Joe Martinez News

San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Sabean participated in a live Web chat with fans from the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

I know you nerds know NOTHING about the real game of baseball, or any other athletic endeavor requiring teamwork under physical stress.

There's no longer a need for a cleanup hitter even though Bengie Molina is out the door.

Pirates prospect Chase d'Arnaud doesn't care for statistics or standings. "I've looked at them, I think, once," Arnaud admitted of his numbers in the Arizona Fall League.

Hitting? That's the bad news. That's opening up the pantry after not eating for a week and finding nothing put potted meat .

San Francisco Giants Until Pablo Sandoval enjoyed his huge breakthrough in 2009, the knock on the Giants was they hadn't developed an All-Star hitter since Matt Williams.

Do you think the Giants could improve their offense with internal choices? Would having Freddy Sanchez for an entire year, a healthy Edgar Renteria and a much-improved Eugenio Velez be enough to get this team into the playoffs? How would Bengie Molina fit into this idea? Some experts believe the only way to drastically improve the offense is to ...

Pablo Sandoval led your team in walks this season . Please ponder the significance of that tidbit throughout this offseason.

Updated rosters for the Arizona Fall League season, which starts today, are online here .

The San Francisco Giants 2009 season ended in a bittersweet way. Short-term Giants fans may look at the year in the negative, citing another absence from the playoffs and a fizzling offense that lost key games down the stretch.

Wednesday 07 Oct 2009 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 11:42PM SAN JOSE, CA The San Jose Giants finished 2009 atop the California League after a record-setting regular season and a Championship Series sweep of the High Desert Mavericks.

Divided into six teams, each carrying players from several franchises, the league runs October 13 through November 19.

Before looking ahead to Jonathan Sanchez's final start Sunday, it's worth looking back on his previous outing against the San Diego Padres.

Brian Sabean officially became the longest tenured general manager in the major leagues on Saturday.

When Randy Johnson talked about contributing in the pennant race, this wasn't what he had in mind.

Madison Bumgarner wasn't the only player the Giants added Tuesday. Besides bringing aboard Bumgarner, the 20-year-old left-hander who replaced ailing Tim Lincecum and made his Major League debut as San Francisco's starting pitcher, the Giants recalled infielder Kevin Frandsen and right-hander Joe Martinez from Triple-A Fresno.

ON THE NIGHT the Giants' playoff hopes virtually ended, Buster Posey's big-league career began.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre delivers his perspective with a certain poignancy.

Tim Lincecum understands if everyone from Paso Robles to the Oregon border is worried sick over his sore back.

His swings are aggressive and, based on his Pujolsian line-drive out in the fourth inning in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the San Diego Padres, even brazen.