The San Francisco Giants were not necessarily expecting to be World Series contenders at any point this year but at times this year they were a threat. As we head down the stretch of the Major League Baseball betting season, they appear to be fading.

There is no question whether the Giants have the pitching to compete. Their starting rotation features Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez, but the problem is their batting lineup.

In a playoff series, opponents would shudder at the thought of facing both Lincecum and Cain four times in a seven-game series but because of the Giants poor hitting, no playoff team will have to face them.

The Giants batting order just doesn’t have enough power, to be quite frank. They have some players who can get on base, they have a few doubles hitters, but they don’t have the one or two monster bats that scare opposing pitchers.

Pablo Sandoval and Bengie Molina are nice complementary hitters but Albert Pujols, they are not.

The Giants have a good foundation for the future – that’s pretty clear. Pitching is always the toughest commodity to acquire but they have the people in place now. All they need to do is find a slugger.

But as far as this year goes, they are going to need either the Colorado Rockies or the Los Angeles Dodgers to fade quickly. At this point, that looks unlikely.