FanHouse Brian Wilson

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Giants made a nice improvement from 72 victories in 2008 to 88 in 2009, achieved pretty much because of an outstanding pitching staff. The Giants aren't likely to pitch better in 2010 than they did in 2009 -- their 3.55 ERA ranked second in the majors -- so if they are to take the next step, they'll have to find a way to score more runs.

The bad news is, outside of Pablo Sandoval, they don't have a single player on their roster who is a safe bet to perform at an above-average level next year. The good news is that means the Giants have a lot of flexibility in where they can put whatever players they find to upgrade. They seem locked in to Freddy Sanchez at second and, because of their contracts, Edgar Renteria at short and Aaron Rowand in center. Sandoval can play first or third. Other than that, the lineup is a blank slate that GM Brian Sabean can spend the winter completing.

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In the ever changing topography of closers in Major League Baseball three names remain on top of the standings as pillars or consistency. Leading the league in saves as of Monday are Brian Fuentes, Heath Bell and Brian Wilson.

Wait... Who?

That's right. Instead of names like Papelbon, Rivera and Rodriguez we get Fuentes, who leads all of baseball with 22 saves. Bell and Wilson are tagging along closely behind at 21 and 20 saves respectively.

This just goes to prove the point that everyone should adhere to in pre-season drafts and auctions. Do not pay for saves.

Speaking of Brian Fuentes, did you know that he hasn't given up an earned run in June? He's also recorded nine saves and struck out 11 batters in 8.2 innings pitched. His three hits given up and three walks issued give him a June WHIP of 0.69 to go along with his perfect ERA.

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

We had to break the trend. Sure, the Dodgers might have a better record than everyone else -- but competition has to count for something, doesn't it? The Dodgers have mutilated the mediocre-at-best NL West to the tune of 26-9. This means they are 14-11 against everyone else. Is that a top-two team in baseball? Hardly, I'll take the heated-rivals: Yankees (who have overcome a slow start to go 19-7 since May 12) and Red Sox (18-8 against the best division in baseball) as the top two.

It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. The Closer Report will give you that info. And if that wasn't good enough, we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.

As you'll see, Heath Bell has taken over the top spot on this edition of The Closer Report. A few big-name, top-of-the-charts closers from years past have fallen off quite a bit. How weird is it to see Brad Lidge near the bottom of the closer rankings and Joe Nathan stuck in the middle?

SAN FRANCISCO -- Remember Barry Zito?

Quirky lefty. Big curve ball. Part of the Big Three that carried the A's all those years. Signed ginormous contract with the Giants. Became the highest-paid fifth starter in baseball.

You can forget that last part.

Now into Year 3 of that $126 million deal, Zito finally seems ready to deliver.

"Barry is back," a National League scout told FanHouse. "He's pretty close to what he was. I'd say he's 80 percent of what he was, at least. He's got his velocity back. He's not back to 2002, when he won the Cy Young, but he's a competitive, championship-level pitcher again."

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That closer Brian Wilson was perhaps the only one in the Giants clubhouse not happy after their 7-5, 13-inning victory over the Dodgers on Sunday. Wilson blew a save opportunity in the 12th and then got the win, but what really had him upset was a photo of Dodgers' third baseman Casey Blake, seemingly mocking Wilson's traditional post-game crossed-arm salute (right).

Blake had homered off Wilson to tie the game, and then was caught in a photo in the Dodgers dugout with his arms crossed. A friend of Wilson's sent the photo to his cell phone, and when Wilson showed it to reporters after the game, he was tight-lipped. Wilson said the symbol has to do with his faith and is also a sign to his late father.

Blake had already left the Dodgers clubhouse by the time Giants beat writers got to the Dodgers clubhouse to get his reaction.

The Giants and Dodgers don't play again until August, but Wilson isn't likely to forget.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Brian Wilson learned an important lesson about life in the public eye today.

The Giants closer has been Twittering this year, and on Saturday night/Sunday morning he posted some Tweets around 1 AM local time describing the goings-on in the Scottsdale, Ariz., nightlife. Then about 15 hours later, he blew a three-run lead to the Diamondbacks.

Apparently that didn't sit too well with a few Giants fans who were following his Tweets, especially not after further attention was brought to the story by the San Francisco Chronicle's Giants blog.

This afternoon, Wilson was upset about the whole thing. He removed the Tweets, said the whole thing was a joke, and that he's done Tweeting.

It's always nice to know how secure a closer's job is and who's next in line if somebody loses their 9th inning job. Each week The Closer Report will give you that information. And if that wasn't good enough we'll rank the closers from top to bottom.

Here's an interesting statistic. Somewhere between 30 percent and 40 percent of the closers who are listed as the the team's official closer will not be in that role by the end of the season. It's the case every year. Whether a closer loses his job due to injury or just plain can't get the job done, you're going to learn that you can find saves on the waiver wire throughout the season. You just have to know where to look.

Fantasy baseball draft season is coming, so you best be prepared by delving through every major player on each team. Fantasy FanHouse is here to help with a quick once-over.

Meet the ...
Team desperately needing a bat in the middle of the order. It's too bad money is so tight right now, because the Giants could certainly use a certain eccentric slugger in the middle of their order. They still aren't altogether out of the running for Manny Ramirez, but I believe he's staying put in Los Angeles. Too bad they wasted all that money on Barry Zito and Aaron Rowand.

I got my start in this industry at a now-defunct site called The Talented Mr. Roto. The namesake for the site, Matthew Berry, now does his thing over at ESPN. One hard and fast rule he always lived by -- and I'm sure he still does -- was this mantra: Never pay for saves.

It's just as simple as it sounds. If you play in an auction league, let everyone else bid on Francisco Rodriguez. Your money can be better spent elsewhere. If you draft, just find your relievers in the last few rounds. I'm not as hardcore into the theory, but it certainly has merit.