© Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — Chavez Ravine has been a locale of great expectations and even greater disappointment for much of the past decade – and never more so than during the past two seasons of World Series rejection. The 56,000-capacity stadium is a relic – built in 1962, and the largest baseball stadium in the world today – filled with a history of success past and present that has molded it into one of baseball’s classic (and simplest) venues.
As the Giants fell below .500 in the past two seasons, fans reveled in the misery of their Southern California rivals’ inability to get the job done at the highest stage. In many ways, the teams have been foils of each other. The Dodgers own a high-powered offense, while the Giants have perpetually frustrated opponents with great pitching, superb defense, and manufacturing runs however they can – and most importantly, shutting the door on their opponents when they reach the World Series.
For the past four seasons, Farhan Zaidi oversaw the creation of a Dodgers roster that is hard to fault. Zaidi never missed a playoff series in his four years with the Dodgers, winning the NL West in all four years, and winning the National League twice, though having a $240 million-plus payroll in each season but his last (adjusted to $199 million last season, according to Spotrac) certainly helped.
Zaidi’s current project is much different. His task is to create a contender essentially from scratch. The veterans who remain with the Giants and led much of their success – Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Pablo Sandoval and Joe Panik – are all at least 28 years of age, with most of their best years presumably behind of them. This is not to say they’re “washed.” They’re not.
But with years of wear and tear on players like Posey, Crawford, Belt, Panik and Sandoval – much of which is either hidden or conveyed as less serious than it often is – they no longer have the youthful energy and offensive consistency they once had to carry this team to the playoffs without reinforcements.
Evan Longoria is maybe the Giants’ most threatening hitter, but at age 33 and with another four years left on his contract, he’s in much the same situation. Fans have understandably hoped for power-hitting corner outfielders, and many are frustrated to see the last remaining good years of the aforementioned veterans poised to be wasted on a team that is discernibly far from being a contender.
Instead, fans got Connor Joe, Michael Reed, Gerardo Parra and Yangervis Solarte. Joe and Reed have yet to secure a hit in their first four games. While Parra and Solarte are solid players with power potential, they’re the sort of players a contender would love to have as a bench bat, rather than in the everyday slot.
But Zaidi was brought in for a project that’s not about right now. By picking up an ex-Rule 5 pick here and there and using waiver priority to make incremental trades, it’s not the most attention-grabbing approach, but it’s one that prioritizes youth and doesn’t waste money with so much already tied up (with Madison Bumgarner set to hit free agency this offseason and $129.4 million already fully committed to Posey, Crawford, Belt, Longoria, Jeff Samardzija, Johnny Cueto, and Mark Melancon next season).
This is what fans might have to get used to for the next two seasons, until $38.8 million from Samardzija and Melancon comes off the books in two seasons or Zaidi can lure a young-ish valuable talent to the Giants in this offseason (so far, that’s been a tough sell).
But one thing that Zaidi is not is content with is losing. You can bet he’ll be hoping the Giants show up his former team as much, if not more so than anyone watching the next three days. In the long term, however, Zaidi’s Giants are a long way off from competing with their rivals for NL-West bragging rights, and that time in between now and whenever that competition is reignited… that time may not be easy to stomach, and it may take a handful of more fliers on young players like Joe and Reed until the Giants find the mix that sticks.
