Bay Area Blues

I feel like both bay area teams have opposite problems. One's too young, the other's too old.

The A's do have the better problem, as most of their squad are rookies or second-years, all people who've been trusted at positions after not a lot of work, and who look like incredibly decent players. Matt Chapman, Matt Olsen, Paul Blackburn, Boog Powell, Dustin Fowler- all vying for starting positions, all technically still rookies. There is some veteran presence on the team, but it's people like Jonathan Lucroy, Jed Lowrie, and home-run hero Khris Davis, so it's not overwhelming. Yes, Stephen Piscotty is in from St. Louis, which is definitely a nice touch, but we're still determining whether or not he can hit for average.

The inexperience can be problematic- a lot of these guys aren't 100% proven yet, and could disappoint after their 2017 numbers. Plus, it may not all amount to health; Jharel Cotton is already on the DL for a little while, and Andrew Triggs may not be 100% back yet. We're not sure how well this is going to work, but it does look kind of promising from afar.

So do the Giants. Even with some over-30 stars like Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria and Austin Jackson booked into the squad, it still could go pretty well. The core of the team is still pretty strong, and people like Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon McCarthy and Joe Panik are all still playing well. Plus, the one-two of Bumgarner and Cueto (with occasional wins from Jeff Samardzija) could be lethal.

Both have enough drawbacks to keep me from being definite in saying either could succeed, but...there's definitely more than meets the eye with the Bay area teams.

Coming Tomorrow (?)- A fireballer that landed in an NL Central city...and not the one everyone thought he'd land in.