2014 Season Preview: San Francisco Giants

Posted March 27, 2014

Madison Bumgarner will try to lead the Giants back into NL West contention. (Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

This week, SI.com is previewing all 30 MLB teams, counting down to the No. 1 team in the league. At No. 8: The San Francisco Giants. You can find previews for teams 30 through 9here.

2013 Record and Finish:76-86, tied for third place in NL West (18th overall) 2014 projected record:92-70, second place in NL West

The Case For The Giants have won two World Series in the last four seasons and are only two seasons removed from their last championship. There has been very little turnover on the team since the 2012 World Series. Offseason additions Mike Morse, their new leftfielder, and Tim Hudson are the only changes to the starting lineup and rotation since then, and five of the six most-used relievers on that 2012 team remain in place in the bullpen. Given that Morse and Hudson should both be upgrades (over Gregor Blanco and Barry Zito) and the holdovers include many key players still in their prime (Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Crawford, and Madison Bumgarner are all 27 or younger, and Matt Cain is 29), its very reasonable to expect this team to rebound from its lousy 2013 performance. Cain, whose early struggles contributed to the teams poor showing last year, posted a 2.36 ERA after the All-Star break. The Giants also hope to benefit from healthy seasons from centerfielder Angel Pagan and starter Ryan Vogelsong.

The Case Against Vogelsong is 36 and has been hit hard this spring. Hudson is 38 and has seen his ERA rise in each of the last three years. Tim Lincecum has posted a 72 ERA+ over the last two seasons and will turn 30 in June. Thats sixty percent of the rotation right there. Second baseman Marco Scutaro is 38 and willstart the season on the disabled list with a bad back. Morse was awful last year, hitting .215/.270/.381 for Seattle and Baltimore, the second straight year that his production fell off significantly. Sandovals power has decreased in each of the last two seasons as he shed nearly 100 points of isolated power (slugging minus batting average) between 2011 and 2013. Hunter Pence, who turns 31 in April, seems likely to regress after a career year in 2013. In short: The 2012 team may have overachieved.

2014 Fantasy baseball team preview: San Francisco Giants

X-Factor: Experience Morse was on the 2012 Nationals, who had the best record in baseball. Tim Hudson has been to six postseasons with the As and Braves. Every member of the Giants projected lineup and rotation and the five relievers remaining from 2012 have been on teams that have won their division. All have experience in the playoffs. Experience doesnt necessarily make a team better, but it can help players remain cool under the pressure of a pennant race and in the postseason, if the Giants are fortunate enough to get back there.

Number To Know: 83 Matt Cains ERA+ last year, by far the worst mark of his career but the second best among San Franciscos five primary starting pitchers in 2013. In the National League, only the rotations of the Rockies and Phillies, who play in far more hitter-friendly ballparks, had higher raw ERAs than the Giants rotation last year. Given that, its hard to believe those starters wont be significantly better this year, even if Hudson shows his age, Vogelsong yields to Yusmeiro Petit, and Lincecum has another season like the last two.

Scouts Takes Most overrated: Brandon Crawford For a middle of the diamond player, a premium position player, he comes up a little bit short on both sides. I think they were expecting more development out of him and hes kind of if he hasnt tailed off, hes leveled off for sure. His feet, for a shortstop on a championship team, his feet are just fair, for me. His range, his speed, his agility, all those things are just average at best. If he were an offensive player, itd be a different story, but he doesnt bring a lot on that side, either.

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2014 Season Preview: San Francisco Giants