interesting article on the direction of both bay area teams...what do you think fair analysis? seems to miss mention of certain players on both sides.

the argument that giants have an easier path due to the weak division, a's have the huge roadblock of angels

giants: no schierholtz, villalona,velez, bowker,romo etc or prospects like noonan, crawford, gillespie

mentions the core of burriss/pablo/lewis, pitching depth, posey/alderson/bummy on the way

A's: no devine, buck, ziegler, suzuki, etc or prospects like cahill, anderson

mentions sweeney, gonzalez, smith

what both teams have depth for use and  future trades. giants could acclerate the process by trading cain/sanchez or spending money. A's could trade street  or prospects

http://www.contracostatimes.com/athletics/ci_10641450?nclick_check=1

Fast-forward six months, and things aren't nearly so bleak. The Giants uncovered a perennial Cy Young candidate (Tim Lincecum), finally found a successor to closer Robb Nen (Brian

 Wilson), discovered a hitting machine to solve their first-base woes (Pablo Sandoval) and transformed themselves from a club that was old and tired to one that is young and energetic.

As a result, they'll enter '09 with Lincecum and Matt Cain giving them a 1-2 punch atop the rotation that many teams would envy. The presence of Sandoval, left fielder Fred Lewis and shortstop Emmanuel Burriss gives them potential pieces to the future puzzle that weren't in place at this time a year ago. And Wilson's presence in the ninth means Sabean has one less area of repair regarding his bullpen.

Oh, and don't forget the coming attractions — catcher Buster Posey and pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson.

Does that mean the Giants are a timely move away from being in the mix? Hard to say, but it helps that they reside in the National League West, a division that has been won with no more than 88 wins in three of the past four seasons.