T-minus 3 Days Until Spring Training

Linkage:


Who's that kid sitting next to Cain?

• A FanFest Q&A with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum. Quickly: who from the Beatles does Lincecum look like?
  
• Other than throwing right-handed, Barry Zito will return to his pre-126 million buck form. He's no longer the highest paid pitcher in baseball, thanks to Carlos Zambrano and Johan Santana, so he hopes to build off his strong, final 9 starts last season.
• On Lincecum:

  Told Friday that Tim Lincecum hopes to add a new pitch in 2008, Cain said, "What's he adding, a gyroball?" Actually, Lincecum wants to unveil a hard slider, to which Cain said, "Does he not know his curveball is hard?"

  And best of all, it's already looking like "a strikeout pitch."
• According to Sabean, the Giants are done looking for free agents and will look for position players only if "it'll be long-term." Hopefully that rules out Joe Crede, whom the Giants are reportedly keeping an eye on during spring training.
  
• Change of heart?

  "We hope Dave comes back to form... But you're going to have to find a way to get (the younger) guys in there. I'd hate like hell to be in a position to send any one of them back to the minor leagues."

  I'm still afraid of seeing an Opening Day lineup consisting of Dave Roberts, Ray Durham, and Rich Aurilia, but this quote is encouraging.
• A tad late, bit Kevin Correia avoided arbitration and signed a $1.075 million + incentives contract. If the Giants commit to Jonathan Sanchez as a starter, he'll probably stay in Fresno while Correia fills in as the 5th starter.
• Jesse Foppert, a former standout young pitcher, is working hard to get that "former" out his name. He lowered his arm slot from an overhead to low-3/4 motion and will gauge his progress during the Giants' minor league camp later in February. It would be nice to see him pitch up with the Giants again after winning 8 games during his rookie year.
• Interviews with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jack Taschner, and Aaron Rowand on SFGiants (scroll down to Sights and Sounds) and KNBR (Fitz & Brooks and Razor & Mr. T).
  
• The Chronicle posted 5 questions to consider over the course of the 2008 season. Now that Bonds has left, how will the team do? Will they become an example of the Ewing theory?

1. Is this a 100-loss team?

2. How good is the starting rotation?

3. Who is going to play third base?

4. Does Ray Durham have anything left?

5. Can the bullpen close out games?