SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -The San Francisco Giants of 2008 are all about Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. Not to mention hard-nosed center fielder Aaron Rowand and a cast of youngsters eager to get their chance with nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.
Barry Bonds, the hype of the home run chase and All-Star game, well, that’s all history.
“It’s the post-Bonds era,” Rowand said Wednesday after working out with his new teammates. “We’re definitely going to have fun. It’s not Barry’s fault. It’s that he is who he is and there was a lot of attention. That happens when you’re one of the best players of all time and you’re chasing a record.”
San Francisco will start life without Bonds when pitchers and catchers hold their first official workout Thursday. Players began trickling in Wednesday to get ready and take physicals.
lage T-shirt with the team’s new theme: “Warrior Spirit. Find the Swagger.”
“Do you have the spirit?” he hollered to a few teammates.
After last season, manager Bruce Bochy spoke of the need for a new culture in the clubhouse and that “warrior spirit.”
There’s nothing left of Bonds’ stuff and Zito now holds down the corner locker where No. 25 dressed in the past. There were still a few questions floating around about whether the indicted home run king would sign with a club or not play at all, perhaps walking away with 762 homers to his name.
“It seems kind of odd,” said Cain, the right-hander at the front of a talented rotation. “For so long we’ve seen them build it around Jason Schmidt and Bonds. It seems kind of crazy that Tim and I and Zito are stepping into that role. It’s a whole new experience. It came on a little quicker than we probably thought. It’s going to be great to take that challenge on.”
General manager Brian Sabean said all winter it would take an extraordinary offer to part with Cain or Lincecum – all but calling them untouchables – but he would always listen. For now, they’re staying put.
San Francisco parted ways with Bonds after 15 seasons, with owner Peter Magowan telling the 43-year-old slugger in September he wouldn’t be re-signed.
ecords like that, how can you not be? I’m sure the feel is going to be a little different without him because he’s been there so long.”
Zito signed a $126 million, seven-year contract before the 2007 season that was a record deal for a pitcher before Johan Santana topped it this month. Zito then experienced his first losing campaign in eight major league seasons, posting career worsts with an 11-13 record and 4.53 ERA in 196 2-3 innings. It marked the first time he hadn’t reached 200 innings since he was a rookie.
Santana, the two-time AL Cy Young Award winner, received a $137.5 million, six-year contract from the New York Mets after they acquired him in a trade with Minnesota.
Zito, who turns 30 in May, should be feeling much less pressure as he begins his second year in San Francisco. His struggles were a far cry from the left-hander’s 23-5 Cy Young season of 2002 with the Oakland Athletics.
“Last year, it was such a heightened sense of everything because of all the craziness going on. This year, it’s more like business as usual,” Zito said. “Last year, I felt I was singled out and I didn’t feel the same as all of my teammates because there was a microscope on me. Even if there still is, I’m not perceiving it that way. It’s all good now.”
He might not even be the Giants’ opening-day starter this time around, and Zito insists he won’t mind a bit. Bochy has several options and planned to sit down soon with pitching coach Dave Righetti to map out the schedule.
With Cain, Lincecum, Zito, Noah Lowry and probably Kevin Correia in the mix, the Giants expect to have a deep staff in the pitching-heavy NL West. And a strong defense behind them, featuring catcher Bengie Molina, 11-time Gold Glove shortstop Omar Vizquel and newly acquired Rowand up the middle.
The 23-year-old Cain went 7-16 despite a 3.65 ERA in his third major league season and reached 200 innings exactly. He is happy the Giants have shown such confidence in him and the hard-throwing Lincecum, who was 7-5 with a 4.00 ERA in 24 starts last year as a rookie.
“It feels good to know that we don’t really have to worry about maybe moving,” Cain said. “It’s cool that Brian came out and said that verbally. We have a pretty good idea we’re going to be here until something crazy happens.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys just dying to get out there and play and give it their all.”
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