#8. The San Francisco Giants
Team Ace: Matt Cain
Most Valuable Position Player: Buster Posey
Breakout Candidate: Brandon Belt
Notable Offseason Additions:
Notable Offseason Losses: Melky Cabrera
Biggest Team Weakness: First Base
The Giants took the “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it ” philosophy in the offseason, resigning all of the players that made an impact during their run to a second World Series victory in three years. The team still doesn’t look dominant on paper, but their consistency and chemistry go a long way. Buster Posey won the MVP award as a weapon on offense and defense. Matt Cain threw a perfect game last season as the team’s ace, with young gun Madison Bumgarner as a close number two.
You can’t expect a guy like Marco Scutaro to repeat his 2012 production, Posey should have some regression, and not having Melky Cabrera around anymore will resulting in a drop of offensive production for the team as a whole during the regular season. Their bullpen is also a bit of a mess. They have a nice group of pitchers, but none have an impressive track record of closing out games.
Prospect Brandon Belt hasn’t looked like much of anything in his first two seasons in the majors, but if he can get his average up to around .280 with 15-20 home runs he’ll be at the level the Giants have been expecting. This would help fill in any offensive holes the team has. A second coming of Tim Lincecum’s dominance would also help the team stay in games when they have trouble putting up runs.
Fresh Out The Deli 