OK, moving on on the trade, I have one glimmer of hope
The one thing that has not been shown yet is whether the team, when healthy and playing together can win. That is the one hope that I am holding on to. Last season was similar, people were crying while the Giants were losing in April and May and yet forgot that the Giants were missing integral pieces of their team until the latter part of May.
Until a few days ago, the full team (except for Bonds, obviously) hadn't played together. Plus Winn is just joining the team so it will take some time for him to gel with the team and for Alou to figure out how to best use him. But the Bond-less team did well without him in Spring (not a good indicator but still they won both at start and end when most teams are set) and, despite missing Alou for 2 weeks at the beginning of the season, was 14-11 around when Durham left the lineup for groin problems. And Brower, Herges, and Benitez weren't doing squat in the bullpen and only Tomko was meeting expectations in the rotation.
Now I'm not saying they will do better. I expect the Giants to not win the division, they have been horrible, they still need a better starter or two in the rotation, Winn is not enough for me to believe. But being only 5.5 games back, there is still a chance that if they can find what they had in April, they could dig their way out of their hole, especially with Winn's bat improving the lineup perhaps greatly against RHP, who make up like 70-80% of rotations, I would guess.
And who knows, if they can gel together well, they could get a good head of steam going into the playoffs and, while they would have a worse record by a large margin, they may be the better playing team at that point of the season. That's how the Marlins swept through in 2003, their final record didn't fully reflect the team they were at the end, which didn't come together until Dontrelle Willis joined the team in mid-May, after which they were unstoppable.
Weirder things have happened in baseball so I'm moving on over the trade and hoping for the best the rest of the season. Maybe they'll make it, most probably they won't, but you never know and we haven't seen the Giants play together as a full unit yet. Things are settling down in the lineup and bullpen and hopefully soon for the rotation. Go Giants!
Until a few days ago, the full team (except for Bonds, obviously) hadn't played together. Plus Winn is just joining the team so it will take some time for him to gel with the team and for Alou to figure out how to best use him. But the Bond-less team did well without him in Spring (not a good indicator but still they won both at start and end when most teams are set) and, despite missing Alou for 2 weeks at the beginning of the season, was 14-11 around when Durham left the lineup for groin problems. And Brower, Herges, and Benitez weren't doing squat in the bullpen and only Tomko was meeting expectations in the rotation.
Now I'm not saying they will do better. I expect the Giants to not win the division, they have been horrible, they still need a better starter or two in the rotation, Winn is not enough for me to believe. But being only 5.5 games back, there is still a chance that if they can find what they had in April, they could dig their way out of their hole, especially with Winn's bat improving the lineup perhaps greatly against RHP, who make up like 70-80% of rotations, I would guess.
And who knows, if they can gel together well, they could get a good head of steam going into the playoffs and, while they would have a worse record by a large margin, they may be the better playing team at that point of the season. That's how the Marlins swept through in 2003, their final record didn't fully reflect the team they were at the end, which didn't come together until Dontrelle Willis joined the team in mid-May, after which they were unstoppable.
Weirder things have happened in baseball so I'm moving on over the trade and hoping for the best the rest of the season. Maybe they'll make it, most probably they won't, but you never know and we haven't seen the Giants play together as a full unit yet. Things are settling down in the lineup and bullpen and hopefully soon for the rotation. Go Giants!
posted by obsessivegiantscompulsive at 8/01/2005 03:00:00 AM
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