MLB Team by Team: 2008 San Francisco Giants

As you may have heard, Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's record for home runs in a career last year. So the San Francisco Giants decided to throw him two parties, one for the record, and one to go away.

Without Bonds, the atmosphere is different, perhaps lighter, a little less contentious in the City by the Bay. Here's the downside of that: he also took a major offensive presence out of a pretty threadbare lineup to begin with. How will the Giants fare without him?

OFFENSE: D-

The Giants had the perfect opportunity to get younger on offense and didn't take it. Veteran leadership is a good thing...when they're productive. Catcher Bengie Molina (.276, 19 homeruns, 81 RBI) is one of the major bats in the lineup, newly acquired center fielder Aaron Rowand (.309, 27 homers, 89 RBI) is the other. Left fielder Dave Roberts is older, but really the team's only option for leadoff. Ray Durham hobbles in at second base, rookie Brian Bocock will stand in at shortstop for the injured Omar Vizquel, and Kevin Frandsen will spell and try to push them both. All around, runs will be hard to come by at AT&T Park.

PROJECTED LINEUP: 1 Roberts LF 2 Durham 2B 3 Rowand CF 4 Molina C 5 Winn RF 6 Aurilia 3B 7 Ortmeier 1B 8 Bocock SS 9 Pitcher's spot

STARTING PITCHING: C-

When you sign a big money, multi-year deal like Barry Zito did, anything less than 20 wins and maybe even a Cy Young will be a letdown to most. His stats (11-13, 4.53 ERA) were definitely down, but maybe you could point to new league syndrome for that. This year will definitely show the true reality. Behind him are three promising arms in Matt Cain (7-16, 3.65), Tim Lincecum (7-5, 4.00) and Noah Lowry (14-8, 3.92), so let's see if they can get the run support and luck with help, then you're looking at a formidable first four, should everything shake out right.

PROJECTED ROTATION: Zito, Cain, Lincecum, Lowry, Correia

BULLPEN: C

The bullpen looks to be the best unit on the team, again, depending on how well the rotation holds up. Brian Wilson is entering his first full year in the majors, and he's shown promise in the short run (six of seven in save opportunities last year, seven of nine overall). Vinnie Chulk has been dependable as a set-up man for a few years now, and there's no reason to believe that won't continue. Last year's closer, Brad Hennessey (19 of 24) is still in there as well in case of ineffectiveness/emergency, and Tyler Walker had a pretty good year as well. Strangely, the weak points may be veterans Steve Kline and Jack Tischner. Provided they don't get overused, this 'pen looks to be just fine.

CONCLUSION

How much are you willing to trade in effectiveness for peace at work? Managers in many professions face that question each day, and baseball is no different. Not having Bonds makes the Giants weaker on offense, perhaps closer as a team. The tradeoff will show in the record this year, but perhaps the future stars will start to shine and give a hope for a better tomorrow.

PREDICTION: 67-95, fifth in National League West