San Francisco Giants' Mediocre Offseason Has Team Falling Behind in NL West

With the San Francisco Giants' 40-man roster all but set for the 2012 MLB season, now is the time to make judgements about the team, the offseason they had and the what the future holds for the franchise.

The immediate judgements are not kind, to say the least.

GM Brian Sabean and the Giants have had a busy offseason, and while most would take that as a sign of good moves filling voids the team had before, that is simply not the case.

San Francisco Giants' Baseball Is Torture, But Not the Good Kind

Losing is contagious.

You know how I know?

The defending World Series champions, and a team in the middle of a competitive playoff race, are in danger of being swept by the worst team in baseball.

Do you cringe when you watch Giants baseball these days? How about turn away from the television once the opposing team scores over three runs?

You're not alone.

San Francisco Giants: 5 Bold Predictions For the Rest of the Season

Another day, another man down. That seems to be the story these days for the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

Freddy Sanchez was placed on the 15-day DL Saturday after dislocating his right shoulder diving for a ball, and continuing the voodoo-like coincidence of the best current Giants hitter going down to injury.

We witnessed this with Pablo Sandoval earlier in the season, Buster Posey a few weeks ago and now with Sanchez.

Tread lightly, Nate Schierholtz...

2011 NL West Season Preview & Predictions

Last season, the National League West went from one of the worst divisions in baseball to arguably one of the best.

The San Diego Padres came out of nowhere last season, only to crumble down the stretch and fall to the eventual World Series Champion San Francisco Giants who finished at 92-70.

Still, the Padres finished 2010 at 90-72, and even the Rockies, who finished third in the West, were 83-79, giving the NL West three teams over .500.

2011 may be a different story for the NL West. On paper, the division is much worse than it was last season.

Giants Try To Stay Hot In Chavez Ravine

The Giants bring their hot 2nd-half start to Chavez Ravine this week. Probably one of the more important series thus far this season.

The Dodgers are coming off being swept in St. Louis, while the Giants are coming off taking 3 of 4 from the NY Mets. Seems like the perfect time for the Giants, right? Not quite, remember the last series against the Dodgers...

The Giants have not faired well against the NL West, and this is the perfect test for this team that has gotten off to a hot 2nd-half start, both with their pitching and their hitting. And they will take the heart of that into LA this week. Bumgarner, Lincecum, Zito sounds like the perfect rotation against the hated Dodgers.

This is a pivotal series for both teams. The Dodgers are treading water fast, and the Giants are making their move in the division, although they lost a 1/2 game in the division in that Mets series despite taking 3 of 4. How that happened, I have no idea.

But expect that. The Padres are for real and are not going down without a fight. Expect no different from the Rockies as well. No Tulowitzki, no problem.

The test this week for the Giants, beat an NL West team, and let's go from there, because so far that is a rarity.

SF Giants Season Preview

It has arrived. Opening Day is on Monday and Giants fans cannot be more excited for this year's team. Is it the solid pitching staff getting these fans going? Or is it the so-called upgrade in offense? One thing is for sure, the Giants have a shot to win the NL West for the first time in a long time. Granted, it is just a "shot" at winning the division, but for a franchise that has gone through its ups-n-downs, and a fan-base that has gone with it, this season couldn't look any better.

Several story lines dominate the start of this season. Will Tim Lincecum three-peat as Cy Young winner? Will Madison Bumgarner crack the rotation this season? How will the Giants handle Buster Posey once he is done obliterating the Minor League this season? And will the upgrade in offense pay off for the stretch run? These are the questions that dominate the speculation this season, and I'm sure there are a handfull more.

But let's cover the obvious. The Giants pitching staff, although they lost Brad Penny, is still solid. They might have the best 1-2 in the League, as well as the best 4-5 in the League. What worries me is the #3 pitcher, Barry Zito. We saw glimpses of brilliance during the second-half of last season. How will that carry over into this one. By the looks of Thursday nights game, not so much. Zito is the "if." Zito is the difference.

Todd Wellemeyer and Jonathan Sanchez are going to give you a .500 season, more or less. And Lincecum and Matt Cain are going to get you 15 wins, more or less, depending on the offense. But I have no idea what to expect from Zito. This we will find out soon. My advice, the Giants are one pitcher away from making a run for this division. Whether that pitcher is already in the organization in the form of Bumgarner or a surprise with Wellemeyer, or they have to go pick one up at the trade deadline, we will find out. They may miss Brad Penny.

As for the hitting, I was pleased this offseason to find that for once in long time a Bay Area Sports team, whose name is not the Sharks, went out and upgraded the part of their team that they needed to upgrade. The Giants needed to upgrade the offense, and they brought in Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa. These aren't high-profile names by any means, but it is better than what they had last year, right? I'm still trying to convince myself. The Giants will score more runs this season than last, and if they overcome all expectations hitting-wise, then they will win the West, plain and simple.

Their pitching is moderately strong, their bullpen is just about flawless (knock on wood), and the only thing left is their offense. Which they now have, just not a lot of.

They have a good line-up...until you look at the every other line-up in the NL West.

But there is one thing that the Giants have and will need to resist this season if they want any success. Health is the key. With a pitching rotation and line-up that is as fragile as this team's, pray for good health. They have already lost Freddy Sanchez, who is starting the year on the DL, but Juan Uribe can pick up the slack while he's gone. They're lucky.

If the Giants lose someone like Pablo Sandoval, or Cain or Lincecum, during the season, you can start panicking. Because in this division, there is not much room for error. For any team.

I see good things for the Giants this season, maybe somewhere around 85 wins, more or less. Bottom line, the Dodgers will not be as good this season, and the Rockies will be better. That's all you need to know. And if the Giants can fit somewhere in between those two teams, they may find themselves with a Wildcard birth to playoffs.