NL West

When the San Francisco Giants acquired Hunter Pence just before this year's trade deadline, they took the first step toward repeating a horrible mistake. The second step of that process is already looking likely: there's talk of signing Pence to a long-term deal.

If the Giants absolutely, live or die, had to win just one game (say in a wild-card situation) wouldn't manager Bruce Bochy have to put Ryan Vogelsong on the mound?

He's the obvious choice to me.  

The Los Angeles Dodgers were easily the most active buyers leading up to today’s 4 p.m. ET, MLB non-waiver trade deadline. 

They pulled off a stunning trade last week when they acquired former All-Star Hanley Ramirez and left-handed reliever Randy Choate from the Miami Marlins for 22-year-old pitcher Nate Eovaldi and lightly regarded relief pitching prospect Scott McGough.  

The San Francisco Giants went into the trading deadline needing to fill three obvious areas of deficiency: a lack of power in the lineup, a lack of depth on the bench and in the bullpen due to the loss of closer Brian Wilson earlier this season.

For Giants' general manager Brian Sabean, two out of three wasn't bad.

I want to like Dee Gordan, I really do. But the 24-year-old Gordon just isn't getting the job done for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In just his second season as a major league ballplayer, Gordon is obviously struggling at the plate as well as on defense. Gordan has put up a meager .234 average in his 57 games thus far in 2012. He has also committed 10 errors on the defensive end.

That doesn't seem to fit in what the Dodgers are trying to do.

Last Sunday, the unthinkable happened. 

Seated at AT&T Park, I watched as Tim Lincecum turned-in his latest disaster on the mound. More worrisome than the hits were how erratically he allowed them.

In the first inning it was three walks, the second three strikeouts.

By the time a booming Josh Hamilton double made the score 5-0 in favor of not the Giants, I turned to my friend and said the impossible:

Pablo Sandoval may be back at third base for the San Francisco Giants, but after his dismal performance on Sunday, there is cause for concern.

Yes, the Panda has only been back two games, but with his latest string off-the-field issues, how good will Sandoval be?

Bruce Bochy, general manager of the San Francisco Giants, is clearly one of the most underrated coaches in all of baseball.  Ranking third in wins among active managers, Bochy has flown under the radar for most of his managerial career, which is absolutely by design.

The San Francisco Giants have started the season well, as they are in second place in the NL West at 34-27.

However, they still have one gaping hole: shortstop.

While you could argue that they have a hole in the rotation because of Tim Lincecum's slow start, Brandon Crawford's inconsistent play at shortstop has hurt the Giants. He has a .219 batting average and a 24.5 percent strikeout rate.

Oh, and his defense hasn't been too great either (as you may have noticed from the picture above). 

This may be a little early, but catcher Yasmani Grandal's eventual permanent promotion to the big leagues is going to mean the end of Nick Hundley's time in San Diego.