Clayton Kershaw is a fantastic pitcher. He pitched his ass off last year, and beat out Roy Halladay for the National League Cy Young, winning 27 of the 32 first place votes. As a Giants fan, I feared starts against him more than any other pitcher, and for good reason. Still, it’s interesting to think about how much Kershaw’s starts against the Giants contributed to his Cy Young win, as he had the benefit of pitching against an awful Giants lineup.

How would he have done if he hadn’t gotten to pitch against the Giants? Let’s examine his stats with those starts removed, or as I like to call it, the G-.

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It’s easy to dismiss the Dodgers acquisition of Hanley Ramirez, who hasn’t lived up to expectations over the last two seasons, posting OPS+ totals of 95 in 2011 and 100 so far this year in 2012. However, the Dodgers will take his league-average production with possible upside over the likes of Luis Cruz and Juan Uribe. Plus, their newly deep wallets make the only true cost Nathan Eovaldi. Here are a few reasons this deal helps the Dodgers:

-Hanley at his worst is an upgrade for LA. When Hanley was truly great, he had 20+ home run power and could steal 50 bases. Not bad from the shortstop position. However, when the Marlins signed Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez was moved to third base to make room for their shiny new toy. While the narrative has changed a little since, the early reports were that Hanley was upset by the move. He was their shiny toy. Think of something along the lines of the Woody/Buzz relationship in the first Toy Story. And yes, there’s a joke about Reyes falling with style and his hamstrings and yadda yadda. Back to Ramirez’s value. With the flexibility to play him at either spot on the left side of the infield, the Dodgers acquired an upgrade over their current lot, which include: Uribe, Cruz, Ivan De Jesus, Jerry Hairston, Elian Herrera, Adam Kennedy, and Justin Sellers. Oh, and Dee Gordon. Who has been atrocious. The Dodgers will take even a newly-average Hanley Ramirez.

-Hanley Ramirez hasn’t always gotten along in Miami, even before being moved to third. Remember when Fredi Gonzalez benched him for not hustling after a ball he kicked into the outfield ? A change of scenery and a new manager may allow Hanley to turn the page on what has been a fairly chaotic career so far.

-Randy Choate is pretty good. Grantland’s Jonah Keri came on our podcast and declared the Javier Lopez contract silly because there were guys in the league like Choate, who do a similar job for a quarter of the price. Since the beginning of 2011, Choate has pitched 50 innings of 2.16 ERA ball with a K/9 of 10.4. Those number are better than Lopez’s. And I’ll repeat, this time in fraction form for emphasis: 1/4 of the price.

The Dodgers did not enter today the favorites to  win the division. But with the addition of Ramirez, Choate, and a possible starting pitcher to be acquired later, the Giants do not sit comfortably atop the NL West. So let’s have a drink and enjoy it.

The Giants open a 3-game set with the San Diego Padres today. Here are some quick thoughts about today’s lineup, which is as follows:

Schierholtz RF

Theriot 2B

Cabrera LF

Posey C

Sandoval 1B

Pagan CF

Arias 3B

Crawford SS

Vogelsong P

-With two home runs in yesterday’s game, Nate appears to have earned an extended audition in the outfield. The fact that Bochy is “riding the hot hand” is even more apparent when the start comes against Clayton Richard, a lefty. And while today it comes at the expense of Gregor Blanco, look for Bochy to use Schierholtz to spell Melky and Pagan, with Blanco moving into center field.

-Brandon Belt. Big breath and….sigh, exhale. Don’t you feel better? No? Me neither. After being banished to the 7-hole and being an OBP guy in front of out-machines Arias and Crawford, Brandon Belt sits today in favor of the aforementioned Arias. Pablo Sandoval instead makes his first start at first base this season, and the 54^th in his career. This is the part where you are expecting snark, but I just don’t have it in me today. Especially with Belt’s batting average falling faster than MSG stock after the Knicks failed to match Jeremy Lin’s offer sheet from the Rockets. Oh, there it is. It always comes back. I don’t expect Belt to ride the bench too much, considering Huff’s continued recovery from suck-itis and Eli Whiteside being Posey’s lone backup at catcher. But for now, the Belt supporters retreat into the trees, waiting for their chance to rally behind the Baby Giraffe.

-While his career ERA is 4.12, Clayton Richard has a 3.64 ERA against the Giants and a 5-4 W-L record.