I am as frustrated as others that Aurilia still starts, but given the rumors that the Giants were trying to start a fire sale, offering up all their vets, I still think that they are starting the vets for showcase as much as to win (relatively speaking). And I don't recall what happened in the spring for Aurilia by the end, but I recall that both he and Durham were hitting well, whereas Ortmeier struggled until the last week of spring.

Ort is no long term solution, but he has done well enough in his minor league career and his brief time in the majors to get a longer look to see if he can do it or not. It is not like we have a sure thing prospect that playing Ortmeier would hold him back, Villalona is years away from that, nor that we are so competitive that it would hold the team back, it's losing epically or losing mediocrely, that's our choices this season. He looks like he can provide power and speed, and even if it is not starter worthy, he could become very valuable as a utility guy who can come off the bench and provide both power and speed, along with an OK bat. THAT can be valuable.

And who knows, maybe he finally develops into the 20/20 starter that was envisioned for him years ago. Probably not, but there's nothing to lose this season from giving him ABs to find out if he can continue to hit like he did last season (which was 1B-worthy enough). At least he was consistently hitting, unlike Davis who has been cold since September 2007 started.

Why futz around trying to find this "difference maker" when you know that the next word from the other team is "Cain" or "Lincecum", or perhaps "Sanchez" now (he was reportedly asked for by the Mets long ago for Carlos Gomez, a Jose Reyes type in the mind of some Mets insiders)? We won't be able to find a difference maker trade until someone is willing to take a lot of our A-ball stars in trade.

I think it's best this year to focus on trying to find the internal prospects who can be the complementary players on the team in the future, then sign free agents who should be above average (I think Rowand is one) in the off-season, and rebuild year by year and re-assess.

Bochy also said that Davis would get some of the ABs in LF as well. I would rather see him say Ort was getting more ABs at both 1B and LF. I would rather see him say that he would play Ort at 1B and start Aurilia at 3B regularly. At least for now, when the season is young.

Aurilia is going nowhere. Sabean said yesterday he will be Vizquel's backup when Omar returns from the DL. At least it means that he won't be the first baseman anymore. It's obvious the Giants are planning on an Ort platoon with some lefty, whether it's Dan Johnson or someone else.

All the Padres' honks on their flagship station were expecting a "easy" sweep coming into the series. After the loss on Tuesday night, they didn't consider the Wednesday game a "rubber" game at all. It was hilarity to hear all the tears and whining on how Sanchez dominated. I haven't heard the Pads fans this befuddled and angry in quite a while...and that includes the meltdowns at the end of last season.

Then again, seeing "the old mare" go rag doll after he hit the wall made me smile a smile only a clown has. Ted Leitner must have triple crapped himself when his hero Jim Edmonds has proved he needs a rest home instead of just rest.

If we suck, but bring more moments like this, then the season might have some value after all.

We can be one of those teams that ruin others' mojo and bite them in the ass when they let their guard down

See? When people were saying that the Giants would "bite ass" this season, we all thought they meant the Giants would be bad.

2008 Giants: Biting Ass and Taking Names

they're the team to fear because their starters have the potential to shut down an offense. Going 2 for 14 in a series can rattle a hitter, especially when its the whole line up and the limp away with 6 runs scored in a series.

On the other hand that the whole Giants season. Over/under on Giants runs per 3 game series: 7.

They're probably NOT that smart, but they'll do it anyway because Sabean and Beane don't seem to like each other. Sabean is not going to let Beane hoodwink him out of a prospect for a player Beane doesn't want. He'll pretend not to have interest even if he does.

In that same KNBR interview Sabean mention that it is a sure thing Brian Bocock will be sent down when Omar Vizquel returns and that Rich Aurilia would be playing some back-up SS when Vizquel rests. Sabean is currently burning up the lines for a LHH 1B and knows he will have to trade some talent to receive one.

The waiver wire seems to have paid off at third base, it might do the same at first. It's actually pretty sad that players on the waiver wire are better than anything the Giants have at both the major league and minor league level.

If only that was the prevailing opinion among my lady friends while I was in college...

If Bocock (the subject of part I) and Johnson turn a DP on Pujols. Oh, the humanity!

That leaves Velez as the backup for a 40 year-old SS, a 35 year-old 2B, and some guy who might stop hitting over at 3b.

If Omar needs a break, I would think you'd slide Castillo over to SS and Velez would take the hot corner. If Omar got hurt again, you simply reach down and grab your Bocock and voila, he's up again.