Giant Letdown?

Fans and talking heads in these parts are already yapping about what the Giants need to do for next season. The universal opinion seems to always come back to getting a "premier bat" to fill what has been a giant void in the club's lineup. But when the conversation turns to dangling one of the Giants' two young aces -- Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum -- the response is always a definitive "no way you can let either one of those guys go."

I've got news for the Giants faithful: Any team willing to give up a "premier bat" is going to want something of equal value in return. Translation: A good, young, established arm.

My first instinct is to keep the two aces and accept the fact that your "premier bat" will have to be Pablo Sandoval. Stick "The Panda" in the three hole and build your lineup around him. As amazing a rookie season he is having, he has the potential to be much better still.

As far as who stays and who goes, the most practical direction in my mind is:

• Dump Edgar Renteria and his $8 million salary; keep Juan Uribe as your everyday shortstop
• Dump Ryan Garko and give Travis Ishikawa another year to evolve
• Dump the high-priced Randy Winn and make Nate Schierholtz your everyday right fielder
• Keep Freddy Sanchez -- he'll be healthier and better next year
• Keep Aaron Rowand -- he's a hustler, a grinder and a good example for younger players to follow

So here's your 2010 Giants lineup: 1, Eugenio Velez, LF. 2, Freddy Sanchez, 2B. 3, Pablo Sandoval, 3B. 4, Juan Uribe, SS. 5, Bengie Molina, C. 6, Aaron Rowand, CF. 7, Nate Schierholtz, RF. 8, Travis Ishikawa, 1B. 9, Tim Lincecum, P.

Those who are clamoring for Jermaine Dye -- sorry, folks, he's not a "premier bat," he's on the downside of a decent career and he's just not the answer.

Miller Time Fun for Fans

The truest baseball fans revel in the type of game played in Milwaukee today. A pitcher's duel, a triple play, multiple Web Gems-worthy defensive plays, extra innings and a walk-off homer. Does it get any better? For the Brewers and their faithful, no. For the guys on the other side -- a Giants team scraping and scratching and clawing to make the postseason -- well, let's just dig out an old but very useful cliche and call it a heart-wrenching loss.

It would have been such sweet sweeping at Miller Park, where the Giants have had their share of troubles. And Colorado capitalizing with a win over Arizona made defeat even tougher.

OK, so the pain is short-lived -- for some, it may have vanished during the postgame spread, but surely for everyone it will subside today, when the Giants return home to face the lowly Padres.

Tip of the Cup. The triple play was -- literally -- a stroke of luck, but Prince Fielder's mighty cut on the game-winning homer was not. A secondary tip to Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki, who became the second youngest player to reach 2,000 hits -- mind you, this is a guy who was a 27-year-old rookie only eight years ago.

Warning: Danger ahead. The Brewers' home-plate celebration was amusing at first, but it made me think later that it's going to open up a whole new can of worms. I, for one, don't want to see baseball become a circus akin to what the NFL became some years back with its mock-boxing, Sharpie-carrying, cell phone-calling touchdown celebrations. Baseball would be wise to take caution and not let things get out of hand.