Developed Teams 2011: San Francisco Giants

Last week, I profiled a developed team of the AL Champion Texas Rangers.  So what better time to introduce their opponents (and eventual defeaters) in the 2011 World Series, the San Francisco Giants:

An offense that earned the nickname "Torture" last year does not improve much when we look at players the Giants have developed, with only two offensive threats gracing the field.  Conversely, the pitching staff excels across the board, whether it's the starting staff (featuring two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and the exact staff who backed him in the 2010 post-season) or the relief corps ("Fear the Beard" indeed...).  It's especially interesting that all the Developed Giants' best players are still with the team, so it's not as if they're bringing lots of talent through the minors and letting it get away.  The best player on this squad who left for greener pastures is undoubtedly Joe Nathan, despite the fact that he spent all of 2010 recovering from Tommy John surgery.  He joins two other capable closers in the Giants bullpen: Brian Wilson and David Aardsma (who, incidentally, hasn't pitched at all in 2011 due to hip/Tommy John surgery).

But where to go from here?  The more I try to write about this lineup, the more depressing it looks.  I mean, look at that infield.  Ishikawa may be good with the glove, but he's far below replacement level at first (or would be if he were even in the majors at this juncture).  Pedro Feliz is a proven veteran, but one who's spent most of his time at third (a spot occupied by Pablo Sandoval, one of the two aforementioned threats).  Emmanuel Burriss has good speed on the basepaths and Matt Downs has swung the bat pretty well for Houston, but neither are what you'd call top shelf talent.  Kevin Frandsen has spent all of 2011 in AAA, where he hasn't exactly put on a show.  Cody Ransom has put on a show in AAA... but it's led to just 12 sad games in the majors so far.

The outfield isn't much better: Fred Lewis never really developed into anything special, Nate Schierholtz profiles as more of a late-inning defensive replacement, and John Bowker hasn't yet shown that he can hit in the majors.  Eugenio Velez is only on the roster because he was the only other player who had played in the outfield.  Strangely enough, the position at which the Giants have the most stability is catcher, with Buster Posey and Yorvit Torrealba both having spent time as well-qualified starters for good teams.

But, ah, that pitching staff.  We all know about the top four guys, all of whom played key parts in the Giants' World Series title last year.  Cain is right there behind Lincecum, Sanchez has been bit by the injury bug, and Bumgarner still has his best years ahead of him.  And while Kevin Correia has struggled a bit, despite his All-Star appearance, he's actually pretty decent for a fifth starter.  In the 'pen, the quality doesn't drop off even beyond the three guys who've made their living closing games: Sergio Romo's ERA is so miniscule you'd have trouble finding it and Scott Linebrink has contributed to one of the league's best relief staffs on the Braves.  If pitching and defense really is the key to winning championships, this club has the late-inning hardware to deal with the low-scoring games that come with that strategy.

Next week, in my effort to profile all the 2011 playoff contenders before the 2011 playoffs begin, I'll be looking at the Tampa Bay Rays, who are doing their best to edge out the Wild Card leading Red Sox.