Are the Giants primed for another run? And more
The San Francisco Giants have won three World Series in the last five years (including an epic title in 2014 behind the potentially alien being known as Madison Bumgarner). Most fans would kill for one championship every 20 years or so, making San Francisco a very unsympathetic figure around the game if it does not make the playoffs.
However, the Giants are currently the second wild card team in the National League, looking to get back to the postseason and do some damage. The roster is without a ton of star power outside of the aforementioned Bumgarner and catcher Buster Posey, but San Francisco continues to churn out wins. Headed into Thursday night, the Giants are sitting second in the NL West behind the hated Los Angeles Dodgers, who have a half-game lead at 57-45 (San Francisco is 56-45).
The Giants have been red-hot since the All-Star break, going 8-2 in their last 10 games to gain three games on the Dodgers in that stretch. Recently, general manager Brian Sabean has reportedly been trying to add starting pitching to a struggling rotation, but failed to land aces David Price and Cole Hamels, who were dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers, respectively.
Still, San Francisco has plenty of talent which knows how to win when the chips are down. Bumgarner has continued to be one of the best pitchers in the game after a historic postseason, posting an 11-5 record with a 3.16 earned run average. Oddly enough, Chris Heston has matched Bumgarner almost perfectly, also with an 11-5 mark and a 3.14 ERA.
The Giants would love to add some punch to the rotation or the lineup, but the reality is this team continues to be greater than the sum of its parts. Sabean should be able to rest either, unlike another general manager in the same state…
The Padres need to be blown up
The trade deadline is upon us, and the San Diego Padres are yet to make a deal. There has been plenty of talk about almost the entire roster, ranging from James Shields, Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner to Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel and others. Yet, general manager A.J. Preller has yet to make a move.
At 49-53 and eight games back of the division lead, hopes of the postseason are slim and none. Preller needs to cut bait and get some good, young players back while reloading a team that appears to be an experiment gone wrong. Often times, the team that appears to win the offseason ends up a seller at the trading deadline, and the Padres are just the latest example of that.
Preller has less than 24 hours to start wheeling and dealing. If he’s honest with himself, the time is now to make some moves.
