posted March 29, 2008 at 17:56 EST in MLB Betting Trends

Starting Pitching:

If you thought the San Srancisco Giants last season was ugly, wait until you see this year’s product.

One bright spot on this team, though, will be the first three starting pitchers.

Barry Zito has a new delivery and hopefully he can regain his ace status. He was paid $126 million to come over as a free agent last year but posted a terrible 11-13 record.

Behind him are two of the best young pitchers in the Major Leagues: Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum.

Both will be aces in the future and with Zito up top, the Giants will rival any frontline three pitchers in the bigs.

But unfortunately the pitchers behind them, Kevin Correia and Jonathan Sanchez (and Noah Lowry when recovers from forearm surgery), are not particularly good.

Three good pitchers and two scrubs won’t get you too far – not in the NL West.

Relief Pitching:

The Giants bullpen should be improved simply by the fact that Armando Benitez is no longer there.

They should have two capable closers in Brad Hennessey and Brian Wilson, who both closed last year. Hennessey converted 14 straight opportunities, struggled a bit, then Wilson took over.

Wilson is tabbed the guy of the future in San Fran, so he’ll get the first crack this year.

Tyler Walker will be the setup man and he’s a decent pitcher.

The rest of the run-of-the-mill bullpen includes Steve Kline, Vinnie Chulk, Jack Taschner and Merkin Valdez.

Hitting:

So Barry Bonds is gone and the only bat that the Giants imported was Aaron Rowand? Very nice.

The Giants lineup looks like a unit that might be good if the clock was turned back five years.

Dave Roberts, Ray Durham and Randy Winn are slated to be the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 hitters. Too bad they passed their prime several years ago. Rich Aurilia and Omar Vizquel are still around - almost by default.

This lineup is desperate for young prospects but there aren’t many around. There is no centerpiece of the future and there aren’t many MLB-ready players that can step up this season to change the Giants fate this year. They seem destined for last in the NL West.

Regular Season Win Total: 72

The Barry Bonds era is over in San Francisco and while they strip down the stadium of all of his memorabilia in an effort to forget him, they will definitely miss the power and success he brought the franchise.

There is no hitting around, the team is old and outside of Cain and Lincecum, there isn’t a clear view of the future.

This team is in complete shambles. Bonds used to be able to carry the scrubs around him but with him out of the picture, this season is going to get ugly very quickly. They are my pick to be the worst team in baseball.

Baseball Free Picks: Under 72 wins

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