Giants postmortem
Alas, the Giants. So close, and yet...well, that would be a cliché.
It wasn't a bad season — plenty of teams would kill to win 91 games — especially given how utterly hapless the Giants looked at times in the early going. But when one more win would have landed you in the postseason, where anything can happen in a short series, you have to ask what you could and should have done better.
Hopefully, the ownership group learned that taking the cheap route doesn't cut it in today's baseball economy. The Giants had opportunities last off-season to land players of the caliber of Vlad Guerrero and Gary Sheffield, but instead chose to play their cards (and their wallets) close to the vest. Most of the major acquisitions were only so-so: Brett Tomko was up and down all year, but came on very strong in late season. A.J. Pierzynski had a lackluster year with negligible power (11 home runs) in a power-hitter's position — his backup, Yorvit Torrealba, had more than half as many homers (6) in only about a third as many at-bats — plus, he alienated most of the pitching staff (Tomko especially, in a now-legendary dustup) with his lackadaisical work habits. Michael Tucker had okay numbers for a fourth outfielder...except for the fact that he started most of the year, and except for the fact that he whiffed an embarrassing 106 times. Guys like Neifi Perez and Matt Herges got kicked to the curb or relegated to invisibility when they couldn't cut the mustard. Ricky Ledee...well, I told you so.
On the bright side, the Giants got another MVP-quality season and beaucoup publicity value out of the 40-year-old record-chaser in left field, who mashed 45 more monster blasts to push his career total to 703. J.T. Snow came back from the dead to post his best year in eons (.327 average, .529 slugging percentage). Ray Durham (.282, 17 homers as a leadoff man in only 120 games), Pedro Feliz (22 big flies, 84 RBI), and the ageless Marquis Grissom (22 homers, 90 RBI) all had solid offensive seasons (defense was often another story altogether). Deivi Cruz stepped in at shortstop when Perez got axed and put up a .292 average. In the pitching department, Jason Schmidt was Jason Schmidt — maybe the most imposing starter in the league after the freak of nature, Randy Johnson. Jerome "The Goods" Williams proved he's the real deal; he won 10 games despite being injured for nearly two months. Tomko, as previously noted, came around to be a dependable contributor. And my fellow Pepperdine Wave, Noah Lowry, was a revelation in the late going, posting a 6-0 record in 14 starts after Williams went down.
For next year, the Giants must at least think about:
See you in February, G-Men.
It wasn't a bad season — plenty of teams would kill to win 91 games — especially given how utterly hapless the Giants looked at times in the early going. But when one more win would have landed you in the postseason, where anything can happen in a short series, you have to ask what you could and should have done better.
Hopefully, the ownership group learned that taking the cheap route doesn't cut it in today's baseball economy. The Giants had opportunities last off-season to land players of the caliber of Vlad Guerrero and Gary Sheffield, but instead chose to play their cards (and their wallets) close to the vest. Most of the major acquisitions were only so-so: Brett Tomko was up and down all year, but came on very strong in late season. A.J. Pierzynski had a lackluster year with negligible power (11 home runs) in a power-hitter's position — his backup, Yorvit Torrealba, had more than half as many homers (6) in only about a third as many at-bats — plus, he alienated most of the pitching staff (Tomko especially, in a now-legendary dustup) with his lackadaisical work habits. Michael Tucker had okay numbers for a fourth outfielder...except for the fact that he started most of the year, and except for the fact that he whiffed an embarrassing 106 times. Guys like Neifi Perez and Matt Herges got kicked to the curb or relegated to invisibility when they couldn't cut the mustard. Ricky Ledee...well, I told you so.
On the bright side, the Giants got another MVP-quality season and beaucoup publicity value out of the 40-year-old record-chaser in left field, who mashed 45 more monster blasts to push his career total to 703. J.T. Snow came back from the dead to post his best year in eons (.327 average, .529 slugging percentage). Ray Durham (.282, 17 homers as a leadoff man in only 120 games), Pedro Feliz (22 big flies, 84 RBI), and the ageless Marquis Grissom (22 homers, 90 RBI) all had solid offensive seasons (defense was often another story altogether). Deivi Cruz stepped in at shortstop when Perez got axed and put up a .292 average. In the pitching department, Jason Schmidt was Jason Schmidt — maybe the most imposing starter in the league after the freak of nature, Randy Johnson. Jerome "The Goods" Williams proved he's the real deal; he won 10 games despite being injured for nearly two months. Tomko, as previously noted, came around to be a dependable contributor. And my fellow Pepperdine Wave, Noah Lowry, was a revelation in the late going, posting a 6-0 record in 14 starts after Williams went down.
For next year, the Giants must at least think about:
- Upgrading the outfield defensively by bringing in a fresh center fielder (Steve Finley?), moving Grissom to right and the Tucker-Dustan Mohr platoon to the scrap heap.
- Giving up on the Robb Nen pipe dream and finding a legitimate closer. We can't live another year running guys like Herges and Dustin Hermanson out there in the late innings. Workhorse Jim Brower is a capable set-up man but no closer.
- Persuading Kirk "Woody" Rueter to retire or move on. It's time.
- What to do at shortstop, rather than rolling the dice that Deivi Cruz can maintain this pace over a full season as a starter.
- Signing a slugging catcher who won't irritate the pitchers.
- Finding better answers at utility infield than Cody Ransom and Brian Dallimore.
See you in February, G-Men.
SwanShadow was randomly pounding the keyboard at 2:38 PM
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