Are the Giants Bustered?

An unnecessary train wreck in front of home plate earlier this week has left backstop phenom Buster Posey on crutches for the season. That's bad news for the offensively-challenged Giants, but there's some good news as well.

Posey is a legitimate star, his tepid .284/.368/.398 start in 2011 not withstanding. After a gleaming college career and a team MVP-caliber rookie season (.305/.355/.505), projecting him for five wins over a replacement-level player this year would not have been overly optimistic.

Well, now we get to see his replacement, journeyman Eli Whiteside, 31, who's played a notch above replacement level in 321 lifetime plate appearances, roughly what he could expect the rest of the way this year.

Of course, the Giant brass isn't locked into their back-up backstop. There's been talk that GM Brian Sabean might execute a trade with Pittsburgh for 30-year-old Ryan Doumit. Doumit is signed for this year and has a reasonable two-year option for $15.5 million, so he could be a short-term rental or a lease-to-buy, depending on the Giants' needs going forward. Doumit brings a respectable .262/.338/.438 lifetime line and could deliver roughly two wins the rest of the way.

So the Giants lost about four wins under the current arrangement (remainder of Posey's season, which would have been roughly four wins) or sacrifice some high-quality livestock from the farm to gain back two.

Four wins is a big deal. It's the difference between a .500 record and 85 wins, or between 85 and 89. In the flaccid NL West, 89 wins takes the division and 85 puts a team in contention. San Francisco is third best in the senior circuit in defense and third worst in offense, which means the pitching was already carrying the team to its division lead. With Whiteside, the load gets heavier and the Giants have to be considered co-favorites rather than clearly the best team in the NL West.

That's the good news: L.A., Colorado, Arizona and San Diego. The Dodgers, Rockies and D-Backs don't reside in the Padres' low-rent neighborhood, but they all need some gentrification before their neck of the woods is in the division-winning district. That's why losing their one true offensive threat doesn't alone derail the Giants' season.

From Sabean's point of view, there may be other avenues for the offensive uptick he needs to solidify a playoff spot in the Bay, even with Barry Bonds incarcerated. First, the Kung Fu Panda and his sterling .904 OPS is expected back in the lineup in June after wrist surgery. Replacing the odious stylings of Miguel Tejada's dessicated remains (.522 OPS and abysmal fielding) with Sandoval at third base adds back Posey's wins in one fell swoop. Aubrey Huff's return just halfway to last year's performance would jack his hitting above replacement level and add three wins to SF. Even the lost-cause free agent splash from three years ago, Aaron Rowand, could knock a loss off the team's record going forward by just stinking in center field, instead of putrefying.

So Sabean might just lay low and see if his lineup can coax a few more runs for Messers Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Baumgarner to pitch in front of. The Giants can probably win the West without panicking. Without hitting is another matter.

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