repeat offenders

Coming off a 4-2 road trip, the Giants seemed like they might hang in there this year, despite big injuries to big free agents costing the team big money.

Then they got swept. By the Padres. Again.

With the news coming out this week that Mark Derosa's wrist surgery last October was a "total failure," it's time to finally begin to look critically at how this team is run. Currently, the roster holds 3 big free agents who either are on the D.L. (Renteria and Freddy Sanchez) or are going to be in the D.L. (DeRosa). This year alone, those 3 players are making 21.25 million dollars. To sit on the bench. If that weren't frustrating enough, DeRosa is signed through next season, where he'll be a year older (36). If he can't come back from a wrist surgery at 34, is there much hope that he'll come through it next year?

This is not meant to bash these guys. They're good guys, trying to play every day. They're frustrated at their performances just as much as any fan and it's harder on them to not be playing than it is on anyone. But why does this seem to be a recurring theme for the Giants year after year? Brian Sabean has been the General Manager for the Giants for the last 13 seasons. In that time, they have had 8 winning seasons, have made the playoffs 3 times, and have made it to a world series once, losing in 7 games. This is not an overly impressive resume. 8 winning seasons (a season with a record of over .500) is solid, but they were clearly winning enough games if they only made the post-season 3 times in 12 years (2010 remains to be seen). It's becoming increasingly clear every year that the "trade away prospects to field a team full of veteran players" is not getting it done. It's time to try a different strategy. The thing that is worrisome? Sabean doesn't seem to be capable of changing his strategy.

After Barry Bonds retired in 2007, Giants fans were promised a "re-building." The team would get younger, we'd start over, build from the ground up, and be able to sustain a winning team for years to come.

Was that a joke?

In 2008, the Giants were still stuck with the contracts of Dave Roberts, Randy Winn, Bengie Molina, Rich Aurillia, Ray Durham, Omar Vizquel, and J.T. Snow. They had also just signed Aaron Rowand to a 5-year deal. (when that ends in 2012, Rowand will be 36). That year, the Giants went 72-90 and finished in 4th place. So, it was finally time for the young guys to get a chance, right? Kinda.

In 2009, the Giants did get a little bit younger, with Travis Ishikawa starting at 1B, Emmanual Burriss starting at 2B, Pablo Sandoval starting at 3B, and Frew Lewis starting in left field. However, before the trading deadline, Ishikawa was replaced with Ryan Garko from Burriss (who wasn't playing much by then) was replaced by Freddy Sanchez. Garko finished out the season with the Giants with a .235 and wasn't resigned. Sanchez, as mentioned before, is still around, but has been on the D.L. since late last season. He was expected to make it to Spring training, then opening day. Now, 6 weeks into the season, we might see him next week. Maybe.

With the vast improvement the Giants did last season, going 88-74, let's not forget that they finished 3rd in a division that is just ok. It's nice that they got above .500, but it still wasn't enough.

This season, after a pretty strong start, the Giants are floundering once again. They're currently 18-15, only 3 games above .500. Renteria is on the D.L., DeRosa is headed there, Molina has to rest twice a week (my dad's prediction is that he will hit the D.L. sometime in the next 3 weeks). And the offense continues to struggle, with only an in-field hit saving them today from being on the wrong end of a perfect game. Apart from Sandoval (and Sabean clearly didn't know what he had in Sandoval, thus not much hype surrounding him when he came up), Sabean has yet to produce an all-star caliber position player from the farm system since Matt Williams. That's a frightening stat. Trading away the farm system for mediocre veterans is finally coming back to really haunt this team. They simply cannot stay on the same path of the last 13 years. Unfortunately, Sabean hasn't shown that he can go in any other direction.

If this team really wants to rebuild, Sabean has a lot to prove this season. I just don't think they can do it with him at the helm.

Jen