Amaury– I haven’t given up on the Giants yet. It is far too early to throw in the towel. Somehow, this team, over the past three years, has managed to make believers out of non-believers too often to allow the luxury of surrendering early. Having said that, where are they going to find three more starting pitchers? How long are they going to continue starting Rueter for the simple pleasure of seeing him give up a five run lead which he enjoyed by the bottom of the second inning? If some club needs a left-handed batting practice pitcher maybe the Giants can find a place for him.

Click below for more of Ed’s well thought out response!

Marty– We have consistently bewailed the so-called trade of Ortiz for Moss. It is time to let it rest. It wasn’t simply a trade, one for the other. What motivated the club was the desire to lower their payroll. This was short sighted enough without zeroing in on the obvious , namely, that Moss wasn’t in the same league as Ortiz when it came to talent. This was a bad move by the team and may not have been Sabean’s call.

You apparently know something about Durham that the ordinary fan is not in a position to judge. When we see Durham on the field it appears to us that he plays hard all the time and performs well. He has provided the team with leadoff credentials which they haven’t had for a long time. His fielding, for which he has been criticized, apparently based on a perception that when with the A’s he was less than outstanding, has not been a problem with the Giants. He has strong athletic skills and they have been displayed ever since joining the team.

It is true that he has been hurt much of the time. However, he doesn’t have a history of being fragile for any of the time he played before joining the Giants. Some injuries, such as his most recent one, occur as a result of playing hard. They are part of the game and it seems unjust to burden him with a reputation of being injury prone. Whatever his behavior off the playing field may be, and it seems that this is the reasoning behind the feeling that he is dogging it, this hasn’t been apparent in his playing.

The Pierzynski trade may have been a major mistake. Torrealba had given promise last year that he was ready for a full time starting position. There didn’t seem to be a crying need for a catcher to move in ahead of him. The trade was, moreover, a puzzle since they gave up a pitcher, Nathan, who was a major part of the team’s winning season. This was and is a pitching staff that can use all the help it can get. It needed pitching help a good deal more than it needed another catcher. It still does. A Pierzynski for Nathan trade today would be welcomed.

Once again, and it seems almost inevitable, this is a team which almost defies judgment. It all starts with Barry, surely one of the most astonishing baseball stories of this young century. Rather than pitch to him, smart baseball managers believe he is such a threat that they are willing to put him on base with machine-like regularity. This comes about, in part, because of the failure of the Giants to come up with a fifth place hitter who can hurt them consistently. Despite this, the opposition gets hurt when it does this. Helton, who leads the league in runs scored, has only three runs more than Bonds. When Bonds is put on base, the team manages to get him home. In yesterday’s game Bonds scored the winning run in the 11th inning after being walked to start the inning.

A relatively unsung hero has been and continues to be Grissom. In it’s own way this is a story which has much of the same interest as Barry’s. Grissom was given up by the Dodgers who had come to the conclusion that he could no longer play regularly for a winning team. He showed that they were mistaken, in no uncertain way, last year and continues to perform at a high level this year. Interestingly, he gives much credit to Bonds for Barry’s help in encouraging him about his game and his ability to carry on successfully even in his late thirties. He, along with Durham, are the two players who consistently have shared with Bonds
starring roles in the team’s success.

Can the team play with the Dodgers and Padres? I wouldn’t sell them short. True, they are in desperate need of starting pitchers. It is time to quit on Rueter. Throwing Tomko and Hermanson out there on a regular basis is frightening. Somehow, however, one has a feeling that before the year is complete they will have solved this problem. If you were to ask me how this is going to be accomplished, I would plead utter ignorance.

One encouraging development has been the performance of the bullpen. Forget Nen; his comeback is too remote. Herges is the closer simply because there isn’t anyone else. As a result, in typical Giants’ fashion, he has nine saves in ten chances. The rest of the bullpen has over and over again come in, in the early innings, and bailed out the starters, other than Williams and Schmidt.

They are carrying 13 pitchers since the need for lengthy bullpen aid is well recognized. The need to share the burden among more than the usual number of pitchers in the bullpen is apparent, if one wishes to prevent pitchers’ arms from falling off later in the year.

It will be interesting to see whether the Tyler Walkers and Dallimores are going to continue to add to the team’s success. Perhaps the Giants will fall on their face as a result of their pitching woes. I just would’nt count on it although I can’t give you a good reason for saying so.

The Giants continue to be a work in progress. It used to be said that rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S.Steel. Life is a good deal more fun rooting for the Giants and these days we can all use as much fun as we can get.

Ed