A Giant Leap: What San Francisco Needs to Add to the Roster
The Giants stunned the baseball world with their World Series victory in 2010. They did it with a phenomenal pitching staff and a very subpar lineup. With that said, the Giants lineup must get better if they want to repeat as champions in 2011.
As surprising as it may seem, the Giants organization ranked 9th in Major League Baseball in 2010 in terms of payroll. I personally expected them to rank much lower considering that their lineup was filled with underachievers and average hitters. But, now that the Giants are spending, the pitching staff has peaked with the emergence of Matt Cain, and the bullpen is lights out, they need to improve that lineup.
Statistically, the Giants’ top RBI man in 2010 was Aubrey Huff, with only 86! This is anemic for a middle of the order hitter, and if not for Buster Posey, who knows how bad this lineup would have been? Pablo Sandoval also underperformed this season, as he really needs to get his weight under control. It’s evidently a problem.
Other bright spots in the lineup are leadoff man Andres Torres and Cody Ross’ playoff heroics. But, the Giants lack a dangerous bat in the middle of the lineup to couple with Posey’s tremendous contact ability. Posey will bat third for this team, but here’s two obvious options for the Giants to bolster the lineup…
Carl Crawford
After this season, he’s proven his obvious status as a four tool player. He can hit anywhere between the leadoff spot and three hole in the lineup, imagine him in front or behind of Posey!
He lacks tremendous power, but will hit 15-20 homers a season. Crawford is arguably the fastest player in the league, and reaches base at will with his ability to hit .300 or better. Crawford will demand top bash, but he’s young, and will bring so much to a club who lacks offense.
Not to mention, he’s got an all-star glove, as defense is something the Giants take pride in. As one last mental note, think about how well Crawford will hit the NL West after playing in the AL East his whole career. Look out! Carl Crawford in my opinion is this year’s top offensive free agent.
Jayson Werth: He’s come on strong the last two seasons for Philadelphia.
Now that Werth has proven himself as a great middle of the order man, and wants the contract his numbers portray. Werth has a knack for hitting clutch home runs, as he will most certainly help the Giants next October if he’s there.
Werth’s 30 HR power will make it much more difficult for opposing teams to pitch around Buster Posey as well.
As for his defense, Werth has a cannon for an arm, and will play all three places in the outfield. He’s also remained healthy the majority of his career.
Those are my suggestions for this struggling Giants offense, which really needs to provide some run support for top pitcher Tim Lincecum and his side kick Matt Cain.
This team is loaded with talent and I fully expect them to threaten for years to come. The pitching staff is home-grown with Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner anchoring the bottom of the rotation, but although pitching wins championships, they’ve got to get some bats. I’m sure they will, as the front office has been fantastic.
By: Constantine Madias
