"Giant" 2010 Comes to a Close

Well, with how things were looking at this point last year, I would have called you crazy if you would have told me the Giants would have become World Champs in the 2010 season, and as good as this year was to the Giants, all good things must come to an end. 2010 is in it's waning moments, bringing an end to the Giants memorable run in 2010, but also indicating we're only about 6 weeks away from starting it all up again, and this time, I think Giants fans will be ready for anything.

2010 was up-and-down year for the Orange and Black for much of the first half of the season, and even through a lot of the 2nd half, but as they often say in regards to a Baseball team especially, the regular season is a marathon and it's not how you start, it's how you finish. The Giants finished the year off strong, and cruised right the playoffs, without having to force any series' the full 5 or 7 games, and that's something we can never forget. Not only did the Giants win the World Series this year, they dominated the postseason with that pitching and clutch hitting, and showed you exactly why pitching and defense can prevail, when you have just enough offense. For the first time in their San Francisco tenure, the Giants will enter a year and a season in which they'll have the targets on their backs, at least for the NL teams, and after the quick and precise early offseason planning by Brian Sabean and Co., they have already put themselves in position as NL West favorites, and right now, there really isn't a team in the NL that I think can take the Giants in a postseason series.

Now, that all is moot unless the Giants make the playoffs, which they have to focus on first. As I said, right now, it seems like all NL West teams, outside of the Giants, are scrambling a bit as the offseason winds down. The Padres are nowhere near the team that they were in 2010, and the Dodgers seem to lose somebody important every time they add someone of significance, so they just seem to keep running in place. The one wild-card this division still has though are those darn Rockies, who got Jorge De La Rosa back to keep their rotation in place and have an plethora of young hitters throughout the roster, an area where they have the Giants beat. As good as Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt have the potential to be, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez are MVP-caliber ballplayers and have already established themselves at this level. Still though, right now, I think the Giants are an all-around deeper ball-club than Colorado, and still have the upper hand in the pitching department, by far. And again, there's still about a 7 weeks left before teams report to Florida and Arizona for Spring, and there are a lot of admirable free agents still out there. Sabean has said the Giants are still actively seeking a left-handed hitting outfielder, a infielder with versatility and strong defense up the middle, and possibly another starting pitcher/long reliever candidate to add some depth to the rotation, so stay tuned!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year, and then time to go repeat in 2011!