It’s amazing to me that the Giants are not only playing great baseball, but that they are a better team than they were a year ago.

Think about it for a moment: Dusty Baker is pretty much shown the door, David Bell and Jeff Kent both decide to move on, Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton are not resigned,

Russ Ortiz is traded, and Robb Nen is out for the year. Those are seven key components to last year’s near World Series title winner.

Yet the replacements have for the most part, exceeded what their predocessors did.

Click Read More and I’ll explain what has happened with the Giants.

Article submitted by Bruce Magowan, in my opinion one of the most astute baseball observers in the Bay Area. Bruce’s love for the game of baseball is exceeded by few in baseball.
Thanks,
Marty LurieFelipe Alou has a little more of an aggressive

style than did Baker, partly out of necessity given the makeup of his team. Unlike Baker,

he won’t hesitate to pull a pitcher or make a double switch, and I love the way he’s maneuvered the lineup in the early season to maximize his talent. Felipe also has a calm,

confident manner that is so disarming and refreshing that you can’t help but like him.

Nothing seems to ruffle this guy, and he’s the way before doing a group interview with 26 reporters as he was an hour before when you

went into his office just to chat about baseball.

Meanwhile the new guys have all had their moments. Damian Moss has been, “effectively wild,” keeping hitters off balance while a nasty breaking ball and a fast ball that has a lot of movement.

Edgardo Alfonzo is starting to finally hit, and he’s made some great plays in the field, Jose Cruz Jr is a lot of fun to watch in rightfield. He’s got a great arm, is a pretty good fielder, and is learning to play that tricky rightfield wall at Pac-Bell. Marquis Grissom does a nice job getting to most of the balls in his area, he’s also terrific at cutting off shots up the gaps, and he’s shown occaisional poop at the plate. And Ray Durham has been better than we hoped defensively, showing better range than Jeff Kent, while at the plate he’s been able to give the Giants their best leadoff hitter since Brett Butler.

Joe Nathan is another guy who has been a revelation. This tall righthander is indeed, “the glue” to the Giants deep bullpen which for the most part has done a nice job of protecting leads. Nathan hasn’t allowed a run as of May 8th, while closer Tim Worrell has done a nice impression of Rob Nen closing out games. While Worrell is not the long term answer to Nen, he told me that he doesn’t feel any different working in his new role.

“I fell I have an advantage, ” he said, “because when I come in I only have to get 2 or 3 outs. When Felix or Joe or someone else comes in, the other team usually has eight or nine outs left, which is more relaxing for the hitter. When I’m out there, the pressure is on the hitter, not me.

I don’t expect the Giants to run away in the NL West. They have been lucky with the breaks, they have been handed a few games because of other team’s mistakes, and they have stayed relatively healthy.

The Dodgers have plenty of pitching, and the D-Backs, despite all of their injuries and inconsistency are still full of talent and are only 9 and a half games out (as of May 8th)

Colorado will probably fade this summer, although they may be one of the surprise teams with that good young pitching (Jason

Jennings and Shawn Chacon among others,

and the Padres have some fine young pitching

(Jake Peavy comes to mind in particular), to give their fans some hope when they move into their new park next year.

As far as the National League goes, once again there are no powerhouse teams like

the Yanks or even the Angels of last year.

Atlanta has some fine pitching and maybe the best outfield in the game, the Cardinals have the best lineup in the league, but I’m skeptical about their pitching depth, and Dusty Bakers’s got a nice lineup and some really nice young pitching in Chicago (Pryor and Clement) but need help defensively. Houston’s got a terrific lineup, but I’m not sure if their starters can get them into the postseason.

And finally the Expos should make it interesting for anyone who comes to Montreal or San Juan. And I can’t discount the Phillies either, as their pitching looks as if it might have enough to keep them in contention all year. You’ve got to love the additions to their lineup with Jim Thome and David Bell, plus they have some of the best most exciting young hitters in the game like Pat Burrell, and underrated vets such as Bobb Abreau.

All in all this should be a most entertaining summer for fans of the senior circuit! However with the Yanks, A’s, Red Sox, Mariners, Angels, Twins, and White Sox vying for the four playoff spots in the AL, I see more

power and a greater concentration of talent in the 7 AL contenders than in the 8 or 9 NL contenders.