P.M. UPDATE: Nice news out of Chicago: Kerry Wood is back in the bigs. For those who didn’t see it earlier this year, the New York Times mag piece about Wood’s injury history is a must-read. Ten years ago, he tied Roger Clemens’ one-game record for strikeouts. Now he’s a one-inning reliever who’d be thrilled to be pain-free for two months.
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In honor of my favorite Mexipunk band, here are a few shout-outs to other people doing Giants-related stuff:
* High school journalism teacher Matt Johanson has written a book about his favorite Giant memories, Game of My Life. If you like it, drive over to Castro Valley High and tell him in person.
* The SFist has a contest: rename Dodger Stadium. I’m late to plug it as the Giants just ended their series at Chavez Latrine, but I think there’s still time to land that left jab. (The LAist is running a similar contest about Mays Field.)
* One of my favorite writers covering the Giants? You might be surprised: it’s Chris Haft, the former daily-paper journo who took over the sfgiants.com beat from Bulwer-Lytton Professor of Metaphor Rich Draper. Despite claims of independence from the Giants and MLB, Draper turned the gig into an ever-astounding absurd wet kiss. (This was one of my favorites: "Somebody keeps whispering in Noah Lowry's ear, and it's not like he's hearing voices. It's his own body doing the talking.")
But props to Haft, who’s managed to tell it straight without (so far) getting fired. His most recent mailbag column was more honest than a lot of local beat writers have ever been. He calls Bonds an “albatross,” he cautions those who see Feliz’s latest hot streak as a sign that Pedro has changed his horrible approach at the plate, and he says if Sabean can’t turn the Giants around in two years, he should be dismissed. Agree or disagree with those positions, you certainly can’t accuse him of kowtowing to the brass. Keep it up, Chris.
Yeah, Haft is certainly independent, although I could not possibly be more tired of thoughtless sentences like "because of Bonds, the Giants have drafted poorly (or not at all) because they surrender compensation picks due to the free agents they have signed to surround him with complementary pieces."
Quick, name one "complementary to Bonds" piece that Sabean has ever added via free agency. In my mind, there have been two players who complemented Bonds during Sabean's tenure: Kent and Burks. If you're generous, you could include Alou and Galarraga for hitting well while healthy and in town. We didn't surrender a single compensation pick for any of these guys. Not for other Sabean-era lineup stalwarts either, such as Aurilia (not until this year, at least), Snow, Lofton, Santiago, Mueller, Benard, Sanders, Rios, Grissom, Cruz, Bell, Feliz, Klesko, etc.
In the past ten years, we have surrendered compensation picks for only one player who slugged .400 and had at least 65 RBIs in his Giants career: Ray Durham. This isn't setting the bar very high, either: Benard, Rios, Bell, Cruz, Niekro and Pierzynski all meet the .400/65 criteria.
If you want to blame someone for surrendering draft picks for the likes of Tucker, Matheny, Roberts, Worrell and the Ghost of Rich Aurilia, talk to Sabean, not Bonds.
Meanwhile, the Giants will have some money lying around and at least four offensive holes to fill (and maybe a pitcher or two to add) next season. Bonds will likely be gone, and draft picks will likely continue to be surrendered.
Frankly, I don't care if writers like Haft believe this nonsense. I just worry that the Giants front office does, and that they know even less about building a winning team than I give them credit for.