When the San Francisco Giants signed Tim Hudson on November 18 a lot of people thought they would continue to make a splash as the offseason continued. It seems the opposite has happened as the Giants have been as quiet as a church mouse. Finally after 24 days of silence the Giants have finally made another move. They took a chance and went and signed left-fielder Michael Morse. He has been signed to a one year, $6 million contract. Morse played for the Mariners and Orioles last season and combined for a low batting average of .215. He was injured for a large chunk of the 2013 season and only played in 88 games. His numbers from last season were horrible but he is an overall .280 hitter so the Giants are hoping that is what he brings to the table.
Some Giants fans are freaking out because the Giants have been so quiet over the past month but things are better than they seem. For one Matt Cain will not have as bad of a season as he had in 2013. He recorded an ERA of four while allowing 23 home runs over 184.1 innings pitched. Cain is a career 3.30 pitcher who will surely bounce back in 2014. Madison Bumgarner proved that he is one of the best pitchers in the game last year and will definitely be the number two pitcher come next season.
The Giants have a good mix of young, talented players along with willey veterans. Catcher Buster Posey will play a big role in the Giants offense once again along with Pablo Sandoval who has been rumored to be slimming down for the 2014 campaign. The main question that remains for this team is how Tim Lincecum will pitch. He showed flashes of his 2011 season but overall still had a pretty awful year. He ended the season with a 4.37 ERA and apparently that was enough to get him a two-year, $35 million contract. This decision has questioned a lot of people in the baseball world who believe that Lincecum is now being highly over-paid.
Even though the Giants have not made a lot of “big” offseason moves things are looking very good for them come next season. They will not have a repeat performance of 2013 and will win far more than 76 games. This is basically the same team that won the World Series in 2012 with some added pitching. Look for the Giants to compete with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers come April.