SAN FRANCISCO — Thirty minutes before the first pitch of Game 4, Giants executives Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans rode an elevator together up to their suite at AT&T Park. They bumped fists with a handicapped team employee and glanced at the television, which was showing the Nationals-Dodgers series. The pair looked calm and collected, just like the group of clutch hitters and workhorse starting pitchers they assembled.
But the Giants’ biggest flaw — and the problem the front office chose to avoid at the trade deadline — flared up at the worst time possible. San Francisco’s bullpen choked on a 5-2 lead in the top of the 9th, a collapse that’ll take until April for the Bay Area to get over, and maybe longer. Derek Law, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, Will Smith? None of them were good enough when it mattered most against the Cubs and a season-long nightmare became a depressing reality on Tuesday.
After an incredible seven season run, Even Year Magic is officially dead. Hundreds of Cubs fans dressed in blue stayed an hour after the final pitch for a raucous champagne celebration in the stands. It was an eerie feeling, watching a road team pass out T-shirts and hats at AT&T Park. It’s a feeling the Giants hope isn’t a symbolic passing of the torch in the National League.
There were certainly highs in 2016 that’ll hang in the memory bank. Conor Gillaspie’s improbable emergence and Johnny Cueto’s brilliance standout the most right now. Winning three titles in seven seasons is still San Antonio Spurs-esque type of feat that will put Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and Bruce Bochy in the Hall of Fame.
But the lows were lower than they’ve ever been in the Bochy era — even trumping the non-playoff years of 2011, 2013 and 2015. The ninth inning in 2016 legitimately may have taken years off of some Giants fans lives. The second half of the season was painful to watch, a good baseball team veering wildly off course. At times, the unflappable Bochy looked helpless.
So in the midst of the franchise’s first postseason series defeat since 2003, how do the Giants pick themselves from off the dirt for revenge in 2017? How do they carryover the good parts from 2016 and rid themselves of chronic demons?
For one, the Giants are no longer a young, upstart team with luck on their side. All of a sudden, their window to win another World Series doesn’t appear to be wide open. It’s a boom or bust proposition for Sabean and Evans that will likely feature two or three major splashes in free agency.
The core is intact. The problem is that the Giants don’t have young star players anymore, something the Cubs and Nationals both possess. Everyone’s in the middle of their careers, or nearing the end. For Posey (29), Johnny Cueto (30), Hunter Pence (33), Brandon Crawford (29), Brandon Belt (28), Bumgarner (27), the time to win another title is right now. Joe Panik is the only solid every-day player under the age of 26.
The expectation is for Sabean and Evans to reload around this core. The lineup is in desperate need of power, and could use some stronger arms and faster legs in the outfield. Mets free-agent-to-be Yoenis Cespedes will be rumored and makes too much sense, even if it means a cool $140 million. Championships have no price tag in baseball, right? There were 111 MLB players who hit at least 20 homers in 2016 and none of them were on the Giants.
But let’s be real: Outside of Law, the bullpen could see an entire rebuild. A glossy-eyed Sergio Romo postgame acknowledged Game 4 was probably his last game in orange and black. Looking forward, Aroldis Chapman is set to hit the open market. Forget about his Game 3 meltdown from Monday: He’s an absolute flamethrower and the type of closer you break the bank for. Imagine having someone as reliable as Cueto added to the bullpen. Other proven middle relievers need to be added, no matter the cost.
Remnants from previous eras will all likely walk, too. Jake Peavy, Angel Pagan, Santiago Casilla, Gregor Blanco, Joe Nathan and Lopez headline that list. Peavy lingered in the locker room after the 6-5 loss, hugging and consoling younger teammates.
To give them props, Sabean and Evans hit the right button when they acquired Matt Moore and created a path for Gillaspie to claim Matt Duffy’s old throne. Both Moore and Gillaspie did everything in their power to deliver a Game 4 win for the Giants — eight superb innings from the starter and a 4-for-4 night for the newest revelation at third base.
You can’t officially call the dynasty over for the Giants. But the team’s clock for winning championships is ticking a lot faster than it was six months ago in April.
San Francisco’s biggest fault caught up with them in the ninth inning. The sad part about it? Giants fans weren’t surprised at all.