Barry Zito, starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, was a very strong player in high school and college. He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 1999 and he spent his first season and a half in the minor leagues. He was called up in 2000 and pitched in 14 games for the Athletics. The following season, his rookie year, Zito played in 35 games, pitched 214.1 innings, and had an ERA of 3.49, a 17-8 record, and 205 strikeouts to 80 walks.
Tim Lincecum, starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, was drafted by the Giants in 2006. He spent 2006 in the minor leagues and he was called up to the majors in 2007, playing in 24 games with the Giants. In his first season in the majors, Lincecum pitched 146.1 innings and he had an ERA of 4.00 with a 7-5 win-loss record and 150 strikeouts to 65 walks.
Angel Pagan, center fielder for the San Francisco Giants, originally signed with the New York Mets. In 2006, the Chicago Cubs bought his contract from the Mets before he ever had the chance to play with New York. He played for two years with the Cubs, but only partial seasons due to injuries. In January, 2008, Pagan was traded back to the Mets. He played in only 31 games that year and finished the season with a .275 batting average.
Marco Scutaro, second baseman for the San Francisco Giants, is playing with his sixth major league team since 2002. In those 11 years, he has played all infield positions and occasionally as an outfielder. Although Scutaro was first signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1994, he never played with them. In August, 2000, after playing in the minor leagues, the Indians traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers. However, he never played with the Brewers either because they put him on waivers in the Spring of 2002 after playing only with their minor league teams.
Buster Posey, catcher for the San Francisco Giants, also occasionally plays first base. But Posey did not start out as a catcher or a first baseman but, rather, as a pitcher and a shortstop. He played both of those positions in high school but in his second year of college, he switched from shortstop to catcher. In his junior year, he won the Dick Howser Trophy for his talent as a college baseball player.
Pablo Sandoval, third baseman for the San Francisco Giants, made his first appearance in a major league game in August of 2008. In 41 games in 2008, he batted .345 with 3 home runs, 10 doubles and 24 RBIs. The following year, he batted .330 and had 189 hits, 44 doubles, and 25 home runs. Although he didn't play as well in 2010 or 2011, he excelled in the 2012 World Series and he won the World Series MVP award. In the 2012 postseason, Sandoval batted .364 and he had 24 hits, 5 doubles, 6 home runs, and 13 RBIs.
Bruce Bochy, manager of the San Francisco Giants since 2007, started his major league baseball career as a catcher. After playing baseball in high school and college, Bochy was drafted by the Houston Astros in 1975. He played for the Astros from 1978 through 1980. He followed that with a year with the New York Mets (1982) and five years with the San Diego Padres (1983-1987). Bochy ended his playing career with a .239 batting average.