Bayless Babbles: San Francisco Giants Guide to August & September

by Justin Cheng

With under two months left in the 2013 schedule, the reigning world champions are currently dead last in the NL West. Only the most hardcore of fans realize that August and September will be the biggest test of loyalty since MTV aired 30 episodes of the X Effect. 

For the Facebook bandwagoners that will reappear next October, 13 games under .500 and 15 games from first place doesn't mean that these last games mean nothing. The last two months of the season serves as an evaluation tool, where potential free-agent veterans can prove being worthy of landing a multi-million dollar contract and young stars will try to make a name for themselves to begin a career in the big leagues. 

In the City by the Bay, you will more than likely hear the fair share of baseball talk, whether its at a dive establishment like Chug Pub or during a casual stroll down the Financial District. Don't oust yourself from a fruitful Giant debate or else you'll find yourself conversing about your job, which is probably something that you don't have, considering that you're reading this blog. Here is a quick guide to understanding the last two months of the Giants' season.

For the lady bandwagoners: The only thing that turns on a guy more than knowing great deal about sports is....well, nothing really. This will assuredly score you the man of your dreams, like so...













For the male bandwagoners: You need this. Badly. The Giants are the most popular team in the Bay Area --sorry, Oakland fans-- and being completely oblivious about them will be met with a reaction similar to seeing one with leprosy.

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1) Goodbye Pitching Rotation

With Barry Zito, Tim Lincecum, and Chad Gaudin set to be free agents at the end of this year, the future of Giants' starting pitching is starting to look bleak. Zito will be a long gone memory in 2014, as has fallen out of the rotation with a 5.40 ERA and has not pitched well in two relief appearances. 

Lincecum (of late) and Gaudin (all season) have been pitching well and will command large contracts in the open market if their August and September performances remain steady. Giants loyalists should hope that these two will not price themselves out of the Giants' pay range, or else we will be seeing a lot more of Mike Kickham and Eric Surkamp. 



2) Empty Farm

For those of you hopeful that the Giants have prospects bursting out of their farm system, well, we don't. Each one of our high prospects has been shot down (figuratively...well, not really). San Jose and Fresno have yet to send up a valuable player since Buster Posey. Players such as Gary Brown (OF) , Heath Hembree (RHP), Kyle Crick (RHP), Chris Stratton (RHP), and Joe Panik (SS) have been mentioned being the highest rated prospects within the organization, but considering that they haven't been called up when the Giants have been hit with injuries, do not appear to be major league-ready.


3) No Giancarlo

Sorry ladies, but Giancarlo Stanton will not be a San Francisco Giant anytime soon. The Miami Marlins have been known to conduct a Black Friday sale or two. However, they have always demanded promising prospects in return for their stars. Considering the last point, the Giants may not have enough firepower to even please Jeffrey Loria, the penny-pinching owner of the Marlins. 




4) 99 Free Agency Problems But Hov Ain't One

Don't get any crazy ideas that we will get the best player on the market, Robinson Cano. Jay-Z has recently gotten into the agent game and will be looking to make a huge splash with his first big client and will command a contract upwards of $100 million. Jay-Z has the potential to be a Daniel Hardman in a firm ruled by Harvey Specter a.k.a. General Manager Brian Sabean. Sabean likes to get the biggest bang for his buck. Look for him to sign players like Corey Hart, Matt Garza, Phil Hughes, and Shin Soo-Choo.



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The Bayless Babbles is a sports blog is co-authored by UC Merced/ USC alumnus Justin Cheng and UC San Diego alumnus Brent Lee.

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