Okay, I promise, that is the first and only bit of intentional and obvious bias you will see. They are villains, though.
I feel like the best way to go about this is to break each team down, position by position, weighing the pros and cons, and gauging just how much of an advantage one team has over the other. Since we all know that baseball games aren't won on paper, I think it would also be appropriate to discuss the advantages and disadvantages the teams posses in their coaches, farm systems, and front offices.
However, we are American, and we demand instant gratification. What happens on the field is the exciting stuff, so we'll do that first. Just promise me you'll stay with me through the later, ho-hum parts. One further disclaimer: These rankings were made with the thought in mind that both teams are at full strength. These are the rosters that both teams would field on Opening Day, if only they could.
1st Baseman
San Francisco Giants: Brandon Belt
Los Angeles Dodgers: Adrian Gonzalez
Advantage: Heavy, in favor of L.A.
This is not to say that Brandon Belt doesn't have a huge upside. The Giants front office has shown great faith (which counts for a lot, as we'll get to later) and patience with Belt, and in some ways, he has rewarded them. Belt boasted a .360 OBP, and stole 12 bases. His power numbers have NOT panned out yet, and that is a bit of a problem, as first base is traditionally a power position, but he's only 25, and at least his number have continued to grow. Belt had 411 at-bats, which is still about 200 shy of a "full" season, even though he did play in 145 games. In those at-bats, he hit only 7 HR (1 every 59 at-bats), so even if he does get 200 more plate appearances, those numbers won't cut it on a team that already hurts for offense. Still, the on-base percentage is a promising sign, and as the Giants proved last year, you CAN win without a slugging 1st baseman. Think Mark Grace...
Adrian Gonzalez, on the other hand, is a proven commodity. At 30, he still has a few years left on his "prime", and although he only smacked 18 dingers last year, 108 RBI is fine, no matter how many homers come with it, and I think it's inevitable that his total will increase this season. He has garnered 7 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, and led the league in homers as recently as 2009 (a year he also walked 119 times). Sorry, Giants, but this one is a landslide for Team Blue.
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2nd Baseman
San Francisco Giants: Marco Scutaro
Los Angeles Dodgers: Mark Ellis
Advantage: Slight, San Francisco Giants
This battle is so close, it doesn't even really come down to statistics. Ellis holds the advantage, as far as best single-season offensive numbers (2007 with Oakland), but Scutaro always seems to play for a winner. It may be unfair, but I consider it a strike against Ellis that he was traded away by Billy Beane. Ellis still gets on base 33% of the time, which averages out to at least once a game, but he is not in the lineup for his offense. Ellis' LOWEST fielding percentage, in his career, has been .926. That is certainly nothing to shake a stick at.
Marco Scutaro, on top of having a very attractive wife, was also traded away by Billy Beane, but because his wife is hot, he wins that one. Scutaro's fielding has been even better than Ellis. He holds a CAREER average of .978, which is absolutely friggin' ludicrous. Steve Sax and Jose Offerman want to kill themselves over it. It could be argued that Scutaro had a CAREER offensive year last season, and in fact, I WILL argue it. There is absolutely NO WAY he repeats the numbers he put up last season with the Giants, and I can't help but be a little pleased by the 3-year contract the Giants gave the 37-year old second baseman. But, because I am so very objective, I still give the advantage to Scutaro. Like Ellis, he is not in the lineup for his bat, and every winner needs guys like that. This all changes if Dee Gordon gets called up and is placed at second base for L.A.
Shortstop:
San Francisco Giants: Brandon Crawford
Los Angeles Dodgers: Hanley Ramirez
Advantage: Heavy, L.A.
Full disclosure: Brandon Crawford holds the distinction of, on a team of 25, being one of my top five LEAST favorite Giants. Even with that being said, there is no way that any honest baseball fan can disagree that Hanley Ramirez is the clear winner here. The only advantage that Crawford holds is in fielding percentage (.971 vs. .967, which is actually better than I thought Ramirez was). There isn't necessarily anything WRONG with Crawford's game, he's a sure-handed shortstop who hits .240. He's entirely typical.
Hanley Ramirez, on the other hand, is anything BUT typical. In 2006, he won Rookie of the Year honors. He has stolen at LEAST 20 bases every year of his career, led the National League in batting average in that magical year of 2009 (.342), has struck out as many as 132 times a year, is an obvious headcase, and, ironically, injured himself playing DEFENSE in the WBC. He's a 30/30 guy when he cares, and it's really hard to hold not caring against him when he's played in Florida his entire career. This season will be a big test for him, and I predict that his injury might lead him to be slightly crazed when he comes back in May. He will be raring to go. Of course, he is aware of the knocks against him, and he's earned them, but if there is one thing Mattingly is actually good at (more on that later), it's motivating players.
3rd Baseman:
San Francisco Giants: Pablo Sandoval
Los Angeles Dodgers: platoon, Luis Cruz/Juan Uribe
Advantage: Heavy, S.F.
Now that Brian Wilson, that disgrace to the name "Brian Wilson", is no longer with the team, Fat Panda Sandoval holds the distinction of being my LEAST favorite Giant. How in the hell did he hit that first home run in last year's World Series!? That ball was away, and at the shins! Regardless, if you wanna talk about people I dislike, let's talk about Juan Uribe.
Speaking of fat third basemen, Juan Uribe has spent the last 2 seasons robbing L.A. of money. This guy hit 24 home runs and drove in 85 runs in 2010 for the World Champion Giants (I just threw up in my mouth a little bit), and now, after 2 years of a 3-year, 21 million dollar contract with the Dodgers, has TOTALED 6 home runs, 45 RBI, with a batting average of .197. He sucks so bad, I almost wouldn't even care who was playing 3rd for the Giants, they would win. 3rd base has been a black hole for the Dodgers ever since Adrian Beltre unmercifully left town.
It's never a good sign when you have a platoon at any position, especially when one of those players is Juan Uribe. Let me be the first Dodgers fan to be unimpressed with Luis Cruz. There were a whole bunch of "Cruuuuuuuuz" chants emanating from Dodger Stadium last season. Sure, he was great for us**, in limited time, during the stretch last year, but he was also a 29 year-old rookie. He had a cup of coffee in 2008 for (gasp!) Pittsburgh, and then got a nice hot macchiato in Milwaukee in 2010, but only in L.A. did he get to start. Not so amazingly, he was STILL better than Uribe. .297, 6 HR, 40 RBI, .322 OBP. Do I think he has any chance of repeating those numbers? What do you think?
Pablo Sandoval is despicable, unlikable, and generally objectionable. He also has a career batting average of .303. He also hit 3 home runs in one game, in the World Series, off of Justin Verlander, becoming just the 4th player to do so (joining Albert Pujols, Reggie Jackson, and Babe Ruth. No small feat). Opposed to what we said about Scutaro and Ellis earlier, Sandoval is not in the lineup for his glove, although he somehow does better than you would expect (.971 Career). He is there because he is a big, fat, hitting machine, and I hate him for it, but I would still take him over Uribe.
Left Field:
San Francisco Giants: Gregor Blanco
Los Angeles Dodgers: Carl Crawford
Advantage: Slight, L.A.
The most painful part about this is that Carl Crawford is my current favorite baseball player. I was genuinely ecstatic when he was traded to the Dodgers, but I was also aware of the huge risk. Crawford being a Dodger is eerily similar to Darryl Strawberry being a Dodger. I know I said that this list was based on full health for each team, but even if Crawford was at full health, what is he gonna be capable of?
First, let's discuss Blanco. He is a perfectly serviceable Left Fielder, he even stole 26 bases last season. In addition, my life sentence of KNBR being my local channel has led me to believe that he is an above average fielder. His batting average (.244) was unspeakably low for his position, especially considering he ranks a big "zero" in the power department. His OBP of .333 was great for a second baseman, not for a left fielder. Probably the worst part is that he struck out 104 times, which is no good at all for a #2 hitter.
Crawford gets the advantage strictly based on what we know he can do if fully healthy. The Dodgers don't even need him to be 2010 Tampa Bay Carl Crawford, but we can't stand him to be 2011 Boston Carl Crawford, either. In 2010, he led the league with 19 triples, hit .307, with 19 home runs, 47 SB and 90 RBI. I certainly would not complain about that line, and I do think he is capable of it, but .280, 10 HR, 30 SB, and 75 RBI would be satisfactory for me. But then, there is the issue of his ridiculous contract. He is coming off Tommy John surgery, not so bad if you're a fielder/hitter, but not so good, either. He gets paid like he is going to put up 2010 numbers. This shouldn't count against him, though, as really, the adoption by the Dodgers of his contract is on Ned Colletti.
Center Field:
San Francisco Giants: Angel Pagan
Los Angeles Dodgers: Matt Kemp
Advantage: Incredibly Heavy, L.A.
I mean, come on, now, Matt Kemp is a guy who only played in 106 games last season, and STILL had a .303 average, with 23 home runs and 63 RBI. I can absolutely guarantee you that Matt Kemp works harder in the off-season than anyone other baseball player. In 2011, an injury free season, he lead the league in HR (39), RBI (126), Runs scored (115), Total Bases (353), and stole 40 bases while hitting .324. I predict a huge comeback season by the Bison.
Angel Pagan is only a particularly average center fielder, anyway, and the only category he can even touch Kemp in is stolen bases. There is simply no comparison, or conversation, to be had here. Matt Kemp by a landslide.
Right Field:
San Francisco Giants: Hunter Pence
Los Angeles Dodgers: Andre Ethier
Advantage: Virtual deadlock
Pence is 29, Ethier is 30. Both have been in the league since the age of 24. Pence holds a significant advantage in the speed department (although he rarely uses his speed on the base paths anymore), totaling double-digit steals 4 times in 6 seasons. I'll also give Pence a slight advantage in his ability to make consistent, solid contact with the baseball, although Ethier DOES hold a higher career batting average (.290 to Pence's .285, so really, it's a statistical tie). Ethier's well-documented struggles successfully hitting lefties are what cause me to declare the advantage for Pence. I'll give Ethier the edge in power numbers, which again, makes little sense because Pence actually has more career home runs than Ethier (138 to 129). Ethier will undoubtedly have a better offensive lineup around him this season than will Pence, and Pence has never managed to slug 30 home runs in a season, something Ethier has accomplished. See, I'm so confused by this battle that I twice chose a winner in a category where the stats actually show them losing. Ethier has a (admittedly questionable) Gold Glove to his credit, so we'll give him the edge there. These two are so unbelievable close, numbers-wise, in runs scored, hits, OBP, and Slugging %, that there is simply no way to declare a clear-cut winner. Personally, my heart lays with Ethier, but I promised to be fair. Sigh.
Catcher:
San Francisco Giants: Buster Posey
Los Angeles Dodgers: A.J. Ellis
Advantage: Incredibly Heavy, S.F.
Much like the previous Kemp/Pagan battle, there is virtually no discussion to be had here. This time, however, it favors the Giants. Buster Posey, the 5th overall pick in the 2008 draft, the 2-time World Series Champion, 2010 Rookie of the Year, 2012 NL MVP (after leading the league with a .336 batting average), as well as Silver Slugger and Comeback Player of the Year winner. 2012 was an absolutely transcendent season, especially when you consider he accomplished all of that as a catcher, easily the most mentally taxing and physically demanding, defensively, position on the field. If it wasn't for his overly-dramatic, "crawling-in-the-dirt-hanging-on-for-life" performance in 2011, and the fact that he proceeded to attempt to get the rules changed for himself instead of sucking it up, I would have virtually nothing negative to say about him. I mean, except for his blatant Giant-hood.
A.J. Ellis, on the other hand, didn't even make a major league appearance until he was 27 (2 years older than Posey, currently, and that was 3 years ago). A.J. Ellis is probably an above-average catcher when it comes to OBP, and his 2012 line (..270, 13 HR, 52 RBI) is nothing to thumb your nose at, but Posey is ridiculous. The best catcher in the game today, by a mile. Yuck. I need to go wash my mouth out.
Starting Rotation:
Dodgers: Giants:
Clayton Kershaw Matt Cain
Zack Greinke Madison Bumgarner
Hyun-Jin Ryu Tim Lincecum
Chad Billingsley Ryan Vogelsong
Harang/Capuano/Lilly Barry Zito
Advantage: Slight, Giants
Undoubtedly, Clayton Kershaw is the best overall pitcher in this group. The guy has been absolutely FILTHY since his 22nd birthday (he's only 25 now), leading the league in ERA twice (2.28 and 2.53 the past 2 seasons), averages 9.3 K/9 for his career, including 248 in 233 innings in 2011, a career WHIP of 1.137 (nasty), and won the 2011 Cy Young Award when he led the league with 21 wins. That was to go along with his Gold Glove. Barring his arm wearing down (a real possibility, given the infamous history of Dodger coaches over-using their pitchers, riding them to death)***, I don't see any evidence that he won't continue to be absolutely dominant.
Matt Cain, unlike his more obnoxiously-haired teammates, has quietly, and with dignity, become the ace of a very strong Giants staff. His stats are not as flashy as Kershaw's, or even teammate Tim Lincecum's, but he has definitely been the most consistent member of his squad. For Heaven's sake, the guy chucked a perfect game last season, and pretty much destroyed St. Louis in the NLCS. I seem to have a vague memory of him and his orange-clad buddies slapping the American League around in the All-Star game, too, but I'm not to sure, because any moment of even remotely supporting anything the Giants are doing seems surreal to me.
But man, oh man, Kershaw is an absolute beast. In the head-to-head Battle of the Aces, I gotta go with Kid K.
Zack Greinke hasn't even thrown a regular season pitch for the Dodgers, and he is already making me crazy. Some ill-advised comments about his new contract, coupled with his recent battle with elbow inflammation, have caused me to pace around like a nervous crackhead locked in an empty room. Of course, let's not forget his well-documented battle with Social Anxiety Disorder. That has the potential to be a huge problem in Los Angeles, right? All that said, the guy can be downright dominant when he chooses to be. His 2009 Cy Young Award (for Kansas City, of all sinkholes) is evidence of that. Other than that season, while he has been above average, even very good, he certainly hasn't been a #1 rotation guy. A very excellent #2 (if he gets enough run support, as a 3.77 Career ERA is a BIT on the high side) who gets paid like a #1, but has the potential to be a head case. Let's not even discuss his opt-out clause. F'ing Colletti.
What can I say about Madison Bumgarner, other than that I always want to call him William VanLandingham? The best argument in his favor was his 2012 World Series Performance (7 IP, 8 K, 2 BB, 0 ER, 1 huge W). Remember, this came after getting absolutely DESTROYED by St. Louis in the NLCS. His ability to bounce back, in an even more stressful situation, shows poise and guts. In fact, in both WS he's pitched, he's been completely dominant. He's left-handed, too, which is almost always a plus on the mound.
If Greinke lives up to expectations, he wins with battle fairly handily. Not to take anything away from Madison VanLandingham (see?), but Greinke's Cy Young Award makes him more desirable. Of course, Greinke living up to expectations is a big "if", so the door is definitely open for Mad Bum, here.
I literally know nothing about Hyun-Jin Ryu except that he is from South Korea and has retired 23 straight batters this spring. It gives me hope, but not faith.
Ahhh, Tim Lincecum. Big Time Timmy Jims. I am absolutely convinced that his struggles last season were caused by Giants fans taunting the Baseball Gods on his behalf. It's a pity, too (well, not for me), because he was as filthy as they come before last season's fall from grace. Back-to-back Cy Young Awards, 3 straight seasons of leading the league in K's (huge numbers, too: 265, 261, 231), a ridiculous career average of 10 K's per 9, and in 2009, at age 25, he possessed a microscopic 1.047 WHIP. Then, last season it all fell apart. His ERA ballooned to 5.18, and he was booted to the bullpen. FYI: He still led the league in starts last season. Unfortunately, he didn't even make it to 200 innings pitched, which tells you just how bad it was.
All that said, I fully expect (and dread) a bounce-back season from him. Thank God he cut his hair. How could I possibly choose an unknown Korean over a guy like this?
Chad Billingsley and Ryan Vogelsong are easy. I fully attribute their successes to the parks they play in. Billingsley is younger, but his 16-10 season of 2008 seems like a decade ago. He has proven to be a mystery to pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, but really, that could say a bunch about Honeycutt, too.
Vogelsong was a Pirates cast-off who was out of the league for 5 years before the Giants took a flyer on him in 2011, at age 33. He pitched very well, to be fair, going 13-7 with a 2.71 ERA. I was fully anticipating a regression last season, which did not happen. Prior to joining the Giants and pitching in that dank cavern where home runs go to die known as AT&T Park, he had never had an ERA LOWER than 4.43. That regression? Expect it this year.
Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano, Ted Lilly, and Barry Zito are all embarrassments to the game, but at least those first three aren't paid an outlandish amount of money to be sickeningly below-average. The idea that Zito has 2 World Series rings is enough to make me want to call it a day and leave this mortal coil. There is absolutely NO predicting what the Dodgers may get out of Harang and Capuano, and all we can do is hope that what they get from Lilly is a retirement announcement.
I suppose I should mention that Josh Beckett is also going to be a part of the Dodgers' rotation this year, but where he will be slotted, how he will do, how much chicken and beer he will consume (a dangerous thought, considering now he'll have Uribe in his ear), are all complete mysteries to me. Here's hoping for 2003-2004, 2007 Josh Beckett, but I'll even take a semi-watered down version, as long as it isn't 2011-2012 Josh Beckett.
So for the Dodgers, we've got Kershaw, and a bunch of questions. Those questions, quite possibly, could have glorious answers, but there are basically NO questions in the Giants rotation. If everything goes right for both teams, neither staff will be one you'll want to face in a 7-game playoff series.
Managers:
San Francisco Giants: Bruce Bochy
Los Angeles Dodgers: Don Mattingly
Advantage: Heavy, S.F.
It pains me to say this, because I really do like Donnie Baseball. I just don't think he is a very good manager. I certainly think that, for this team, he is a step up from Joe Torre, because Mattingly is closer to his players' generation. What I mean to say is, this Dodger team is full of guys who grew up watching Mattingly play and become Donnie Baseball, and they can get excited about playing for one of their heroes. It's probably not too hard to hear a motivational speech about baseball, by a guy called "Donnie Baseball", who you grew up watching excel in baseball, and get fired up. Just what he has done for Matt Kemp, alone, is beautiful. He is clearly a master motivator.
That's where it stops, as far as the positives for Mattingly. Who could forget his embarrassing "2-trips-to-the-mound-for-the-price-of-1" gaffe in 2010. And he wasn't even officially a manager, yet. It is my opinion that it was quite underhanded and unsportsmanlike of Bruce Bochy to make that argument to the umpire, but still, rules are rules, and a manager, if anyone, should be aware of them. Last thing on Mattingly: Can someone explain to me why Hanley Ramirez is batting 5th and Mark Ellis is batting 1st? No? Didn't think so.
Bruce Bochy, on the other hand, has proven to be one of the best in the game. He can do the motivation thing as well as Mattingly, and he is a MASTER at setting the match-ups to his team's advantage. Think about it, on paper, The Giants have no business scoring any runs at all, yet these guys always find a way. They just "out-baseball" their opponents, and a huge amount of credit has to go to Bochy for that. Interesting tidbit: I heard on Buster Olney's podcast today that Bochy now possess 1,454 career victories, which puts him directly behind Hall of Famer Earl Weaver on the All-Time List. After he passes Weaver (which he will most certainly do THIS season), every single other guy ahead of him on that list is ALSO a Hall of Famer. That really speaks volumes. The guy is one of the greats.
Farm Systems: Advantage, L.A.
Not by much. The Dodgers have Puig and Zach Lee, two big studs, but were ranked 18th overall as a farm system. The Giants rank lower, if only because most of their young talent, with the exception of Gary Brown, is either already in the bigs, or is still a few years away, in the lower levels. Mark my words. Puig is going to be a monster. He will end up driving Ethier out of town.
General Managers:
San Francisco Giants: Brian Sabean
Los Angeles Dodgers: Ned Colletti
Advantage: S.F.
Remember, it's only recently that Sabean finally was able to put together a winner. This is a man who CLUNG to Barroids so defiantly, the rest of the team crumbled around him. Sure, they had a few trips to the post-season, but they were always coming up short. Once that despicable piece of human waste known as Balco Bonds was finally run out of town, Sabean was able to clear the deck, and (rather quickly) build a 2-time World Series champion. Ironically, Ned Colletti worked for Sabean during those Bonds-clinging years.
Apparently, he took those lessons to heart, as he has handed out stupid contract after stupid contract to all of Barry's former teammates. Jason Schmidt, Jeff Kent, Juan Uribe, Brett Tomko, WTF!? This is in addition to his epic fail known as Andruw Jones. Ned Colletti seems to play MLB13: The Show with his new-found riches, and while I must admit, I am excited by what the recent Boston trade brought in, many commentators didn't like it. There is some consensus that Colletti took on too much money, that if the trade doesn't pan out perfectly, he has tied his team's hands. I tend to see this point, even if I don't agree with it fully. I feel like he HAD to take a chance. Ned had already done such a horrific job in previous season that if he didn't make a splash, he may well have been terminated. If it all works out, though, I will be lauding him as a genius in November.
So there you have it, fellow baseball lovers. The finally tally is: Dodgers 5, Giants 6. However, I do feel that the categories in which the Dodgers have advantages, they have much bigger advantages. I predict that both teams will be successful this season, and how awesome would it be to have the first EVER Dodgers-Giants post-season? I genuinely believe this will happen. Of course, there is only one way to know for sure. Play Ball!
* Yankees and Red Sox are a media creation, the Yankees have dominated the Sox so thoroughly that there cannot be any claim of a "rivalry". The NBA's Celtics-Lakers rivalry comes extremely close, but the fact that they are actually in different conferences, and only play twice during the regular season, thereby having little affect on each other unti the playoffs, counts that one out. Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair could very well be the only rivalry that I would willingly place above Dodgers-Giants.
**Once again, a term used, for my purposes, when describing the Dodgers/Celtics/Vikings, or members of the WWE Universe.
***See Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Fernando Valenzuela, and Orel Hershiser
Dodgers: Giants:
Clayton Kershaw Matt Cain
Zack Greinke Madison Bumgarner
Hyun-Jin Ryu Tim Lincecum
Chad Billingsley Ryan Vogelsong
Harang/Capuano/Lilly Barry Zito
Advantage: Slight, Giants
Undoubtedly, Clayton Kershaw is the best overall pitcher in this group. The guy has been absolutely FILTHY since his 22nd birthday (he's only 25 now), leading the league in ERA twice (2.28 and 2.53 the past 2 seasons), averages 9.3 K/9 for his career, including 248 in 233 innings in 2011, a career WHIP of 1.137 (nasty), and won the 2011 Cy Young Award when he led the league with 21 wins. That was to go along with his Gold Glove. Barring his arm wearing down (a real possibility, given the infamous history of Dodger coaches over-using their pitchers, riding them to death)***, I don't see any evidence that he won't continue to be absolutely dominant.
Matt Cain, unlike his more obnoxiously-haired teammates, has quietly, and with dignity, become the ace of a very strong Giants staff. His stats are not as flashy as Kershaw's, or even teammate Tim Lincecum's, but he has definitely been the most consistent member of his squad. For Heaven's sake, the guy chucked a perfect game last season, and pretty much destroyed St. Louis in the NLCS. I seem to have a vague memory of him and his orange-clad buddies slapping the American League around in the All-Star game, too, but I'm not to sure, because any moment of even remotely supporting anything the Giants are doing seems surreal to me.
But man, oh man, Kershaw is an absolute beast. In the head-to-head Battle of the Aces, I gotta go with Kid K.
Zack Greinke hasn't even thrown a regular season pitch for the Dodgers, and he is already making me crazy. Some ill-advised comments about his new contract, coupled with his recent battle with elbow inflammation, have caused me to pace around like a nervous crackhead locked in an empty room. Of course, let's not forget his well-documented battle with Social Anxiety Disorder. That has the potential to be a huge problem in Los Angeles, right? All that said, the guy can be downright dominant when he chooses to be. His 2009 Cy Young Award (for Kansas City, of all sinkholes) is evidence of that. Other than that season, while he has been above average, even very good, he certainly hasn't been a #1 rotation guy. A very excellent #2 (if he gets enough run support, as a 3.77 Career ERA is a BIT on the high side) who gets paid like a #1, but has the potential to be a head case. Let's not even discuss his opt-out clause. F'ing Colletti.
What can I say about Madison Bumgarner, other than that I always want to call him William VanLandingham? The best argument in his favor was his 2012 World Series Performance (7 IP, 8 K, 2 BB, 0 ER, 1 huge W). Remember, this came after getting absolutely DESTROYED by St. Louis in the NLCS. His ability to bounce back, in an even more stressful situation, shows poise and guts. In fact, in both WS he's pitched, he's been completely dominant. He's left-handed, too, which is almost always a plus on the mound.
If Greinke lives up to expectations, he wins with battle fairly handily. Not to take anything away from Madison VanLandingham (see?), but Greinke's Cy Young Award makes him more desirable. Of course, Greinke living up to expectations is a big "if", so the door is definitely open for Mad Bum, here.
I literally know nothing about Hyun-Jin Ryu except that he is from South Korea and has retired 23 straight batters this spring. It gives me hope, but not faith.
Ahhh, Tim Lincecum. Big Time Timmy Jims. I am absolutely convinced that his struggles last season were caused by Giants fans taunting the Baseball Gods on his behalf. It's a pity, too (well, not for me), because he was as filthy as they come before last season's fall from grace. Back-to-back Cy Young Awards, 3 straight seasons of leading the league in K's (huge numbers, too: 265, 261, 231), a ridiculous career average of 10 K's per 9, and in 2009, at age 25, he possessed a microscopic 1.047 WHIP. Then, last season it all fell apart. His ERA ballooned to 5.18, and he was booted to the bullpen. FYI: He still led the league in starts last season. Unfortunately, he didn't even make it to 200 innings pitched, which tells you just how bad it was.
All that said, I fully expect (and dread) a bounce-back season from him. Thank God he cut his hair. How could I possibly choose an unknown Korean over a guy like this?
Chad Billingsley and Ryan Vogelsong are easy. I fully attribute their successes to the parks they play in. Billingsley is younger, but his 16-10 season of 2008 seems like a decade ago. He has proven to be a mystery to pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, but really, that could say a bunch about Honeycutt, too.
Vogelsong was a Pirates cast-off who was out of the league for 5 years before the Giants took a flyer on him in 2011, at age 33. He pitched very well, to be fair, going 13-7 with a 2.71 ERA. I was fully anticipating a regression last season, which did not happen. Prior to joining the Giants and pitching in that dank cavern where home runs go to die known as AT&T Park, he had never had an ERA LOWER than 4.43. That regression? Expect it this year.
Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano, Ted Lilly, and Barry Zito are all embarrassments to the game, but at least those first three aren't paid an outlandish amount of money to be sickeningly below-average. The idea that Zito has 2 World Series rings is enough to make me want to call it a day and leave this mortal coil. There is absolutely NO predicting what the Dodgers may get out of Harang and Capuano, and all we can do is hope that what they get from Lilly is a retirement announcement.
I suppose I should mention that Josh Beckett is also going to be a part of the Dodgers' rotation this year, but where he will be slotted, how he will do, how much chicken and beer he will consume (a dangerous thought, considering now he'll have Uribe in his ear), are all complete mysteries to me. Here's hoping for 2003-2004, 2007 Josh Beckett, but I'll even take a semi-watered down version, as long as it isn't 2011-2012 Josh Beckett.
So for the Dodgers, we've got Kershaw, and a bunch of questions. Those questions, quite possibly, could have glorious answers, but there are basically NO questions in the Giants rotation. If everything goes right for both teams, neither staff will be one you'll want to face in a 7-game playoff series.
Managers:
San Francisco Giants: Bruce Bochy
Los Angeles Dodgers: Don Mattingly
Advantage: Heavy, S.F.
It pains me to say this, because I really do like Donnie Baseball. I just don't think he is a very good manager. I certainly think that, for this team, he is a step up from Joe Torre, because Mattingly is closer to his players' generation. What I mean to say is, this Dodger team is full of guys who grew up watching Mattingly play and become Donnie Baseball, and they can get excited about playing for one of their heroes. It's probably not too hard to hear a motivational speech about baseball, by a guy called "Donnie Baseball", who you grew up watching excel in baseball, and get fired up. Just what he has done for Matt Kemp, alone, is beautiful. He is clearly a master motivator.
That's where it stops, as far as the positives for Mattingly. Who could forget his embarrassing "2-trips-to-the-mound-for-the-price-of-1" gaffe in 2010. And he wasn't even officially a manager, yet. It is my opinion that it was quite underhanded and unsportsmanlike of Bruce Bochy to make that argument to the umpire, but still, rules are rules, and a manager, if anyone, should be aware of them. Last thing on Mattingly: Can someone explain to me why Hanley Ramirez is batting 5th and Mark Ellis is batting 1st? No? Didn't think so.
Bruce Bochy, on the other hand, has proven to be one of the best in the game. He can do the motivation thing as well as Mattingly, and he is a MASTER at setting the match-ups to his team's advantage. Think about it, on paper, The Giants have no business scoring any runs at all, yet these guys always find a way. They just "out-baseball" their opponents, and a huge amount of credit has to go to Bochy for that. Interesting tidbit: I heard on Buster Olney's podcast today that Bochy now possess 1,454 career victories, which puts him directly behind Hall of Famer Earl Weaver on the All-Time List. After he passes Weaver (which he will most certainly do THIS season), every single other guy ahead of him on that list is ALSO a Hall of Famer. That really speaks volumes. The guy is one of the greats.
Farm Systems: Advantage, L.A.
Not by much. The Dodgers have Puig and Zach Lee, two big studs, but were ranked 18th overall as a farm system. The Giants rank lower, if only because most of their young talent, with the exception of Gary Brown, is either already in the bigs, or is still a few years away, in the lower levels. Mark my words. Puig is going to be a monster. He will end up driving Ethier out of town.
General Managers:
San Francisco Giants: Brian Sabean
Los Angeles Dodgers: Ned Colletti
Advantage: S.F.
Remember, it's only recently that Sabean finally was able to put together a winner. This is a man who CLUNG to Barroids so defiantly, the rest of the team crumbled around him. Sure, they had a few trips to the post-season, but they were always coming up short. Once that despicable piece of human waste known as Balco Bonds was finally run out of town, Sabean was able to clear the deck, and (rather quickly) build a 2-time World Series champion. Ironically, Ned Colletti worked for Sabean during those Bonds-clinging years.
Apparently, he took those lessons to heart, as he has handed out stupid contract after stupid contract to all of Barry's former teammates. Jason Schmidt, Jeff Kent, Juan Uribe, Brett Tomko, WTF!? This is in addition to his epic fail known as Andruw Jones. Ned Colletti seems to play MLB13: The Show with his new-found riches, and while I must admit, I am excited by what the recent Boston trade brought in, many commentators didn't like it. There is some consensus that Colletti took on too much money, that if the trade doesn't pan out perfectly, he has tied his team's hands. I tend to see this point, even if I don't agree with it fully. I feel like he HAD to take a chance. Ned had already done such a horrific job in previous season that if he didn't make a splash, he may well have been terminated. If it all works out, though, I will be lauding him as a genius in November.
So there you have it, fellow baseball lovers. The finally tally is: Dodgers 5, Giants 6. However, I do feel that the categories in which the Dodgers have advantages, they have much bigger advantages. I predict that both teams will be successful this season, and how awesome would it be to have the first EVER Dodgers-Giants post-season? I genuinely believe this will happen. Of course, there is only one way to know for sure. Play Ball!
* Yankees and Red Sox are a media creation, the Yankees have dominated the Sox so thoroughly that there cannot be any claim of a "rivalry". The NBA's Celtics-Lakers rivalry comes extremely close, but the fact that they are actually in different conferences, and only play twice during the regular season, thereby having little affect on each other unti the playoffs, counts that one out. Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair could very well be the only rivalry that I would willingly place above Dodgers-Giants.
**Once again, a term used, for my purposes, when describing the Dodgers/Celtics/Vikings, or members of the WWE Universe.
***See Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Fernando Valenzuela, and Orel Hershiser
