35-year old righty swinging Bengie Molina has been everything the Giants expected when they signed him and much more. He has been one of the best hitters on the team all three years for the Giants. This season he has played in 131 games for the Giants and he is 129 for 487 (.265 avg, .726 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 20 homers and 79 RBIs. In his three years with the Giants, Molina has played in 410 games in which he is 421 for 1,514 (.278 avg, .742 OPS) with 135 runs scored, 55 homers and 255 RBIs. Molina has also done a really good job of handling the pitching staff of the Giants. It will likely come down to how much money Molina wants as the Giants have a bright prospect at catcher in Buster Posey.

Starting shortstop Edgar Renteria is done for the season as he will need elbow surgery shortly. He played in 124 games for the Giants this season and he was 115 for 460 (.250 avg, .635 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 5 homers, 48 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. The Giants expect much more out of Renteria next season as he disappointed them in 2009.

31-year old righty swinging 2B Freddy Sanchez has been shut down by the Giants as he will have surgery on his left knee next week. Sanchez played in 25 games for the Giants and he was 29 for 102 (.284 avg, .619 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. He played in 111 games total this season with the Pirates and Giants in which he was 134 for 457 (.293 avg, .742 OPS) with 56 runs scored, 7 homers, 41 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. The Giants want to re-sign Sanchez because if they don’t they will look really bad for trading Tim Alderson to the Pirates for him.

UPDATE: The Giants hold an option on Sanchez for the 2010 season worth $8 million bucks or they could buy him out for $600,000 bucks and try to re-sign him to a smaller deal.

UPDATE II: The Giants have re-signed Freddy Sanchez to a brand new 2-year deal through renegotiation rather than buying him out.

19-year old righty swinging 1B Angel Villalona has been charged with murder in a shooting death in his hometown in the Dominican Republic. If he is found guilty his career is probably over and that would be sad for the Giants. Villalona was the Giants’ #3 rated prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. He played in 74 games in A-ball this season and he was 78 for 292 (.267 avg, .703 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 9 homers and 42 RBIs. He was a hacker in the minors this season as he only walked 9 times while whiffing 73 times. What a waste of talent.

20-year old lefty starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner was the Giants’ #1 rated prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America and he has certainly showed why so far this year. Bumgarner pitched in 25 games (24 starts) in A+AA ball this season and he was 12-2 with a 1.85 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP. He only allowed 100 hits in 131 1/3 innings in the minors as he missed a lot of bats. When rosters expanded on September 1st the Giants promoted him to help out the pitching staff. He has pitched in 3 games (1 start) for the Giants so far and he is 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. He has only walked 1 batter while whiffing 9 of them in only 8 innings for the Giants. He could compete for a job in what could be a dominating starting rotation next spring.