Wednesday, January 1, 2020
Happy New Year 2020!
As you all know, I am not much into off topic posts or comments, but gotta stop for a minute and say adios to 2019. It was not a great year for Giants fans in general or for DrB in particular. Beyond that, we have a lot of very disturbing things going in in our country and the world, and I think almost everyone would agree with that no matter what sociopolitical philosophy you subscribe to. On a personal note, I will share with you my wife suffered the recurrence of a serious illness which required aggressive medical treatment for the entire middle 6 months of the year. We are now past that and her longterm prognosis looks good, but are still very much in recovery mode. I spent that time juggling a full-time job, caregiving duties and trying to write at least 1 post per day. The job kept me getting up every day and the blog was my personal therapy. If the posts tended to be shorter and sometimes a bit perfunctory, well, now you know why.
When The Giants Come To Town started a little over 10 years ago on December 20, 2009. Up to that time, I had just commented on a few message boards such as sfgiants.com. Most people commenting on those sites were convinced the Giants would never win until Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy were both fired, and I believed that at one point myself. But I saw what they were building with the series of high draft picks and the development of those players in the farm system and I became convinced that better days were ahead. I got tired of being basically shouted down on those message boards so finally decided to start my own blog to post my thoughts. I did not care if nobody read. I was doing it for me.
Since then, we have written over 6000 posts and and had over 3.8 million visits to the site. I would invite all of you who have not done it, to go back and read my first post on the State of the Giants. That is still the one post I am most proud of. My only regret is I wasn't a bit bolder in my forecast of future success for Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy and the Giants. Those Glory Days are now in the past. It's a lot tougher to write daily posts when the team is struggling as it is. It's tough for fans to stay interested in reading when the team is not competing for the postseason and the stands at Oracle Park are half empty. For those of you still coming around to read and comment, your support is much appreciated.
As for the future, I will keep doing this until I stop. I have no idea when that will be, but for now my goal remains to write at least 1 post per day(except for an occasional short vacation). BTW, I probably don't take enough of those. My idea of a vacation is to take a day off, stay home and write an extra blog post!
As for the current State of the Giants, my prognosis is......guarded. Farhan Zaidi is doing some interesting things on the coaching/development front and has uncovered a few nuggets from his Churn/Sluice Box, but our major hope for the future lies in an improved farm system thanks mostly to players drafted and signed by the Sabean/Evans team. Churning and player development are great, but at some point Farhan will have to show he can draft and develop as well as the previous regime and he's going to have to go bold with a free agent signing or trade at some point. Here at When the Giants Come To Town, we'll be watching and commenting for anyone who is interested.
Again, thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!
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In 2009, you must have been referring to Darkside6 who was an everyday contributor and Sabean/Bochy hater at the time.
ReplyDeleteHave followed your blog for about a year now. Your insight on the farm system is what makes these rough seasons bearable. Thanks for what you do
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dr. B, for your devotion to your blog and us who follow it. Hopefully 2020 will clearly be a better year for you and your wife. I did go back and read your very first post. Then I sought out your November 1, 2010 post, right after our momentous World Series victory and encourage others to read that also. That is another post I think you should be very proud of because it not only vindicated your original post but was quite prescient regarding the years to follow.
ReplyDeleteThe situation is not exactly the same these roughly 10 years later, but there are some similarities. And while I am not expecting a great year from the Giants in 2020 I am quite encouraged by another upward trajectory of the farm system, which not long ago was one of the bottom 3 in the game but now is nearing the upper 1/3 among all systems. I'm hoping the old core can wind down their careers with dignity and perhaps some late career bounces while young players can be integrated into the lineup effectively.
Happy 2020 to you, Dr. B, and to all your readers!
Part of my transitioning to the new year has been reading through your top prospects lists. I'm sorry to hear about your tough times, and hope the new year brings you more good
ReplyDeleteMy best wishes to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteI began following your blog on a daily basis on August 22, 2014. In fact, its the first thing I read in he morning. Thank you Dr. B for your fine work for all these years, and hoping for many more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great work on your blog. Hope 2020 is a better year for you and your family. I went back and read your 1st State of the Giants post which was excellent. Doesn't seem like more teams are going back to the 5 year rebuilding plan? I think it would help PR if Zaidi was more transparent regarding communicating his rebuilding plan to the fans, but that doesn't seem to be his thing. When Schulman tweeted that he would be on board if the Giants signed Puig to a short term contract, it made me wonder if he heard something. Also, it shocked me that the Dodgers with their great roster have only $16 million in 2022 payroll commits. Is this the kind of payroll flexability that Zaidi wants for the Giants? It's too early to judge Zaidi's drafting record, but we'll get to see a few of the young players he's traded for such as Mauricio Dubon, Jaylin Davis, Triston Beck continue to progress.
ReplyDeleteI've been following you since the sfgiants.com days. Thanks for being a constant source of insights.
ReplyDeleteThanks for publishing the blog, Dr B -- I appreciate the insight provided as well as the chance to post questions or try my hand at prognosticating what the Giants are going to do next...here's my question to all - is it treason to wish the Diamondbacks well this year?
ReplyDeleteLong time reader..Occasional participant..Recent Lurker...but every day reader..Thanks for all you do and providingthis blog/forum....I have alot of concern about Farhan, especially the short twerm future, and his methods but will remain hopeful until I am convinced wither way...and this place, and all the insight, will hellp me make up my mind..Happy New Year to ALL
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
(This comment will only make sense to people of a certain age)
ReplyDeleteDon Larsen passed away today at the age of 90. World Series MVP 1956.
I know I'm not alone in thinking "oh wow, I didn't know he was still alive", but the history of his baseball career is something fans can appreciate. He was for most of his career an 'ok' mid-rotation starter, reliable but not spectacular. Then he had 1 big year ('56), culminating in the World Series Perfect Game. He pitched another 10 or so years of mediocre quality for 5 different teams.
And that is why we love baseball! Thank you, Dr. B for giving us a place where we can appreciate it.
Hi Dr. B, just wanted to say that I appreciate your blog and the time an effort that you put into it. I almost never comment here, but I enjoyed reading your posts on sfgiants and mccovey chronicles (by the way, I'm glad that you never through yourself down the stairs after we picked Mad Bum with the 14th pick). I've been following along on this blog since your first post and it's almost always the first thing I open up at work. Thanks for everything and I hope to get the chance to continue reading your work for years to come!
ReplyDeleteWanted to say thanks for the thoughtful, well-written / researched blog.
ReplyDeleteHope it's as rewarding to write as it is to read.
thx
I've been reading site for a few years now. You've done an amazing job of keep us informed about our beloved Giants.
ReplyDeleteThank you and happy new year!
For all the reasons listed above by other followers of your Blog, Thanks. Prayers to you and your wife that her health issues are behind you. We see your printed word but don't see all the research time that goes into producing a post per day. It's pretty clear that the time you spend on the Blog is a labor of love, but it is labor nonetheless, and for all the times I take that for granted, I apologize. Your work is a wonderful gift to the community of Giants fans around the country, and around the world.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit puzzled by the lack of action on adding meaningful talent to what will be the 2020 Giants. As much as I want to believe there is a plan, I look at what has been subtracted from the roster and worry that 2020 could go from a rough year to a truly terrible year for the major league Giants. Could it be that Farhan has a clear vision of Webb, Beede, Yaz2, Duggar, Dubon and possibly even Bart and Ramos, making big contributions, supplementing big bounce-backs from Craw, Buster, Belt and Cueto, and solid contributions from Longoria and Samardzija? Otherwise, we could be looking at a team that has to fight for 65-70 wins.
Which brings me back your Blog. Between having 20 of the first 100 picks in the June draft (Farhan and his team have to knock it out of the park on the draft) and a farm system that suddenly has some interesting talent to follow, your analysis of how young talent is acquired and how it is developing, you may be providing Giants fans with the only real excitement the 2020 season will be delivering.
Thanks again.
DrB, I appreciate all of the work you put into your site. I especially like the detail for the minor league stats and news. That is not necessarily easy to find without navigating through lots of pages. I know nothing about HS or College Baseball so your take on possible draftees is also impressive. I would say I have been following your site for about 7-8 years now. I love your passion for the Giants and the work it takes to research and create your posts. They are informative and I agree with most of your views.
ReplyDeleteMy only comment is the interaction with us and each other. I remember when you made this site private because you had quite of few negative posts (Probably from Dodger fans). My involvement pretty much went off a cliff after that because it took a long time for my comments to show and some never got through at all. I would just urge you to see if there is a better way where we can post in real time so we can interact with you and everyone else throughout the day. We are all passionate and the interaction can be very fun. Maybe Blogger has some settings where people using Google Account can post in real time but anonymous posts need to be reviewed. I remember a lot of your posts would hit 30+ comments and it was a lot of fun. I am not sure if this will make your page but maybe you can look into it.
Allow me to use a few pixels thanking you for your efforts and wish you and your family good health in 2020. Like others have said, this is a go-to site just about every day. Humble thanks.
ReplyDeleteTo the poster above who is puzzled by the lack of action to add meaningful talent, I do wonder if FZ is in something close to tank mode. Just feels like there were options, but now I'm beginning to think his idea of an option is extreme youth and control.
Echoing Roger B, I do have challenges getting to this site in a way that I can post. I am using an old moniker because for some reason it works; otherwise I might be chiming in as anonymous and I'm not even sure that always works. If you feel comfortable the way it is, I understand completely (! you have enough going in your life.) but this is a great site and I wish more people saw it and were able to comment more easily.
Ditto to all the laudatory comments -- Dr B is the morning's first read. Makes good coffee even better.
ReplyDeleteAs for signings and trades: there are always at least two sides involved.
1. Not everyone wants to come to San Francisco and/or California. Both are actually inhospitable to some, especially true Southerners.
2. FZ seems determined not to burden 2022 and on with expensive contracts (to compete with LA who will have a young and inexpensive core then?).
3. A trade has to appeal to BOTH sides: again FZ wants no long term drags (think Longo).
4. Sure, there may be some reasonable 1-2 year additions to help bridge the near bleakness, but, again, hitters don't think playing 81 games in Oraclemis going to improve their resumes, pitchers may want a third or 4th year that Z isn't going to pay.
5. Have patience: Zaidi is not a fool