NL West

We all know about the saga of the fifth wheel: the unnecessary adjunct that comes along for the ride without contributing much, if anything.  When talking about the San Francisco Giants, two prominent and obvious fifth wheels come immediately to mind—Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.

Brad Hawpe has found a new home in San Diego, though it isn’t to man the outfield. 

Hawpe has been tabbed by the Padres to help fill the gaping hole left by the trade that sent Adrian Gonzalez to Boston. At the major league level, he’s appeared in just nine games at the position, though he did log 215 games there while in the minors.

His glove will be a question, at least early on, but the bigger issue for fantasy owners will be his bat. 

The Los Angeles Dodgers appeared to be in good shape up until last season.  In each of the previous two seasons, they had reached the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies. Then in 2010, the wheels came off and the Dodgers fell apart.  This caused them to trade Manny Ramirez away, eating a large sum of his money.

Don’t fret about the loss of Adrian Gonzalez, San Diego Padres fans, you now have Brad Hawpe to replace him and play first base.

That was my poor attempt at humor and an unfair shot at Padre fans, but they really do have Hawpe to replace Gonzalez at first in 2011.

New Year's Day is nearly upon us, and perhaps no MLB team is looking forward to a fresh start in 2011 more than the Los Angeles Dodgers.

From the ugly proceedings of the McCourt divorce to the departure of Manny Ramirez to the retirement of Joe Torre, the Dodgers had their fair share of pitfalls in a year that saw them fail to capture a third consecutive NL West division title.

While it may have seemed that the Padres playoff chances in 2011 dissipated into shambles following the departure of superstar slugger Adrian Gonzalez to Boston, the Padres brass has responded in the best way possible: making extremely cost effective moves to bring in quality players.

This week on the McCovey Chronicles, a debate roared whether Gary Monseigneur Brown would be spectacular in the majors.

While his draft position may not be Posey like, he can become Rondell White and span fourteen major league seasons.

Think of Brandon Belt; he was a fifth round pick, but came in second in the minors in batting in 2010.

It took 52 years, but the San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions.  I can now cross that first and foremost item off my sports fan bucket list.

The San Francisco Giants have given their fans numerous heartbreaks, too many to list in this article, but now, all is forgiven.  I have put together a fun piece to showcase the true Giant "hot dogs" who donned the orange and black. 

Whether it be starting rotation help or bullpen help, the Colorado Rockies have been searching for any type of pitching help this offseason.

In 2010, the San Francisco Giants won the World Series with a top-of-the-line rotation featuring four great starting pitchers, including two-time Cy Young-winner "big time Timmy Jim" Lincecum and his 231 strikeouts.

Each member of the Giants fab four have an ERA in the threes with Lincecum and Sanchez recording over 200 strikeouts.

Madison Bumgarner has emerged as the Cole Hamels of their staff with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts.