I’ve sort of resisted Jock Blogging about the Giants the last several weeks.
I was trying to bite my tongue.
And then they put on a little finishing kick, winning 12 of their last 16, to get to a prettied up 81-81 record and avoiding the dreaded “losing season” tag. Heck, to be fair, Bruce Bochy’s Giants had three consecutive losing seasons from 2017-19, so it’s not far from our minds.
But that little finishing kick? To quote our sound byte from Nick Turturro: “That doesn’t cut it, bro.”
Here’s the thing: Man . . . I’m going to need more from the Farhan Zaidi regime than 66 players, a bunch of openers, platoons that bore me, mystery lineups daily, a .234 team batting average and a total de-emphasis on the art of fielding.
No bueno, sports fans.
And again, to be fair — last year’s 107 win was a smorgasbord of joy when it came to Farhan’s game plan. Low-wattage finds like Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade, Jr and Darin Ruf became high-wattage sluggers, and we sang the praises of Farhan’s ability to find guys other teams could not find.
Also — Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford had career years, and Buster Posey performed like a legend.
None of the above happened in 2022.
Let’s be positive and start with the good: He signed Carlos Rodon, and he was damn near the best in the league. He signed Joc Pederson, told him to only hit righties, and the Palo Alto kid delivered a team-high 23 home runs. Thairo Estrada turned into a 21st century Robby Thompson, and the J.D. Davis trade appears to be one of Farhan’s best.
That was about it for the positive.
Now, for the negative: Wade and Yaz regressed, which maybe the industry knew was coming. He let Kevin Gausman walk. Age and health caught up with Belt, Evan Longoria and Crawford. The platoon system and John Brebbia’s 11 “starts” stopped being cute, and began to bore the fans — attendance dropped to the lowest in Oracle Park history. Perhaps most damaging, none of the Giants farm prospects forced their way into The Show — an exception being perhaps David Villar, who flashed some homegrown pop, even if the glove was lacking.
In a summer where the passion and star power of Will Clark was celebrated with a number retirement ceremony, in a summer where Buster Posey got to give his farewell address to adoring fans, in a summer where Hunter Pence’s bug-eyed enthusiasm was enshrined on the Wall of Fame — all of it served to contrast with how unexciting and unmemorable the 2022 Giants were.
It was also a summer where the Dodgers actually *improved* on a 106-win season, and, despite the tragedy of Fernando Tatis, Jr’s self-imposed problems, the Padres won 89 and went to the playoffs — with 2023 looking just as bright for those two squads. The NL West is now a nuclear arms race, and the Giants are looking like Liechtenstein in that analogy.
Teams are allowed down years, that’s understood. And Posey himself has told us the difference between an 80-win team and a 95-win team is not much; intimating that the Giants of Farhan/Gabe Kapler can be back in the hunt next year.
What’s distressing, though, is that this is Farhan’s fourth full season with the club — and the team is looking like it needs a major trip to the repair shop. It needs better bullpen arms than just Camilo Doval. It needs to get younger and more athletic on defense. It needs more everyday players to thrill the marketplace.
You’d think, going into Year Five, that the president of baseball operations would see his plan coming to fruition — not looking to hit control-alt-delete and start over.
The Hot Stove League awaits. Last year, the lockout denied us the always-entertaining winter of trades, signings, rumors. Aaron Judge, obviously, sits out there. So do Jacob de Grom and Justin Verlander. So do Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson. So do Josh Bell and Brandon Nimmo.
There are attractive players to be purchased. It’s time to spend.
As a season-ticket holder, I can vouch that the ballpark experience is not cheap. And yet, the Giants just finished the season with the 13th-ranked payroll in MLB — and their lowest payroll since 2013. It’s not a coincidence they finished tied for the 15th-best record in ball.
The grumbling is real. That’s why I was trying to bite my tongue. I love the Giants. I love going to the park. I’m not going to stop going. But many already are.
This is a big winter to excite us, the fans who are ready to give their hearts to the club. On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, I was there with my family when Rodon hit the 200-strikeout mark and we all stood and cheered — and then he bulled his way out of a 6th-inning bases-loaded jam with thrilling strikeouts of Jean Segura and Bryson Stott. The whole park was roaring. It was electric.
All I could think was: See? The fan base is ready to embrace an exciting winner. There are few places like Third and King when the Giants are compelling and winning and building connections with the fan base. Ask Will the Thrill and Buster.
We’re ready. Farhan and the front office —it’s time to meet us there.