2008 Record: 72-90 2008 Pythagorean Record: 68-94 FIC Rank: 26th 4th in NL West 2008 Payroll: $76.6 million, 17th in MLB, 9th in NL Cost per win: $1.063 million, 16th in MLB, 8th in NL The Giants' first season out of the single-star system of Barry Bonds put them largely into the single-star system of Tim Lincecum. Lincecum's season could be one that comes around once in a generation for the Giants, and there is no guaranteeing he will be able to duplicate that although I would never bet against his specialness. Largely because of Lincecum, Matt Cain, and early Jonathan Sanchez, the Giants were not as bad as they could have been and overachieved a little bit, but they were incredibly bad at the plate. The Giants hit just 94 homers, which was the first time a team had fewer than 100 in a non-strike season since the 1993 Marlins when they hit 94 in their inaugural season. Bonds, of course, hit 73 in 2001, and the Giants hit 235 as a team. Aaron Rowand was an overpriced disappointment, and the strategy of signing second tier free agents to gaudy contracts is more cosmetic than productive. While their fan base waits on a Buster Posey or Angel Villalona to emerge as a homegrown above average positional player, the Giants can't keep sending Cain out there every fifth day with horrible run support- even if that means dealing him. Catcher Bengie Molina (186th, 140, -20%) has continued to be one of the most consistent second-tier catchers on both offense and defense in all of baseball. Since 2003, Molina has 93 homers, which puts him 4th among catchers during the time span. With 16 this season, Molina, unfortunately, led the Giants in that category. Steve Holm (888th, 12, +0%) was a 28-year-old rookie in 2009, and he hit a respectable .762 in 49 games when he was giving Molina a day off. The Giants were 8-11 in his starts. He hit one homer in 84 at bats, which wasn't too far off the average for the remainder of the team. First Base John Bowker (807th, 19, +0%) was one of six players to play first base this season for the Giants (seven, if you count J.T. Snow). Bowker hit homers in his first two games, but very quickly trailed off, eventually going 41 games without one. His .300 OBP and tendency to strikeout make his future as a starter very bleak. Pablo Sandoval (556th, 50, +130%) is penciled in as the Giants' everyday first baseman in 2009, and there is a healthy level of excitement surrounding the Venezuela native. He is a switch hitter but is strikingly better from the left side (.950 OPS vs. .558), and so he is a likely candidate to eventually hit left against all pitchers but will need a righty platoon mate. Travis Ishikawa (913th, 10, +0%) was a late season call up, and the Giants somehow went 17-8 in his starts. He hit .274/.337/.432 with three homers in just 95 at bats. Second Base Ray Durham (278th, 105, -60%) gave the Giants 87 games before they gave him a chance to play in the playoffs with the Brewers. After a 2007 in which he absolutely bottomed out (.638) OPS, he finished the season with a mark of .812. Eugenio Velez (693rd, 30, +2%) was the guy the Giants were trying to sell as 'exciting young talent' in year one without Barry Bonds when the season began, but after hitting for an OPS of .653 in April and .341 in May, they sent him down for more seasoning. When he returned he actually began to hit much better, hitting .341/.367/.459 during a stretch of 21 starts in September. Like Sandoval, he is significantly better from the left side than the right. Kevin Frandsen missed the entire 2008 season but figures to be in the mix to be the everyday guy at 2B if they don't upgrade via trade/free agency. Third Base Jose Castillo (1069th, 2, -40%) stuck/sucked the life out of 90 starts at third base for the Giants. He hit for an OPS of .671 before they finally cut ties. He somehow found employment with the Astros during their last ditch bid for the Wildcard. Rich Aurilia (515th, 57, -89%) will eventually have a plaque outside AT&T Park, and he somewhat became Mr. Giant between 99 and 03, but his $4.5 million salary for 2008 was difficult to justify. He did play in 140 games and was one of only five Giants to have double digit homers, but his OPS was just .745. Shortstop Omar Vizquel (759th, 23, -92%) wasn't right physically for most of 2008, but he did hit .304/.357/.383 during the second half and had an OPS of .840 in 68 at bats during the month of September, which should be enough to get him a deal somewhere in 2009 even though it won't be in San Francisco. Emmanuel Burriss (548th, 51, +10%) will have every opportunity to succeed in 2009 as he's extremely likable and the kind of guy the Giants want to have play a big role in how they remake themselves out of the Bonds' era. He's another young switchhitter, but he's about the same from both sides. He has shown absolutely no signs of being able to hit for power, which would be adequate if he ended up in Florida or the White Sox, but the dearth of it in San Francisco makes his slot at shortstop problematic. Ivan Ochoa (1290th, -25, +0%) hit .200/.244/.267 and is unlikely to be around in 2009 or any other time soon. Brian Bocock (1288th, -25, +0%) filed in admirably when the Giants had no other live body capable of manning shortstop early in the season, but he hit for an OPS of .414, which is almost as difficult as hitting for an OPS of 1.414. Left Field Fred Lewis (383rd, 79, +235%) led the team in OPS thanks to nine homers, 25 doubles, and 11 triples in 468 at bats. He even seemed to like playing at AT&T, hitting for an OPS of .914 at home. Consistency is still an issue, but the Giants can live with him left for the time being. Dave Roberts (725th, 26, -94%) had the lowest OPS of his career (.621) in 2008, but cost the Giants only 130 plate appearances. He and Aurilia represented two of the most ill-conceived signings in recent memory. Good guys, good clubhouse guys, but last ditch efforts to prop up a chance to win with Bonds. Center Field Aaron Rowand (544th, 52, -95%) is a guy that I'm glad the Giants have on their team, and he should have a much better 2009, but while Zito can't walk down the street with his guitar without being hassled about the contract, the $12 million man hears very little criticism. Rowand's OPS was .749, which puts him 21st among 33 center fielders who played at least 100 games. He was significanlty better on the road (.784 vs. .714), against lefties (.877 vs. .702). and in the first half (.804 vs. .665). Right Field Randy Winn (127th, 173, -18%) will never again have the kind of homer spree he went on when initially joining the Giants in 2005, but he's been very consistent over the past two seasons (.798 in 2007 and .789 in 2008) and is a consummate professional. He is signed affordably in 2009 and would make a great third and a half outfielder for a small budget playoff contender (maybe the Giants genuinely think they'll be that team in 2009) if the Giants could get a flier or two for him. Nate Schierholtz (784th, 21, +0%) hit 18 homers and slugged .594 in another full season in Triple-A Fresno and hit for an OPS of .863 when he was called up late in the season. Although the sample size was small, his home/away splits were .378/.452/.676 vs. .263/.282/.316 on the road. Starting Pitching Tim Lincecum (3rd, 306, +5,233%) did things in his second season on the hill that only Doc Gooden has done and that is strikeout 265 batters. Lincecum struck out batters at a better rate than Gooden even though the former Mets' ace had a better adjusted ERA. Only 19 other pitchers have even struck out better than 200 batters in their second year, including Tom Seaver, Roy Oswalt, Mark Prior, and Barry Zito. The difference in strikeouts between him and Johan Santana and difference between ERA between him and Brandon Webb should make him the Cy Young winner on November 11th. Matt Cain (63rd, 208, +1,100%) had another sub-4.00 ERA (3.76) and another losing season (8-14). It wasn't as historical as 2007, but Cain has the best career ERA+ (118) among pitchers who have started at least 100 games and have a career winning percentage below .450 (Cain's is .411). He had a 3.35 ERA in the second half although his strikeout rate dipped. It is doubtful the Giants will trade him, but there have been rumors of a Milwaukee trade for Prince Fielder, and I believe the Giants would be remiss not to very seriously consider that one because they've proven they can develop pitching, but their track record with everyday players is notoriously atrocious. Sidebar: Fielder is hitting .444/.500/.704 with two homers in 27 at bats at AT&T Park. J.J. Hardy hit eight more homers than the Giants' leader, and he's a shortstop. Barry Zito (184th, 142, -66%) was 97th in ERA among 108 starters who threw at least 140 innings in 2008. His ERA rose from 3.83 to 4.53 (+70 points) in his first season with the Giants and from 4.53 to 5.15 (+62 points) this season. While my name isn't Mychael Urban, the Giants did win six of his final eight starts. He had a 3.15 ERA during the month of September while improving on his strikeout rate. Jonathan Sanchez (165th, 152, +1,398%) had an ERA over 5.00 just like Zito, but it's amazing what a difference $14.105 million (their salary differential) can make. Sanchez did strikeout almost one better per inning and had a 3.97 ERA in the first half, but he really struggled in July and September. He needs to do a better job of working ahead of batters to set up his devastating out pitches, but he needs to also be more comfortable not trying to strike everyone out. Kevin Correia (422nd, 72, -7%) had a disappointing 2008, going 3-8 with a 6.05 ERA. His future as a journeyman long reliever appears relatively set in stone at this point as he's been given ample opportunity to prove it by the Giants. Patrick Misch (656th, 36, +3%) started seven games for the Giants and had a 5.68 ERA and will mostly be a mop-up artist. Noah Lowry missed the entire 2008 season and has not thrown a pitch since late August of 2007. He recently had another setback and won't be able pitch in a live game until March, at the earliest. The Giants' have a $6.25 million club option for 2010 on Lowry ,and the odds on them picking that up will be predicated on him showing some signs of health in 2009. Relief Pitching Brian Wilson (96th, 192, +2,257%) was an All-Star despite a 4.58 ERA in the first half of the season. He struggled at home with a 6.23 ERA but had a 2.60 ERA on the road. Wilson's K/9 rate of 9.67 is solid but pretty middle of the road among closers. He also had the toughest time getting righties out as they hit .320/.381/.508 against him. There is a nice young collection of relievers behind Wilson, and he should be a candidate to be dealt in a package for a slugger. Keiichi Yabu (503rd, 59, +22%) had a 3.57 ERA in 68 innings of work and was excellent against righties (.549 OPS against). Other than a rough patch in June and July, he was one of the Giants' most reliable relievers. Tyler Walker (547th, 52, -43%) had a 4.56 ERA but was much better on the road (3.07 vs 6.38). Jack Taschner (604th, 43, +2%) still can't reclaim his 2005 success, but his ERA of 4.88 represented an improvement. He gives up way too many hits and walks and isn't nearly as effective against lefties as he'd need to be to fall into that specialist category. Alex Hinshaw (588th, 46, +6%) made his big league debut this season and had a nice 3.40 ERA while striking out 10.66 batters per nine innings, edging out even Lincecum in that category as the best on the club. Only David Robertson of the Yankees had a better strikeout rate among first year pitchers. Billy Sadler (638th, 39, +4%) got 44.3 innings of work in and posted a 4.06 ERA while striking out nearly one batter per inning. He didn't give up a single run in 6.2 September innings and was one of the only Giants' relievers who was able to retire lefties (.594 OPS). Sergio Romo (571st, 48, +8%) had a 2.12 ERA in 34 innings during his first big league work. Lefties were unable to figure him out at all, hitting .083/.170/.125 against him. Merkin Valdez (797th, 20, +0%) and Jesse Foppert were supposed to become what Lincecum and Cain have now become, but while the latter had a 7.62 ERA in 41.1 innings back in the Giants' system in Fresno, Valdez had a 1.69 ERA in 16.0 innings. His season was unfortunately derailed by a strained elbow and he figures to be a key contributor in 2009 if he can stay healthy. - Christopher Reina is the executive editor of RealGM