Expectations might be Giant's Biggest Weakness

Aside from their mediocre starting pitching, anaemic offense and patchy defense, the Giants are suffering above all from the weight of inflated expectations.

When GM Brian Sabean famously referred to some of his teams' critics as a "lunatic fringe" somehow, in the shuffle, the point of their complaint was missed. It is becoming clearer (despite an improving string of results) that they were at least voicing a legitimate gripe: Without the addition of a big bat, otherwise known as Vladimir Guerrero, the Giants could not realistically hope to contend during--and certainly not beyond--the regular season.

Sadly, additions were never in the pipeline, because of that perennial spanner in the works: Payroll. The Giants roster ($82m) is already among the most expensive in the majors. Yet this has little to do with talent, and more with desparation. On the heels of the heartbreaking loss to the Angels in 2002, mistakes were made.

Now the Giant's hands are well and truly tied, as they have been for a while. This is because the decisions Sabean and co. made in the fall of 2002 were predicated on the belief that the Giant's were already strong enough to contend in 2003-4 with only the addition of a few veterans to play key roles. For the most part this worked in 2003, but not without consequences.

Unfortunately, this premise was false, and the repercussions dire. It all started with the run to the World Series: timing their form to perfection, the Giants pleasantly over-achieved in 2002. The assets of this team were then dealt--out of complacency, not thrift. The club lost Jeff Kent, David Bell, Reggie Sanders and Jay Witascik among others to free agency; Traded Russ Ortiz for Damian Moss, and donated Livan Hernandez for a reliever to be named Jim Brower. After being forced to let go Ortiz because of his $5m salary, the Giants promptly offered Kirk Reuter a three year $16m extension. Still believing that they could contend in 2003 the Giants added Neifi Perez, Ray Durham and Edgardo Alfonzo at the horrendous price of $16.5 per year.

Because of this, the payroll on opening day 2003 was the same as it had been in 2002. The team was decidly worse, and only the weakest of divisions--and some promising starting pitching--allowed the weakness to go unexposed. In July 2003, at a premium, the Giants bribed Sidney Ponson temporarily from Baltimore, and in the fall the last drop of young blood was squeezed from the system (Joe Nathan et al) in the acqusition of A.J.Pierskyni.

Meanwhile, off the field the greatness of Barry Bonds has also led to inflated expectations. Most fans--especially Giants fans--don't seem to realize that it takes more than the second best player ever to win it all. They don't understand that there's a reason why teams can't win every year. But the organization has neglected the areas that need the most attention. Now, with a lack of depth in the starting rotation, the offense and the farm system, the Giants are might be in the worst shape since Bonds came here in 1992.