San Francisco Giants - The 2007 Season

Giants Roster

The Giants potentially have a good rotation, but their bullpen looks like rubbish at the moment and their lineup, though certainly having a lot of experience, will be mediocre at best. In the Central they might have a shot, but there are three better teams in the West and they shouldn't be a factor.

Giants Pitching

The Giants' pitching staff's largest and most expensive offseason acquisition was Barry Zito, who hit 13 batters for the A's last season, but has never plunked Craig Biggio. He'll join Matt Morris, who hit Biggio with a pitch on September 19, 2003 (for the Cardinals), and hit 14 batters last season. The Giants also have Brad Hennessey who plunked 10 in 2006, but has never plunked Biggio. Russ Ortiz is also on the Giants roster, with one career experience plunking Biggio, and another one time plunker of Biggio, Sunny Kim, is also in the Giants camp, but not on the roster.

Giants Offense

Even at 42 years old (43 by season?s end), Barry Bonds will deliver a minimum of 30 home runs and 90 RBI, and will walk an average of once a game. Any player whose career numbers compare favorably to Babe Ruth will command that respect.

The rest of the offense isn?t as formidable. Ryan Klesko may prove to be a good acquisition if he can log substantially more than the four at bats he had in 2006. With a short porch in right field (307 feet), Klesko has the ability to hit 25 home runs and collect 80 RBI, but only if he stays healthy and plays in at least 135 games.

Dave Roberts can steal bases but he is not the all-around hitter he used to be. Second Baseman Ray Durham is coming off the best season of his career (.293, 26 HR and 93 RBI), and the Giants are obviously praying for a repeat performance. Free agent Rich Aurilia is coming off the second-most productive season in his career (.300, 23, 70) and will help a little bit, but he won?t make a significant difference.

Keys to Success

In order for this team to seriously compete in the National League West, they will need the two Barrys to repeat their performances from the 2002 season (when Zito won 23 games and Bonds went for a .370 average, 46 homers and 110 RBI). Neither of those things is a very strong possibility.

Season Synopsis courtesy of http://www.suite101.com
Team summaries courtesy of Brad Krampp, The silhouette - http://www.thesil.ca