Well, I guess there is something to get excited about Giant fans. With a sterling record of 71 wins versus 91 losses, the Giants have earned the 5th pick in the 2008 draft. Here are the first five teams picking; Although the Giants - Marlins, and Royals - Orioles finished with the same record, the Giants get the number five pick and the Royals the third due to the tiebreaker. The tiebreaker for the draft order is that the team with the worse record the previous year gets the higher pick, Huzzah!

Pick              Team                               Wins                Losses

1               Tampa Bay Devil Rays         66                    96

2               Pittsburgh Pirates                68                    94

3              Kansas City Royals               69                     93

4               Baltimore Orioles                 69                      93

5               San Francisco Giants           71                      91

6                Florida Marlins                    71                      91

It’s never too early to think about next year, and with that in mind I give you the Giants 2008 Projected lineup. I am only including players currently under contract for 2008

C - Bengie Molina

1B - Dan Ortmeier

2B - Ray Durham

SS - Kevin Frandsen

3B - Rich Aurilia

RF - Nate Schierholtz / Randy Winn

CF - Dave Roberts / Rajai Davis

LF - Fred Lewis / Dave Roberts

SP - Barry Zito

SP - Matt Cain

SP - Tim Lincecum

SP - Noah Lowry

SP Jonathan Sanchez / Russ Ortiz / Kevin Correia

Setup - Brad Hennessey / Tyler Walker

CL - Brian Wilson

Let us take a look at the possible fantasy impact from this lineup. On offense there is not too much to be excited about. Molina has turned in a decent fantasy year at catcher. I think the departure of Bonds will hurt him just a touch in ‘08. Schierholtz is capable of hitting 30+ HRs, but I don’t think it will be next year, maybe ‘09 or ‘10. Roberts and Davis can steal a whole lot of bases, but that’s about all they will contribute, and that’s assuming they play regularly. Fred Lewis has been all about potential, and without results thus far, I am loathe to expect anything from him…

Now Pitching is another story entirely! Cain and Lincecum have the ability to be top ten pitchers in the NL. Lowry has always been solid if unspectacular, and Corriea has put together a nice string of starts to finish ‘07. As far as Barry Zito is concerned, I expect him to right the ship in ‘08  and be a solid, yet unspectacular pitcher (see Noah Lowry). Brian Wilson as the closer should be very intriguing. Wilson works in the 93 - 99 mph range with his fastball and slider. If he can work on his control a bit, he has the potential to be a shutdown closer, one of those closers that gets a cool nickname and scary music playing when they come out from the bullpen. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it together.

Until next time,

You might think I’m crazy, but I just might be right. Check out the salaries the Giants have/will be dumped at the end of the season:

Barry Bonds: 15.8m

Pedro Feliz: 5.1m

Omar Vizquel: 4 m

Ryan Klesko: 1.75m

Matt Morris: 9.5m

Armando Benitez: 4.7 m

That’s a little more than 40 Million dollars off the books for 2008.

The Giants are not afraid to spend money or deal with Scott Boras clients (Barry Zito). And the model they have been running for the past 11 years (Having the best player in the game and figuring the rest out later) has worked pretty well.

It has long been specualted and often reported that Barry bonds will not be asked to return to the San Franscisco Giants. Today Barry told us what we all have been waiting to hear .

“I was told by the Giants that they will not be bringing me back for the 2008 season. During the conversation Yesterday,with Peter Magowan I was told that my play this year far exceeded any expectations the Giants had, but that the organization decided this year would be my last season in San Francisco.”

I’ve had the opportunity to play with some amazingly talented ballplayers who have treated me with respect, supported me and rooted for me throughout the years.

I would have loved nothing more than to retire as a Giant in the place where I call home and have shared so many momentous moments with all of you, but there is more baseball in me and I plan on continuing my career. My quest for a World Series ring continues. “

He ended his statement as only Barry can

“Until next time,

Barry Bonds”

Barry, If your reading. Fantasy Baseball is about production and value, will you be either next season?