The FUTURE of the GIANTS

Soon to be 21 year old Madison Bumgarner, was a first round pick for the GIANTS in 2007. The Left handed pitcher out of Hudson N.C. has a mid 90's fastball, a nice slider and change up that is still a work in progress. Baseball America has comp'd Bumgarner to Kevin Brown as far as being a tough competitor. He is a front of the order starter so unless something happens to Lincecum, Cain or Zito; do not look for Bumgarner to come up any time soon. Just recently the Giants called up Joe Martinez when Todd Wellemeyer was sent down. Bumgarner will probably come up in August if the Giants are looking at the playoffs.

Zack Wheeler is 15 months younger than Madison Bumgarner and throws from the Right side. Unlike Bumgarner, Wheeler is further advanced than Bumgarner was coming out of highschool. Wheeler is also a front of the order prospect. Wheeler acquired in the first round of the 2009 draft, has a mid 90's heater, a hard breaking curve and a change up that is quite advanced for such a young prospect. Zach started 2010 in Low A Augusta and will not be rushed. With all the concern over Jonathan Sanchez and Todd Wellemeyer, the GIANTS are in no hurry to rush Wheeler at all. With all the tools Wheeler has developed at such a young age, he still needs to work on his command. It's possible to say that when the time comes, Wheeler and Bumgarner will become the new Lincecum/Cain tandum.

With all the competition this year at shortstop between Juan "ooooh" Ree-bay" and Edgar Renteria, the Giants are blessed with a 23 year old college draftee named Brandon Crawford out of UCLA. Brandon was originally slated to go in the early 1st round of the 2008 draft having received national attention with both his defensive and hitting skills. Then came the Cape Cod league. (a Showcase for potential college prospects) The general consensus was that Crawford was struggling with the transition to wooden bats. So instead of going in the first round of 2008; the GIANTS got a steal in the 4th round enabling the GIANTS to draft Buster Posey in the first round. Offensively, Crawford has the power to hit 15 to 20 homeruns a year. He has good speed on the base paths and is learning to bunt for hits.

He has been compared to J.J. Hardy.