I Can Taste It

Baseball season is so close I can taste it. In two days, Timmy and the Gang will be headed to Scottsdale to officially begin my Spring, regardless of what the groundhog saw. In two days my world changes. Sorry, Warriors, but with your season going no where, the hopes and dreams that come along with Spring Training is more alluring than watching a basketball team 25 games below .500. The possibilities are endless, but they need to start somewhere, and that starts me. Today, on the comfort of my own couch, I'm the manager. Boch, take a vacation, because THIS guy is taking the reigns. Here it goes:

Crafting the Starters

The Giants anemic offense will hopefully find some consistency this season with the resigning of Bengie Molina, Juan Uribe and Freddy Sanchez, plus new additions in Mark DeRosa and Aubrey Huff. To be honest, of all the acquisitions, I'm only excited for Uribe and Sanchez's return. First off, Molina in the lineup means Bochy will have urges to bat him cleanup. I was content with letting him walk, picking up a vet for one year, and then handing command of the pitching staff to phenom Buster Posey. Instead, Posey might be heading down to Fresno while Bengie, once again, chugs down to first base, barely beating the tag from a ball hit into Triples Alley. I've also never really been a huge fan of DeRosa. He's a great piece to add to an already great team, especially with his versatility, but he's no savior. He reminds me of an Aaron Rowand type player, and we all know how that turned out. Huff is actually a great addition, if this were the 2007 season. He's a bit past his prime, but I'm hoping he will still produce for us in the clean up hole. Anything better than Bengie last year will be a Godsend. Thanks to Brian Sabean, I get to built an Opening Day lineup out of these overachievers (minus Sanchez for injury concerns), so here's how I'd do it:

My Lineup

• 2B Eugenio Velez
• RF Nate Scheirholtz 
• 3B Pablo Sandoval
• 1B Aubrey Huff
• SS Juan Uribe
• LF Mark DeRosa
• CF Aaron Rowand
• C Bengie Molina
• P Pitcher

My Rotation

• Tim Lincecum
• Barry Zito
• Matt Cain
• Jonathon Sanchez
• Madison Bumgarner

I'll take some time to break down each player once Bochy sets his lineup for Opening Day, but for now, we can just keep our fingers crossed that Sanchez is healthy by Opening Day and there is no sign of Edgar Renteria anywhere near the starting lineup.

I will continue to blog on the improvements and current standing of players throughout Spring Training so be sure to check back. Until then, keep dreaming of balls dropping in McCovey Cove, because the process starts in just two days!