The San Francisco Giants

The Giants quickly fixed the controversy on whether or not they were going to resign Tim Lincecum this off season by signing him before he can reach the open market. On paper the Giants do not seem to have a team that will blow you away, but they always seem to find a way to win. The Giants won the World Series in 2010 and 2012 and if the current trend continues 2014 should also be their year.

The Giants made an addition to their lineup by adding Michael Morse, but he is likely to play against left handed pitching and hit off the bench. Other than Morse the Giants lineup will look strikingly similar to 2013. The stud in their lineup is always Buster Posey followed by Hunter Pence who anchors the lineup with clutch hits and smart decisions. The following is how I would make the lineup for the 2014 season, adjacent to each name is the batting side, position, and their OPS+ for 2013.

1. S. Angel Pagan         CF 116 OPS+    
2. R. Marco Scuttaro    2B 112 OPS+
3. R. Buster Posey         C 138 OPS+
4. R. Hunter Pence        RF 136 OPS+
5. L. Brandon Belt         1B 142 OPS+
6. S. Pablo Sandoval     3B 119 OPS+
7. L. Gregor Blanco       LF 102 OPS+
9. L. Brandon Crawford SS 96 OPS+

The highlight of the Giants' 2014 season. Lincecum and
Posey after Lincecum's no hitter in San Diego

Pitching has always been an area of expertise in San Francisco. Playing in the spacious AT&T Park fly balls rule the day making mistakes negligible. Although Tim Lincecum's Cy Young days may be in the past, new faces like Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain rule the day. 2013 was not a great season for pitching, which provides reason for why they missed the playoffs. In the off season the Giants added a veteran presence in Tim Hudson. The fifth spot in the rotation will likely be rounded off by Ryan Vogelsong. The following is the projected rotation for 2014 along with the pitching arms and ERA+ for 2013.

1. L. Madison Bumgarner 120 ERA+
2. R. Matt Cain  83 ERA+
3. R. Tim Hudson 97 ERA+
4. R. Tim Lincecum 76 ERA+
5. R. Ryan Vogelson 58 ERA+

The bullpen for the Giants is one of their strong suits, with closer Sergio Romo finishing games, and setup man Santiago Casilla pitching the 8th inning. George Kontos handles the middle relief relativly well along with the left duo Javier Vasquez and Jeremy Affeldt. Other than those five names, the rest of Giants bullpen can go anyway. The long relief role is always up in the air.