It has been over a week since Melky Cabrera was handed a 50-game suspension for a failed PED test, ending his 2012 season and all but ending his hopes for a big multiyear contract this winter. Wherever Cabrera plays in 2013, it doesn't look like it will be in San Francisco, as his chances of re-signing are "close to nil" given the blow his suspension has dealt to the Giants' playoff chances.
Then again, so far Cabrera's absence hasn't hurt the club. The Giants are 5-2 since Cabrera's suspension and are currently riding a three-game win streak following a sweep over the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Minus Brian Wilson in the bullpen, it's almost like 2010 all over again — Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval are carrying the lineup, while the Giants' rotation is keeping opponents off the scoreboard. Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner are Cy Young candidates, Ryan Vogelsong has pitched very well outside of some recent poor outings, Barry Zito has held his own as the fifth starter and even Tim Lincecum has begun to regain his old form, posting a 3.03 ERA over his last five starts.
Heading into tonight's action, the Giants are 69-55 and hold a 2.5-game lead over the Dodgers (and a 5.5-game lead over the Diamondbacks) in the NL West. In a division of flawed teams, the Giants might still have enough to take the division and make some noise in the postseason. Even minus Cabrera, do the Giants have enough to win their second World Series in three years?
Hunter Pence!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Cabrera might still find a decent free agent deal but it doesn’t look like it will be in San Francisco” After the Feds get done with the fraud investigation- define decent?
For me anyways if they make the playoffs they will win the WS. Yea I know its a bold prediction but they roll out cain/bum/vogelsong/timmy very few teams can stop them. They have the best rotation in the NL and that rotation can carry them in the playoffs, especially in that spacious stadium.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’ll win the WS if they get in the playoffs, but you’re right about how dangerous that rotation is in a short series.
Nationals rotation is better.
Not without Strasburg.. which will be the case in the playoffs
Even without Strasburg, the Nats still have a good rotation. Gio, Zimmerman, et al, aren’t bad by any means. But, I do think the edge would go to Cain, Bumgarner, Vogelsong, etc. both in depth and definitely with playoff experience factored in.
They are not better as they are not proven in the playoffs.
People who think the Giants will miss the playoffs ought to look at the remainder schedule for them versus the Dodgers, if they even play 2 games over .500 ball that’s 90 wins and likely enough for the division.
Playing .500 would be 19-19. To get 90 wins, the Gs must win 21 games, but that record would be 21-17.
Yes, the Giants were facing Tommy Hanson at the time, i got a little hasty and another W for the big Z. Now they only need to go 20-18 as was pointed out below.
OK So . . .
Win the World Series- Giants fans Miss the Playoffs- Dodgers/Diamondbacks fans
I’m liking how those are the top two responses. That really shouldn’t happen..
“Miss the playoffs” could also be bitter Phillies fans or the same group that said there was no way the Giants could beat the Phillies in the playoffs or the Rangers in the WS. It could also be wishful thinking by Reds and Nats fans, both of whom would probably rather face the pitching staff of the D-Backs or Dodgers than the Giants rotation.
the reds, nationals, and cardinals are all better then the current giants
not so certain about the cardinals, but certainly the reds and nats.
cardinals pitching has been great lately and their offense is the best in the majors
they certainly are. But in a 5-7 game series anything can happen. I’m a Giants fan and I admit that both the Rangers and Phillies were better than the Giants in 2010 with Atlanta being just as good if not better. But look what happened. The playoffs are a crapshoot.
i agree anything can happen. i didnt expect the cardinals to win it all last year.
It’s all about how a team finishes the season. Getting hot at just the right point before the playoffs is all some teams need. Right now the Giants are hot. But imo they “could” get even hotter. Just wait until Pence heats up (if he does). There still A LOT of baseball left and anything can happen in the next 6 weeks though.
They might be better, but giants have played well against the reds and cards. Nats have owned the Giants
SF needs to find a bat, preferably an OF to tag along with Pence. Cabby getting nailed was a shocker am sure, but they need to get a replacement and just go right on.
DBacks and LAD (as they see-saw back-n-forth in the standings) cannot claim everyone, someone will fall in the cracks. I’d like to see Either (or both) LAD and the SFG make the PO this season, but think the Giants are going to need outside help.
the waiver wire is quite bare. I can’t see the Giants taking on a bad contract for multiple years. There aren’t too many outfielders with short terms deals that will be made available. The few that are (Scott Hairston, Juan Pierre, etc.) will almost certainly be blocked.
I throw more aged guys like Podsednik’s name out there again..he had another 2-4 night tonight.
Podsednik would be blocked. Francour might be the only option
Unless Carlos Lee or Alfonso Soriano suddenly decide they do want to play in SF the only guy who won’t be claimed and has a shot at being traded to SF is Francouer. And KC seems to be indicating they want someone to pay all or almost all of his salary AND send them a decent prospect. That’s just crazy. Francouer isn’t a big enough upgrade over Blanco/Peguero/Christian/Pill/Nady/Huff/Linden to sacrifice much 2013 money or any kind of real prospect for. I expect the Giants will live with little offense and strong defense in LF the rest of the year and Sabean will address the position more in the offseason when he has much more flexibility and can either target a free agent like Scott Hairston, Torii Hunter or Reed Johnson or trade for a guy like David DeJesus.
In my opinion they don’t need a bat. The Giants score the most runs per game in the majors on the road and that was with missing Sandoval for a majority of the season because of two injuries plus no Pence.
With Melky out it’s now up to Sandoval to pick up the slack. All adding a LF would do at this point would lengthen the lineup and that LF would be batting down in the order 7 or 8 with possibly lesser defense than what they have.
Their starting pitching has also come around and is peaking just at the right time and their scoring runs.
Either way, the Giants hold the record for the best average with RISP, hitting .345 as a team, the best in the majors.
In the month of August.
Thats still 23 days. Nationals dont have that spot in that spam, so…yeah.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless smartphone
yeah, that only recently, over the whole season they have been HORRIBLE with RISP. For most of the season the pitching has been great enough to hide that horrible fact. (giants fan here)
The giants are ranked 12th with RISP on the season. Not a number to brag about sure, but certainly not HORRIBLE as you stated..,
The Giants lead the majors in run scored this month. They’re 14-5 in their last 19 road games and they have a ton of games left against Colorado and San Diego. The dodgers have a rough schedule in September with stops in Washington and Cincinnati and the cards at home. Giants take the division. Anything can happen in the playoffs.
No. Dodgers will end up winning that division. Quote me on that.
Ok.
It’s not so much as Giants v. Dodgers as it is each vs. the teams they’ll be facing. Even if you think the Dodgers are better than the Giants, do you really think that the Dodgers walk away from series against teams like the Nats, Reds, and Cards with a better record than the Giants vs., Padres, Cubs, and Astros?
If they make the playoffs they will most likely play the reds. The Reds will kill them.
Don’t think so. The Reds rotation doesn’t match up against a proven Giants rotation who is just about to hit their stride.
Reds bullpen has the edge on the Giants.
Their offenses believe or not are pretty even with the Reds scoring just 9 more runs and thats in a hitter’s park/division.
In a short series/long series not many teams match up with their top 4 of Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner, and Vogelsong.
Correction: In a short series/long series not many teams match up with their top 4 of Cain, Bumgarner, Lincecum and Vogelsong. A good second half doesn’t all of a sudden make him the ace again… Number 3.
Well admittedly it doesn’t. But if you watched his last start Lincecum had the most movement in his pitches I had ever seen since his playoff run in 2010. If his two seamer continues to have that movement that’s a scary rotation. That’s three aces not many teams can say they have in Bumgarner, Cain, and Lincecum.
I’ll counter your argument with this.
Would you rather have a pitcher in the 1st half pitch lights out and have a meh 2nd half to finish the season going into the postseason?
Or a pitcher with a bad 1st half who picks up in the 2nd half and finishes strong into the postseason?
I’ll use the old saying,” It’s not how you start but how you finish.”
Naw the Reds won’t win. The reason is obvious – Dusty Baker is your manager. I’m being as serious as a heart attack about that. No joke. He finds ways every single time to blow up his team’s chances come playoff time.
This poll is like the all-star game all over again. giants fans have a talent for online voting
Giants fans skew all polls.
There are more votes saying Giants don’t make the playoffs even though we are THREE games up in first and have swept the Dodgers TWICE this season.
Pablo didn’t carry them in 2010 playoffs, he was benched. Or am I misreading that?
The author was implying that in 2010 the Giants just found ways to get it done just as this team is doing now. Worded kind of weird for non-Giants fans.
Ah thanks for explaining. As a Giants fan, it didn’t make sense.
This poll proves Dodger fans are mad bro!
Let me know if you think this is a fair statement, but I think the Giants are about as good as they can get, without trading away top prospects. And this isn’t just talking about right now but like after the off season as well, because realistically Bumgarner, and Lincecum are underpaid, its the same with guys like Posey, Sandoval, Belt, Crawford, Even Melky Cabrera. With the exception of I believe Cabrera none of these guys have hit Free Agency, and that is just about the only reason the Giants can afford the players they have right now. They aren’t the type of team to go and spend boat loads of cash. My point being this, the Giants can’t get much better reasonably within the confines of their financial flexibility and such, They have won a World Series with a team that had similar if not lesser capability, it is certainly a capable team that doesn’t really need upgrades, and really wouldn’t be practical to upgrade. Unless you plan on abandoning the hope of retaining Lincecum, which will probably not happen.
You underestimate their payroll. The Giants can arguably operate in the $140 million range which was stated by Larry Baer in an radio interview.
Bumgarner is locked into a contract till 2019 by the way.
Belt and Crawford won’t hit arbitration for another 2 seasons.
They have over $30 million dollars coming off the books next year followed by another $13 million the next year from Zito’s contract. The only arbitration eligible players next year are Posey (who will get an extension of some kind in the offseason), Romo, Wilson (will probably get non-tendered), and Casilla.