Can’t wait to see more of that gritty, veteran defense on the field for the next two or three seasons!

Late in the evening on Saturday, I came across a completely unexpected headline from The Yankees Blog. @YankeeBlogger wrote, “San Francisco Giants Turn Down Trade Offer on Matt Cain.” It was startling news.

The tweet led to the story by David Mehrwein on Yahoo! Sports. He reported that the Yankees’ offered to send a position player plus assorted pitchers from their farm-system (Dellin Betances and Adam Warren) in exchange for San Francisco Giant Matt Cain. The right-handed pitcher is a 7th-year, homegrown player. He went 12-11 in 2011 and had a 2.88 ERA. He threw 221.2 innings and had 179 strikeouts. Over the course of his career, Cain is 69-73 with a 3.35 ERA.

The Yankee players stated to be part of the deal are right-fielder Nick Swisher and/or catcher Jesus Montero. Fortunately for Giants fans, San Francisco turned down the offer according to Mehrewin. In fact, the 2010 World Series champs are said to be interested in signing both Cy Young-winner Tim Lincecum and Cain to four-contracts. Both pitchers are without questions fan favorites. We look forward to the day when both players are signed to long-term contracts.

While Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun received the NL MVP honor this year, the Giants did not go without a player receiving votes. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval received one 7th place vote and one 8th place vote for a total of seven points.

Sandoval is tied in 17th place with John Axford of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Two weeks ago, sportswriters and bloggers debated whether or not the San Francisco Giants should trade their ace Tim Lincecum this off-season in return for a premium hitter. Those talks have since quieted. Now there’s new information about what’s really going on at Third and King.

In a November 15, 2011 article titled, “Giants want to lock up Lincecum,” Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman details his knowledge of San Francisco’s off-season goals. The team has stated publicly that a strong pitching rotation is of the utmost importance. Heyman has learned from people familiar with the situation that the Giants’ top priority is to sign the two-time Cy Young Award winner, known as “The Freak,” to a multiple-year contract.

Lincecum will become a free agent after the 2013 season. While left-hander Matt Cain will become a free agent after 2012 season, the Giants are reportedly interested in signing Lincecum first.

The right-handed Lincecum, MVP of the 2010 World Series, stated recently that he would prefer to sign short-term contracts — one and two year deals. He reasons that long-term contracts bring with them extraordinary expectations and he’d prefer “not to have to put that kind of pressure on [myself].”

It would be a fan’s dream-come-true to see Lincecum wear a Giants uniform for the entirety of his career. At the same time, one has to admire his desire to carve his own path with regard to contract negotiation.

According to a series tweets from Andrew Baggarly, the list of players added to the 40-man roster has been released.

More to come when there’s some sort of explanation to Angel Villalona’s apparent return to the Giants organization.

1989 stands out for Giants fans for obvious reasons (the earthquake-affected World Series sweep by the A’s, in particular – ouch). But for me, the highlight of 1989 was Kevin Mitchell’s amazing MVP performance. And also his infamous barehanded catch of Ozzie Smith’s fly ball.

Before there was Barry Bonds in left field, there was Kevin Mitchell. And Kevin Mitchell could hit. Finishing the season with 47 HRs (at least one against every national league team), a .291 batting average (slugging .635) and an eye-popping 1.023 OPS, Mitchell received 20 of 24 1st place MVP votes in 1989 (Will Clark took three 1st place votes; how selfish).

Compare that to the various players who manned left field for the Giants in 2011. Aaron Rowand was laughable, with his .170 BA and OPS of .457 (seriously, what was that?) while playing LF. Brandon Belt, Cody Ross and Pat Burrell covered an OPS range of .706 to .791 in LF, with nearly identical batting averages hovering around .240 – not quite as horrible as Rowand (I mean SERIOUSLY – why did that guy ever play last year?), but not exactly electric. And nowhere near Mitchell’s BA/OPS of .291/1.023.

And then, of course, there is that barehanded catch on April 26, 1989. Watch this video starting at about the 0:26 mark. If you saw it then, you can’t help but remember it. Go ahead, watch it again. It’s fun.

Add it all together, and it was a hell of a season from a hell of a player. On a team with a bunch of great players that year, Mitchell remains my favorite Giant from 1989. Who was yours?

Although Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw nabbed the award, Giants starters did not go unrecognized.

Ace Tim Lincecum received one 4th place vote and five 5th place votes for a total of seven points. Matt Cain received one 4th place vote and one 5th place vote for a total of three points. Both Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong received one 5th place vote.

Former Giants catcher Mike Matheny has been named the new manager for the St. Louis Cardinals. Matheny played for San Francisco from 2005-2006 and won the Willie Mac Award in 2005.

Outfielder Pat Burrell is leaning towards retirement, MLB.com reports:

Veteran outfielder Pat Burrell is likely to call it a career after 12 Major League seasons due to a right foot injury that hasn’t healed.

Burrell was a mid-season pickup in 2010 after he was designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 2012 promotional schedule was released earlier today and on their list is none other than a Brian Wilson Garden Gnome. While Wilson’s beard does rival a garden gnome’s, the demand for this item is still unknown.

Late this week the Giants announced a preview of their promotional schedule for the 2012 season via Twitter. Promotions will include a knit hat on April 27, texting gloves on May 4, a Sergio Romo bobblehead on May 5, and a Madison Bumgarner bobblehead on July 15. There will be a total of five bobblehead days, with the last three presumably announced closer to spring training.

Single tickets go on sale for a limited time starting November 25, with the full regular on sale date in January.

We’ll get back to you with news on whether Bumgarner will be making his patented “FFFFFFFFF” face in his bobblehead.

In a move that screams “SABEAN, WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY DOING RIGHT NOW,” the San Francisco Giants have traded pitchers Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo for Royals outfielder Melky Cabrera.

In 2011, Sanchez had been plagued by injuries in the revolving-door saga that went Sanchez-DL, Barry Zito-DL, Sanchez-DL. Verdugo had spent the season in Double-A Richmond, posting a 4.35/4.10 ERA/FIP line.

Cabrera, expected to be the Giants’ leadoff man, finished the 2011 season with a .305/.339/.470 BA/OBP/SLG line and a.164 ISO.