The Giants made decent strides towards a return to respectability, even playoff contention in 2009. Now the hard part, maintaining that plus .500 level of competitiveness that gets a team into the playoffs once every few years.
Other than a banger like Matt Holliday, I'm not sure the help comes from the outside. Signing Juan Uribe to a one year deal makes sense, anything more makes him fat and lazy, ask the Pale Hose. If they are looking at Mark DeRosa seriously I would say, PLEASE NO!! Not DeRosa and Uribe. One or the other. DeRosa would just be a younger version of Rich Aurilia--a roster clogging, aging veteran that Sabean seems to love.
The real help will come from the John-Barr-Fred Stanley drafting and development of future Giants stars. And they are in the pipeline. Hopefully they mature before the big decisions on Lincecum and Matt Cain come due.
As things stand right now the Giants farm system is looking at the following harvest:
2010 Contributors
We should begin to see LHP Madison Bumgarner show the flashes of a top of the rotation starting pitcher. C Buster Posey needs to grab the catcher position by the throat and stake his claim to be one of the face of the franchise for the next ten years or more. 3B Conor Gillaspie needs to show the hitting form that should make him a solid .300 plus hitter. OF Roger Kieschnick needs to demonstrate the near five-tool potential and take hold of one of the corner OF spots.
LHP Joe Patterson could be this years Dan Runzler and jet through the organization and make a contribution. Dan Runzler needs to demonstrate that last years meteoric rise through the organization was not a fluke. Other potential set-up/closer candidates like Jose Casilla and Waldis Joaquin need to show more than Henry Sosa has so far.
The 25 and ups like LHP Craig Clark, RHP Danny Otero, RHP Kyle Nicholson and RHP Henry Sosa along with Runzler need to make solid contributions. They are too old to play in the sandbox of the minor leagues. If that's their fate, they move from prospects to suspects. RHP Daniel Turpen has one more year of grace. Most of these guys (exception is Sosa) were collegiate pitchers so we may be faced with a few cases of WYSIWYG. No higher ceiling to elevate to.
2011 Contributors
2B Nick Noonan, OF Thomas Neal, SS Brandon Crawford, OF Francisco Peguera and SS Ehire Adrianza have shown enough flashes of potential to whet the appetite but some red flags as well. All have to prove their abilities at the AA level or above, hopefully this year in order to pave the way for an impact in 2011.
Moving from prospect to suspect rapidly
LHP Clayton Tanner, LHP Aaron King, SS-2B Charlie Culberson and OF Wendell Fairley. All have shown flashes of potential, just not enough of it.
Rookies and Teens to Watch
The 2010 draftees RHP Zach Wheeler, C Tommy Joseph and 3B Chris Dominguez signed late and did not play at any level where their statistics could be properly evaluated.
The teen squad includes RHP Luis Mateo, OF Rafael Rodriguez and C Hector Sanchez have not played higher than the Rookie / Short Season level, but the early returns on Rodriguez and Sanchez are pretty good so far. Mateo's statistics are off the radar screen.
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