http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../SP5710M9D5.DTL <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"Like most baseball folk, general manager Brian Sabean likes to assess his team once it completes one quarter of its schedule. The Giants did so with a 6-3 loss to Houston on Wednesday night, and strange as it might sound, Sabean sees a San Francisco team that can contend. Not in two seasons, not next season, but in 2008. "As long as we've got a chance to stay in and around third place, why not?" Sabean said as he stood along the dugout rail and watched his players take batting practice. "Why wouldn't you want to think that way? These guys think that way."</div> I'm happy with the way the team has performed so far. Lincecum, Wilson, Lewis, and Rowand have all been great. Some of the other young guys have played well and "shown flashes." I'm all for giving the media a good story and painting a pretty picture of the organization. But winning this year isn't supposed to be the plan. They aren't good enough to compete with the top teams in the league and shouldn't be thinking about making moves to bring them closer to a playoff spot this year. I'd love to see what the solution is at first base. Aurilia is still getting too many at bats for them to have found a solution. And John Bowker is far from a finished project. Note to Mr. Sabean- The stock for Randy Winn CAN, in fact, go down. And it will. It's called "risking a spot on a player that is too old." We all know very well that you have no idea what that means, but other GM's do. When players get older, they tend to not be as good. That's when people don't give up any value to get them.
