San Francisco Giants 2002 Season Preview

by James Floto

After years of living in the shadows of Major League baseball glory, the Bay Area has finally been receiving some long overdue recognition. Jason Giambi was the AL MVP in 2000 and the A's went to the playoffs both of the past two years. The Giants missed the playoffs last year after just missing making it to the World Series in 2000, but Barry Bonds had one of the greatest seasons in baseball history. Free agents line up for the chance to play for Dusty Baker, arguably the most popular manager in the bigs. The Giants' new stadium, Pac Bell Park, nestled into a section of the old Embarcadero and right on the bay, is probably the most beautiful in the majors. And this past winter the top two free agents were both from the Bay Area: Giambi and Bonds.

Fearing that both of them would leave, I prayed that we Giants-A's fans would end up with one of them. During the year, Bonds made many statements about leaving--how he would love to finish his career as a Yankee, how he would love to join Ken Griffey Jr. in Cincinatti, and so on. Meanwhile, Giambi repeatedly told reporters how he loved the Bay Area, how happy he was to play with his younger brother Jeremy, how much he liked being the unofficial captain of a young team, how he wasn't in it for the money.

When it came time to put their John Hancocks on the dotted line, Giambi decided to have a fling with New York while Bonds discovered that there wasn't much of a market for a 37-year-old seeking a five year contract with the mega-dollar figures he would command, even if he was coming off a truly Ruthian year. The Giants wisely offered him a fantastic sum for one year. Obviously getting nervous, he took it and eventually signed a multi-year deal. After all, Bonds has made his name in San Francisco, Pac Bell could same day be nicknamed the "House that Bonds Built" and he has strong ties with the area, including his dad and his godfather, Willie Mays, whose 660 career home runs he is likely to pass in the next few years (Bonds enters 2002 with 567.)

Bonds is not the entire team, however. It just seems like it sometimes because of the astronomical numbers he posts and the controversial statements he comes up with. The Giants have one of the best offensive keystone combos in the game, with 2000 NL MVP Jeff Kent holding down second base and Rich Aurilla, who hit .324 with 37 homers, 97 RBI, and 114 runs scored, at short. Aurilla probably had his career year last season, but a near-.300 batting average and 30 homers are not unlikely for this year. Unfortunately, Kent and Bonds absolutely do not like each other, rarely even speak to one another. This is Kent's free agency year and after slipping to .298, 22, 106 following his mighty 2000 season, he may be hoping to put together another monster year and conclude his career with a team closer to his home in Texas (how about A-Rod at short and Kent at second for the 2003 Rangers? Kent has driven in 100 plus runs all five of his seasons in a Giant uniform, a total of 581 RBI in that stretch, something even Rogers Hornsby never accomplished.) Or, he may try to out-do Bonds and stay with the Giants at a larger salary than his bitter rival earns.

They also have two exciting new veterans who should help put some runs across the plate. One, former Japanese major league star Tsuyoshi Shinjo, had his MLB rookie year with the Mets last. The Giants are hoping that he will be the lead-off hitter they so desperately need. To do so, he'll have to imporve upon his .320 OBP of 2001 but in any case he will be a huge improvement defensively over Marvin Benard, who thrives as a role player but is not regular center fielder material. The Giants acquired slugger Reggie Sanders from the world champion Diamondbacks. Sanders hit 33 homers and drove in 90 runs last year, typical numbers for him when he is not injured.

Their other starters are long-time Giant first baseman J.T. Snow, catcher Benito Santiago who did such a good job behind the plate in his first season as a Giant that he got a two-year extension even though he is 37, and third baseman Pedro Feliz, who the Giants' brass has great hopes for but who has to earn the respect of Dusty Baker. Snow has typically been a low average, decent power hitter who had a terrible 2001 due to a series of injuries. Snow is a Gold Glove fielder, however, and saves a lot of runs with his glove. I have always been a big Santiago fan, but I don't share the Giants' confidence in him as their regular catcher. He run out of gas the second half of 2001 and his batting average and production suffered accordingly. Hopefully he can pass on some of what he has learned in 16 years behind the plate to rookie Yorvit Torrelba. The Giants have been weak at third since they let Bill Meuller go to the Cubs a couple years back (he only had 210 at bats for Chicago last year, though). Last year they used a platoon system at third and they are hoping that young Feliz gained enough experience that he can take over as the regular. He was shaky on the field and hit only .227, so it's easy to see why Baker is withholding judgment.

The Giants have one of those steady pitching staffs that has no future Hall of Famers but a solid bunch from one through four. Russ Ortiz passes for the ace. No Randy Johnson or Pedro Martinez, he has, however, gone 18-9, 14-12 and 17-9 the past three seasons. His ERA was a nifty 3.29 last year, seventh in the NL. Jason Schmidt came over from the Pirates last year and delivered the goods well enough that he also was signed to a long-term contract. In only 25 starts, he was 13-7, with 142 K's in 150 innings. He throws in the low 90s on a regular basis and can rear back and reach 95 when he needs to. Kirk Rueter, the veteran of the staff at 32 (Ortiz is 28, Schmidt 27), is just the opposite of Schmidt. His fastball only reaches 85, but he also has a sinker and change-up. Year after year scouts and critics say he lacks major league stuff. This will be his 10th year and he has won 11 or more games every year since 1996. His record the past five seasons is 69-46. Gee, how would he fare if he did have major league stuff? Finally, there is the frustrating Livan Hernandez. He gained his fame in the 1997 World Series and as the younger brother of El Duque. He has excellent stuff in his own right but just never seems to put it all together. If he ever become all that he can be, Livan could be a perennial all-star. At 27, he had better get it together if he is ever going to reach the potential so many see in him. He was 13-15, 5.24 last year. The Giants are hoping that 1999 first round draft pick Kurt Ainsworth is ready to take over the number five role this year.

They also have a darn good bullpen. The closer is Rob Nenn, and although he got off to a slow start last year, he still throws in the mid-90s and saved 45 games. Felix Rodriguez sets him up. When I saw him in April last year I said, uh-oh, another one of these big guys who looks scary but is too high strung to amount to much. Wrong. He was virtually unhittable last year, posting a 1.68 ERA and a 9-1 record, fanning 91 batters in 80 innings, while walking only 27. And before these two, the Giants have the lefty-right combo of Jason Christansen and Tim Worrell. They are about as good a late-inning combo as you will find. San Francisco also has Aaron Fultz, who is good in long relief, and the recently-acquired (from the Yankees) Jay Witasick, another good middle inning fireman. In other words, this team has a good rotation and a great bullpen. Although they have a few weakness, notably third base, with Bonds, Kent, Aurilla and Sanders at the heart of the order they are going to be hard to beat.

NOTES: After this article was written, the Giants picked up David Bell, which should go a long way toward solving the third base situation discussed above. This will allow Pedro Feliz to get some more experience before he takes over the hot corner. David, of course, is the son of Buddy Bell and grandson of Gus Bell. The Bells and the Boone family (Ray/Bob/Aaron and Bret) are the only three generation families in MLB history... With the injury to All Star second sacker Jeff Kent (a candidate for the Bizarre Injuries Hall of Fame, as he broke his wrist washing his truck), Bell is taking grounders at second, where he has played before. He will probably be Aurilia's double play partner the first several weeks of the season until Kent returns.

Ten Years Ago...

Our Giants Preview from April 1992, by Ernie Beyer:

Strengths and Weaknesses: Departure of Kevin Mitchell has reduced 1-2-3 punch in middle of lineup to just 1-2. And there's no assurance that Matt Williams can handle cleanup job. Until that is resolved, Will Clark probably will be seeing few fat pitches. Leadoff spot still suffering second-year hangover from loss of Brett Butler. Willie Mc Gee doesn't want that job and manager Roger Craig will bat him No. 2. Kevin Bass will hit after Williams. Robby Thompson strikes out too much to lead off and after that you start to run out of candidates. The outfield of Bass, McGee and X likely will have fewer total homeruns than some individual outfielders on other clubs.

Pitching? Already plenty of injuries in spring training. Craig swears the split-finger is not dangerous, but this club always seems to have a lot of bad arms. How long will Kelly Downs hold up? And Craig's insistence that Bud Black is a No. 2 starter seems a continuation of his misplaced loyalties: i.e., Hammaker, Reuschel.

General Outlook for '92: Black as No. 2 says most of it, but how about Bill Swift as your Opening Day starter? Swift had zero starts in '91 and his average game was 1 and 1/3 innings. Black led the NL in losses in '91. About the only thing to be resolved is whether the Mitchell deal was even worse than the Black acquistion.

Interesting things to watch: Is Royce Clayton ready? The Giants' No. 1 pick is '88 draft has improved steadily in minor league career. He already has bumped Guy Benjamin and the major obstacle now appears to be that Jose Uribe is another Craig favorite. How deeply in love can you fall with .221 and 12 RBI? (And can anyone explain to me why someone will switch-hit when he can never get on base from the opposite side?)

Further comments: Not much turnover from l991.Besides Mitchell, only other departure is Terry Kennedy, who retired. Other than Swift, newcomers are Mike Jackson and Dave Burba, parts of Mitchell trade. Pitcher Trevor Wilson starts season on injured list and Scott Garrelts likely not available until All-Star break.