San Francisco Giants

Remember Tim Lincecum, that phenom who won the last two NL Cy Young Awards in his second and third seasons?  

Lincecum, enjoying a merely excellent season, has become yesterday's news as a variety of new star pitchers emerge in the National League, including guys like Roy Halladay, Stephen Strasburg, and Ubaldo Jimenez, but also Jaime Garcia, Carlos Silva, and Mat Latos.

Barry Bonds could quite go down as the most dangerous hitter Major League Baseball has ever seen. Steroids or no steroids, Bonds eye at the plate was matched by a select few.

Bonds is a guy who was walked intentionally with the bases loaded just so he wouldn't hit a homerun. So, the question is what 10 pitchers gave Bonds the most problems with the minimum being at least 25 at-bats for Bonds?

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Bengie Molina didn't win the the San Francisco Giants' Willie Mac Award twice because him teammates liked how he looked in his uniform. He was, obviously, a very popular and respected teammate.

Let's put the idea that his departure to the Texas Rangers will spell doom for Giants pitchers to rest immediately, however.

Here’s an article from Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News about San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean and his desire to hold information close to the vest.  It’s in response to an “informal poll” (meaning that not all GMs responded and it’s not entirely certain how many did) by Buster Olney of ESPN.com.

The Big Money Molina era is officially over.

The Gerald D. Posey era is finally dawning.

*Dance break*

Since the beginning of this season, Giants fans have been waiting for this day. And now that it's finally here, there are some implications that need to be addressed because we all know it isn't so simple as it always seems.

From the actual position (catcher) to the bullpen, this deal has far reaching ripples, so lets make sure we're all on the same page.

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Word of the San Francisco Giants trading catcher Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers spread quickly following the team’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon. By Thursday, the deal became official.

Molina, who was still with the Giants on Thursday, will hop a on plane to Texas and be formally introduced as a Ranger.

In return, the Giants get RHP Chris Ray and minor league RHP Michael Main. Ray fly will to Colorado to join San Francisco while Main will head to Double-A Richmond.

It’s been reported that the Giants will be sending about $2 million along with Bengie Molina to Texas, which means the Giants got almost nothing for him unless Chris Ray ends up surprising almost everyone.

Nobody can accuse me of being hypercritical of the San Francisco Giants' management, including the Bay Area's two most bullet-ridden targets.

For all his warts, I've always believed general manager Brian Sabean's gotten more heat than is justifiable. Meanwhile, Bruce Bochy got the 2009 team to overachieve, which is usually evidence of a good manager.

Consequently, somewhere in Bleacher Report's vast archives, I'm on record as supporting the two-year extensions both men received.

If you are a Giants fan, or are even slightly aware of the situation out in the NL West, you are quite conscience of the downward spiral the Giants are currently in.

Once only a half game out of the number one spot at the start of the Toronto series, they have found themselves 4.5 games back and sitting in fourth place. So the question arises, whats changed?

At this point, there should be no need for Giants fans to debate over whether or not Bruce Bochy is a quality big league manager.

Simply said, he isn't one.

Why? Because quality managers put the eight most useful position players on the field day in and day out and place them in the ideal spots in the lineup.

But San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy has done neither in every single game of the season since his bosses acquired Pat Burrell off the free agent wire back in late May.