Spring training is but a wink of a young girl's eye away, and not many eyebrows have been raised this off-season. The Giants signed a few, jettisoned a few, and sailed through a very calm arbitration sea, without spending outrageously (or being total tightwads). Tejada signed for a year. I shrugged. Renteria felt insulted and went to Cincinnati. I clipped my fingernails. Pablo Sandoval ran into Rich Aurilia at a shopping mall in Arizona, told him that he lost 20 lbs, then promptly headed into T.G.I.Friday's for a Chocolatini. Ho hum.
Suddenly, pitchers and catchers report in two weeks, and the Giants off-season was like one of those days at the office where you're relatively productive but don't do anything dazzling, dash home right at five, and enjoy a sensible dinner before flossing and getting to bed at a reasonable hour. I would say that standing pat is typical for a World Series winning team, but this is the first one I've ever known intimately. I'll say it anyway - mostly because I like saying "World Series winning team" when referring to the Giants.
The drama is coming. Things will prove to be a bit more interesting when Spring Training starts and the position players and the lineup will solidifies. There are some locks on the team, but several spots in the infield and outfield are still up in the air.
The biggest question marks:
Brandon Belt: The happy ending to Spring Training would be for Brandon to win a starting job, then continue the Buster Posey tradition of winning Rookie of the Year and a World Series. But we've had first base prospects win starting jobs before. J.R. Phillips, anybody? Knowing Bochy, he won't want to force the issue, especially with Aubrey Huff coming back, who, like Belt, can play both first and in the outfield.
Pat Burrell: Depending on how the Belt-Huff situation affects the outfield, "The Bat" could either be starting in the outfield or riding the bench. With Uribe gone, however, Burrell's power becomes much more valuable. I think the 2011 team needs his offense.
Mark DeRosa: One of the biggest mysteries, since, because of his wrist injury, we haven't seen him since Jon Bowker was on the team.. DeRosa is probably the most versatile Giant when healthy and could end up in the outfield or the infield depending on the Giants' biggest need.
Pablo Sandoval: He needs more discipline at the plate! (Get it?) Panda's well-documented fitness drama seems to be at the center of which Pablo Sandoval we'll see in 2011. While I don't expect him to be entirely out of the order, I don't see him earning a spot any higher than sixth in the lineup, at least to start thing off.
And one lousy month of Spring Training is supposed to decide all this? I can see it deciding if DeRosa is healthy or determining if Freddy Sanchez is fully recovered from his surgery. But to decide if Panda is back or if Belt is ready for a starting job? Seems like a couple dozen meaningless games is too small a sample. Issues like these will continue to evolve after the season starts.
I know you're supposed to lead with your best foot, but the season is 162 grueling games long. It's not such a big deal if the lineup on opening day isn't the lineup on the last game - Just ask the 2010 Giants. The opening day outfield for your world champions? DeRosa, Rowand and Bowker. A distant memory. In the post season, the shuffling continued at a frenzied pace, as quick-change artist Bruce Bochy put Scheirholtz and Ishikawa in the starting lineup as the circumstance dictated. Bochy taught all us doubters that consistency isn't necessarily the best thing when it comes to baseball.
No matter what happens this spring, expect the lineup musical chairs to continue in the summer.
haha, "plate", I get it.
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