Everyone has problems with their team's general managers from time to time. It's no big deal. The bigger, more die-hard fan you are, chances are, you'll have gripes with your team's general manager. It is what it is. With Giants' GM Brian Sabean, I've had my fair share of problems over the years. I mean, I'm still bitter about him trading Joe Nathan to the Twins and that was ten years ago. Two World Series titles later, you'd think I would have forgotten or stopped caring - but I haven't. We all have our issues.
Then there are times when Sabean does things that make me want to kiss him; trading Andres Torres for Angel Pagan, or Charlie Culberson for Marco Scutaro. Neither of those trades, by the way, held especially high hopes for me at the time. Scutaro wasn't a young guy anymore and West Coast fans knew little about Pagan. Plus, Giants fans are all about nostalgia and many were nostalgic for Torres' contributions to the 2010 World Series (and for his general cuteness and hustle). Without trying to sound like a biased fan, I think both Pagan and Scutaro needed a change of scenery and a change of fan base. It's amazing what support from your fans can do, and both players seemed to feed off of that in more ways than one in 2012. And on one last note from 2012, even though Hunter Pence was only with the Phillies for one season prior to being a Giant, fans still mourn his loss, along with Pagan's for Mets fans (though more quietly).
Moving forward to the 2013 offseason, my hopes were only slightly higher for the two players the Giants signed: Tim Hudson and Michael Morse. The market for outfielders last year was pretty dire and the chances of finding a good one were about 50/50. Those odds were even lower for Morse who had a recent history of injuries. His low sticker price eased those fears, but it was still a risk. I'm guessing that Giants management looked at Morse's breakout year in 2011 and thought if there was even a chance he could re-produce that for another team, he was worth signing. As for Tim Hudson, a recent major injury and his age caused some to question a two-year deal for the veteran pitcher. Worst case scenario, I thought Hudson could bring much needed wisdom to the pitching staff, and if healthy, do pretty well. A guy who has never (NEVER, EVER) had a losing season after more than 10 years is probably worth something.
It turns out, Hudson and Morse have both been fantastic. Two months into the season (less than halfway, I realize), Hudson has an ERA of 1.92 and Morse just hit his 11th home run this week. Even factoring in that Hudson will get shelled in a few outings, he has given Giants fans NO reason to panic when that time comes. Morse proves that home runs (or dingers) are indeed contagious and, in large part because of him, the Giants are in the top 5 in baseball in home runs. That's more than ridiculous to any fan who has liked this team for more than five minutes. I can't even properly articulate how surreal that is. Will Morse go through slumps? Sure, but we know all about that. Pence and Posey are the kings of streaky hitting, so we are prepared. Sandoval couldn't pay enough to get a hit a month ago and in the span of two weeks, raised his batting average to almost .250 (from under .200). I refuse to believe that a player who had 31 home runs, 95 RBIs and hit .303 only three years ago couldn't somehow replicate something similar this season.
But then again, who knows. You can't get too excited because it's not even summer yet. What will Hudson's ERA be in July? How many home runs will Morse have hit by September? It's anybody's guess, but I'd wager that the team with the best record in baseball will be doing OK down the line.
Oh, and all this home run talk and I haven't even mentioned Brandon Hicks, who has had more home runs in two months as a Giant (8) than the second baseman he's replacing (Scutaro) has had in the past two seasons. Regardless of what happens with Hicks, as long as he doesn't go the way of the the last two Giants second baseman (Freddy Sanchez, and, let's face it, Scutaro now too), everything will be fine. I'm just going to keep repeating that to myself until I believe it. His last name doesn't begin with an S, so perhaps we are safe. Let's hope so.
