| Evan Forsberg. 11th October, 2010 - 11:08 am
 As I write this late in Game 3 of the Giants-Braves series, the Giants have just taken the lead off another Brooks Conrad error. Yes, an error. If the Giants are able to hang on in the bottom of the 9th, one of the most important games they have played in the last decade will have been decided by an error. Not an Aubrey Huff home run. Not a Freddy Sanchez suicide squeeze.
Not an offensive play.
Instead, the Giants have Brooks Conrad and his ?deer in headlights? moment, to thank for putting them within one game of clinching the series. Assuming the Giants can eek out one more win, the next question becomes, do they have enough offense to stay within striking distance of the Phillies?
So - let?s set the stage. The Giants versus the Phillies. Lincecum versus Halladay. Cain versus Oswalt. Sanchez versus Hamels. Are you salivating already? Because I am.
However, even with these generous pitching match ups offered up by the Baseball gods, is there anyone outside of the Bay Area that thinks the Giants can swing the bats in even remotely the same hemisphere as the Phillies? Are these great pitching match-ups destined to be rendered irrelevant by an anemic Giants offense? Will I have to suffer four games of 1-0 or 2-1 Phillies?
And this got me to thinking, what about those Phillies? When you really think about it, they are the exact inverse of the Giants. An offense almost entirely homegrown and a pitching staff almost entirely put together by free agency and trades. As a Yankees' fan I am very familiar with the joys and sorrows that free agency offers, but I can?t help but wonder if the Phillies are on to something here, and I think the Giants should absolutely take notice.
It?s been clear from the get go, that the Giants are drafting on what they believe to be their strengths, defense and pitching. Their strategy is to cater to their very large and very stingy ballpark (AT&T park has ranked in the top-6 of least home runs allowed in every year it has existed, and that is including all of the work done by Barry Bonds) by spending most of their draft picks selecting stud pitchers.
And with homegrown talent like Lincecum, Cain, and Sanchez it?s hard to argue against that strategy, especially given the fact that they are so close to competing for a World Series, but even with all of that said, I still wonder if it is indeed the most effective strategy.
I was living in San Francisco when Barry Bonds was still playing. I remember the fervor and excitement that manifested itself in every At-bat. But since Bonds was blackballed into retirement, the Giants have had a gaping hole in the lineup where he once swung the bat and it isn?t for a lack of available free agents. In the time Bonds has been absent, the willing-to-spend Giants have watched offensive juggernaut free agents like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Matt Holiday, Adrian Beltre, Johnny Damon, Carlos Delgado, Vladmir Guerrero, Jason Bay, Frank Thomas, Bobby Abreu and Manny Ramirez sign elsewhere.
It wasn?t a matter of funds either, considering the Giants were willing to reach deep into their wallets in 2007 to give Barry Zito the biggest pitching contract in baseball history (at the time). They dug deep financially at the plate when it came to Aaron Rowand.
So what gives? Not AT&T park, and that?s the problem.
Baseball is a team sport, but it also a sport that romanticizes it?s statistics. That is, individual players not only care about their numbers, but they rely on them as well. For the elite slugger, it?s his legacy he is worrying about. For the dwindling superstar it?s his next contract and as AT&T Park?s current dimensions stand, it offers nothing intriguing to either type of player. The problem becomes compounded when you consider half the games are played away from AT&T Park, because the divisional foes such as the Dodgers and Padres also have parks catered to pitching.
The bottom line, is even when the Giants have money and are willing to spend it, they can?t lure the elite home run hitting free agents to San Francisco.
So what to do?
The beauty of prospects are two fold. First off, they are happy to be here, and love to play the game. They only want one thing, and that is to make playing baseball their profession. Typically they have smaller egos and are more manageable on a roster. They can be replaced with other prospects, and because of that, their desire to compete isn?t an entitlement - it?s a privilege. For all intents and purposes, they are playing for their lives. Oh, yeah, and they are cheap. That means, you aren?t forced to play them because they cost so damn much. It also means, they are easy to trade, and if they do become something magnificent, they tend to give their home town team a discount when contract terms come up. The most important aspect of prospects though, isn?t their character or talent, it?s the options, or lack thereof in choosing who they get to play for. For them, an opportunity, is an opportunity, and that is usually good enough for them. Doesn?t it make sense for the Giants to target players like that? That is, players that may have as much talent as some of the elite free agent hitters in baseball, but not the contract, ego, or opportunity to play elsewhere? It would mean your best contributors are playing on the cheap, which in turn means your front office has enough resources to allocate to other parts of the business. It would be enough, I imagine, to sign the best pitching free agents in baseball. Because as we know, the appeal of a large park to free agent pitchers is significant especially if the team with the large park is offering like money. Under this scenario, the Giants would be able to offer an almost irresistible argument to every big free agent pitcher in baseball; a numbers friendly park, a run support offense, and a fat contract. Suddenly, AT&T Park isn?t a problem - it?s an advantage and compelling component of a strategy that truly caters to your available resources.
The success of this strategy can be seen in microcosm with Buster Posey.
Yes, the San Francisco Giants, wouldn?t have the two-time National League Cy Young winner in Tim Lincecum. Yes, they wouldn?t have Matt Cain either. But what they would have, is a hybrid team of highly productive homegrown talent that are everyday players like say - Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Chase Utley. Which paired with expensive but extremely efficient and effective pitchers like I don?t know - perhaps two-time Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, and Hall of Famer Roy Oswalt, might be able to actually win a playoff series without relying on the opposing team making three bonehead errors in one game. |
