SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Old Age and Injuries an Achilles Heel?

The Giants have a good shot at the World Series — if they played it in May.

With a reloaded rotation, the Giants starting pitchers could be competitive with just about anyone else's staff but among their starting eight position players, the "kids" are outfielder Randy Winn and newly acquired catcher Bengie Molina, both 32, and third baseman Pedro Feliz, who's a few months younger.

As for their two best players, gimpy left fielder Barry Bonds is perhaps the most feared and despised ballplayer since Ty Cobb. But the turbulent slugger was born eight months after JFK was assassinated. Future Hall of Fame shortstop Omar Vizquel, still brilliant afield and a dangerous clutch hitter, turns 40 on April 24.

San Francisco added speed with outfielder Dave Roberts, who hit .293 with 49 stolen bases for San Diego last season, but Roberts turns 35 in May. They reacquired versatile infielder Rich Aurilia, who hit .300 with some pop last year at Cincinnati. But Aurilia turns 36 in September. Ray Durham had a terrific '06 but he's only two months younger than Aurilia — and injury-prone.

That's just how general manager Brian Sabean does things. He signs solid veterans and hopes they hold up for one more year. Sabean, who worked in the Yankees organization for eight years, saw firsthand how the Yanks eschewed their farm system to sign elite hired guns — and damn the cost, because the New Yorkers are the profligate princes of baseball. Sabean has adapted this philosophy to the Giants but, unsurprisingly, it doesn't work as well with a fraction of the budget. Think of the Giants as the Yankees without the money.

But this winter the Giants decided to double their pleasure, double their fun and just about double their payroll, so they ponied up big time and now they have two overpaid superstars named Barry who only play once or thrice a week.

Barry Zito, who turns 29 on May 13, is a proven winner. He brings veteran leadership to a pitching staff with two key youngsters, Matt Cain and Noah Lowry, who must come through for the team to contend in a division that looks stronger than the last few years, when it was perhaps the worst in baseball.

Some longtime A's watchers wonder if Zito and the Giants are a good fit. The A's anemic offense in '06 hurt the sensitive lefty, who's at his best when his team gives him some runs to play with. Beware if he feels he has to go out there and pitch shutout ball, start after start. Should the Giants have trouble scoring this year, they won't get the full benefit of a relaxed, confident Zito boggling batters with that big bender.

Rounding out the starting five are Matt Morris, another capable pitcher despite an off-year in '06, and Russ Ortiz, who in the last two years has plummeted to the lower depths, going 5-19, with an ERA of 7.33. Does anyone really believe Ortiz can regain the form that won him 36 games with Atlanta in 2003 and '04?

If not, waiting in the wings is flamethrowing phenom Tim Lincecum, 22. The good news: he could well be the second coming of A's ace Rich Harden. Now the bad news: Harden hasn't been healthy for an entire season since 2004.

As for the relievers: Gloomy, brooding and temperamental Armando Benitez, 34, can be lights-out at his best; at his worst he is in every way a disaster. In a key game late last year, with the Giants on a roll and within a couple of games of first place, they took an extra-inning lead against the division-leading Padres and brought in the erratic closer who promptly coughed up the lead, the game and the season. The Giants never recovered.

Benitez would stress that he was injured, whereas now he's back at full-strength and ready to blow hitters away with his not-always-mystifying heater. The trouble is, Giants fans are a cruel and unforgiving bunch and they vehemently dislike the big guy. The first save he blows will lead to serious dysfunction. It's hard to imagine Benitez closing key Giants games in August.

The relief corps is not yet a known quantity. Right-handers Vinnie Chulk, 28, Brad Hennessey, 27, Kevin Correia, 26, and left-handers Jack Taschner, 29, and Jonathan Sanchez, 24, made the Opening Day roster. Add crafty veteran southpaw Steve Kline, 34, and the sixth, seventh and eighth innings might be in good hands, but one suspects this bullpen will be a season-long work-in-progress.

Beyond the Giants' starting lineup, once-dangerous Ryan Klesko, once-promising Lance Niekro, and untested Todd Linden and Kevin Frandsen make up the bench brigade. Klesko, soon to turn 36, was injured all last season, appearing in but six games for the Padres. Niekro, 28, played briefly and poorly for San Francisco last year. Linden, 26, up and down with the Giants since '03, has given no sign that he can solve major-league pitching. Frandsen, 24, would be a feel-good story if he stepped up: the South Bay native is a lifelong Giants fan.

This is a much stronger National League West. Though Colorado is doomed for eternity, Arizona is loaded with future stars, San Diego is talented, as are the Dodgers. The Giants could have trouble keeping up. Still, if Bonds, Vizquel and the Mid-30s Express can somehow stay on track and score runs for the solid pitching staff, and the volatile situation at closer is resolved — one way or another — the Giants have a decent chance to be playing meaningful games in late September.