The Shock

Giants

The Giants winning steak in July shocked everybody and led to some interesting decisions.

Trade Day

The plan to trade  Bumgarner and/or  Smith was destroyed by the winning streak.  All of sudden the Blue Bag City team was only 2 games behind in the Wild Car race.  If you trade one or both you are giving up and both the team and the fans would  be very angry to say the least.

So the GM went to Plan B to keep the team competitive and build for the future. He eliminated the relief pitchers who were key to their success.  Gone was Sam Dyson although very slow and deliberate did a great job.  Mark Melancon went to Atlanta.  In his last three or four appearances he did his job very effectively.  I never had any confidence in him getting anybody out.  He was being paid a $62 million contract and I can't believe the Braves picked up his contract.   That alone was a great move.

Drew Pomeranz was a flop as a starter but then during the winning streak became a dominate reliever which made him trade able.  The Brewers got him along with Ray Black who has been promoted for a couple of years but never really produced.

The Giants have some strong young arms to replace these relievers.  But it is very doubtful if they can be as effective.

The Giants organization received eight new players.  With Zaidi reputation they will be followed closely.  When he was the Dodgers GM we would marvel on where these home run hitting new
Dodgers came from.  One of the most interesting new Giants in my opinion was acquiring of 2nd baseman Gennett from the Reds.  Recovering from injuries he has not played much this year but was the NL All Star second basemen last year.

My thought was that if the Giants were still within 3 games of the Wild Card after the Rockies series this weekend they are still in the race.  However Dickerson is now on the IL for hopefully only ten days.  If they are still within  that 3 game games when he returns it could be an exciting September.

Without Dickerson the Giants have zero chance of making the playoff.  With him they do have a shot even though slim but still possible.  When a team has Crawford batting 5th you know they have a very weak lineup.

Some Quick Thoughts

I have been reading articles about some of new 49ers.  I have come away with the opinion that it looks like that they are a cinch to win the NFC and move on the the Super Bowl.  Do they even have to play the games?

I see that the Warriors Klay Thompson is saying that if you think the Warriors dynasty is over you are ignorant.  What pain medicine are they feeding him?  How can you have a dynasty when you lost?  Or are the Warriors trying to sell tickets? To build for the future get a lottery pick next year.