“Failure” seems too obvious. Can we thinking of something better?
The San Francisco Giants didn’t accomplish their offseason goal of squeaking in as the third Wild Card and for the 5th time in 6 seasons we will be looking back and wondering how it will all be remembered.
2019 was pretty obvious: Bye Bye Bochy.
2020 was all about avoiding epitaphs in the literal sense: mask up! Hope your home run ball splits one of the cardboard fans!
2021 could be summarized by Improbable. Or unbelievable. Simply amazing. Never to be repeated. Or just “107.” Of course, that season also ended with a loss to the Dodgers in the playoffs, an outcome so embarrassing and painful that I’m actually good with never seeing the Giants in the playoffs again.
2022 probably earns the label of “disappointing,” but really, that was the franchise’s first .500 season, and so it’s a little bit better than “disappointing” because it was unique. Uniquely mid.
2023? Good luck, Gabe!
Of course, within each of these seasons there was something else that emerged and gave us a story to carry on to the following season.
2019 brought us Tyler Rogers. Mike Yastrzemski. Even Alex Dickerson. Signs that “the churn” was going to be a workable strategy.
2020 was less about churning the roster and more about showing that the new coaching staff had given the Giants a different look and bring about guys like Kevin Gausman, Logan Webb, Darin Ruf, and Mauricio Dubon.
2021 was basically everything coming together — but also, LaMonte Wade Jr. would stick to the roster; Thairo Estada appears. Logan Webb takes another step forward and Camilo Doval joins the fray.
2022 was the year the Giants were introduced to pusoy.
2023 begat Patrick Bailey, Tristan Beck, Keaton Winn, Ryan Walker, and Tyler Fitzgerald and, to a lesser extent, Luis Matos and Casey Schmitt. So, when you put the whole season into perspective, suddenly there’s a lot of ways you could go in terms of defining 2024.
This season was expensive
The Giants ran a record payroll this season and with all the other costs that get lumped in with the major league payroll, it will wind up around $250 million or $13.9 million over the first tax threshold. They forfeited two top draft picks to get Matt Chapman and Blake Snell and will owe the league $2.78 million as a “competitive balance” tax. A lot for a little?
This season was risky
On January 26, 2024, I posted an article titled “Let’s cover some innings,” and it might wind up being the most consequential post on the site this calendar year. That’s because it highlighted a glaring problem on the pitching side of the roster’s construction that didn’t offer an easy solution. The Giants didn’t solve the problem and so their plan to have a stellar pitching staff in the second half was hindered by an implosive first half. If we’re willing to be fair to Farhan Zaidi in this instance, it’s plausible that he was forbidden from approaching the first half with a bullpenning strategy which necessarily limited the type of personnel he might look towards. On the other hand, it simply didn’t work as hoped for and it probably shouldn’t have been left to hoping in the first place.
The season still felt like the last couple of seasons
While Patrick Bailey is ending the season a bit stronger, it’s still the case that he’s done more than fade — he’s virtually disappeared — at the plate in the second half. The Giants were in a fight with .500 most of the time. Save Chapman, the hired guns largely failed to impress: Soler traded, Conforto is basically a worse-fielding Mike Yastrzemski at the plate — who is fine, btw — which doesn’t equal an $18 million a year player. Luke Jackson and Thairo Estrada fizzled out of roster spots and Wilmer Flores fell onto the Tommy La Stella tier. Jung Hoo Lee assumed the Mitch Haniger spot and it all felt like a struggle that usually resulted in a draw. Not a whole lot of fun, but certainly some bright spots.
The season had genuine surprises
Matt Chapman being The Guy turned out better than expectations, I think. Heliot Ramos came out of nowhere after the Giants were desperate for warm bodies in the outfield. Tyler Fitzgerald kinda-sorta did, too (though a lot of people — myself included — were excited by the flashes we got at the end of last season). Sean Hjelle looked like a major league caliber pitcher at many points across the season. Erik Miller struck out Shohei Ohtani five times and is 6th in MLB among left-handed pitchers (min. 50 IP) in terms of strikeouts per 9 (11.63). Mason Black and Landen Roupp are ending the year on high notes. Hayden Birdsong? Grant McCray! Blake Snell turned his season around and is so amazing the Giants should probably re-sign him. He pitched a no-hitter, even!
It’s because of this excitement it’s hard to say that 2025 will be like 2022, 2023, and 2024. Sure, that’s on the table, but enough players ought to be sticking around — with some making steps towards progress and, sure, some backsliding — that the Giants won’t need to churn their way to average. They can let a large group of returning players struggle to see if they can equal and then exceed average.
Plus, there might very well be big changes happening behind the scenes. I don’t think of 2018 as Bobby Evans’ last year, though. I think of that season as the one where they set the record for the worst month in team history. I also think of it as the year they traded away Bryan Reynolds, who they really could’ve used the past few seasons (even if he’s not the breakout 6-win player he was in 2021. Hmm. What is it about 2021? What… is it…).
But will you say FARHAN FIRED winds up being the story of this season (if that is indeed what happens)? Do you think most fans would? I find that hard to believe. Even though Blake Snell seems to be the next Kevin Gausman or Carlos Rodón, I feel like just his resonates more. The emergence of useful prospects seems like another key story. But it’s also a second consecutive 4th place finish. For all the progress you can point to on the Baseball Reference page, it’s still the case that after six seasons, the Giants aren’t as good as most of the teams in their division and league.
If you have an open mind, though, find that story on the Baseball Reference page. Or our site archives. Or you own memories of what just happened over the past six months. Logan Webb and Heliot Ramos were All-Stars. The Giants attracted multiple top free agents and finally signed one long-term. Their year-1 or year-2 players were a net positive.
POSITION PLAYERS
Patrick Bailey, +4.2 fWAR
Tyler Fitzgerald, +3.2
Heliot Ramos, +2.4
Casey Schmitt, +0.3
Brett Wisely, +0.3
Grant McCray, -0.1
Luis Matos, -0.6
Marco Luciano, -0.7
net: +9.0 fWAR
PITCHERS
Ryan Walker, +1.7 fWAR
Kyle Harrison, +0.8
Landen Roupp, +0.6
Randy Rodriguez, +0.6
Erik Miller, +0.5
Hayden Birdsong, +0.0
Tristan Beck, +0.0
Keaton Winn, +0.0
Tyler Fitzgerald, +0.0
Kai-Wei Teng, -0.2
Mason Black, -0.2
Spencer Bivens, -0.3
net: +3.5 fWAR
So, this epitaph needn’t been negative — at least, not too negative. Maybe sarcastic? Something like: “Close, but not close enough”? Or…
The 2024 Giants: At Least They Tried
If you feel these two suggestions are low effort, I won’t disagree; but, how does one encapsulate that .500 feeling in an epitaph. What do you think it should be?