I don’t think Derek Jeter will wind up in anything but pinstripes next season. Part of me thinks that the squabbling between him, his agent and the Yankees is all for publicity purposes.

When it comes down to it, the Yankees are a billon dollar cooperation. And seeing as how they took a backseat to the Rangers and Giants in 2010, what better way to get themselves back into the spotlight than to have their GM battle their captain in the news? To suggest the Brian Cashman v. Jeter feud is all about attention might be a little shrewd on my part, but would you put it past the Bombers for concocting such a scenario?

But for a moment, let’s assume that the contract talks between Jeter and the Yankees really are heading downhill. Let’s assume that the Yankees won’t budge from their original offer of three years and $40 million and that Jeter’s camp really is crazy enough to think that any team is going to fork over $22 million a year for an aging shortstop with declining skills.

Could Jeter really wind up in the National League playing for the current World Champions?

The shoe certainly fits. The Giants need a shortstop and after their most hated rivals scooped up Juan Uribe on Monday, their options at the position are getting fewer by the day (unless they’re absolutely in love with the idea of bringing back Edgar Renteria, committing full-time to youngster Manny Burriss or signing 97-year-old Miguel Tejada). Jeter, who is represented by the same agent (Casey Close) as catcher Buster Posey, would have an opportunity to play for a contender in a decent sized market if he were to sign with San Francisco. He was also scouted by current Giants GM Brian Sabean, who was with the Yankees when the club drafted him in 1992. Sabean also doesn’t mind overpaying for players, much like he’s done with Barry Zito, Aaron Rowand and Renteria in recent years.

If all of this seems rather convenient, it’s probably because it is. I can’t imagine Jeter playing for any other team besides the Yankees and there’s good probability that the two sides will agree to a new deal by the end of the year.

But if you’re looking for a dark horse in this race, it has to be the Giants.

Here’s a six pack of observations following the Giants’ dominating 9-0 win over the Rangers in Game 2 of the World Series on Thursday night. San Fran is now up 2-0 in the series.

1. America, meet Matt Cain.
Because the Giants play on the West Coast, there’s a good chance that the majority of the country hasn’t seen Matt Cain pitch. If you caught Game 2 of the World Series, then you realized what Giants fans have known for years: He can be every bit as good as ace Tim Lincecum. If baseball had a stat for hard-luck losers, Cain would be No. 1 on the list. He’s been a victim of horrendous run support for most of his career, but he’s stayed patient and is finally getting his due. Cain hasn’t allowed a run in three postseason starts this year and completely shut down the Rangers on Thursday night. He pitched 7.2 innings of shutout ball while allowing just four hits and striking out two. These weren’t the Mariners or Pirates he was facing; the Rangers led the league in batting average this season and finished fifth in runs scored. They’ve only been shutout six times this year (including Thursday night) and can beat you 1 through 8. But they couldn’t hit Cain tonight if they were notified what the pitch and location were going to be. He was brilliant.

2. What an embarrassing performance by the Rangers’ bullpen.
With his team only down 2-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Darren O’Day struck out Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez to start the inning. But then rookie catcher Buster Posey singled to shallow center and O’Day was pulled for Derek Holland, who proceeded to walk Nate Schierholtz and Cody Ross on eight straight pitches, then walked Aubrey Huff to score Posey. Despite the first two walks, Rangers’ skipper Ron Washington failed to get another pitcher warmed up and by the time Mark Lowe came in, the Giants already had a 3-0 lead and the bases still loaded. Lowe then walked Uribe to score Schierholtz and gave up a single to Edgar Renteria (more on him next) to score Ross and Huff. Michael Kirkman, who was the fourth pitcher used in the inning, then relieved Lowe and promptly gave up a bases-clearing triple to Aaron Rowand and a double to Torres. By the time Sanchez came back around to strike out, the damage was done and the Giants had built a 9-0 lead. It was an inexcusable performance by the Rangers’ bullpen, which has looked horrendous two nights in a row now.

3. Edgar Renteria still has some postseason magic in him.
Renteria has certainly frustrated Giants fans over the last two years with his minimal range at short, his weak at-bats and his stints on the disabled list. But for at least one night, nobody is going to complain about how much money GM Brian Sabean foolishly gave the aging veteran two offseasons ago. Renteria hit an absolute bomb off Texas starter C.J. Wilson in the fifth to break a scoreless tie and then added a two-run single in the eighth, which essentially put the nail in the coffin. He’s also played tremendous defense thus far and has given the Giants’ professional at bats every time he walks to the plate (which is something they haven’t been getting out of more heralded hitters like Pat Burrell). Renteria won the World Series as a rookie back in 1997 and if he decides to retire at the end of the year, winning another championship would certainly be a sweet way to go out. He’s a class act and while his game has deteriorated over the years, he proved tonight that he’s clutch when it matters most.

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With Cliff Lee on the hill, Game 1 of the World Series was almost a foregone conclusion: Rangers would win the opener and the Giants would have to try and even things up in Game 2.

Too bad the Giants had other plans.

In what had to be the most impressive feat of any team this postseason, the Giants crushed the Rangers 11-7 on Wednesday night to take a 1-0 lead in the Fall Classic. The previously unbeaten Lee went just 4.2 innings while yielding seven runs (six earned) on eight hits.

Freddy Sanchez did the most damage, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. He set a postseason record by hitting three doubles in his first three at bats, which all came off Lee. After Texas took a 2-0 lead after two innings of play, Sanchez’s first double scored Edgar Renteria to put the Giants on the board in the third inning. His second double to deep left-center scored Andres Torres in the fifth to give the Giants a 3-2 lead and they never looked back from there.

San Fran scored six runs in that fifth inning to break the game open. Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross had RBI singles, while Juan Uribe hit a towering three-run shot off reliever Darren O’Day to give the Giants an 8-2 lead. The expression on Lee’s face as he watched that inning from the dugout said it all: “How could this have happened?”

What’s interesting is that Lee wasn’t necessarily off his game. He struck out seven batters and showed some of the same mastery that he had in previous postseason starts, but the Giants just hit him – and hit him hard. The fact that Lee is a strike-thrower actually played right into the Giants’ free-swinging approach and they didn’t let up the entire night. It didn’t matter if it was Lee on the mound or Nolan Ryan in his prime – they were going to get hit.

Try as they did, the Rangers did score two runs in the top of the sixth and three runs in the top of the ninth to make it somewhat interesting, but the damage had already been done. The Giants’ offense, which everyone has written off several times this postseason (and for good reason given their shoddy performance at times), had once again came through in the clutch.

Lost in the offensive clinic the Giants put on was their ace Tim Lincecum, who picked up his second postseason win of his career. He certainly wasn’t dominant (5.2 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 strikeouts), but the Rangers’ offense has a way of humbling even the best pitchers. Simply put, he was good enough on a night where his offense did the talking for him. It was a rare role-switch for a pitcher that usually has to limit his opponent to only two or three runs because he knows his offense will struggle.

The Giants have been a streaky offensive team all year. Given their pitching, if their offense can stay hot then they’re going to be tough to beat. The series is far from over, but this is a picture-perfect start for the G-Men.

Top photo courtesy of AllPosters.com.

Full disclosure: I’m a massive San Francisco Giants fan. The first time I sat down to watch a baseball game from start to finish was in 1989 when the Giants played my hometown Cubs in the NLCS. Will “The Thrill” Clark put on a clinic in that series and I was hooked ever since.

Of course, the A’s went on to sweep the Giants in the Fall Classic that year and I was introduced to the torture that is San Francisco baseball. From “The last pure pennant race” in ‘93, to Edgar Renteria’s base hit in ‘97, to Mark Gardner’s dud in a one-game playoff against the Cubs in ’98, to Bobby Jones’ one-hitter in ’00, to…well, to 2002. I don’t like to mention 2002 outside of how I wish Scott Spiezio grew up playing ping-pong instead of baseball.

It goes without saying that it’s been a while since the Giants were this good and it’s been even longer since they won a title. People like to talk about the Cubs’ championship drought, but the Indians and Giants are right behind them.

With that in mind, I won’t play coy: I’m rooting for the Giants. I won’t be objective and damn it, I don’t have to be either. Giants in 7. No, wait – Giants in 4.

Actually, I see the Rangers taking Game 1 because, well, Cliff Lee doesn’t lose in the postseason. Ever. I see the Giants taking Game 2 with Matt Cain (the most underrated pitcher in baseball) on the hill and then the rest of the series could go either way. If the NLDS/NLCS Game 2 Jonathan Sanchez takes the hill in Game 3, then San Fran could steal the first game in Texas on Saturday night. But if NLCS Game 6 Jonathan Sanchez rears his ugly head, then the Rangers could easily win, 27-1. (That lone run coming on a Cody Ross home run, of course.)

The Rangers are favored for a reason. They have the better lineup from top to bottom, their pitching staff isn’t as good as the Giants’ but they can certainly hold their own and Lee is unbeatable. They also have that “destiny” thing about covered with this being the first time they’ve ever reached the World Series.

But the Giants, my Giants, are somewhat playing with house money. Nobody expected them to win the NL West this year and even fewer people thought they’d beat the Phillies in the NLCS. Yet here they are, plugging along without a care in the world and no idea that they’re not supposed to win. Their pitching staff is great, players like Ross are having unprecedented success this postseason and their bullpen (thanks to Brian Wilson, Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affedlt) is nearly unhittable in the later innings. If they can continue to get timely hitting from Buster Posey, Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe, they’ll have a shot.

They can win this thing.

Giants in 7.

Who are you taking?

After failing to land Adam LaRoche in the offseason, the San Francisco Giants “settled” on Aubrey Huff, who nobody showed much interest in.

After a successful stint with the Giants in 2009, Juan Uribe didn’t garner much interest from other teams this offseason on the open market, so he re-signed with San Fran for one year on the cheap.

In fear that the Padres would pick him up, the Giants claimed Cody Ross off waivers from the Marlins, who wanted to save a measly $1 million so they basically gave him away for free.

It was Huff’s single in the third inning that put the Giants on the board after the Phillies had taken a 2-0 lead in Game 6 of the NCLS Saturday night. It was Uribe’s home run in the eighth that broke a 2-2 tie, and it was Ross’s MVP play throughout the entire series that helped the G-Men knock off the defending National League champions to earn a date with the Rangers in the 2010 World Series.

Of course, there were others that helped San Fran get to this point. After he was dumped midseason by the Rays and couldn’t find work, the Giants took a flier on Pat Burrell, who essentially took a hometown discount because nobody else showed any interest in the veteran. The club’s best hitter is rookie catcher Buster Posey, who started the year in Triple-A because the Giants were concerned that he couldn’t handle their outstanding pitching staff. Andres Torres is a 32-year-old lifelong journeyman who came out of nowhere to seize the leadoff spot in their lineup when Aaron Rowand was hurt and ineffective earlier in the year.

Manager Bruce Bochy calls this team the “Dirty Dozen” because it’s essentially a bunch of miscasts and misfits that came together to do something pretty amazing. The Giants’ pitching staff rivals that of anyone in the league (just ask the Phillies and Braves), but none of this would have been possible if guys like Huff, Burrell, Torres, Posey and Ross didn’t gel. Did the Giants catch some breaks along the way? Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean that they’re any less deserving. The resiliency that this team has shown throughout the year is impressive and just when you think they’re done, they find a way in the end.

They’ve tortured their fans throughout the year with too many one-run games to count. But alas, torture has never felt so good.

There were a plenty of Philly faith that wanted to see Roy Halladay take the mound in Game 4 of the NLCS, despite the fact that he would have been pitching on short rest. Instead, manager Charlie Manuel decided to hand the ball to Joe Blanton, who hadn’t started a game in over a month.

But even though the Giants beat the Phillies 6-5 in Game 4, the decision to start Blanton wasn’t Manuel’s costliest mistake on Wednesday night.

He’s no Halladay, Oswalt or Hamels, but Blanton is a fine starting pitcher who happens to have postseason experience. He’s not going to throw a perfect game, a no-hitter or even a shutout. But he’s more than serviceable and if you take a step back, you can understand Manuel’s thought process.

If Blanton limits the Giants to only a couple of runs..the offense eventually gets to rookie Madison Bumgarner…Phillies steal a win and then have Halladay, Oswalt and Hamels pitch on regular rest…everyone Wang Chung tonight.

And that’s exactly what happened. Sort of.

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It was Juan Uribe’s sacrifice fly that scored Aubrey Huff in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Giants a 6-5 win over the Phillies in Game 4 of the NCLS, as well as a commanding 3-1 series lead.

But while Uribe may have played the role of hero Wednesday night, rookie Buster Posey was the true star.

Posey went 27 at-bats before getting the first postseason RBI of his young career. But he picked up two ribbies in Game 4 while going 4-for-5 at the plate and becoming the fifth rookie in baseball history to record at least four hits and two RBI in a playoff game. His single down the right field line in the bottom of the ninth moved Huff (who had singled to start the inning) over to third to set up Uribe’s sac fly. Without that hit (which came after Posey fell behind Roy Oswalt 0-2 in the count), who knows how that game would have ended.

Perhaps what’s most remarkable is that Posey’s hits came off of a fastball, a curveball, a slider and a changeup, which speaks to his maturity as a hitter. He also made a sensational play at the plate to haul in a short-hop by Aaron Rowand and tag out a sliding Carlos Ruiz to save a run in the 4th inning. The Phillies went on to score four runs that inning anyway, but considering the Giants won by one, that could be viewed as the play of the game.

He’s only 23, but Posey already carries himself like a seasoned veteran. He always stays within himself and he never loses his composure, which must be hard given that he’s the Giants’ best offensive player (not to mention the fact that he also calls balls and strikes for one of the best pitching staffs in baseball).

Thanks to Posey, Uribe, Huff, Pablo Sandoval (who had a huge two-run double in the sixth to give the Giants a 5-4 lead after they had trailed 4-3 heading into the inning) and about nine tons of resiliency, San Fran is now one win away from reaching the World Series for the first time since 2002.

Of course, securing that final victory won’t be an easy task. I texted our college football writer Paul Costanzo following the game and asked, “How focused do you think Roy Halladay is going to be tomorrow night? Dear, Lord…”

His response: “He may not throw a ball.”

The Giants will counter with ace Tim Lincecum, but there’s no question that they’re going to see the absolute best that Halladay has to offer. They’ve beaten him twice this year (once in the regular season and once in Game 1 of this series), but to the Giants’ hitters, it may look like he’s throwing marbles out there.

I don’t know how you can call yourself a baseball fan if you don’t tune into Halladay vs. Lincecum Thursday night. This is what October baseball is all about.

You know things are going badly for your club when Bruce Bochy does something to get the best of you.

During the ninth inning of the Dodgers-Giants game last night, L.A. hitting coach Don Mattingly walked out to the mound to talk to closer Jonathan Broxton, who had once again gotten into trouble for the second time in three days. With the Dodgers leading 5-4, Broxton allowed an infield single by Juan Uribe to start the inning, then walked Edgar Renteria before recording the first out when Aaron Rowand laid down a sacrifice bunt.

After Aubrey Huff was intentionally walked to load the bases, Mattingly came out to the mound to lay out the plan of attack with Broxton and his infield. But when he stepped off the mound and into the grass, then went back onto the mound to answer a question from first baseman James Loney, it counted as two visits. Bochy, or “Eagle Eyes” as his drinking buddies like to call him, noticed the gaffe and immediately complained about it to home plate umpire Adrian Johnson.

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The Chicago Tribune is speculating that the Giants could make a push to acquire Cubs first baseball Derrek Lee. The paper notes that San Fran’s pitching is good enough to keep them in contention, but the team desperately needs a big bat and Lee could be a viable option given that Chicago has a couple of replacements for him in Micah Hoffpauir and Jake Fox.

While rumors are definitely fun to discuss, this one looks like it has no teeth. The Cubs haven’t given any indication that they want to deal Lee and even if they have considered it, he’d still have to waive his no-trade clause. (And why would he waive it to go to a team like the Giants?)

The Giants make an easy target in all of this because yes, they do need a bat. Aaron Rowand, Pablo Sandoval, Bengie Molina, Randy Winn and Juan Uribe don’t exactly strike the fear of God into opposing pitchers. But GM Brian Sabean has to be smart here and even though San Fran is playing well, it’s probably not worth it for the Giants to trade young arms (which they’ve got plenty of) so that they can put a band-aid on a deep gash.

Now, if a situation comes up and a club is willing to part with a young bat in order to get a couple of arms, then all bets are off. If the Giants can get a young, productive bat this season that could also add to their rebuilding process, then Sabean would be a fool not to jump on the opportunity. But how often do clubs make young bats available?

The Giants have already been linked to the Marlins’ Dan Uggla and the Nats’ Adam Dunn. Now Lee’s name has been throw into the mix and while it would be tempting for Sabean to add a bat to his weak lineup, none of the aforementioned names are going to help the Giants win a World Series this year so why bother? Why sacrifice the future for half a season?

We’ll see if this rumor grows any legs, but I hardly doubt it will.