John, for the past few years you’ve been calling Brian Sabean criminally stupid, exceptionally egregious in his incomptence, and responsible for pretty much everything wrong in the world that you haven’t already blamed the Bush administration for.

“Sweet”?

Whence cometh this newfound confidence?

Although, I should concede, I am not questioning the desire to trade Durham. He is now on the wrong side of 35. The point here is he currently possesses the 14th best OBP (.385) in the NL – better than anyone on the Brewers, in fact. The Brews are right in the mix of things, and their 2b, Weeks, is hitting 77 points less than Durham. 77 points!

Anyone really believe that this is the best deal that the Giants could’ve got? Anyone believe Billy Beane wouldn’t have got a better package in return?

Youth does not magically win more games than experience. Yes, sometimes young teams win more games than old teams, but the reverse is also true. Has anyone bothered to research this? I’d like to see stats, rather than the constant chatter about the Giants being too old.

Besides, I thought the consensus here was that the Giants should trade away all their vets for prospects and count on losing for a few years, no? Wasn’t that the deal? Will you all be happier losing with young players than with vets?

I’ve confessed before, and will again, that I often don’t understand where lots of the folks who comment here are coming from. My best guess is that they’re mostly fantasy leaguers, rather than Giants fans. It seems the only thing that gets respect is winning the World Series, and that anything less is intolerable. That seems unrealistic in a sport that involves such a high rate of failure, even for the best teams and players.

I and the other Giants fans I know follow and root for the team, good or bad. I go to games when I can, watch or listen to most of the rest, and have for decades. That gives me great pleasure. I guess I’m a bit offended that the discussion here makes being a fan in that way sound naive or stupid, which I know is not the case. I also fel bad for those who can’t enjoy the team and game unless it’s on top.

I appreciate the relatively literate and intelligent writing on OBM – it’s vastly better than most of what passes for sports discourse these days – with the exception of this obsession with winning above all, which seems to me to be the source of most of the negativity that’s often rampant here.

Is it just that I’m the only one who doesn’t have fantasies of being a GM? I enjoy it when the Giants are a good team and winning lots of games as much as anyone, but second-guessing every move of management doesn’t give me a thrill.

Take me out to the ballgame.

Hal – I’m glad you can go to the game and enjoy it whether the Giants are good or bad, and I guess there are a lot of other fans who feel the same way. Was not 2002 much more enjoyable than 2008? This is why fans are passionate on the subject of how the franchise is managed. We want more 2002’s and fewer 2008’s – not the other way around which is where we seem to be going here.

For myself, I have to question the investment of my time and money to watch/cheer for what I know to be a sub-standard hopeless product being run by incompetent management. Of course down years are to be expected and real fans don’t pull the plug, but we are talking about that on a whole other level here – this franchise appears to be almost intentionally mismanaged into being years from realistically competitive – because ownership knew there would still be a certain number of “fans” in the seats and it probably wouldn’t really matter.

Of course there’s no guarantee that a “young” team will be better than an “old” team. I think most people’s point is that the “old” guys are known entities. We know what kind of year Aurillia, Durham, Roberts, etc. will probably have. Well, I guess no one saw how far Omar could fall. And we know that next year will be no significantly better for those guys. People want to see the “young” because those guys represent hope. Hope that one or more of them will become much better than “projected”, and help return this team to respectability sooner rather than later. Let’s start that process now, not wait until Omar finishes playing out the string.

I’m a Giants fan win or lose. Winning is more fun, of course. I will admit to enjoying this season, though. Why? Lewis, Lincecum, Bowker, Cain, Sanchez, Burriss, etc. I have no problem with losing if I feel the team is making an effort to find quality ballplayers and trying to build a winner. After it was clear that the Bonds era was over, it seemed equally clear that the team needed a makeover. The reluctance of our management to proceed with that is frustrating. Buying a guy like Aaron Rowand for 5 years does one thing–blocks the development of a CF prospect. Rowand is slightly above average to average at his job. Do we really think he puts people in the seats? I think this is why the Durham move is so exciting, despite the mediocre haul. It seems like Sabes & Co. might finally be “getting it.” I play on a local slowpitch softball team. We aren’t very good, but we have fun. We have even more fun when we play well, and even more when we win. Same for this Giants fan. I will always have fun being a fan, but when the team is competitive and has a real shot at glory, it’s like the “fan-drug” kicks into high gear, and the buzz is way better. Of course, so is the fall. And being an armchair GM and manager is at least half of the fun.

This was a horrible return. Hammond will be a bullpen guy if he sticks, and Ford sucks and will always suck.

someone has done research on playoff teams, and, “veterans” have only shown a slight correlation to playoff success. For whatever that’s worth, I guess.

I’m not much of a fan of the “veterans are good because you know what you’re getting” theory…I think in this day and age, one can tell what that adds up to, which is kind of boring. If one buys into “replacement value”, then what are the Giants really gaining by having, say, Randy Winn? Nothing against him personally at all, but if he, or Castillo, say, give you an “average”, with no real prospect of being better, there’s not much risk in giving your best prospects playing time.

And, I agree with the fan part – I like the idea that maybe Fred Lewis is a future All-Star, I like Velez (if he could learn to get on base more) having blazing speed. I’d much rather have potential upside and/or a player with eccentric talents than a guaranteed result.

That said, give poor Omar a break – he’s a Hall of Famer, he still fields great, I figure he retires after this year. It’s not like Honus Wagner is stuck in AAA.

I would feel better about the whole youth v. veterans thing if I were
sure that the Giants would once and for all change tracks once the
deadline has come and gone. After that, there is no reason to keep
the young guys on the bench.
What to make of the Schurholtz situation? Winn either gets traded or
seated but now Nate is off to the Olympics. I don’t get that one at all.
Can someone enlighten me? If the only answer is management incompetance, save those emails.

Thanks for responding to my comments, I appreciate it. It helps to get a little better feeling of who’s behind all these anonymous voices.

Whatever happens from here on out, this has been a more interesting season than most anyone predicted. Baseball will always surprise you.

I’m with Marc re Omar. He’s had a flurry of hits lately, which if it continues will make everyone feel better about him, but for my money it’s worth going to the ballpark just to watch him. As spectacular as some of his defensive plays are, there are things he does between innings and at other times that don’t get on TV that are a joy to see. Whether he’s hitting or not, he’s a remarkable presence, and I think an asset to the franchise. I’d love to have him stick around as a coach, manager, broadcaster, or whatever when he’s done playing. Dig him while he’s here.