2005 NL West cont.

San Francisco Giants(91-71)
Acquired: RP-Armando Benitez, OF-Moises Alou, SS-Omar Visquel, C-Mike Matheny
Departed: C-AJ Pierzynski, RP-Dustin Hermanson

If Father Time can hold off just a little longer, the Giants may have had the best offseason in the west. Alou is 38, but had a .919 OPS last year in a healthy 601 ABs. He will provide adequate protection behind Bonds if he can stay in the lineup. Visquel, 37, provides solid defense at shortstop, but average offense. Matheny has never been known for his hitting but is considered one of the best defensive/playcalling catchers in the game. Benitez is a huge upgrade, and should compete for most saves in the NL. The Giants are one of/if not the oldest team in baseball and will need a healthy Bonds to be in the thick of things. The steroid mayhem will probably not effect Barry, but old age eventually will. Now that testing is more rigorous, we'll see if his 40 year old body can come anywhere close to posting the superhero numbers we've seen since 2001. Stopper Jason Schmidt remains a top Cy Young candidate, and will lead a staff that seems to get the job done.