“Directionless mediocrity”
“A mishmash of mixed messages on a road to nowhere”
“What’s the plan?”
These phrases — none used by the Bill Belichick Patriots or the Steve Kerr Warriors or the Derek Jeter Yankees — were uttered at one point or another during these past few days on our show as we discussed everyone’s favorite monuments to .500, the Farhan Zaidi Giants.
What in the name of 62-62 is going on here?
That is, of course, the Giants record as of this Jock Blog entry.
Not to be confused with last year’s 80-82 effort.
Which is not to be confused with 2022’s 81-81 effort.
When they say “you win some, you lose some”, we didn’t expect Farhan to take that literally.
Truth told, do you expect anything different the rest of the way?
The Giants are just good enough and just bad enough to tread water at this maddening mediocre mark through the end of another frustrating, fruitless season.
And that’s being optimistic.
After this weekend’s emotional farewell to the Oakland Coliseum — where you hope to split with the Swingin’ A’s — the historically bad White Sox come to town, and then things get prickly the rest of the way: A six-game roadie to Seattle and Milwaukee will try your soul, and outside of three home games vs. the Marlins in two weeks, the rest is a slugfest of Padres and Diamondbacks (six each) and a daunting nine-game trip that includes Baltimore and Kansas City.
(Don’t laugh, at the Royals, sport fans. Bobby Witt is due up.)
So, yeah, it doesn’t look good to make the postseason, as I was just saying to the 12.6% Baseball Reference odds of October.
How did we get here? We don’t have enough cyberspace to explain, but it comes down to six years of marginal transactions, missed superstar signings, yo-yo’ing prospects, shifting macro-strategies between youth and veterans, a refusal to rebuild and empty-set trade deadlines year after year.
Nothing like it!
I was on vacation during the trade deadline, but approached it with a ‘sell’ mentality — particularly in the case of Blake Snell. Too often these past few years, the Farhan front office has let tradable assets sit idly by, collecting nothing. Carlos Rodon in 2022 comes to mind. Even last year, with Wilmer Flores and Mike Conforto.
Holding on to these assets highlighted Farhan’s lack of gumption to make a move, one way or another, for the team. He consistently tries to serve two masters — sell and buy at the same time, and does so on a minor level at that — and the result is average baseball.
I said it before I shoved off for the East Coast: Sell Blake Snell. The Cy Young Award winner found his mojo and would surely fetch a nice package of prospects, maybe some even majors-ready. He’s certainly going to opt out and sign a big deal elsewhere. Get something for him!
Farhan kept him.
Grrr.
Directionless mediocrity.
Even more confusing, he sold Jorge Soler to the Braves in what appeared to be a salary dump, even as Soler’s bat was warming up. So by trading Soler, the Giants seemed to be saying 2024 wasn’t the year. But by keeping Snell, the Giants seemed o be saying 2024 was the year.
A mishmash of mixed messages, on a road to nowhere.
We won’t even get into the “we’re getting more at-bats for Marco Luciano”, only to send Luciano down two weeks later. Farhan wants it one way one day, and another way the next day.
What’s the plan?
You tell me. I don’t know. All I know is .500 is your likely destination, and that’s if things go your way.
Go team.
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