HOWARD MEGDAL: The Rangers have answered every question I have about them. And still, despite being the clearly inferior team, I think the Giants are going to win their first world championship since moving to San Francisco.
My concerns over the Rangers included wondering how rusty Josh Hamilton would be, after missing time near the end of the season. So… not a concern. I also wondered if Colby Lewis, facing a huge jump in innings, would tire as October wore on. Ask the Yankees if he did.
But the Giants have ridiculous pitching. They can throw Lincecum at Cliff Lee, and follow up with Matt Cain. Jonathan Sanchez is a personal favorite, while Madison Baumgartner is an impressive fourth starter.
Add in home field advantage, and I think the Giants take this one in a seven-game classic. The better team won’t have won, but that was true in the NLCS as well.
CHRIS PUMMER: I don’t think it’s so clear that the Giants don’t have the better team. The pitching is obviously superior, and the season-long stats for the offense are dragged down from the time it took to sort out the best lineup from the parts GM Brian Sabean had assembled.
The best lineup is on the field now. At every position the Giants will have an above-average hitter. More importantly, almost all of those guys have a little bit of power. In the postseason, where the margin between success and failure is so slim, being able to plant a pitch in the seats with a man on is important. Especially if Rangers pitching comes close to matching what the Giants should be able to do.
That’s not to say the Rangers aren’t also a good offensive team. In Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Vlad Guerrero, they’ve got three big boppers who can change the game with one swing of the bat, and even the weaker link in the lineup are still good at getting on base.
But given the likelihood that we’re going to see too much Jeff Francoeur in this World Series, I like the Giants’ pitching to win out.