At this point, ya gotta feel bad for the Giants. Their season has been defined by injuries, which tends to happen if you rely on a core of people over 30, and they've been floundering for the first time since the decade began, all while the team across the bay is making a playoff run as underdogs.
The problem with being part of a multi-year playoff dynasty is that you tend to lose sight of the strength of your farm system. Yes, the Giants won a ton of rings, but by the time the draft picks from that era rolled around...they weren't great. Christian Arroyo was a major disappointment, Ty Blach has been a subpar starter, and the only rookie that actually did any substantial damage this year was Dereck Rodriguez.
People are beginning to come up lately that have some promise, like Ryder Jones, Aramis Garcia, and Austin Slater. But the Giants really do need to figure out a way to either clean house, or just revitalize the lineup in a way that benefits the veterans and the rookies. There are a ton of guys, like Hunter Pence and Jeff Samardzija, who aren't doing a damn thing but are being paid to be here, that might need to be nixed. And then there are guys like Alen Hanson who've done well but are still kinda blocked by starters. This is also a team whose epic power seasons have been reduced to Longoria leading the team with 16 home runs. So obviously things need to be prioritized.
Hopefully this offseason will involve Madison Bumgarner sticking around, as his stuff in the second half was, as usual, powerful and consistent, and the Giants need someone to be an ace and stay healthy, assuming Johnny Cueto has forgotten how to do that. This team could get back to playoff runs rather soon, but they need for their core to stay healthy, because they simply couldn't do that this year, and it's worrying.
Coming Tomorrow- A member of the worst team in baseball...as his former team heads to the playoffs.
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