San Francisco Giants

By now we've covered most of the important parts of the 2011 San Francisco Giants. For those of you who didn't read the first two parts of this preview, here are the Cliffs Notes...

Pitching = good

Aaron Rowand = bad

With Opening Day right around the corner, the San Francisco Giants got the news on Sunday that bearded closer Brian Wilson has a mild oblique strain that could keep him out for Opening Day and then some.

Although Brian Wilson vows to be ready for Opening Day, the reality is an oblique strain is nothing to take lightly, and don't think the Giants don't realize this.

Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt went throught the exact same thing last summer when he strained is left oblique. Affeldt would be held out of 23 games.

Every year, new players come into spring training with the hopes of making a team whether they are from the farm system or have bounced around the majors for their entire careers.

Some of those players stand out in camp, snatching up a roster spot by showing that they belong at the highest level. This year is no exception.

For the world champion San Francisco Giants, not much is needed to change for the team to have a chance at a repeat so expectations of non-roster invitees and minor leaguers coming into camp was low to say the least.

By now we've seen why keeping Barry Zito despite his hefty pricetag makes sense. But the Giants have another monster on their hands, and that's Aaron Rowand.

Unfortunately, while there are a lot of teams that would love to have a fourth or fifth starter that had an ERA around 4.00, and that could log 200 innings of solid pitching, there aren't that many that are looking for an outfielder that can only play center who doesn't really hit for power or average all that consistently.

The Offense (1 of 2)

At this time last year, a preview of the Giants offense would have been a lot like looking at a sunken ship—rusted-out, depleted and depressing. Not only was Bengie Molina batting cleanup, but the SF offense was so decrepit that no one batted an eye at this decision.

It's not a bad problem to have, but Bruce Bochy has admitted it, the San Francisco Giants have a competition for the starting spot in left field.

This is something the Giants haven't experienced in some time, what with Barry Bonds being the left fielder in the past.

But the Giants should be happy with this. Bonds is gone and they have three viable contenders to start in left field with each bringing their own unique pros and cons to the lineup.

For the sake of the argument, I am going to eliminate the Brandon Belt possibility from the equation.

                                   2011 SF Giants Season Preview

The San Francisco Giants have been dominating their Cactus League opponents throughout the start of spring training.

Excited and ready to gear up for back-to-back World Series championships, the Giants seem to be heading down the right road. Veterans and rookies alike are playing great baseball, and Giants fans should be starting to get the itch that only comes when it's time for baseball to begin.

I headed down to Scottsdale, Arizona last weekend to take a look at the Giants for myself, and they looked to be in great shape. Here's how I rate their performances thus far.

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.

It seems like every year the San Francisco Giants enter spring training desperately looking for pieces to add on, not subtract. Guys who have nagging injuries stemming back to the previous season and a good number of non-roster invitees end up making the team.

Uncertainty came with those players (a lot of it) and the Giants' plans often went awry.