Giants 2011 Season Odds
(The Spread) – The San Francisco Giants shocked the masses by winning the World Series. After a quiet offseason, do they have enough to repeat?
View Current 2011 World Series Odds
Despite winning the Fall Classic last season, the Giants are +1500 on the money line to win this year’s World Series, behind the Phillies (+225), Yankees (+600) and re-tooled Red Sox (+400). But according to online sports book Bodog.com the G-Men are favored to repeat as NL West champions at +150 and have an over/under total of 88 for number of wins in 2011.
Offseason Additions: The Giants were rather quiet this offseason, but they did sign free agent Miguel Tejada and re-signed Aubrey Huff and Pat Burrell. Cody Ross, Jonathan Sanchez, Javier Lopez, Andres Torres, Ramon Ramirez, Santiago Casilla and Mike Fontenot all good new deals as well. Jeff Suppan and Guillermo Mota were handed minor league contracts.
Offseason Losses: San Fran wanted to bring back Juan Uribe and were shocked when he signed with their biggest rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The club also parted ways with World Series MVP Edgar Renteria (Reds), Eugenio Velez (Dodgers), Chris Ray (Orioles) and Jose Guillen (FA). Outside of Uribe, the Giants won’t miss any of the players that departed this offseason.
Season Outlook: Once again, this club will revolve around its starting pitching. The Phillies have the best starting five in the league, but the Giants aren’t too far behind. Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum returns as the ace, while the under-appreciated and underrated Matt Cain gives San Fran a great 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation. Following Cain and Lincecum are lefties Jonathan Sanchez (who is coming off his best season as a pro), youngster Madison Bumgardner (who has top-of-the-rotation stuff) and Barry Zito, who continues to be Brian Sabean’s worst nightmare.
The loss of Uribe hurts the offense, especially considering that Tejada hasn’t looked good at the plate this spring. But the sleeker Pablo Sandoval looks terrific and could rebound back to ’09 form. If he does, the offense is actually pretty good. 2010 Rookie of the Year Buster Posey is a stud, Andres Torres developed into a great leadoff hitter last year, Huff tore the cover off the ball in his first season by the Bay and guys like Ross, Freddy Sanchez and DeRosa are fine complementary players. The Giants also have a rookie in Brandon Belt that if he doesn’t make the club out of camp, will be up sometime in June or July. He’s too good for the Giants to keep in the minors.
The bullpen is rock solid as well, led by Brian Wilson (who is currently battling an oblique injury but should be fine in a few weeks), Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt and setup man Sergio Romo. But can the Giants repeat is the question? They can certainly repeat as NL West champions, although the Dodgers and Rockies will be improved. The Phillies also look like the toughest team in the NL, but the Giants proved last year that they’re not scared of them. It’s incredibly tough to repeat as World Series champs, but at +1500 the Giants are a tremendous value.
San Francisco Giants 2011 World Series Odds: +1500
San Francisco Giants 2011 NL West Odds: +150
San Francisco Giants 2011 O/U Win Total: 88
Want More From TheSpread.com? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook or Subscribe to Our News Feeds!