Jonathan Sanchez

I know what you must be thinking after reading that headline.

How can Jonathan Sanchez, a starting pitcher who was just placed on the disabled list and was leading the league in walks, be the key to the success of the defending world champion San Francisco Giants in the second half?

Tim Lincecum is the face of the San Francisco Giants, but in a time where team loyalty is down and money is king, is it possible that he and other beloved Giants will end up elsewhere?

If there was ever a pitcher in baseball who deserves a lifetime contract extension, it would be Tim Lincecum.

When the San Francisco Giants called up Matt Cain in August of 2005, he made his debut as the second youngest pitcher in the major leagues.  Now in his seventh season as a big leaguer, Cain is a seasoned veteran with a laundry list of accomplishments to his credit.  He finished last year's World Championship season with a 13-11 record with a 3.14 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 177 strikeouts, 61 walks, 223 innings pitched and four complete games (including two shutouts).  

Aaron Rowand hits game-winning single in the bottom of the 12th inning and goes 2-for-3 in Giants' 5-4 win.

Looks like things have not changed much since last year.

The San Francisco Giants continued their victorious but torturous ways, as a sellout crowd at AT&T Park witnessed one of the greatest, yet weirdest games baseball fans will ever see.

Everybody has their list.

They get a ton of attention and for this group, unwarranted. They're overrated.

Which stats are the best indicators of being overrated?

OPS? WAR? Should an eye test be taken?

Potential sometimes cannot be judged on stats.

Let's take a look at the 10 most overrated players in baseball.

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When the San Francisco Giants took Ryan Scoma in the 36th round of the 2009 amateur draft, the perpetual underdog from the Bay Area faced yet another uphill climb.

Baseball isn't quite the National Football League or the National Basketball Association where you can start looking for that job in sales or coaching if you don't get snapped up early.

But even the pearl doesn't make an extensive habit of rewarding those kids drafted in the waning rounds of its seemingly interminable entry event.

Prior to winning the World Series in 2010, there were many fans calling for the San Francisco Giants to trade Matt Cain for a big bat. At the time of the original rumors a couple of years ago, I was a proponent of trading Matt Cain for Prince Fielder. Thank goodness GM Brian Sabean didn't make that move.

Spring training is here and there's already panic in the Bronx.

The New York Yankees' offseason will not go down in the history books among the all-time greats.

They missed out on Cliff Lee. Their best acquisition was Rafael Soriano, which isn't to say that he's bad, just that the ridiculous contract they gave him is. They alienated Derek Jeter—arguably the most beloved player in franchise history—by handling the negotiations through the media. To add insult to injury, Andy Pettitte decided to call it a career.

Madison Bumgarner or Jonathan Sanchez?

Thankfully for the San Francisco Giants, the tough choice between the two does not have to be made, for now. However, the day may soon come in which a trade comes along that cannot be turned down and the Giants will need to make a decision; hopefully the core rotation will stay intact (cheers for Brian Sabean), but that day may be sooner than you'd think.

As February dawns here in 2011, that can only mean one thing for baseball fans, here comes spring training. And with the breath of fresh air and the feeling that only a beginning can supply comes a time when all the questions are going to be tackled. For three months us Giants fans have been basking in the glow of a World Series victory, the first for the city. And now, the Giants must begin their first title defense in the history of San Francisco.