25-year old switch-hitting 3B Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval finished tied for 17th in the voting for the 2011 N.L. MVP Award with closer John Axford of the Brewers. Sandoval played in 117 games for the Giants in 2011 and he was 134 of 426 (.315 avg, .909 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 23 homers, 70 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 463 games in his first four years with the Giants and he is 524 of 1,706 (.307 avg, .857 OPS) with 219 runs scored, 64 homers, 247 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Hopefully Sandoval will come to spring training in shape like he did in 2011.

34-year old switch-hitting RF Carlos Beltran finished 20th in the voting for the 2011 N.L. MVP Award. Beltran played in 142 games for the Mets & Giants last year and he was 156 of 520 (.300 avg, .910 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 22 homers, 84 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,768 games in his first 14 years in the majors and he is 1,917 of 6,767 (.283 avg, .857 OPS) with 1,184 runs scored, 302 homers, 1,146 RBIs and 293 stolen bases. The Giants should really try to bring Beltran back as they need his bat.

27-year old starting pitcher Tim Lincecum finished 6th in the voting for the N.L. Cy Young Award in 2011. He pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Giants last year and he was 13-14 with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Lincecum has now pitched in 156 games (155 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 69-41 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. Lincecum has already won 2 N.L. Cy Young Awards and there is no reason to think that he won’t win one or more the rest of his career.

27-year old righty starting pitcher Matt Cain finished in 8th place in the voting for the 2011 N.L. Cy Young Award. Cain pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Giants last year and he was 12-11 with a 2.88 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has now pitched in 204 games (203 starts) in his first 7 years with the Giants and he is 69-73 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. It’s stunning to me that Cain has a losing record so far in his major league career, as he has been an outstanding pitcher. If the Giants start scoring more runs, Matt Cain has the potential to win a Cy Young or two.

22-year old lefty starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner finished tied for 10th in the 2011 Cy Young Award voting in the N.L. with fellow Giants’ pitcher Ryan Vogelsong. Bumgarger pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Giants last year and he was 13-13 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. He has now pitched in 55 games (52 starts) in his first three years with the Giants and he is 20-19 with a 3.10 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. Bumgarner is going to be a fixture in the Giants’ rotation for a long time as he is still just scratching the surface of his potential.