Nine Losses and a Funeral: Bond's Absence Costly

In all probability, anyone with an afternoon to waste would have a hard time telling the difference between the Giants and the Devil Rays. In fact, without Barry Bonds the Giants more or less are the Devil Rays--although with considerably less potential. From their flaky offense to decidedly dicey bullpen, from streaky defense to one and a half man rotation, these teams have a lot in common: Give or take the $53m difference in payroll. On Thursdsay, with their perennial difference maker on the sidelines (or rather, nowhere in sight) the Giants struggled to break free of their .500 price tag. In games without Bonds in the lineup, the Giants are 4-9.

Not that anyone is asking questions. As of Friday Bonds, and his crippling $18m, has missed almost a quarter (22%) of the team's games. That's not good. It's also worth noting that no team in history has won the World Series with a player who has taken up more than 15% of the team's payroll. Barry's share of the proverbial pie is the same same as his truency rate: 22%. The only one whose absence is more conspicuous than the No. 25 is Robb Nen. At $9m, he accounts for 11% of the budget--and at least 20% of the team's success.

Giants Derail Tampa

The Giants are making the most of their opposition these days. With their last six series coming against the-ahem-Expos, Rockies (twice), D-Backs (twice) and as of today the D-Rays, Felipe Alou's men must consider themselves lucky not to be dead and buried in the NL West. With rumors that less than two weeks ago GM Brian Sabean was on the verge of breaking up the team, it has only one scapegoat--Jeffrey Hammonds--to show for it. Said Sabean:

"I was dead serious. We had to do something to stem the tide, and they did it themselves. I was very close to doing something, but they saved themselves from themselves."

Not very encouraging. With the 7-3 win today, the Giants have pulled into a season-tying best two games above 500. After being swept at home by Pittsburg, they have won 15 of their last 20 games, and five out of their last six series. It won't last. Indeed, judging from the schedule, the Giants little revolution will be as shortlived as it was improbable. Unfortunately for now, instead of dealing for (among other things) a reliable starting pitcher, the team has been left virtually intact--give or take the rise and fall of a few unlofty prospects. Sabean will be unwilling to make trades because he knows his team is too far behind in the race to catch up. The race for the division is so wide open that the Giants don't need to increase the payroll. Sabean then could be sure of at least one thing: without his help the Giants will be comdemned to come completely unstuck, completely unassisted.

Rocky Outlook for the Giants

A series at Mile High Stadium can do so much for team--at least part of it. It can, for example, turn Neifi Perez into an 15 homer, 80 RBI man. It can negate forty games of paltry productivity with a glut of hits that turn victories into propagandas routs. Alas, don't be fooled. An RBI in a 1-1 game doesn't beat a grandslam when it's 10-1.

So it is, with the season a third in the drawer, that the Giants go into inter-league play marginally--even miraculously--outside the line of fire. That will change once teams with winning records (i.e. the BlueJays and the RedSox) roll into town. For now, they're stocking up on brownie points.

Before the series at Coors, where the team scored 53 runs on 51 hits with 9 HRs and 30 walks, the Giants offense was dwelling in the NL basement: As a team San Francisco was hitting .253, 11th in the league; had scored 203 runs, 15th in the league; had hit 46 home runs, 13th in the league, and so on.

Perhaps most ignominously of all, the Giants have ground into 54 double-plays, worst in the majors. They're on course to break the MLB record of 152 in a season. Yet incredibly, only the Padres have left more men on base than San Francisco (7.7 per game). The Giant's base-running exploits my help explain this. As of June 2nd, they had stolen just 13 bases in 49 games. In case you were wondering, that's also the worst in the majors.

Double plays and stolen bases however are one thing. Timely hitting is quite another. If failure is your standard, then the Giant's exel at all in three departments. With runners in scoring position San Francisco is hitting a ominous .230. Timely hitting eludes the Giants like a plague--without it, they won't make the post-season.