Kids from my generation were taught to 'save for the future,' but that philosophy no longer seems apt today whether it be government budgeting or a baseball team like the Giants stocking their minor leagues for the future.
The San Francisco Giants' 'live for today' philosophy has come back to bite them.
With the return of former Giants 1st round draft pick now playing for Mets-the result of the Giants trade for Carlos Beltran in 2011 - Zack Wheeler has made that trade and similar deals look bad for Giants . Only one of two big names GM Sabean has gone after, Carlos Beltran, was of little help to the Giants drive towards a pennant in 2011 but he's gone now and the Giants lost the top prospect who could be a much needed starter today - and have nothing to show for the loss of Wheeler, now. This and similar deals have left their minor league resources in shambles.
In fact Beltran was one of only two bonifide stars the Giants acquired in recent years and the other, Melky Cabrera , was bounced for drug use after leading the Giants to the playoffs despite being out the second half of season. His replacement, in effect, Marcos Scutaro, a friend and fellow countryman from Venezuela, continued Cabreras ' unlikely .350 average
after only hitting .260 first half of season at Colorado -this for a 37 year old who had never hit over .299 ; he also cut his strikeouts in half after coming to the Giants. Yes, we ARE inferring that Scutaro was getting 'help', in our opinion, ala Cabrera - and likely others on the Giants- as chronicled in these pages ant others that were inexplicably removed from the Internet.
Looking back at the World Series years it is very unusual to see a team go all the way with journeymen players in their twilight years brought in who suddenly hit 30-50 points above their career averages -and some with power. Remember Huff. Burl, Ross ,Renteria, Uribe, Guillen and Mota- the latter two also let go for drug use with the Giants - AND BEFORE!
The Giants had three players busted during their World Series years which makes one wonder how many more have gotten away with PED use in this permissive era.
Only four players were busted last year - two of them on the Giants - for being what Balco and PED expert, Victor Conte, calleld 'dumb and dumber' to get caught (the new designer testosterone can be out of one's system in hours). The Giants had no problem bringing back Mota twice and were leaning to bring back Cabrera but for negative reaction to his 'Internet' excuse for his PEDs and running out on fellow players without saying goodbye. All above mentioned players either retired or had major drop offs with other teams after leaving the Giants . Start connecting the dots, er, PEDs...
The 2012 Giants basically pulled off the same stunt with an almost completely different cast of characters. Again, journeymen cast-offs were brought in and had unlikely career years - Scutaro, Pagan, Blanco, Mijares- all new 'culprits' since 2010 . Pure coincidence?Not. Only Sandoval was a holdover, among the hitters playing over their career numbers.
Other items rankle us.. .. We listen to all the major league announcers and must say Giants announcers , accross the board, are the most self serving 'homers' of all. They are constantly questioning umpire calls - of course ,usually those that go against the Giants. They are hired by the Giants, and obviously are part of the 'Giants defense team' that don't dare talk against the home boys. And we wonder how much longer we will continue to be told of more consecutive 'sellouts ' even as we notice large blocks of empty seats , more and more along with stepped up advertising, half price and promo tickets. not to mention the Giants ballot stuffing All Star campaigns including effort to put a .270 hitting Pence into the All Star game.
I really was beginning to think that Kansas City Royals were the Giants AAA minor league team where Sabean and co. would bring up marginal players from this 'Melky school' - and wouldn't have been surprised to see another World Series this year with such machinations but now it looks like he may have run out of K. C. and Venezuelan 'talent'. But wait . Flash. True to form, looks like the Giants just picked up Jeff Franquer , a .260 hitter from KC. Watch him suddenly hit .290 or better with the Giants..
We hate to think where the Giants would be this year without the PEDs, in our blunt, researched opinion . (Yes, we have the numbers, even if they were taken down along with our website.) They got away with two World Series , already, without nary a superstar - and two almost completely different lineups - and it's finally caught up with them
As for the latest Giants news , re. pitcher Chad Goudin and his hospital brush with fame, it just goes with the territory (besides his sudden , elevated pitching velocity and success). The Giants continue to bring in players with questionable backgrounds - not all - but many like Cabrera, Mota, Guillen and now Goudin - and those are only the ones who've been caught doing things of late... And, this stuff isn't new. Remember , during the Bonds era it wasn't only Bonds but Santiago, Aurelia, Williams, Bernard, etc - over 20 indicted or associated PED users (10 in Mitchell report, alone) , by far more than on any other team. A simple screening of players' characters would seem a routine procedure but that might upset the whole Giants' scheme and leave them with few players to draw from - and a losing team.
Even if local sportswriters turn a blind eye, it looks as though justice may finally win out after the Giants' decade - long run of deceipt , in our opinion. Maybe traditional, HONEST, baseball may have a chance again for us old school fans. Sure, there are other players in the game using PEDs, but it's never been as widespread as with the Giants, a team that has gone out of its way to 'look the other way ' from Bonds to Cabrera, for over a decade.
We have some other damaging info, readily available on the internet or in the news,, where we acquire all of our information. We will hold this back for now but it's VERY uncomforting to us old time fans brought up on Mays and McCovey and chewing tobacco.
san francisco giants, #Giants PEDs, sf giants, #PEDs, steroids, baseball PEDs, cheating in baseball, drugs in baseball, brian sabean
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