Two of the better moves made by the Giants this offseason were also two of the quietest ones.
By bringing back Pat the Bat and resigning Mike Fontenot, Brian Sabean is keeping fans happy, the team competitive and the chemistry in place.
The biggest test for the 2011 San Francisco Giants will be the regular season. For a few years now, fans have been saying that if the Giants can just make the playoffs they can make a lot of noise with their pitching.
The fans were right!
The same is true for 2011, and with every team in baseball now gunning for the top, the road will be much tougher for a team that won its division on the last day of play against its closest contender.
That contender is a much improved San Diego Padres team that is now a much much deeper club. Part of that depth is coming from the four players who came over in the Adrian Gonzalez trade and part of it is the revamped core of their defense right up the middle at the four, the six and the eight.
To focus on the Phillies right now is a mistake, as the rest of the NL West is following suit and each team poses a significant improvement over last year.
The one thing the Giants have going for them is the chemistry on the field amongst the best fans and the best venue in baseball.
This chemistry is kept in tact with these lesser reported moves and will have key ramifications over the next 162.
Mike Fontenot plays the game with so much joy and so much hustle that he's going to be the spark plug all year your team didn't know it was missing until he signed up to play.
Pat Burrell is the ultimate locker room clown whose focus on the field is unshakable. His relationship with Aubrey Huff and Bay Area roots make him a natural fit for a team that is the favorite to win its division.
Now, all that's left is to go out and do it.
The Giants aren't a team that you stack up on paper. The Giants are a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. A team that takes the field and wins with their attitude and the force of their personality.
These traits will once again be the keys to passing the biggest test in 2011, the regular season.
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