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The Giants' failures for 2017 are complete, time to think of the future
San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey looks to the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at SunTrust Park on June 19, 2017. The Braves bested the Giants by a score of 9-0.  Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

For Giants, failure to act could be the gravest error in a season full of them

If there has been one overused theme so far this season, it's that 2017 is a summer of great parity in Major League Baseball. Or at least, that is the sunny side up, glass half full version angle, because it has been a season where drastic cases of inconsistency and flat-out missed expectations have forced parity to the plate. While the spotlight has been on the struggles of the Cubs, Mets and Cardinals, there is one team missing the mark completely: the San Francisco Giants.

The summer has been a complete and total disaster in San Francisco, going from a postseason contender last fall to 20 games out of the National League pennant race, and nearly just as many in the wild card. It has been a wildly uncharacteristic season as well for the club, one more defined by in-game melees and off-field accidents, despite how much of a catastrophe the on-field product has been. As June slips away, it is the Giants who have clinched the dubious honor of most disappointing team of 2017.

If anybody would have been taking bets on the Giants being 20 games out of the NL West race by late-June at the start of the year, they would have been seen as a fool. After all, the Giants have been one of the steadiest teams of the last decade. A club that has eschewed the trend of employing high salaried sluggers every winter in exchange for tools-first players that fit their system and complimented the substantial talents of Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and coaching excellence of Bruce Bochy. It may not be every year that they are deciding the direction of the game, but facts are facts and no other team has reached October’s summit in the last 10 years more often than the Giants. Yet today, they have never been further away from that mountain top than they are today. 

If the season was to come to close today  – a proposition the San Francisco faithful are probably in favor of – the Giants would have finish with their worst winning percentage since moving west in 1958. The closest they have been to their current depths is a 100-loss 1985 campaign, where they finished 33 games out of the NL West race.


San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Mark Melancon pauses on the mound during the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on June 18, 2017. The Rockies won 7-5. Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Statistically it could be worse, however there are some significant differences from 1984 to now. The depths of that ’85 campaign were not unchartered waters for the Giants, who had lost 96 games the year before. Their expectations were a far cry from those this year’s Giants carried into the season, just a year after making the playoffs for fourth time in the last seven years. The expectations for this club were the same as always: be competitive, push the Dodgers and make a postseason run. They spent the winter retooling a worn-out bullpen, spending $62 million on free agent closer Mark Melancon. The type of deal that plugs the only noticeable hole in the Giants' boat.

Now just three months into the new season, that boat has completely capsized. It is apparent that the idea that last season’s Giants simply came up short due to an underwhelming bullpen and a bad draw of the Cubs in the NLDS was terribly misplaced. Instead, it is time to face the facts: it is time to hit the reset button on this once-great era of the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants have long been able to maintain success due to a solid (but not spectacular) lineup, that is highly defensively adept and supports a strong overall pitching staff. But the erosion of the Giants core has spread to every part of its being, as the Giants currently sit in the bottom three of the National League in runs scored and on-base percentage, while sitting dead last in extra base hits and OPS.


San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy has not had a healthy roster to work with in 2017.  John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

If failure to produce at the plate wasn't bad enough, what is currently compromising the pitching staff is certain to seal the deal. Giants pitchers are allowing the second highest average against (.273), while converting the third fewest saves and rotational ERA of 4.75. Even Bochy’s roster management wizardry is null and void with these options to call upon.

And having a full deck at any point in the year has been an unavailable option, as the majority of the key components of the Giant roster have been out of action for significant time. The still baffling occurrence that created Madison Bumgarner’s extended time out of action has been the highlight injury of the year, and also a fitting capture of issues that have plagued Giants (relative) health thus far. Six everyday players have spent time on the DL this year, with key bullpen components in Melancon and Will Smith being out of action at one point or another as well.

But injuries alone cannot be used as an excuse. They happen and teams like the Giants, who predicate themselves on depth and versatility, have to be able to overcome them. The bigger issue lies in the fact that the core players who have not been hurt have performed like they are. Brandon Belt’s average has hovered around .220, despite being tasked as a cleanup hitter. When Hunter Pence has been healthy, he has hit only four home runs and carried an average nearly 40 points lower than his career norms. Eduardo Nunez and Joe Panik have been solid, joining Buster Posey as the only everyday contributors to produce a positive WAR on the year. With all due respect, no team is going to get very far riding the coattails of Eduardo Nunez and Joe Panik as their best supporting actors.


San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey is greeted in the dugout after scoring a home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third inning at Dodger Stadium on May 1, 2017. Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of Posey, it is truly a shame that this the time the Giants decided to bottom out, because the once-in-a-generation backstop is having one of those type of years that get plaque space reserved in Cooperstown. Posey is having what would be an MVP frontrunner caliber year if his effort meant anything in the standings. His batting average has not dipped below .340 since May 28, and he has hit in all but three games thus far in June. As the Giants continue to decline, he continues to do everything within his power to pick them up. It is a novel, yet futile effort from the superstar backstop and the lone light in the increasingly dark tunnel that is AT&T Park.

The only hope now is that Giants management does not continue the line of thinking that has landed them here. The notion of the Giants being one-piece or another savvy free agent come up away is outdated and flawed. While a complete and total overhaul would be an overreaction, the substantial changes need to be made, and need to begin immediately.

Anything that is not Posey, Bumgarner or Brandon Crawford should be carrying a ticket to ride. This starts with a pair of extremely underwhelming arms in Johnny Cueto and Matt Moore, who are pitching away more and more of their marketability every time they make a start. By continuing to deploy them, the club is continuing to hamper their ability to rebuild through them. While it might be hard to move Melancon (who is currently sporting an ERA over five and is generally appears to be working with still injured elbow), his understudy. Hunter Strickland could garner some attention from competing clubs. Well, once he’s back from his suspension for taking out two-year-old revenge against Bryce Harper and all.


San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain's contract makes him tough to trade.  Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Many things are needed right now for the Giants, but perhaps an antiques sale would be the best place to start. Outside of the trades that need to be tempered, it is also time to face a few long-ignored truths and turn the page on some long-standing members of the mix as well, starting with the relic that is Matt Cain. Although he is virtually untradeable due his albatross of a contract, Cain is in the way of progress. For every time he goes out and struggles to pitch five innings, it just deepens the hole. As was the case with Tim Lincecum, put him out of his misery and cut him loose, if for no other reason than morale and optimism purposes.

If there can be some interest drummed-up around Pence, Denard Span and perhaps even Jeff Samardzija, they would really be off to rebuilding races. A resurfacing can be done quickly, but the team cannot hesitate. A quick look around the NL West should do the trick. Even back at full strength, this team is not equipped to handle the Rockies, Dodgers and Diamondbacks of today, as evidenced by their 10-18 record against the three in-division superpowers on the year.

Throughout it all, there remains the possibility that this season be merely a minor setback, as plenty of teams have rebuilt with a much worse starter kit than Posey, Bumgarner, Crawford and host of promising pitching prospects. But a failure to act with urgency in recognizing the realities surrounding the current composition of this team could condemn them to more of the same in years to come.

Keep an ear to the past: let this be your 1984, not another 1985. It was a great run, and one that certainly deserves a great deal of respect for the tenacity of the three championships acquired during it. But all good things end eventually, and that eventuality is the here and now in San Francisco.

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