I've noticed that while the McCoven argue an awful lot about this or that thing, there does seem to be an awful lot that the McCoven agree upon. THese things may or may not be common to Giants fans, but I thought I would take a stab at defining what seems like the current conventional wisdom as of August on this site. Let me know if you think I've missed something, included something wacky or just plain disagree.

• Jose Castillo is a cheap stopgap but should not take at bats from homegrown young players. Perhaps he should not even take that many at bats from grizzled fan favorite Rich Aurilia.
• Brian Wilson is a pretty good reliever, and has a reasonably bright future in a late inning role.
• While Travis Ishikawa is not a guarantee to be a useful major leaguer, he should be given a shot on the big league team either this year or next.
• Nate Schierholtz may not prove to be a better player than Randy Winn,  but Winn's value is not such that trading WInn to find out represents a huge risk.
• Of all the possible uses of the team finances, money spent signing draft picks is currently the best use.
• Matt Cain is not a #3 starter.
• Eugenio Velez is not likely to be a major league regular. 
• Jonathan Sanchez's current struggles do not obliviate the progress he made earlier this season. 

Someone may have posted this before, but it's a fact:

Diamondback fans HATE Randy Winn.

Though a lot of the damage has been done at Chase field, Randy has put up a pretty awesome .352/.406/.597 line against them over the last 3 years. (Though that's nothing compared to the unholy terror he has inflicted upon the Astros pitching corps).

I just find it fun that the Giants have a player that torments another franchise the way that say, Scott Hairston or Steve Finley torment us.

Yabu baffles me.

When I watch him pitch, with all that movement and craftiness, I think "Damn, he's good!"

When I look at his shiny ERA, I think that my impression is confirmed. Then I look at his strikout rate and walk rate and FIP, and I think how the hell does he have that ERA? You can't forge an ERA out of sheer craftiness, can you?

Then I look at his GB%, and see that it's a pretty solid 50.9%.  That kinda explains the shiny ERA, right? Except that his LD% is an unexceptional 22.3%. That trick doesn't usually work!

So, what do you think? Are you buying this guy? I guess I'm kinda leaning towards "not really" in the he's really about as good as Jack Taschner sort of way. I don't think we're in for another Henneplosion or Chulkification, but let's keep our expectations set for decent if not spectacular.

Possible Hijack for those who dislike talking about 39 year old middle relievers: I really do believe in Brian Wilson despite his palpitationy closes.

Hey, I just want to remind everybody how awesome Lincecum's punchout of Pujols after falling behind 3-0 was.

To be 3-0 with this offense, and leading the league in K/9 . . . The Kid's been everything we could ask for.

To fill up the required word count, I give you these sentences:

colorless green ideas sleep furiously

colorless green ideas sleep furiously

colorless green ideas sleep furiously

colorless green ideas sleep furiously

I'm pleased with Brian Bocock.

Yes,  he is a graduate of the Ruben Rivera school for Runners Who Can't Run Good and Can't Do Other Stuff Good Too. But the D has been exceptional in the regular season, so far. He looks good turning the Duece, hasn't made any terrible throws.

The best part has been the offense.I know this has a lot to do with my expectations of him, and probably a lot to do with him hitting eighth as well. But,he has an Approach! 6 walks! That's an awful lot for a Giant.  And does he pay royalties to Lansford for that opposite field nubber based  hitting style? Love it.

Of course, it's only been a week, and I'm sure the scouting departments aren't knocking themselves out trying to come up with ways to get Brian Bocock out (especially since the best way so far is let him get on - he'll do the work from there).

This is the kind of season we're looking at. I'm just happy that one part of the team hasn't been as bad as I expected.