, when you can have a starter who made a big impact on the offense last year come back as a bench player.

As far as TB’s pitching goes, yeah they’re still pretty good…now. But I’d be willing to bet that Garza and at least one other starter isn’t with them past the trading deadline. Garza’s already been rumored to be available for the right price right now.

And who cares if they barely made it last year? The Pads played out of their skulls for most of the year. They won’t repeat that performance this year. The Rockies are the scary team in that division, IF they stay healthy. The bottom line is that the deficient offense you keep slamming WON THE WORLD SERIES last year. They aren’t as bad as people think they are. Once Posey and Burrell came onboard, they were more like an average offensive team that didn’t get on base much, but did hit a lot of home runs.

If Brandon Belt makes the club, here’s the lineup I see the Giants going with, which isn’t great, but it could definitely be good enough.

Andres Torres-CF
Freddy Sanchez-2B
Posey-C
Huff-1B
Tejada-SS
Ross-RF
Sandoval-3B
Belt-LF

728

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Want to add:

You keep talking about post season ball in your argument, but I’m talking about making the playoffs. Beating the Phillies and Rangers was great and all, but it’s hard to see Cody Ross and bunch of the other players hit like they did in the post season over a 162 game season.

Also man, shorten your damn posts![/quote]

I will not shorten my posts.

I understand you are talking about making the postseason vs success in it. But so am I when I say that the team that almost kept the Giants out of it seriously regressed with the loss of Gonzalez. No one else in their division has made any serious improvements, so it’s ridiculous to think that the best team in that division will have a hard time repeating.

Also, they didn’t actually make it by one game. If they had lost to the Pads on the last day of the year, they would have been tied, and also would have been tied with the Braves for the wild-card spot. They would have had to play a one-game playoff with the Padres, then played the Braves for the wild-card spot if they lost to the Pads. Essentially, the Giants would have had to lose the last 5 games of the year to miss out on the playoffs entirely, and only needed to win one of three in the last series of the year to make it. They hardly backed into the playoffs.

729

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
I don’t expect much out of Burrell or Renteria. But I don’t have to expect much from them because they’re returning (if Renteria signs) as bench players. That alone makes their offense stronger, when you can have a starter who made a big impact on the offense last year come back as a bench player.

As far as TB’s pitching goes, yeah they’re still pretty good…now. But I’d be willing to bet that Garza and at least one other starter isn’t with them past the trading deadline. Garza’s already been rumored to be available for the right price right now.

And who cares if they barely made it last year? The Pads played out of their skulls for most of the year. They won’t repeat that performance this year. The Rockies are the scary team in that division, IF they stay healthy. The bottom line is that the deficient offense you keep slamming WON THE WORLD SERIES last year. They aren’t as bad as people think they are. Once Posey and Burrell came onboard, they were more like an average offensive team that didn’t get on base much, but did hit a lot of home runs.

If Brandon Belt makes the club, here’s the lineup I see the Giants going with, which isn’t great, but it could definitely be good enough.

Andres Torres-CF
Freddy Sanchez-2B
Posey-C
Huff-1B
Tejada-SS
Ross-RF
Sandoval-3B
Belt-LF[/quote]

FTR, I define shitty offense as any team that doesn’t finish in the top 15 in the league in hitting. Giants were ranked 17th. for my prediction of a regular season I could care less how they performed in the post season. The Giants offence performed out of their skulls during the post season.

Also I would argue TB has the best starting pitching in the AL. Or at least top 3.

730

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Want to add:

You keep talking about post season ball in your argument, but I’m talking about making the playoffs. Beating the Phillies and Rangers was great and all, but it’s hard to see Cody Ross and bunch of the other players hit like they did in the post season over a 162 game season.

Also man, shorten your damn posts![/quote]

I will not shorten my posts.

I understand you are talking about making the postseason vs success in it. But so am I when I say that the team that almost kept the Giants out of it seriously regressed with the loss of Gonzalez. No one else in their division has made any serious improvements, so it’s ridiculous to think that the best team in that division will have a hard time repeating.

Also, they didn’t actually make it by one game. If they had lost to the Pads on the last day of the year, they would have been tied, and also would have been tied with the Braves for the wild-card spot. They would have had to play a one-game playoff with the Padres, then played the Braves for the wild-card spot if they lost to the Pads. Essentially, the Giants would have had to lose the last 5 games of the year to miss out on the playoffs entirely, and only needed to win one of three in the last series of the year to make it. They hardly backed into the playoffs.[/quote]

The Padres still had to basically collapse in September for the Giants to get in. And I’m not saying they won’t make the playoffs, but you’re talking like it’s almost a certainty.

731

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
I don’t expect much out of Burrell or Renteria. But I don’t have to expect much from them because they’re returning (if Renteria signs) as bench players. That alone makes their offense stronger, when you can have a starter who made a big impact on the offense last year come back as a bench player.

As far as TB’s pitching goes, yeah they’re still pretty good…now. But I’d be willing to bet that Garza and at least one other starter isn’t with them past the trading deadline. Garza’s already been rumored to be available for the right price right now.

And who cares if they barely made it last year? The Pads played out of their skulls for most of the year. They won’t repeat that performance this year. The Rockies are the scary team in that division, IF they stay healthy. The bottom line is that the deficient offense you keep slamming WON THE WORLD SERIES last year. They aren’t as bad as people think they are. Once Posey and Burrell came onboard, they were more like an average offensive team that didn’t get on base much, but did hit a lot of home runs.

If Brandon Belt makes the club, here’s the lineup I see the Giants going with, which isn’t great, but it could definitely be good enough.

Andres Torres-CF
Freddy Sanchez-2B
Posey-C
Huff-1B
Tejada-SS
Ross-RF
Sandoval-3B
Belt-LF[/quote]

FTR, I define shitty offense as any team that doesn’t finish in the top 15 in the league in hitting. Giants were ranked 17th. for my prediction of a regular season I could care less how they performed in the post season. The Giants offence performed out of their skulls during the post season.

Also I would argue TB has the best starting pitching in the AL. Or at least top 3. [/quote]

FTR, I define shitty offenses as any team that does not score enough runs to win a game, since the game is played to win, not accumulate stats. The Giants’ hitters scored enough runs to win 92 games.

FTR, I also define shitty offenses as any team that struggles to score runs, since runs determine the winner and not batting avg. Yes, the Giants finished 17th out of 30 teams and 9th out of 16 in the NL. That puts them very slightly below avg. You can call that shitty, that’s your prerogative. But I’m not arguing that the Giants have a great offense; they don’t. What I am arguing is that it is good enough to get the job done, and that’s all that matters. You can continue to harp on their deficiencies, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Giants’ offense was good enough to win it all when combined with their dominant pitching staff. You can’t hold up one side of the team as a reason why they will struggle to make the playoffs when the other side of the team is the best in baseball.

Also, you seem to have never played baseball at a high level. I have, and I can tell you that no statistic can fully account for the ability to do the little things. Execution of these little things is what the Giants excelled at, and this doesn’t show up in the stats section of mlb.com pal. They move runners over well, they hit the ball behind the runner well, they take the extra base well despite a lack of team speed, when they bunt, they excel at putting it where there is no play on the lead runner, they learned over the course of the season how to work pitchers better, but they also learned how to swing differently with the count in their favor, they shrink the strike zone well when ahead in the count.

They don’t take a lot of walks, they don’t hit for a high average, they don’t steal a lot of bases and they really don’t get a whole lot of players on base to begin with. But they MAXIMIZE what opportunities they have and they hit well situationally. THAT is just as important as anything else on the offensive side of the ball. Because no stat can account for how a defense and a pitcher has to change their approach against a team that is more than capable of making productive outs, especially when the opposing pitcher is throwing up zeros and thereby reducing any margin of error for the opposition.

And Bochy is a master at running this “shitty” offense. Ron Washington was severely outclassed by Bochy in the World Series on all counts. Anyone who saw the game against the Dodgers when Bochy nailed Mattingly for making two visits to the mound in the same inning in the middle of a tight, stretch-run game knows how good of an in-game strategist Bochy really is.

I’ve questioned some of Bochy’s decisions, but I watched almost every game they played, so naturally I’m going to take issue from time to time. But he pulled the right strings when it mattered most, the Giants’ hitters succeeded when it mattered most, and their pitchers elevated above and beyond even their own lofty standards when it mattered most. So if I have a lot of confidence in their ability to win their division or make it back to the Series, forgive me, but I think my evaluation comes from an educated stance.

The Giants have offensive intangibles that you apparently are incapable of noticing. But I wouldn’t expect someone unfamiliar with the nuances of how the game is played to understand this. The Giants HAVE to rely on these intangibles, which definitely does put them a little farther behind the 8-ball than about half of the offenses in the league, but their offense is hardly buried behind the 8-ball the way you seem to feel it is.

732

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
I don’t expect much out of Burrell or Renteria. But I don’t have to expect much from them because they’re returning (if Renteria signs) as bench players. That alone makes their offense stronger, when you can have a starter who made a big impact on the offense last year come back as a bench player.

As far as TB’s pitching goes, yeah they’re still pretty good…now. But I’d be willing to bet that Garza and at least one other starter isn’t with them past the trading deadline. Garza’s already been rumored to be available for the right price right now.

And who cares if they barely made it last year? The Pads played out of their skulls for most of the year. They won’t repeat that performance this year. The Rockies are the scary team in that division, IF they stay healthy. The bottom line is that the deficient offense you keep slamming WON THE WORLD SERIES last year. They aren’t as bad as people think they are. Once Posey and Burrell came onboard, they were more like an average offensive team that didn’t get on base much, but did hit a lot of home runs.

If Brandon Belt makes the club, here’s the lineup I see the Giants going with, which isn’t great, but it could definitely be good enough.

Andres Torres-CF
Freddy Sanchez-2B
Posey-C
Huff-1B
Tejada-SS
Ross-RF
Sandoval-3B
Belt-LF[/quote]

FTR, I define shitty offense as any team that doesn’t finish in the top 15 in the league in hitting. Giants were ranked 17th. for my prediction of a regular season I could care less how they performed in the post season. The Giants offence performed out of their skulls during the post season.

Also I would argue TB has the best starting pitching in the AL. Or at least top 3. [/quote]

FTR, I define shitty offenses as any team that does not score enough runs to win a game, since the game is played to win, not accumulate stats. The Giants’ hitters scored enough runs to win 92 games.

FTR, I also define shitty offenses as any team that struggles to score runs, since runs determine the winner and not batting avg. Yes, the Giants finished 17th out of 30 teams and 9th out of 16 in the NL. That puts them very slightly below avg. You can call that shitty, that’s your prerogative. But I’m not arguing that the Giants have a great offense; they don’t. What I am arguing is that it is good enough to get the job done, and that’s all that matters. You can continue to harp on their deficiencies, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Giants’ offense was good enough to win it all when combined with their dominant pitching staff. You can’t hold up one side of the team as a reason why they will struggle to make the playoffs when the other side of the team is the best in baseball.

Also, you seem to have never played baseball at a high level. I have, and I can tell you that no statistic can fully account for the ability to do the little things. Execution of these little things is what the Giants excelled at, and this doesn’t show up in the stats section of mlb.com pal. They move runners over well, they hit the ball behind the runner well, they take the extra base well despite a lack of team speed, when they bunt, they excel at putting it where there is no play on the lead runner, they learned over the course of the season how to work pitchers better, but they also learned how to swing differently with the count in their favor, they shrink the strike zone well when ahead in the count.

They don’t take a lot of walks, they don’t hit for a high average, they don’t steal a lot of bases and they really don’t get a whole lot of players on base to begin with. But they MAXIMIZE what opportunities they have and they hit well situationally. THAT is just as important as anything else on the offensive side of the ball. Because no stat can account for how a defense and a pitcher has to change their approach against a team that is more than capable of making productive outs, especially when the opposing pitcher is throwing up zeros and thereby reducing any margin of error for the opposition.

And Bochy is a master at running this “shitty” offense. Ron Washington was severely outclassed by Bochy in the World Series on all counts. Anyone who saw the game against the Dodgers when Bochy nailed Mattingly for making two visits to the mound in the same inning in the middle of a tight, stretch-run game knows how good of an in-game strategist Bochy really is.

I’ve questioned some of Bochy’s decisions, but I watched almost every game they played, so naturally I’m going to take issue from time to time. But he pulled the right strings when it mattered most, the Giants’ hitters succeeded when it mattered most, and their pitchers elevated above and beyond even their own lofty standards when it mattered most. So if I have a lot of confidence in their ability to win their division or make it back to the Series, forgive me, but I think my evaluation comes from an educated stance.

The Giants have offensive intangibles that you apparently are incapable of noticing. But I wouldn’t expect someone unfamiliar with the nuances of how the game is played to understand this. The Giants HAVE to rely on these intangibles, which definitely does put them a little farther behind the 8-ball than about half of the offenses in the league, but their offense is hardly buried behind the 8-ball the way you seem to feel it is.[/quote]

But the Giants do struggle to score runs. They just have stellar pitching performances to make up for this deficiency a lot of the time. However this puts a LOT of pressure on the pitching staff and good offences give their pitchers some room for error. My argument is their offence may not be “good enough” this year to make it the playoffs.

And why can’t I list their offence as a reason they could possibly miss the playoffs just because they have stellar pitching? I mean the team with the best pitching staff in the Major Leagues (starting and bullpen) in 2007 and 2008 didn’t make the playoffs either years. It’s not exactly a lock just because you’re #1 in pitching.

Bochy may be a good manager and they may excel at the fundamentals, but you still need talented hitters to put up numbers. For a team with a deficient offence, losing Uribe and replacing him with the pensioner Tejada is a SIGNIFICANT loss (enjoy watching the king of hitting into double plays). Also lets see how good a 37 year old Tejada will be at a demanding position of SS.

Lastly, I think expecting Ross and this rookie Belt to produce is risky. You really have no idea what you’re going to get from them in 2011. A lot of things have to go write on the offensive side for the Giants and I’m not convinced it will be a cake walk into the playoffs you seem to convinced it will be.

Also, not going to read anymore long responses, BREVITY is key here.

733

Every year there is always a few surprise teams that make an impact. Who would have guessed last year the Reds, Padres, and Rangers would lead their divisions for most of the year. No one can predict injuries, no one can predict how well a player is going to play. As far as i’m concerned it’s a whole new year and anybody can make it to the world series. Predictions are what people do to start up arguments on who the “best” team is before the season even starts.

734

For brevity’s sake, I’m not sure what you are arguing here. Is the Giants’ offense great? No, but it isn’t shitty either. I suppose that depends on what your definition of shitty is, and if that’s the case we’re simply quibbling over semantics here.

If you think their offense is a possible reason that they’ll miss the playoffs, you have to also acknowledge that the pitching staff is more than capable of bearing this pressure and overcoming whatever deficiencies they have on offense…because they already proved they could do so against the best teams in the majors. Also, you keep saying that the Padres collapsed, yet you fail to acknowledge that part of that collapse was due to the fact that Giants beat up on them in September and were hot on their heels. The Giants applied the pressure and the Pads caved under it.

You seem to think that the Giants’ offensive struggles will doom them. Given that their offense is the weak link, that’s hardly a stretch on your part. My point is that they are not as bad as you think they are.

I watched all of the Giants’ games last year. I am more well-versed on how their offense produced and did not produce than probably anyone on this site as a result, not counting WestCoast and Hallowed. Sure, they walked the tightrope a lot more than most teams did, but you know what? You walk the tightrope long enough and you get pretty good at it after a while. The Giants’ offense got really good at coming out on top in the close games toward the end of the year because they were in so many. So when you look at their stats, it doesn’t tell nearly the whole story.

As far as the loss of Uribe goes, from a purely statistical standpoint, him vs. Tejada is a wash if not an improvement. Uribe hits for more power, but Tejada hits for a better avg, which in AT&T Park is probably a better quality than hitting for power anyways. He can play all the same positions as Uribe, with virtually the same skill. Uribe has the bigger arm, but Tejada’s glove is better and his range might be better as well. Neither has great speed, but if I had to bet, I’d say Tejada is still a step faster. And Uribe was a big clubhouse guy, but so is Tejada.

Here’s another intangible that favors the Giants: everyone chalked up their success last year to luck and a dominant staff. The staff is going to be better this year than it was last, barring injury. Mark my words. More k’s, less walks, lower ERA, the whole nine yards. The team in general will have a big chip on their shoulders because of the luck claims and the doubters. You aren’t the only one who doubted the Giants last year, and you were wrong. You aren’t the only one doubting them this year, either. They know they have a lot of doubters and they know they still have something to prove, despite being the ones wearing the rings. This is going to galvanize that clubhouse in an unmeasurable way. When you have a team with the talent level of the Giants, who are the champions and who still feel underappreciated, that makes for an awesome combo. Lots of teams win it all then get complacent. That WON’T happen to the Giants. Keep doubting them.

735

[quote]strungoutboy21 wrote:
Every year there is always a few surprise teams that make an impact. Who would have guessed last year the Reds, Padres, and Rangers would lead their divisions for most of the year. No one can predict injuries, no one can predict how well a player is going to play. As far as i’m concerned it’s a whole new year and anybody can make it to the world series. Predictions are what people do to start up arguments on who the “best” team is before the season even starts.[/quote]

But some predictions carry more legitimacy than others. I thought the Reds would win the wildcard or at least compete all the way down the stretch last year. I also thought the Rangers were the team to beat in their division, mostly because I knew the A’s would suck cock and I’ve always thought the Angels were overrated and the Mariners are…well, the Mariners. The Padres totally took me by surprise, but I did think in July or so that they would falter at the end because they had so much young talent that hadn’t played in a stretch run like that before. Latos and Richards both went down the tubes in Sep. This year, I don’t expect them to, but they are going to have some serious offensive problems much bigger than anything the Giants had last year.

736

All I said is I’m not sold the Giants will make the playoffs, because of some of the deficiencies they have on the offensive side. THAT’S IT.

Just read the first couple paragraphs of your post.

737

[quote]therajraj wrote:
All I said is I’m not sold the Giants will make the playoffs, because of some of the deficiencies they have on the offensive side. THAT’S IT.

Just read the first couple paragraphs of your post.

[/quote]

And all I’m saying is that offense is only half the game, and the half of lesser importance. So if you are going to evaluate why a team will/won’t make the playoffs, you can’t look at just one side. It’s insufficient to say that their offense may be the reason that they won’t make the playoffs when their pitching may be the reason they DO make the playoffs, especially when it was the reason they made it last year. You’re arguing against something they already proved last year. Sure, they made it on the last day of the year and so on, but to paraphrase from the film Whatever Happened to BabyJane?..they DID make the playoffs, they ARE the champions.

738

The funny part is I haven’t said they won’t make the playoffs, just it’s not guaranteed like you are claiming it is.

739

I don’t think anyone is claiming there are guarantees in baseball.

740

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
All I said is I’m not sold the Giants will make the playoffs, because of some of the deficiencies they have on the offensive side. THAT’S IT.

Just read the first couple paragraphs of your post.

[/quote]

And all I’m saying is that offense is only half the game, and the half of lesser importance. So if you are going to evaluate why a team will/won’t make the playoffs, you can’t look at just one side. It’s insufficient to say that their offense may be the reason that they won’t make the playoffs when their pitching may be the reason they DO make the playoffs, especially when it was the reason they made it last year. You’re arguing against something they already proved last year. Sure, they made it on the last day of the year and so on, but to paraphrase from the film Whatever Happened to BabyJane?..they DID make the playoffs, they ARE the champions.
[/quote]

Because this is a new year, and it’s possible that all the 1 run games the Giants play in do not go in their favour in 2011. Can you acknowledge that could happen?

Basically if they don’t make the playoffs it will be because of their hitting.

If they make the playoffs it will be because of their pitching.