San Francisco Giants: 5 Things to Keep Giants Fans Warm This Winter

Sometimes as fans we involve ourselves too much in the process.  Maybe it’s the Internet; maybe it's fantasy baseball; but either way, it's becoming harder to just sit back and enjoy our pastime. 

It's one thing to lose your appetite watching Game 6 of the 2010 NLCS (which I did).  It's quite another to tie yourself in knots picturing J.D. Drew in the 2012 starting lineup (which I also do).  When I was a child, the end of baseball season meant I would bury my Will Clark jersey for the winter and root for whichever players showed up the following February. 

I retain no more power to affect things now than I did then.  There has been a lot of wailing about the Giants' disappointing 2011 season.  However, it's time to look towards next year because brighter days are ahead.   

Even if the opening day lineup includes Milton Bradley and Marvin Benard, here are five sure things that should keep Giants fans warm through the winter. 

1. Buster Posey

Watching Buster Posey's ankle go through the shredder was the worst moment of 2011. 

But the misery is over now. 

Posey is on the road to recovery and, barring setback, will be back behind the plate in March. This fact alone should give Giants fans warm fuzzies from now until Valentine's Day.  Or at least it will aid the recovery from some serious Whiteside/Stewart overdose. 

All-Star offensive prospects have been hard to come by in San Francisco.  Giants fans have watched many a farmhand "Schierholtz" his way in and out of the lineup.  If you squinted hard enough in 2008, you convinced yourself that Eugenio Velez would be an everyday starter eventually.  Posey is different.  We were told he would be good.  He was good.  He is going to be good again.  Can't wait. 

2. The Division

The NL West remains winnable.  None of the other four teams are expected to break the bank this offseason 

Padres: Casual fans will still struggle to name three starters on this team

Dodgers: Should remain susceptible to Frank McCourt jokes for at least one more season.  The lineup is a mess. 

Rockies: Pitching was a disaster last season in a pitching-heavy division

Diamondbacks: They will be there again, stocked with young talent and strong pitching.  However, several D-backs who had career years are bound to come back to Earth. 

As usual, nobody will run away with the West.  Injuries can always change things, but as it stands now, no Giants team led by Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner will fall too far. 

3. Free Agency

Yes, I know it's stressful.  Yes, I know the excitement surrounding Giants free-agent acquisitions has historically been less "Prince Fielder" and more "Stan Javier."   However, we just witnessed the lowest scoring Giants team in 26 years.  They have to get better.   With every position up for grabs except third base and first base, next year's roster is unpredictable. 

New players are exciting, even if they tend to be old players in fresh new Giants wrapping.  Next year's offense will be better.  When Melky Cabrera is a consensus improvement, you know things were bad. 

Since Tim Lincecum came into the league, the Giants have won the World Series every year in which they have assembled a league-average offense.  Mediocrity is something to shoot for.   

2. Pitching Staff

Barring injury, the Giants pitching is as much of a lock as there is in baseball right now.  Don't worry about the contract issues or where the money is going to come from.  Right now, live for the day.  Lincecum, Cain and Bumgarner are under team control for next year and the bullpen remains intact.   

We know that the Giants' pitching combined with an average offense wins the World Series—and the Giants' pitching with a historically bad offense wins 86 games.  If the front office manages to put eight professional baseball players on the field alongside the pitchers (no sure thing), the Giants will be the team to beat in the NL West.

1. 2010 World Championship

It's in the record books.  It was even in the newspapers.  No matter how badly Cody Ross, Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell played last season, it's still there.  The World Series trophy sits protected in a nuclear fallout shelter under Bruce Bochy's guest house.  Ron Washington can't get at it.  Terrelle Pryor can't sell it for tattoos.  

So pop in your commemorative Blu-ray collection, put on all six of your championship t-shirts and re-live the glory days.  Then put it all back in storage, tolerate the NFL for a few more months and see what kind of team shows up in February.