Burrell is back with Giants

Aubrey Huff gets his wish! The Giants will bring back "The Bat" for 1 year / $1M plus incentives reportedly. Not bad if he repeats his .266-18-51 line. When Burrell is hot, it seems like he can carry the middle of the order for a month. When he's cold, well the results in the playoffs speak for themselves. I'm still glad the old gang returns mostly intact.

Reports are coming out that Juan Uribe was offered a matching deal by the Giants, but he was "impressed" that the Dodgers pursued him early and often once the season ended and the free-agent festivities began. Here's a news flash for Mr. Uribe and his agent -- the reason the Dodgers front office had a lot of free time on their hands is as a result of not making the playoffs -- they had more free time in October-early November  to plan out their FA strategy. The Giants staff had other concerns -- like planning a World Series parade -- and might have been a bit justified in taking a little bit of a post-season breather to decompress before jumping back to work on next season's roster. Apparently, Juan got his nose a little out of joint over the lack of attention. Greeeaaaatttt.

The Giants will turn their attention to the arbitration cases left on the roster. Reports indicate Johnathan Sanchez, Ramon Martinez, Javier Lopez, Santiago Casilla, Andres Torres and Cody Ross will be pursued. Reliever Chris Ray and utility IF Mike Fontenot may not be re-signed.

Giants may still be looking into acquiring SS's Jason Bartlett or J.J Hardy if the Twins do not tender an offer his way.

Uribe to Dodgers?? It's just business I guess

It looks as if the "it's just business" angle can work both ways. The Giants wave bye-bye to Renteria. And now it looks as if Juan Uribe will join the Dodgers for 3 years - $21M.

( Note: Uribe was a Type B free agent and was offered arbitration, so the Giants should receive a supplemental draft pick if Uribe signs with the Dodgers )

Not to be out-done, the Giants reportedly picked up the phone and dialed the agent of Yankees free-agent SS Derek Jeter, who turned his nose up at the Yankees offer of 3 years - $45M. I'd rather have Uribe's next three years, for the money discussed.

So minus Renteria and soon to be minus Uribe, who is going to play SS for the Giants next year. Manny Burriss? Ehire Adrianza? Brandon Crawford? Charlie Culberson? Probably too soon for either of these prospects, so it's off to Free Agent land we go.

Japanese SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka will apparently be heading to Minnesota. The Giants were reportedly in the running there.

Jason Bartlett and Marco Scutaro seem to be the best fits and front runners so far.

The ex-NY contingent of Jeter and Jose Reyes will be too costly in terms of contract (for Jeter) and / or prospects for Reyes. Neither one is a really good fit IMO.

Stephen Drew would be ideal, but also costly to get and pay for. Plus the D-Backs would have to be fundamentally opposed to trading him within the division.

Padres Miguel Tejeda would seem to be the next best alternative, but do the Giants really want a link to the PED past after last years cleansing of the franchise's image? Not a good PR fit.

I say go hard after Bartlett or Scutaro and see what happens. The Rays have a replacement waiting in the wings for Bartlett in Reid Brignac, so the price to get him should not be too high.

Next stop the Hot Stove League. So Soon?

It is a bad sign of the time when we are even discussing such matters before the Giants even have a chance to nurse their World Series hangover and before the San Francisco city parade. Can fans at least take a breath from the end of one season to savor, enjoy and take stock of the season past before turning to the business side of the next season? Shouldn't we allow to fans to riot, burn stuff in their neighborhood and tip over a car or two before we move on? Is that too much to ask?

And seriously Frisco fans are you people congenitally stupid or what? The best day in the history of sports for your city and you act like this when you have lived under the fecal stain that is Nancy Pelosi FOR YEARS with nary a whimper? You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves. I'm ashamed to be associated with you as a fellow Giants fan. Both for pillaging your own neighborhood and for harboring Pelosi. Act like you have the brains you were born with people.

All sports seem to go here with this sort of problem. So it's not exclusive to baseball.

In hockey, it seemed like even before the Chicago Blackhawks Dustin Byfueglin had time to capitalize or bask in the glory of being a Stanley Cup icon, the team had to literally dismantle said champion to get under the onerous salary cap rules.

There almost needs to be a "to the victor, goes the spoils" exception, similar to the Larry Bird or franchise exceptions of the past, whereby you can sign your franchise icons -- even if you go over the cap -- if your team wins it all. What could be more "fan-friendly" than that?

And we all know these guys are all about being fan friendly, right?

Yeah, Riiiiiiiight!!!

It is all about the Benjamin's. Franklin's that is, not Bernanke's.

Hey Edgar Renteria, you just won the World Series, what's next?

I'm going to Disney Wor....I mean, I'm going to free-agency?

This is the business end of the sport. At $10.5M with a body that was breaking down last year, the Giants will take a step back with Edgar and a step forward with Team Sabean & Bochy. And that makes sense.

As for the others:

Jose Guillen - GONE!! And take those DHL...er HGH packages with you. DANG FOOL!!!
Pat Burrell - Probably gone. Maybe back to the couch until May.
Jose Uribe - BACK
Aubrey Huff - BACK, BACK, BACK, BACK
Guillermo Mota - BACK, if you can afford him. Someone may overpay and promote him.

The arbs other than Fontenot and Chris Ray were significant pieces, keep 'em happy and see if they continue to develop.

But Sabean and Bochy know that. The rings are proof.

From mlbtraderumors.com

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2010/11/giants-notes-.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+MlbTradeRumors+(MLB+Trade+Rumors)

Giants Notes: Sabean, Bochy, Renteria

By Tim Dierkes [November 2, 2010 at 7:48am CST]

You just won the World Series. What are you doing next? A few notes from the Giants' celebration...

Giants president Larry Baer and owner Bill Neukom are expected to have discussions about extending the contracts of manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean, writes Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Both are under contract through 2011 with club options for '12.

World Series MVP Edgar Renteria remains undecided about playing next year, reports Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. Given the free agent market for shortstops, the 34-year-old would be able to find work. He's already filed for free agency; the team buying out his $10.5MM club option for $500K is a formality.

The Giants' other free agents, all of whom already filed: Jose Guillen, Pat Burrell, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, and Guillermo Mota. They've got eight players eligible for arbitration: Andres Torres, Jonathan Sanchez, Ramon Ramirez, Mike Fontenot, Santiago Casilla, Cody Ross, Chris Ray, and Javier Lopez.

From the list of potential free agents out there, I like Jayson Werth of the Phillies as a good fit for a lot of reasons. He would bring the kind of pop that Pat Burrell gave the Giants, only more consistently. A side bonus, addition to the Giants while at the same time subtraction from the rival Phillies.

Bring on the Hot Stove League.

Wait a minute, what just happened here? I'm not sure how that picture got there. A virus perhaps? This is not the type of behavior we condone here at this blog even if it appears to be remotely linked to the subject at hand.

Clearly not appropriate or safe attire for the preparation of scalding hot food and food by-products. Is this what passes for culinary arts education in the public schools nowadays? What a scathing indictment of the system.

People, please if your cooking at home, or even if you're all by yourself....remember to wear a smock or an apron.

San Francisco Giants - 2010 World Series Champions!!!!

Brian Wilson ends World Series with 'most special' signal to dad

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Brian-Wilson-ends-World-Series-with-most-specia?urn=mlb-281783

Over the past few seasons, Brian Wilson has ended dozens of games the same way that he did on Monday night at Game 5 of the World Series.

It's a routine well-known to baseball fans. After recording the final out of a ballgame, the San Francisco Giants closer turns away from the plate, crosses his foreams in front of his chest and quickly looks toward the sky. It's a MMA signal that he says he adopted and adapted to honor both his late father — who passed away from cancer when Brian was only 17 — and his Christian faith.

After the celebration had calmed down somewhat, I asked the closer with the dyed beard he won't admit to if this signal meant more than the others he's made in the past.

His answer was not surprising.

"This one was the most special, sure" he said. "It showed that hard work really does pay off. That's what my dad always taught me."

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - 2010 WORLD CHAMPIONS

Remember, you heard it here first.

http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2010/04/pre-season-mlb-predictions-2010.html

NL Championship:

Giants stomp the daylights out of the Phillies, setting up, YES, my ultimate World Series for 2010. The Giants and the Rays.

In that match-up - the Giants sweep the Rays, four straight.

I didn't get the dream match up I wanted in the pre-season, I guess I will just have to settle for The Dream coming true.

The St. Pete Times columnist John Romano summed it up well, and I'm sure others will too. It was about the wait. The long excruciating wait. And getting off the futility list. As we watched the Red Sox, the White Sox and now, at last, the Giants.

San Francisco's crown has finally arrived
By John Romano, Times Sports Columnist

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/ml/san-francisco-giants-are-unlikely-world-series-champions/1131716

The past decade has been about reparations in Major League Baseball. It has been payback for millions of fans who endured losses, heartbreaks, curses, mismanagement and far too much bad luck for anyone to recall.

Red Sox fans? Their 86-year wait ended in 2004.

White Sox fans? Salvation came after 88 years in 2005.

And now Giants fans?

In their 53rd season in San Francisco, the Giants have finally won a World Series.

Giants President Larry Baer summed up the feeling of the franchise from the top down.

"It's for everybody who's ever worn a Giants uniform, for every fan that's ever frozen at Candlestick Park, for every person that's ever voted for a new ballpark, for every person who's listened to our games on the radio over the years. That's what this is for. The 2010 Giants delivered on behalf of those people.

"It's on behalf of 53 years of waiting."

This is true as well. Nobody believed in this team even up until the very end.

They are one of the most unlikely World Series champions in history. A team that seemed forever to be chasing someone else. They were behind the Padres in May, behind the Padres and Dodgers in June and behind the Padres, Dodgers and Rockies in July.

The knuckleheads on the local ESPN station were giddy announcing the Rangers plans to pitch Cliff Lee last night and bring him back on short rest to pitch Game 7, because as they put it, "There's no way the Giants can beat Cliff Lee two times". WRONG!!! On so many levels.

- The Giants had already defeated CLiff Lee once. Now twice, counting last night.
- They ignored the crucial question: How were the Rangers going to beat Tim Lincecum? JUST ONCE MAYBE.
- They ignored the question of how the Rangers were going to beat Matt Cain, in a potential Game Six.

And now they are left to cancel their flight plans for San Francisco, virtually guaranteed by new Rangers hot shot CEO Chuck Greenberg.

"This series: It is going back to San Francisco," Greenberg told the Ben & Skin Show on ESPN 103.3 FM in Dallas. "There's gonna be a Game 6. There's going to be a Game 7. Let's all hang in there and keep believing.

Maybe he can get a free bag of nuts from the charter service for his troubles. No Game 6. No Game 7.

In the end, this may have been the difference between these two teams. The Giants franchise by virtue of their past, know full well the experience best described philosophically by FSU football coach Bobby Bowden, "Not Enough Wide Rights": "They haven't had enough 'wide rights' yet. You have to get kicked around enough in the big ones to learn how to win them."

The Giants franchise finally learned how to win the big one, instead of the kick sailing wide right. They've sure been kicked around enough in the past.

In the end, Romano sums it up pretty well. I don't want to compare and contrast heartache with anyone and I'm glad that, in this area, I no longer have to. But I feel the Cubs fans pain. And the Indians, and now the Rangers, who move up the list. And the Astros, who enter the back end of the list.

Their heartache was not as celebrated as Boston's, and their wait was not as long as Chicago's.

But that does not mean the path was any less painful for those who lived it.

For those who saw Game 7 of the 1962 World Series end when McCovey lined out to Bobby Richardson with two on and two out in the ninth inning of a 1-0 loss to the Yankees.

For those who lived through the earthquake and World Series sweep by Oakland in 1989, and those who saw the Giants come within five outs of winning the 2002 World Series in Game 6 before manager Dusty Baker prematurely pulled Russ Ortiz.

Peter Magowan, who was the leader of the ownership group that purchased the Giants in 1992 and kept Vince Naimoli from buying the franchise and moving it to Tropicana Field, walked through the clubhouse Monday night hugging player after player.

"For a lot of people in San Francisco, this is the happiest day of their lives," said Magowan, who is now Giants president emeritus.

Maybe the happiest day in their sports lives. But yes.

So who would have thought that this team -- of all Giants teams -- would be the one to win it? It's why we watch, and why we play the games, because you just never know.

After all of the close calls and all the losing seasons, the deed was finally done by a group of players who refer to themselves as the Dirty Dozen. They have an ace with long hair, and a closer with a dyed beard. They have a third baseman who looks like Kung Fu Panda, and a first baseman with lucky undergarments from Victoria's Secret.

They are misfits, runts and castoffs. Their highest-paid player did not even make the Series roster, and their cleanup hitter was acquired on waivers a couple of months ago.

"Those Giants teams with Willie Mays and McCovey had four Hall of Famers on those teams," outfielder Aaron Rowand said. "But it takes a lot of luck too."

So, in the end, devotion pays.

Sooner or later, faith is rewarded.

Eventually, hope is not in vain.

What a wonderful take away message. How wonderful a day it must be for Edgar Renteria who endured the criticisms from many corners, including this one, about the worthiness of the contract? Well, I won't question it any more. It was well worth it and I'm so happy for him. Redemption is a wonderful thing.

And for Brian Sabean, who endured the criticism from many corners, including this one, about some of the moves he made to get the team here. Unfortunately for Brian, I can't guarantee that they will not continue. It kind of goes with the territory. But for now, actually forever really, he only needs to point to whatever finger this World Series ring ends up on and he will forever hold the ultimate mute key. Dang it, Life is so not fair.

BTW, How cool a day is it for Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy? World Champions and he'll just be chatting about it with Willie Mays. How cool is that?

Mike Murphy was a batboy in old Seals Stadium when the Giants played their first game in San Francisco in 1958. That happened to be the day he met a future Hall of Famer named Willie Mays. Murphy would go on to work for the Giants for the next 52 years, and continues to run the clubhouse as the equipment manager.

"There's a whole potful of people who have never been through this," Murphy said. "I wish they all could see it. It's a great feeling. You feel like you're sitting on top of the world.

"As a matter of fact, I'm going to call Willie right now."

It is a great feeling.

You do feel like you are sitting on top of the world.

You do feel like anything is possible today because of what happened yesterday. It's silly really, but true.

As Giants fans, we knew coming down the stretch that this season was going to end in tears.

We just didn't know which type.
We know too well, from many prior years of disappointment, the bitter, stinging tears of defeat.
We know not well, the sweet, liberating tears of joy.
Well now we know....

HOW SWEET IT IS.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - 2010 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS

"Oooo-ree-bay" - Cain is more than able - Redemption for Renteria and Rowand

I'm not sure you could ask for anything more from a game than what the Giants received yesterday. I sat in stunned silence towards the end of it, saying quietly to my wife, "It's as if everything that could go right for the Giants, has gone right". Scary right.

Matt Cain cements his reputation as a top of the rotation, big-time ace pitcher.
Juan Uribe continues to play out of his mind.
Edgar Renteria DOES discover the Marlins post-season magic.
Aaron Rowand delivers a line-drive laser dagger to the 421 sign in right-center.
Buster Posey continues to play Buster Posey like baseball.
The bullpen shows its incredible depth and versatility.

The earlier comparisons to the '69 Amazing NY Mets may not be too over the top. Superior pitching once again. Timely hitting and great defense. Role players coming through when asked. Even down to an opposition potential HR hitting the top of the wall and -- instead of bouncing over the wall the ball bounces back into the field of play, seemingly violating all laws of nature and/or physics. Brings back memories of the 1973 Mets and the "Ball on the Wall" play.

from ultimatemets.com
1973 Regular Season Game 153
September 20, 1973
Mets 4, Pirates 3

http://www.ultimatemets.com/gamedetail.php?gameno=1939&tabno=B

Karma? Magic? Catching lightning in a bottle? Team of destiny? I don't care, take your pick. Call it what you will. I just know its starting to feel real. I can only remember feeling like this about the '69 and to a lesser extent the '73 Mets. (A lesser extent because the '73 Mets lost the World Series, after being perhaps the least deserving team on paper to ever appear in a World Series). The Rangers have had everything go wrong for them short of having a black cat walk past their dugout.

METS V. CUBS 9/9/1969 - THE BLACK CAT GAME

I thought it very Tim McCarver like of Tim McCarver to deliver the stupidest line of the evening. Late in the game, after the Rangers bullpen blowout, he delivers a gem along the lines of "Well pitching is winning this game for the Giants, but not theirs". Is that right? Correct me if I'm wrong Timmy-boy but the score before the meltdown was 1-0. The Rangers ended the evening still stuck on 0. I think the Giants pitching did more than their fair share in winning this game for the Giants by virtue of the fact that -- by pitching a shutout - they guarantee that you don't lose. At worst, we would still be playing. Therefore, I think the Giants pitching did in fact win the game for the Giants, the Rangers pitching just made the game less artistic --something more akin to a Spring Training "B" game for the last couple of innings.

Granted the Giants caught a bit of a break when Wilson raised a blister, but that may be symptomatic of the problem the Rangers are facing. The scene from Hoosiers where the coach measures the height of the basket at the big time arena and tells his players "Same height as the basket you guys are used to". What got you here should be good enough to get you through. It seems as if perhaps the blister may have raised from squeezing the ball a little tighter, trying to get a little extra movement or a little extra break. In baseball, if you take care of the little things, the big things fall into place. The Rangers are feeling the effect in a negative sense.

Last night, the Rangers relievers had the same look of awe that the Hoosiers team did when they first walked into the big-time arena. Awe-struck and feeling out of place. We'll see if some home cooking set their minds right and puts the wheels back on the cart.

HOOSIERS. CLASSIC!!!

The same thing when the reliever threw 13-14 straight balls (I lost count). Then the deer in the headlights look. The 'WTF is going on?' countenance. The wheels came off and they couldn't put them back on. The next reliever did the same thing. Overcompensation.

I see this a lot in HS or PONY ball. A kid throws a pretty, picture-perfect breaking ball. Then the next one he tries to make it break even better than the last one. Better than perfect. And drives it into the dirt, or hangs it. Overcompensation. Instead of just repetition. Repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat. Over and over again. It's the root meaning of the word mechanics. To be machine-like, perform the same act -- over and over again, the same way each time, with mind-blowing repetition and efficiency.

Whatever it is, the Giants seems to have it and the Rangers don't.
At least for now.

Maybe it's because the Giants have had to play all season on a razor-thin margin of error due to the lack of offense. They've played 'playoff-like' baseball -- minus the playoff intensity -- all season. Now, it's just second nature. I noticed in the Matt Cain post game interview that the first thing Cain did was deflect credit from his own efforts to those of catcher Buster Posey. This is a trait that this team has demonstrated throughout the playoffs. The glory is shared and spread around liberally. Its a nice quality for a teammate to have.

The next game may be the first pitching match-up in a while where I don't think we have an advantage. And that's only because of Sanchez' last outing. Before that he was beginning to show signs of elevating to near the Cain / Lincecum level as a shut down starter. If he comes up big-time / lights out on the road, that will be the start he will be linked to for a long time. If it's anything near the meltdown versus Philadelphia, it will take him a while to shake the hit to his reputation. So Jonathan is -- fairly or unfairly -- facing a World Series opponent on the field as well as one between his ears. He has to contain his emotions and direct /focus them in a positive direction. If he does that, he can carry the franchise one step closer to the prize.

GO GIANTS!!!

You-Ree-Bay does it again!!!.....Torture never felt so sweet!!!

Juan Uribe comes through for the Giagntes again. And in doing so he gives the network and the nation what could be billed as the 'Futility World Series'. Both franchises have long recent histories of NOT finalizing the dream. Of NOT getting this far. There are no Yankees or Red Sox here. Just a battle of the two League Championship underdogs. The Giants and the Rangers. HOW SWEET IT IS...

These are opportunities that do not come around very often in the life of a franchise. I understand the time-worn cliche that gets tossed around after a team's season has ended "Wait 'til next year". It's what you're supposed to say in that situation. The reality is, on this level, the wait tends to be measured in decades. We may just as well be saying "Wait 'til next decade".

Don't believe me? Since 1969 when the divisional format was put in place -- a total of 42 seasons -- The Giants have appeared in the Championship Series with an opportunity to play in the World Series a total of six times. A rate of once every seven years.

In 1971, they lost to the Pirates 3-1. As a twelve-year old fan, I listened to many of the games on the radio in school and then ran home to see the end of the game still in progress.

In 1987, the next appearance, sixteen years later, losing to the Cardinals 4-3.

In 1989, we beat the Cubs 4-1 to advance to the World Series.

In the 1990's, no appearances at all. Maybe to make up for the two appearance in the 1980's.

In 2002, the Giants beat the Cardinals 4-2 to advance to the World Series.

And now, 2010 they subdue the Phillies 4-2, to advance to the World Series once again. Perhaps the third time will be the charm.

But once every seven years, just to play for the opportunity to get to the World Series. Six chances in 42 seasons. Three World Series appearances now in the last 42 seasons. Oh-for-two so far. Again, perhaps the third time will be the charm.

GIANTS WORLD SERIES APPEARANCES

1962 vs. New York Yankees
1989 vs. Oakland A's
2002 vs. Anaheim Angels
2010 vs. Texas Rangers

I was just a little Bambino Giants fan in 1962 ( three years old ), so I have no real recollection of that series. However, it was within my lifetime. And my dad related how close the Giants came to winning that series, only to fall short. So just as I feel the spine tingling joy and elation whenever I see the immortal "Shot Heard 'Round the World", I feel the pain of that series in my heart.

So close. "Next year, we'll do it". Each year that our team is finally eliminated from contention, those words are the salve we rub on the wound to our heart. The wound just gets greater each year. And becomes harder to heal. The cumulative build up of pain and trauma from each passing year or decade of failure.

Yahoo Sports Steve Henson reviews the Giants painful World Series futility as follows:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-nlcsgamesix102310

Uribe draws strength from late cousin

The Giants have yet to win a World Series since moving to San Francisco from New York in 1958. They lost in seven games to the Yankees in 1962 when Willie McCovey’s line drive with two outs in the ninth inning of the finale found a glove instead of a gap. They lost in seven games in 2002 to the Angels, memorable for the Giants’ Game 6 collapse and manager Dusty Baker’s 3-year-old son getting whisked away from home plate by J.T. Snow(notes).

And they were swept by the Oakland Athletics in 1989, a World Series remembered mostly for the 7.1 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake that shook Candlestick Park moments before Game 3 was to begin. Jose Uribe was there, a singles hitter and slick fielder, a fan favorite and a lively presence in the clubhouse. A 10-year-old Juan Uribe watched on television.

What he also touched upon here and elaborated on further earlier in the story was the link between Juan Uribe and former Giants SS Jose Uribe, who died in 2006. I was not aware of the link between the two, although I wondered about it many times.

The great thing about the World Series is some of these rich, beautiful stories are allowed to come forward and flourish. On the national stage.

Uribe described his emotions throughout the game and the Series and it may in part answer the question as to how he is able to be such a clutch performer for these Giants.

(Jose) Uribe was the shortstop on the Giants’ 1989 World Series team and a cousin of current Giants infielder Juan Uribe before he died in a car crash in the family’s Dominican Republic hometown of Juan Baron in 2006. He taught Juan how to play baseball, taught Juan to love the Giants, and when Juan circled the bases Saturday night after hitting the eighth-inning home run that sent the Giants to another World Series, Jose was in his heart.

“God helped me a lot, and my (cousin) helped me a lot,” Juan Uribe said softly in a quiet corner of a raucous visiting locker room at Citizens Bank Park, his eyes red from emotion, his body soaked with bubbly. “I love him. He taught me everything. He’s with me today.

So there you go, Uribe flies into Giants lore on the wings of his cousin. I always knew he was clutch, now I know the rest of the story. (apologies to the late Paul Harvey)

Uribe produced the winning run twice in the National League Championship Series, and his opposite-field blast on a changeup by Ryan Madson(notes) took out the two-time defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies once and for all, by a 3-2 score in Game 6. It was as close to a legendary “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” moment this star-crossed franchise has had since Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard Around the World in 1951.

So baseball fans nationally will not get the Yankees. They will not get the Phillies. And if perhaps they turn the channel away from this series en masse -- in anger over this being a seemingly less than marquee match-up -- they may miss one of the more competitive, evenly matched World Series in recent history. And one that will have some rather compelling story lines.

"We had such a diversity of contributions from everybody," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Not bad for a bunch of castoffs and misfits."

The Rangers clearly seem to have a more potent offense. The Giants will counter with their strengths, starting pitching and bullpen depth. Both teams fight hard and compete extremely well. The Rangers did not walk past the Rays and Yankees in succession without good reason. The fact is, they seemingly buzz-sawed right through both teams. Teams that I thought were pretty much 1-2 going into the playoffs.

So the Giants may be underdogs in this match-up as well. That's OK.

"We fought, we scratched and clawed," said Giants left fielder Pat Burrell, who won a championship ring with the Phillies in 2008. "I don't know how we did it but we did it."

Clearly, I think that's the situation they are most comfortable being in.

“Right now it’s heaven, but it was torture for that final strike,” Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff said.

From torture to heaven in one pitch. HOW ABOUT THAT?? That's baseball.

The San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers - 2010 World Series.
Now that's sweet.
PLAY BALL!!!

Giants sign Juan Uribe...Yippee!!!

According to MLBTradeumors.com, the Giants reached an agreement with Juan Uribe, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. The deal is pending a physical.

This could move Mark DeRosa's bat into the OF more times than not and upgrade the anemic offensive production that came from the Giants OF's last year.

Uribe and DeRosa certainly give Bochy great flexibility defensively as both players carry many gloves in their bag. Uribe was also the Giants most productive bat in the lineup after Sandoval for a great part of 2009.

Looks like that crosses a Dan Uggla deal off the to-do list (good). Matt Holliday likely moves off the list after the Jason Bay signing (too rich for even Mr. Sabean).
Other than a veteran catcher to provide insurance in the event Buster Posey starts the year in AAA, the Giants could pretty much stand pat.