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Tuesday Rockpile: The New Giant Standard

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By Andrew T. Fisher Updated
The formula...it's obvious
The formula...it's obvious

The San Francisco Giants are the World Series champions in Major League Baseball.  Congratulations to San Francisco.

That means that the Rockies will not only be shooting to dethrone the defending NL West champions for their 19th consecutive season, but that same team will also represent the MLB champions for the first time since 2002, when Todd Helton was the same age as Matt Daley is now.

The Giants set the standard, so obviously, the way to win a World Series is to copy San Francisco's formula.  It is completely foolproof.  Define the key roles by the 2010 Giants and fill those roles.

We start with the rotation.  Dominating starting pitching was the Giants' calling card, and it is what led Keith Law to say the Giants were "a better postseason team than a regular season team."

  • Ace.  SFG - Tim Lincecum.  COL - Ubaldo Jimenez.
  • Young #2.   SFG - Matt Cain.  COL - Jhoulys Chacin.  It'll take a lot for Chacin to step up, but he is capable.
  • Dominating/Wild Lefty.  SFG - Jonathan Sanchez.  COL - Re-sign Jorge de la Rosa.
  • #4 starter with filthy curve.  SFG - Barry Zito.  COL - Jason Hammel.
  • Rookie lefty starter with top of rotation potential yet disappointing previous season in the minors.  SFG - Madison Bumgarner.  COL - Christian Friedrich.
Phase II of the Giants' plan is their unique approach to offense.
  • Former All-Star outfielder coming off a horrid season, terrible defender.  SFG - Aubrey Huff.  COL - O'Dowd needs to pry Carlos Lee away from Houston, somehow.
  • Well over the hill former Red Sox shortstop.  SFG - Edgar Renteria, 2010 WS MVP.  COL - Orlando Cabrera, 2011 WS MVP?
  • Top prospect rookie catcher, late May debut.  SFG - Buster Posey.  COL - It will be aggressive, but Wilin Rosario could fit here.
  • Large utility infielder with pop but no defense and many K's.  SFG - Juan Uribe.  COL - End the long rumored connection and acquire Jhonny Peralta.
  • Middle-aged RH outfielder with flashes of brilliance.  SFG  - Cody Ross.  COL - Xavier Nady.
  • Former All-Star outfielder who seemed to be pushed into retirement.  Also, horrid defense.  SFG - Pat Burrell.  COL - Jermaine Dye would like a job, I'm sure.
  • Outfielder in lower thirties, out of the majors a few years, atrocious MLB career stats.  SFG - Andres Torres.  COL - ummmm...Ruben Mateo?
It's just that easy.  If every one of those pieces perform as well as they are capable of in a Colorado uniform, the Rockies win the 2011 World Series.  Get to it O'Dowd.  And don't worry about Aaron Cook even if he doesn't rebound.  It works to have a couple dead weight contracts.

Renck: Second NL club raises questions about Rockies' humidor - The Denver Post - This news coincides perfectly with the one team who directly complained winning the league championship.  So can we still hate the Giants for it?  Supposedly, this unnamed team's remarks will ensure that the humidor will be discussed at the annual GM meetings, starting two weeks from today.  There's nothing here to be upset about as a Rockies fan, as full disclosure can only aid in standardization throughout the game, which is where it should be.

Additionally, Renck has this message, which I fully endorse:
There is growing buzz that the Rockies will explore trades for the Nationals' Josh Willingham and the Angels' Juan Rivera as they search for a right-handed bat.

We got the buzz, we got the buzz! Yeyah! We got the buzz!

 

 

Consolation Prize for Texas: At Least You Made It. - Beyond the Box Score No one is interested in consolation prizes, but at least 24 other teams have longer pennant droughts than the Rockies.

 

 

 

Rockies may look to trade for Rays starter James Shields | HardballTalk  If not for the World Series ending yesterday, I would have dissected Shields further today.  Yesterday, Aaron Gleeman completely dismisses an acquisition of James Shields as foolish, not due to his poor 2010 campaign, but his flyball tendencies.  

 

It is a lazy analysis that you can be sure the Rockies would look deeper than.  It was just two years ago that the Rockies acquired a starting pitcher from Tampa Bay with a history of giving up home runs and being a flyball pitcher, and Jason Hammel turned out just fine.

Furthermore, I challenge you to check the career FB/HR, GB, and FB of James Shields and compare them to Jeff Francis.  Francis has done more than "survive" in his career at Coors Field.  While the Rockies may prefer pitchers with heavy sink, acquiring Shields would not be out of the ordinary or foolish in the slightest.

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