Does the Belt fit in San Francisco?

Brandon Belt one of the best young players in the Giants farm system tore up the minor leagues last season  in both A ball and AA ball. In class A San Jose Belt hit .383, with 62 RBI's and 10 HR's, in class AA with Richmond, Belt was just as good and posted astounding numbers hitting .337, with 40 RBI's, and 9 HR's.

Belt has proved he his is a solid and consistent hitter because of his succeses in both of the minor league classes so early in his career. F.P. Santangelo, a KNBR 680 sports talk radio host on his late night show said " If you can hit through AA ball you can hit in the major leagues, since you are facing most of the best young pitchers in AA. Class A ball usually has three teams that flow into the Class AA team."

With the signing of Aubrey Huff yesterday for two years, the question comes now to wether we will see Belt at all this season. Belt is a primary first baseman and isn't well suited to really play anywhere else. This may cause Huff to move to one of the corner spots in the outfield if Belt was to be called up in the middle of the season.

Belt has the physical tools to become a very solid first baseman as he stands at 6 foot 5" and weighs in at 195 lbs. Belt was a surprise to a lot of sports writers and many scouts as he was drafted in prior years by the Red Sox and Braves before being drafted by the Giants in the 5th round of the 2009 MLB June amateur draft.

Belt will probably start this season in AA ball with Richmond and try to continue to impress scouts with his impressive build and ability to swing the bat. Fielding for Belt was decent making 9 errors over the minor league season with .992 fielding percentage.

All we know is that this kid is going to be a superstar in MLB for a long time based on these inpressive numbers through his first minor league go around. The question is, does the belt fit in San Francisco this season?



Brandon Belt stands at 6 foot 5" and is putting up surprise numbers
in the Giants farm system



Huff Daddy Is Back!

Aubrey Huff is making his way back to San Francisco and will be
stroking bombs into McCovey Cove for two more years

   Today Comcast Sportsnet reported Aubrey Huff agreed to a 2 year. deal worth 22 million dollars and has a option for the third year of his deal. Huff was the offense in the first half and then hit a wall after the all-star break, but came up clutch in the field the whole year and played hard every day. Aubrey Huff is the leader of this squad on and off the field and just maybe the "thong" will make an appearance down in Scottsdale for spring training through the playoffs. 

Javier Lopez: The Lefty Specialist

Javier Lopez compiled one of his greatest years in the MLB. A man who started the year with the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates has now become one of San Francisco's most infamous relievers for striking out the likes of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Derek Lee, and Josh Hamilton in the playoffs.

Lopez was a deadline add just a few days before July 31st. He was acquired for nothing much at all, quietly he became the lefty specialist, called in to get the best hitters from the left side on each team out and that he did. Lopez this year threw 27 games with the Giants and earning a solid 1.42 ERA. He struckout 16 batters in the regular season while opponents hit only .164 against him.



Deadline deal made for Lopez from the struglling Pirates



Lopez utilizes a special throwing motion that came from a man before named Mike Myers. Lopez is able to throw either a low three quarters release or even a full submarine to get the batter off balance and the ball seems to move ways that makes his pitches at times unhittable. Coming to San Francisco was a dream come true for Lopez and he is now a World Champion.



Lopez  was called on to face the big
lefties of every opponent in big situations this year for the Giants.



Lopez had a tremendous postseason for the Giants throwing a total of 5.2 innings, striking out 6, with a 1.59 ERA and opponents only hitting .059 against him. These stats means that this guy was nearly unhittable and caused opponnets to lose hope every time he came in the 7th or 8th inning of a ball game.

Lopez is now up for arbitration, but you can gurantee this bullpen reliever will be back striking out and make hitters look silly in 2011.



The Shortstop Position is on the Front Burner in SF

     The San Francisco Giants have a lot to do this off season and their infield will make or break with the shortstop position. Names that headline the 2011 class are names such as Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada, and Juan Uribe lead this thin and brittle class of solid options at the shortstop position. Considering that the Yankees resign Derek Jeter and Miguel Tejada isn't headed the Giants way, the attention turns to Juan Uribe to be resigned.
     Uribe who hit .248, hitting 24 HR's, with 85 RBI's on the year had one of his best years as a professional baseball player. Uribe will be asking for big bucks this off season to get what he feels he's worth. Uribe was was a huge key to the Giants winning ways with clutch hits and runs batted in during the regular season and the postseason leading the Giants to a world series title. The only concern for him has been is if he is durable enough to play shortstop at a high level for 145-150 games out of the year. If Uribe can't be signed this off season by the Giants, they have some options through this thin and brittle class.

Juan Uribe who hit .248 and hit 24 HR's was a crucial part to the Giants success in 2010 hitting clutch home runs to put the Giants over the top in the NL West and in the playoffs.

     Orlando Cabrera who turned down his option to return to the Reds, is a gritty and tough player who plays strong defense all year long. Cabrera who hit .263, hitting only 4 HR's with only 42 RBI's struggled from the plate, but makes up for it with his superior defense. If he was added to the Giants roster he would ad a strong leadership and major beneficiary clubhouse guy who plays the game the right way. 

Orlando Cabrera who played for the Reds last year is known for his strong defense at shortstop

     Another possible option would be to go after veteran shortstop Cesar Izturis. Izturis who had a down year overall and probably isn't very high on the Giants wish list, would probably be an emergency option. He hit .230, with only 1 HR and 28 RBI's. You can tell he a down the line option for the Giants at shortstop this season. Even though Izturis maybe an end of the line player, general manager Brian Sabean may look to him for his low salary intake since the Giants are projected to go over 100 million dollars.

Izturis who had a poor year hitting .230 is probably a option if Uribe and Cabrera are gone

     With these options for the Giants in the end, Orlando Cabrera will turn out to be the opening day shortstop for the San Francisco Giants and with his leadership and experience he will play a strong and defensive minded position that will make or break the 2011 season for the San Francisco Giants.