Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Around this time in 2012 the San Francisco Giants were well on their way to becoming the World Series Champions. Who could have known at the time that they were overachieving a little as a team? That tends to happen in Major League Baseball as the team that gets the hot streak going generally wins it all. The same bunch of guys in 2013 were not even close to as good as they were the season before. Down to a man they either underachieved or came crashing back down to Earth. Whatever the case may be, the Giants GM has a lot of big choices to make this off-season.
One choice he already made was to spent a ridiculous amount of money on Hunter Pence. Pence is a great player but not worth $90MM over five seasons. That is just crazy talk and really had to have been based solely on the enormous September he had instead of his usual numbers. That will tie the hands of the GM a little bit as he decides which starting pitchers to keep. It is unlikely that they’ll be able to afford Tim Lincecum once other teams begin bidding top dollar for him.
It is also rumored that Ryan Vogelsong will not return as the team might use that money to try and keep strong left-handed specialist reliever Javier Lopez. Whatever choices are made in these and several other areas, the Giants are a powder keg. With the right moves this winter they could blow up all over the National League West and compete for a championship again. If they aren’t careful though they will begin another down season and look to possibly be sliding farther away from a World Series berth. All of it depends on the choices this winter.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
Related:
Could San Francisco Giants Rekindle Relationship With Carlos Beltran?
A Way-Too-Early Guess at the San Francisco Giants 2014 Outfield
A Way-Too-Early Guess at the San Francisco Giants 2014 Bullpen
