Can somebody tell me why the Giants don't go out and make the big move? It seems like the last time they did that was when the got Barry Bonds from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's not like they don't have the money. They have paid big bucks to the likes of Barry Zito, Edgar Renteria, and Aaron Rowand. And yet, they aren't interested in the top names like Mark Texiera, Jason Bay, and Matt Holiday.

The Giants need hitting badly but they only have themselves to blame. After the Bond's era they wanted to change the look of their team by getting younger and to a certain extent they did that. They have gotten gems like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, and Pablo Sandoval from their farm system. The only problem with that list is the Sandoval is the only hitter. The other youngsters from the system are players like Nate Shierholtz, Fred Lewis, Emmanuel Burris, and Eugenio Velez. They have all shown flashes of brilliance in their appearances at the highest level but in the long run they haven't helped the club much. So if things aren't producing in the minors then you turn to the free agent market. San Francisco did this but instead of getting the top guns they get the late thirties, past there prime players that want to start.

It's not any different this year as the Giants pick up Mark DeRosa and Aubrey Huff. It's not that these players are bad and they definitely deserve to play a lot this year for any team. But when a team as desperate for hitting as the Giants are looks at the free agent market its not at names like Huff or DeRosa but Bay and Holliday. They need someone for the middle of the lineup and although Huff has been there for most of his career he is not at the age to be doing it now.

After all that negativity, another question is brought up. How are the Giants going to do this year? The answer is playoffs. The Giants posted a 88-74 season last year and came within a couple games of making the final month. That was basically on pitching alone. The Giants won at least two thirds of the their games by scoring 4 runs or fewer and when the did score more than four they won almost all of them. The pitching is not going to get any worse either. In fact it might get even better. Sanchez is bound to have a better year than last year after struggling through the first half of the season before his near perfect game. The Giants are also highly considering putting Bumgarner in the five spot and he has the ability to become a top of the rotation type pitcher in the near future. The question mark is hitting. If Aaron Rowand can turn around the way he has been playing since he joined the Giants and Renteria plays at a higher level then the Giants have a chance of going very far. If DeRosa and Huff don't have sub par years like last year and refer back to their hitting ways then the city by the bay will be one of the places selling playoff tickets this October. But if all these guys play like most middle aged, past their prime players then we can expect another year of wishing what we could have done. That leads us to the final quesion. Which San Francisco Giants team will we see?