SB Nation User Blog: Roadie

Why I'm Pi$$ed

Roadie — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:00:02 -0000

I know I'm not breaking any new ground, here, but I felt the need to put down in words what's eating me about the Giants.

Teams go through rough times. I know. I've followed multiple teams over the last 35 years and I've seen some brutal stretches. There are two things, in my mind, that help me as a fan accept the down years and I don't see either of those things going on with the Giants right now.

Those two things below the fold:

A Plan: A strategy, a philosophy for how the team is going to go about getting better. I'm happy with the potential our young pitchers have, that's the bright spot, of course, but even there, I see underperforming. So are we going young? Why not put all the kids in full time for the rest of the year? Don't we need to see them play over a good long stretch to know what we have? If we're going to lose 80% of our games from here on out, why not make the time productive. Are we re-vamping our farm system? Why can't we develop position players? This is a big problem that I don't see signs that management acknowledges.
Accountability: A sense that management is as uncomfortable and pissed as I am with the losing and underperforming. I didn't like Matt Morris' comments in parting with the Giants, but in my heart of hearts I know there's some truth to the idea that the team is accepting losing at this point.

Here's the thing: THE GIANTS ARE 20 GAMES UNDER .500! That's absolutely ridiculous! With the lack of team plate discipline and terrible situational hitting, how does Joe Lefevre still have a job? I know, I know, Joe's a great guy and it's "not his fault" and the "players have to take responsibility" blah blah. In my mind, even if Joe's not 100% of the issue, getting rid of him would signal that management is in appropriate crisis management mode. I know I'm in the minority here, but as far as I'm concerned, the same goes for Righetti. Why the hell can't our pitchers consistently throw strikes? How is it possible for Zito to have tanked so thoroughly, it boggles the mind!

I'm a great guy! I really am. But if I start consistently producing shoddy work, I'm gone from my job. I'm out on my "great guy" ass, pronto!

Overall, it just feels like the team just doesn't get it. The Giants right now are so terrible it hurts. I feel like a battered wife continuing to pay attention to the games every day. "They're a good team, I know they want to win! They're just struggling right now. They promised me they're going to get better." I'm afraid the truth is they suck and don't even understand how bad.

Trade Rumor!

Roadie — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 17:06:01 -0000

Breaking!...

Rumor has it out on the tradewire that Sabean's working on a deal to bring a hitter to the team. Apparently he's working on Lowry and Sanchez for Kirby Puckett.

I know what you're saying. You're saying "Kirby Puckett?!, how could that be? Kirby's dead, blind and old - in that order!"

Nonetheless, that's the rumor - I just report what I hear. We'll see how it plays out.

Start Over. Seriously.

Roadie — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 17:59:33 -0000

To-do List:

Go back to the drawing board
Douse said drawing board in gasoline
Set the gasoline-soaked drawing board aflame
Get yourself and your family to safety and wait
Vacuum up the ashes of the cursed drawing board
Go to Target and get a new frickin' drawing board!

I'm just one of the thousands of pissed off and disappointed Giants fans right now.

I'm no baseball genius, but it's beyond obvious that the organization is fundamentally flawed. So here is a collection of my thoughts while watching the slow motion trainwreck that was the 2006 season.

Follow me to the dark side...

The team over that last several seasons has been a leaky boat. Brian Sabean has been tasked not with building a winning team, but with going out and finding patches for the leaks. This is because the entire team is built around Bonds as the foundation. With Bonds at the center, re-envisioning a winning strategy and building it from scratch has been impossible.

Thus Bonds has been a blessing and a curse. As a fan of the game, I've truly appreciated watching him up close over these years, but as a fan of the Giants, I believe he's been a major obstacle to ultimate success.

The Giants have a "Sacred Cow" problem. I think everyone involved with the current failed state of the Giants team should be on the hot seat. This is one of the things that most pisses me off about the Giants. It seems like noone's ass is on the line for this dismal, under-performing season. Felipe? He's got to go. Seriously. How is that not completely obvious to anyone watching this season? I know people argue the manager doesn't really have much affect on the performance of the team on the field, blah blah blah. Maybe, but hey, tough. Bottom line is Felipe was given a decent team (not great, but decent) to work with and their going to finish below .500. No excuse. For most of the season, with the exception of only a few scattered weeks here and there, the team had no passion, no spark. Vizquel, bless his soul, was the only one with any spark.

I've only once heard anyone mention the following on a blog or on KNBR and they got lambasted for it, so maybe I'm completely off base, but why oh why is there noone questioning Rhighetti's effectiveness? I know the Giants statistically had one of the better starting rotations in the league this year, so it might currently seem like a stretch, but over many season's it just seems like pitchers come to the Giants and proceed to suck (Ponson, Morris, Moss, Benitez ....) or they leave the Giants only to improve immediately (Nathan, Hermanson ...) I realize this is a woefully incomplete analysis and Russ Ortiz is a glaring example of the opposite dynamic, but it's just a feeling I've had with Rhighetti over several years. Part of it could be watching the A's across the bay get, what seems to me like, SO much more out of their staff consistently.

Joe Lefevreverevervre. Can someone tell me when was the last time the Giants threw fewer pitches in the game than the opposition? This started bothering me months ago and I've been paying attention since then and I'll be damned if the Giants don't have about the worst plate discipline of any team out there. Fine, if you're Moises and you've made a long, great career of jumping on the first pitch, ok, you're off the hook, but as a team, it's just pathetic how quickly the Giants make outs. Look at the A's philosophy of drawing pitches. It works. The more pitches you see, statistically the more mistakes you'll see and the more walks you'll draw. I just looked it up, the Giants are 18th in the majors in walks. The A's are 3rd.

I could go on, but I say BLOW IT UP! The sooner we start fresh the better, in my opinion. If that means watching Barry DH for the Angels next year, I'm OK with that. I'm not convinced Sabean is the GM to be able to build a winning strategy from scratch. All he's been with the Giants, and to be fair, all he's had the opportunity to be, is a leaky boat-patcher. He's still surviving on credit for deals he made long ago. I don't think he's been effective for a while now. No Sacred Cows!

Flame away. -Roadie