Marty; No one will contend that this has been an enjoyable year for the fans, management, or the players. Very early on, this page offered the opinion that the team was going nowhere this season. Clearly, looking at 13 games under five hundred, that opinion was justified. However, at the end of the day, August 6th, there is reason to continue watching this team, with interesting speculation concerning the future.

Click below for more on the Giants and their renewed optimism.

Oddly enough, for a team which is in fourth place in the worst division in baseball, this year has some positives to show for it. The team has been sadly in need of starting pitching. It has been evident for close to two years that Rueter was no longer a major league starter. Recently, the Giants made public their conclusion that this was the case by announcing that any thought of returning Rueter to the rotation was not going to happen. They have given up on him and it is only a question of time before he is released, in one fashion or another.

They have come up with three young pitchers, each of whom shows promise, Lowry, Hennessey and Correia. They have Cain waiting in Fresno. Schmidt was as good today, against the Astros, as he has been, at his best, in the past. Lowry, in his second year, is beginning to pitch effectively into the late innings. Hennessey and Correia have each had strong outings recently.

They have a rookie first baseman, Niekro, who has shown that he can hit left handed pitching. Whether he can hit right handers is still an open question which should be answered if he gets a chance to play against them regularly. When the Giants announced recently that they were conceding this season, in effect, they also turned over the first base slot to Niekro, against right handers as well as lefties. It may be unfortunate if it turns out that they begin to win regularly enough to give them an absurd hope of making the playoffs.

Looking ahead to next year, they have a shortstop, a second baseman, a catcher and two outfielders who are capable of playing on a winning team. If Benitez returns healthy, their bullpen may be good enough to bail out starters. If two of their three young starters can pitch at a major league level, with Schmidt carrying the number one load, their rotation may be worthy of a contending team.

It is notable that no mention has yet been made of Bonds, with good reason. No one, at this time, as far as the general baseball public is aware, knows what is going on with Bonds. We have been given no explanation respecting his physical ability to play the game today or anytime in the future. As far as we can tell from the few public pronouncements, neither does the manager of the team know what is going on.

No matter what the conclusion may be respecting Bonds return to the game, it is past time for the Giants to wave a fond farewell to Barry. At best he should be playing in the other league. Perhaps a team over there, sufficiently intrigued at the prospect of having Bonds breaking homerun records for them, will be willing to put up the millions of dollars it will cost to employ him in a DH role. Perhaps someone will overlook that there are few players on the present team. certainly not the manager, probably not management, who relish putting up again with the arrogance, self-centered attitude, and failure to consider team interests rather than personal objectives of Mr. Bonds.

If so, welcome to him. The Giants are a more interesting team, trying to again compete at the highest level, without Bonds. He is not the future.

Sabean made some good moves, despite the team’s record this year, in the off season. Vizquel still plays a great shortstop, Alou has hit as well as could have been anticipated, Matheny is a great defensive catcher who handles pitchers better than any other receiver. If the pitching comes through, if Niekro hits as well against righties as he does against lefties, if Sabean picks up an outfielder or two who can play the game, we may have the making, once again, of a playoff contender next year.

It is something to look forward to.

Ed