Thanks to the a farm system on the rise (prospects like Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval, Angel Villalona, Tim Alderson, Jose Casilla, and Conor Gillaspie are all worth watching) and an underwhelming National League West, the Giants are in just such a position. When your bar is set at, say, just 85 wins or so, then it's possible to win the flag while still tending to the future. The Giants might do just that in 2009.

Last season, the San Francisco finished in fourth place, 12 games back of the division-winning Dodgers. And according to the Giants' runs scored and runs allowed, their record should've been 68-94 rather than their actual mark of 72-90. That's cause for concern. On the other hand, the division is winnable. Sure, the NL West is without a truly awful team, but it's also without a truly great one, or even a very good one.

While the Giants have some ground to make up, the best teams in the division have spent the winter getting worse. The Dodgers have lost Brad Penny, will likely lose Derek Lowe and could possibly be without Manny Ramirez in 2009. The second-place Diamondbacks, meanwhile, won't have Orlando Hudson, Adam Dunn, and Randy Johnson on the roster.

And speaking of Randy Johnson ...

The Giants recently inked Johnson to a bargain one-year, $8-million contract. Last season, Johnson worked 184.0 innings, struck out 173 batters, walked just 44, and posted an ERA of 3.91. That's a solid season. And if you look at the indicators most under Johnson's control — i.e., strikeouts, walks, home runs allowed — then his ERA should have been 3.76. As well, the move to AT&T Park should help Johnson's primary weakness last season: the long ball. Even at age 45, he's going to be an asset in the rotation. There's also the fact that they plucked Johnson from a division rival. So not only did they improve their own rotation, they also made Arizona's worse.

In fact, the Giants' present rotation of Tim Lincecum (reigning NL Cy Young winner), Matt Cain (3.76 ERA and 186 strikeouts as a 23-year-old), Johnson, Jonathan Sanchez (tremendous potential provided his control improves, breakout candidate), and Barry Zito (galactically overpaid but should put up decent numbers by back-of-the-rotation standards) is potentially one of the best in baseball. And that's to say nothing of Noah Lowry, who should be healthy in 2009. Since trading Zito is nigh impossible because of his contract, Lowry may be the guy the Giants shop around.

Jeremy Affeldt, the best lefty reliever on the market this winter, was another canny addition by GM Brian Sabean, and Bobby Howry has strong rebound potential in 2009. So the bullpen also figures to be improved. The offense, however, is another story.

In 2008, the Giants ranked 15th in the NL in runs scored, 13th in OBP, and 15th in slugging. In other words, the lineup did nothing particularly well. Adding Edgar Renteria will help (last season San Francisco shortstops combined to "hit" .228 AVG/.295 OBP/.281 SLG), but they'll miss Ray Durham, who was quite productive before being traded in mid July.

San Fran could use an impact bat at one of the outfield corners. Randy Winn and Fred Lewis, while plus defenders, simply can't hit enough by positional standards. Adam Dunn, who has the secondary skills that almost every Giant hitter lacks, would be a good fit, and since he wasn't offered arbitration he won't cost them a draft pick. With the promising Pablo Sandoval set to take over at first base, the Giants will also need upgrades at either second or third base. Perhaps Orlando Hudson, another former D-back not offered arbitration?

Whatever the solutions, the Giants must better the offense. They're an improved team in a winnable division, but if they're serious about taking the West, then they'll need more pop in the lineup. It's been an outstanding winter for Sabean, but there's more work to do.

San Francisco Giants News News » Rebuilding Giants heading in the right direction
Rebuilding Giants heading in the right direction
The San Francisco Giants are navigating treacherous shoals these days: they're trying to rebuild and contend at the same time. Normally, this is an inadvisable tack. It's difficult to lard the roster with talents ready to contribute now without trading away prospects, devoting too much of the organizational budget to the big-league club, blocking young players on the depth chart, or squandering compensatory draft picks. In the Giants' case, though, they're doing the right thing. MLB Hot Stove