NLCS 2010: San Francisco Giants Taking the Small Market Route to Success

Small market baseball is helping the San Francisco Giants be a successful playoff team.

The Giants beat the Atlanta Braves and are now up 3-1 on the Philadelphia Phillies after last night's 6-5 walk-off victory.

Even though the Giants have the 10th highest payroll at $97,828,833—with Barry Zito, Edgar Renteria, Tim Lincicum, Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand getting $60.1 million—the team has upgraded its club midseason with mostly smaller pickups and have done well with its high draft picks and lower profile manager.

And so far, it has been more effective than the New York Yankees ($206,333,389) and Phillies ($141,927,381) high spending models.

Draft Picks Working Out for Giants

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PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 16: Pitcher Tim Lincecum #55 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game One of the NLCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at Citizens Bank Park on October 16, 2010 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Phot

Even though the Yankees(Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera for $50.7 million) and Phillies (Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels for $48.95 million) have homegrown talent , San Francisco has been drafting players not too badly either and are paying less.

Giants ace Tim Lincecum (48th round in 2003) has earned his $9 million as a two-time Cy Young Winner. Starter Jonathan Sanchez (13-9 for $2.1 million) and stud closer Brian Wilson (48 saves for $6.5 million) have played their entire careers in the Bay.

Nate Schierholtz ($416,500) is starting in right field while Pablo Sandoval ($465,000) starts at third.

Rookie catcher Buster Posey is receiving a rookie contract, but has produced like a veteran. Posey has belted 18 homers, 67 RBIs and batted .298 since the Giants traded Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers.

San Francisco's Free Agent Pickups Helping in the Playoffs

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SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 20: Cody Ross #13 of the San Francisco Giants hits a double in the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Four of the NLCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at AT&T Park on October 20, 2010 in San Francisco, California.

The Giants did not have the luxury to have big free agent pickups like the Yankees (Nick Swisher, A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson for $49.775 million) or the Phillies (Raul Ibanez, Jayson Werth and Brad Lidge for $31.666 million), but they have had good, relatively inexpensive signings. 

Cody Ross was claimed off waivers from the Florida Marlins late in August and has been a playoff beast. He has the series winning hit against the Atlanta Braves and the team's first 3 home runs against the Phillies. He has 3 homers and 7 RBIs in the postseason.

First baseman Aubrey Huff was signed for a small $3 million and has led the team in home runs (26) and RBIs (86).

Utility man Juan Uribe signed a minor league contract in 2009 and has 85 RBIs this season. Uribe ($3.25 million) also had the game winning hit in Game 4 of the NLCS.

Pat Burrell (paid only a portion of $9 million) was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays after hitting poorly in the DH spot. Burrell now is the starting left fielder with 18 homers and 51 RBIs.

Midseason Pickups Making a Different for Giants

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ST. LOUIS - AUGUST 21: Reliever Ramon Ramirez #52 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on August 21, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

The Yankees love making a splash during the trade deadline. They got Lance Berkman ($14.5 million), Kerry Wood ($10.5 million) and Austin Kearns ($750,000). However, Kearns is not on the playoff roster and Berkman batted .255 for 1 homer and 9 RBIs in 37 games. Woods has not given up a playoff run in 4 innings.

The Phillies traded for Roy Halladay ($15.75 million) in the offseason and Roy Oswalt ( half of $15 million), who both have been lights out.

The Giants can compete with those moves.

Acquiring Ramon Ramirez and Javier Lopez (under $2 million combined) by the trade deadline strengthen the bullpen greatly. Ramirez pitched 27 regular season innings with an 0.67 ERA with the Giants and Lopez posted 19 innings with a 1.42 ERA. Both were 2-0 with San Francisco.

Mike Fontenot ($1 million) was acquired by trade from the Chicago Cubs. Fontenot has been a solid back up for Freddy Sanchez at second.

Giants Winning Without a Bona Fide Star

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SAN FRANCISCO - OCTOBER 19: Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds acknowledges the crowd prior to Game Three of the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants during the 2010 MLB Playoffs at AT&T Park on October 19, 2010 in San Francisco, Califor

The big market teams have big stars to sell to fans.

The Yankees and Phillies are loaded with them.

New York has Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia.

Philadelphia has Rollins, Hamels, Halladay, Lidge, Utley and Howard.

San Francisco?

Well, the team has some solid players a little past their prime in Huff and Burrell. Posey just started his career and Lincecum is a great pitcher but not at his full potential yet.

Without a superstar like Barry Bonds, the Giants have to rely many players picking up the slack in a collective effort.