San Francisco Bay Area

With Christmas about a week away and Major League Baseball's winter meetings in the rearview mirror, it's a perfect time to see what juicy acquisitions might be possible for your favorite baseball team.

For the San Francisco Giants, that means offense, offense, and more offense.

Preferably a corner infielder, corner outfielder, and/or a catcher to replace the outgoing Bengie Molina.

The 2009 Winter Meetings have concluded, and the San Francisco Giants came away looking like they did little, but probably did plant the seeds for a deal or two to take place.

Rumors continue to persist that the Giants are still talking with the Florida Marlins regarding Dan Uggla in exchange for TBD Giants' players. Also, reports that Giants have offers before Mark DeRosa and maybe Nick Johnson and LaRoche, as possible Giants' first baseman.

Is it weird that I continue to root for my fantasy players even after their tenures on my team have ended?

Take Matt Holliday. After limping to an 0-3 start in my most important Head-to-Head league in 2007, I swung a deal for a young slugger who I admittedly didn’t know much about. I went 13-1 after the trade. Coincidence?

Like most sports fans, I take a lot of pride in my predictions that come true. I said the Red Sox would win the 2004 ALCS even when they went down 3-0. I predicted Kurt Warner would be a great NFL QB before he ever took a snap in the league (and I was only nine at the time). I've made a number of other far-fetched predictions that came true in different sports.

However, baseball is a game that is largely random. The year-to-year player variations are staggering, and nobody, no matter their expertise, gets them all right.

Coming into the 2009 season, many people wondered what exactly Tim Lincecum could do following a first full year in the bigs where he won the National League Cy Young Award.

It's not that we expect a drop off or anything like that, but you have to wonder what a guy can do after winning a Cy Young as a 24-year-old who is just two years out of college.

Well, we found out.

Tim Lincecum: 2009 NL Cy Young Award winner—in back-to-back fashion.

That's what you call getting it done.

For the second consecutive year, San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum has been named the National League Cy Young Award winner following one of the closest races ever.

Phew...

When I was asked in advance to write an affirmative reaction piece to the announcement, I knew it was going to be a tall order if someone other than the Freak took home the hardware.

Ah, November baseball.

Not the part of the month where frigid temperatures make players taking part in the World Series dress like they’re about to embark on a voyage to the Arctic. This is the part where the Major League Baseball hot stove gets going and gets going awfully quick.

Sept. 19, 2009 has two very different meanings for the San Francisco Giants organization.

On one end of the spectrum, their High-A affiliate, the San Jose Giants, celebrated yet another California League championship after completely steamrolling the competition.

On the other, their teammate Angel Villalona, who was in the Dominican Republic after being sent home to visit family before beginning offseason conditioning, was being accused of murder.

From top prospect to being 19 years old and a possible murderer. Not exactly what you call an ideal situation.

If you're under 35 or have spent ANY time on the West Coast, the news that Tim Lincecum was pulled over and arrested on misdemeanor charges for marijuana possession isn't exactly surprising. Note that it was possession and NOT driving under the influence, which would be a different tune.

Anyway, it's the offseason, the Freak is relaxing, and he's a product of the Pacific Northwest.

Here's a little secret—weed is really popular on the West Coast.

As the A's continue to build what they (and all of us fans) hope is going to be a dynasty that peaks in 3-7 years from now, the core of the team is going to be the starting pitching, which has been the symbol of the A's since Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, and Tim Hudson were on the staff.

However, many of the young future cornerstones, especially Trevor Cahill and Vince Mazzaro, struggled in 2009.

The A's are presumably looking to improve next year, as the "building" begins to take hold.