Casey Blake - Jed Jacobsohn - Getty Images

Ahh, the Dodgers. How I do love thee, especially when you beat the Giants and I drive to work hearing the local talk shows whine and cry about how bad the Giants are. It is a beautiful day, no matter what the weather, one full of hope and joy, and great bragging….

Man I love living up here when the Dodgers beat the Giants. It’s hard to sum it up in words. I listened to the Murph and Mack show today, which I have come to really enjoy because they talk good baseball. Today, they were lamenting the loss last night…lamenting a lot. Got to love Manny being involved and then my boy Casey Blake hitting the homerun. Talk about Giant killers. Those guys just seem to come alive against the Giants.

The talk radio shows had quite the comments today. There was a Dodger fan who pointed out that the Giants just can’t beat a very flawed Dodger team. The Dodgers sat four of their starters and still came away with the win.

There was another fan who pointed out that ever since Renteria came back from the DL, that the Giants haven’t played as well. There is many a Giants fan who feels that Rowand, Renteria and Molina should all sit now and let the young guys get it done. It is too bad to see Molina not doing well. I respect a longtime Dodger killer, but he just doesn’t have it these days.

Also, there is great trepidation regarding Pablo Sandoval. He was the Giant Panda killer last year, but this year, he’s just another meal at Panda Express. People are eating him for lunch and he just seems to have lost his groove.

The best part of last night was the Dodgers bouncing back from the Yankees defeat. The Dodgers are now 19 and 5 against the National League West and seem to thrive against these teams.

We’ll see tonight as Cain may stop them cold, but one up is the way to start.

I’ve decided that when watching the Dodgers/Giants that you might as well wait until the 7th inning to really park yourself and watch the game. It doesn’t matter what day, whose pitching, or even the lineup, the score is usually close or tied until the 7th, and then the game is won. As long as the Dodgers do win it after the 7th (like last night), I don’t have any problems with the strategy. Go Blue.

Ok. So if this was the presidential election, the Giants would be raked over the coals for being Wishy Washy. Talk about a Flip Flop.

The Giants announced the re-signing of Jose Uribe and now Bengie Molina.  Apparently Bengie didn’t get the length or money he wanted from the Mets, so he decided playing for the Giants wouldn’t be that bad.  It is only one year, so he can go seek a longer deal after.  It is good for the Giants as it will give Buster Posey a little more time in the minors, but also because they got their cleanup hitter back….

This news isn’t great for Dodger fans because Jose Uribe and Bengie Molina both had their number last year, so there could be more disappointments this year.

The Giants also recently added Aubrey Huff.  This one made the fans up here kind of scratch their heads.  He will play 1st base (which they have a rookie for), and can hit, but he definitely wasn’t the big bat the fans were hoping for.  

I talked to a Giants fan this week who had an interesting perspective on this year.  Molina and Huff are signed only for one year as well as Jonathan Sanchez.  Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria also only have one year left.  This means that in one year 5 of 9 position players (when Sanchez pitches) will be gone.  This signifies that the Giants are really “going for it” this year, or they are just trying to ”get through” this year until next year when they can clear payroll, get some veterans and bring up the rookies.  Given that Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa are not star hitters…I lean towards the “get through” approach.  They will have more power, but not that much.

What do you think – Wishy Washy or just frugal?  I’m going to take Wishy Washy and rub it in to Giants fans as long as I can.

Matt Cain - AP - Ben Margot

With the All-Star Game this week, there isn’t a lot to report specific to the Giants.  Tim Lincecum started the All-Star game and was roughed up.  Having said that, there was a little buzz at the end of the week as the Giants played the Pirates.  “Played” is the key word.  I should better say “lost” to the Pirates.  They lost in extra innings, and then got beat again yesterday.  The “concern” has been the sudden loss of the Giants offense against a last place team.  Before the All-Star game their offense seemed to be in high gear.  Aaron Rowand was leading off, Pablo Sandoval was hitting third and hitting jacks, and Edgar Renteria was hitting 5 or 6 and starting to get back to form.  They were doing so well that they were in the top wild card spot and their was rumors of extending the deals of Brian Sabean the GM and Bruce Bochy the manager.

Now after the All-Star game and the loss of the offense, there’s the silence of hoping it is just an anomoly, rather than a real trend.  The truth is everyone’s guess, so we’ll see.  Matt Cain goes today, to try and take one win in the series.

Most Giants fans I talk to don’t think they will make any major moves before the trade deadline.  Apparently the new owner wants to build for the future and everyone knows this team has already exceeded expectations.  Even more, they will have more money at the end of this year, so they can wait.  I still don’t think the Giants have enough to get deep into the playoffs, but maybe that isn’t the goal.  Even just to make the playoffs excites the fans.  Until next week…

Edgar Renteria from Mlb.com

So as the off-season started, the Giant’s seemed to be the only team working.  They quickly grabbed two relievers and then Edgar Renteria.  I actually think the reliever strategy is a good one.  Just ask the Tampa Bay Rays how important it is to re-stock with relievers.  It’s what gets you to your closer, and it’s what got them to the post-season.  With the Dodgers losing Biemel and Saito, I’m actually a little concerned about the Dodger’s bullpen at this point.

Honestly, I don’t know much about the relievers they got, but their numbers are decent, so it should be a help.  The pick up of Renteria is a good one though.  He consistently did good in the National League, and he should instantly help their offense.  He will play decent defense, and even though he won’t be as slick as Omar Vizquel, he will be good.

It was funny up here to see Brian Sabean’s reaction to the whole Sabathia signing.  It came across that the Giant’s were in the mix, but really they weren’t.  Apparently as a GM, he was mad that the fans were mislead.  Fair enough, but it was unlikely anyway since they have pitching and just recently signed Zito.

Given relievers and Renteria, they are only 1 or 2 bats away from really being good.  I thought they should go hard after Teixeira, but apparently he wanted the East Coast.  Burrell might be a good option for them, despite their want to go younger.  If they really wanted to spur on the rivalry, they could go for Manny, but that again doesn’t make sense with their want to go younger.