By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–When your ballclub’s won 111 of their last 168 regular season contests, you don’t lose sleep at night. But just how comfortably do you sleep?

Starting with the hated, rival Dodgers, the Giants clearly have company at the top. The Padres are in the mix as well making the NL West arguably the toughest division in baseball. Both teams dipped into their wallets to beef up their lineups with San Diego adding slugger Luke Voit, and the Dodgers acquiring Freddie Freeman.

The Giants prioritize bringing back their division-winning lineup from 2021, and they did so with the exception of letting Kevin Gausman walk in free agency and seeing iconic catcher Buster Posey abruptly retire.

The result? The Giants aren’t widely considered to be the club to repeat atop the NL West putting them squarely in the position to prove themselves once again.

Internally, the Giants aren’t necessarily at odds with how prognosticators see them. President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi would likely admit his 2021 club arrived a year or two ahead of schedule. In keeping with that mentality, the off-season was not as eventful as eager fans would have preferred. The team’s big acquisition was both below the radar and measured. White Sox starter Carlos Rodon was given a two-year deal likely as safety measure acknowledging the hurler’s recent injury history.

Instead of splashy, the Giants appear content to roll out their youthful talents like LaMonte Wade Jr., Joey Bart and Heliot Ramos. From a pitching perspective, the Giants are prepared to weather growing pains from closer Camilo Doval in an attempt to see what top-end talents they can unearth from within. It’s a wise approach, and one Zaidi and his staff have doubled down on after their early successes.

Consequently, 107 more wins isn’t the goal, but consistent play in part featuring the younger Giants led by starter Logan Webb is. That won’t scare the Dodgers, Padres, Mets or the World Champion Braves. But the Giants hope it’s enough to command their attention.

If the Giants perform, the trade deadline could be interesting. They have the wherewithal to make additions to boost their program in August and September.