Ex-champs need better hitting on same budget, which won't be easy
Ben Margot / APThe best way for the Giants to improve their offense might be to trade left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, writes columnist Tony DeMarco.
OPINION
By Tony DeMarco
NBCSports.com contributor
updated 3:36 p.m. ET Sept. 16, 2011
 | Tony DeMarco |
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Eleven months after winning the World Series, the party's over in San Francisco.
We've already known for a few weeks that the Giants' title defense ended without a return trip to the postseason. And now there's a mutiny on the ownership level to sort through ? and those always take longer than you think, despite the 'business-as-usual' claims to the contrary.
The good news is the Giants reside in the National League West, where the difference between first and worst often isn't significant, and moving from one toward the other happens with regularity.
The Giants have won five games in a row entering the second-to-last weekend of the regular season, and should reach the upper-80s in victories. So it's only a short climb back to the postseason in 2012.
But there is an obvious mandate for Larry Baer, the new guy at the top (with the ownership committee's blessings, of course) after Bill Neukom was deposed after only three years: More offense on virtually the same payroll.
Through Thursday, the Giants were dead last in the National League and 29th in the majors in runs scored. They sat only seven runs ahead of the 30th-ranked Seattle Mariners ? and almost 300 runs (or just about two runs per game) behind the major-league-leading Boston Red Sox.
The Giants were 50-9 when they score four or more runs ? but the problem is, they've only done so 59 times ? or roughly once every three games. And they were 10 games over .500 despite a run differential of -8 ? which tells you their record is better than it should be.
As fortunate as things fell for them in 2010 ? Andres Torres, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Cody Ross, to name a handful ? they went the other way this season.
A year ago at this time, the Giants were on their way to overtaking the surprising San Diego Padres. But when they arrived in Coors Field on Thursday for a weekend series, Brian Wilson threw live batting practice for the first time in his rehab from an elbow injury, while Buster Posey (knee), Jonathan Sanchez (ankle) and Nate Schierholz (foot) were in various stages of rehab at the club's Scottsdale, Ariz., training facility.
Manager Bruce Bochy isn't about to play the injury card as the main reason why the Giants are looking up at the Arizona Diamondbacks. But Neukom did in his farewell meeting with the media: "But for an unbelievable combination of injuries, this team that we built to win the division this year would have won the division.''
Still, it's not enough to expect significant offensive improvement in 2012 with the returns of Posey and Freddy Sanchez from season-ending surgeries ? plus the expected development of Brandon Belt (who, by the way, needs to be installed at first base, and allowed to grow).
There's no way of knowing if Posey can/will return to his 2010 NL Rookie of the Year level offensively, and Sanchez hasn't played more than 111 games in a season since 2008, and will play next season at age 34.
So, as adamant as general manager Brian Sabean has been about not trading Jonathan Sanchez, it's time for that to happen. Really, for the no-hitter and all that supposed promise, Sanchez is 28, and has a 38-46 record and 4.26 career ERA despite pitching in a pitcher's park.
Trading him after last season would have been optimal. But it's not too late to get a quality offensive player ? preferably a shortstop or center fielder and top-of-the-order hitter.
Face it, the Giants got a gift this season in Ryan Vogelsong. He wouldn't sign with the Dodgers, who wanted him. Instead, he returned to the Giants after time in Japan and a season in the minors, walked into camp with little chance of making the team, then turned into an All-Star and 11-game winner (with precious little run support) with the majors' best home ERA.
With the expected development of Madison Bumgarner, who just turned 22, the Giants should go with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Bumgarner and Vogelsong, and like everybody else, hope for the best at the back end with Barry Zito, Eric Surkamp, somebody else from the system ? or perhaps another Vogelsong type. Getting quality arms to sign up for duty at AT&T Park shouldn't be that difficult.
But if Sabean won't go there with Sanchez, then how about parting with a reliever or two? The Padres showed the way last winter, when they sent Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica to the Marlins for Cameron Maybin, whose breakout season had him at .270 with 36 steals through Thursday.
We suggest these trade options because the bottom line in the ownership change should be apparent: the payroll isn't about to rise much, if at all. There are conflicting comments about the reasons for Neukom's forced resignation ? lack of communication, too much spending on payroll rather than putting extra cash in reserve, etc.
But it should be clear that Neukom ? a players' owner, if there is such a thing ? wasn't asked to step down because he was spending too little. As manager Bruce Bochy reflected on his relationship with Neukom: "He wanted to know everything that was going on with the club, the injuries, how we were doing.''
While the Giants' title has sparked a surge in revenues, the payroll also has risen substantially ? from about $96 million in 2010 to about $118 million this season. There will be some wiggle room with the expiring contracts of Cody Ross ($6.3 million), Miguel Tejada ($6 million) and Mark DeRosa ($5.5 million), plus Jeremy Affeldt is owed only $500,000 if a 2012 option isn't picked up.
But Cain's salary more than doubles from $7.33 million to $15.33 million for 2012, closer Brian Wilson's salary goes from $6.5 to $8.5 million, and there should be a long-term deal for Lincecum, who made $13 million this season in the last year of a two-year deal and is eligible for arbitration.
In addition, Pablo Sandoval, Sergio Romo and Schierholz will get significant raises as first-time arbitration eligibles. And the mistakes of the Magowan era still will haunt ? the $46 million remaining obligation for Zito, plus $13.6 million owed to Aaron Rowand.
So as for signing potential mega-free agents Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, or even Jose Reyes, Baer said on Thursday: "I don't think we wake up in the morning and say that's the first choice."
In fact, don't even expect Carlos Beltran ? another impending free agent whom Bochy has called 'an impact player' ? to be back. Beltran says he will listen to what the Giants have to say this winter, but won't re-sign unless another offensive star besides himself ? and he said Reyes is the best fit ? is signed. But that's highly unlikely.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44553469/ns/sports-baseball/
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