The Decline of the Giants: 2004

There isn't a more fitting way to start the Giants Report than to explain how it is that the Giants got to where they are today. The Giants have more wins than any other North American sports franchise, and General Manager Brian Sabean has led the Giants to eight winning seasons out of his first ten. So, how is it that the Giants are hopelessly out of first place?

When Brian Sabean took over the team in 1997, it had been a losing club for 6 of the previous 7 years. In short, the Giants were horrible. Brian Sabean immediately built a winning ball club around young star Barry Bonds, and enjoyed quick success; the Giants won their first NL West division title of the decade in his first year as GM. The Giants did not suffer a losing season under Sabean's watch until 2005, but their decline actually started with the 2004 season.

The 2004 season was the first season in which the Giants did not have an adequate closer. With the loss of Robb Nen in the 2002 World Series, Tim Worrell filled in rather well for the 2003 season. Unfortunately, the Giants did not believe that Worrell was worth his high free agency price tag, and he was let go. With these moves, the best bullpen option appeared to be Joe Nathan. However, Brian Sabean did not feel that Nathan could handle closing, and proceeded to make one of the worst trades in recent history. Sabean traded Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano to the Twins for A.J. Pierzynski. Nathan immediately became a top tier closer, leaving the Giants to try various relievers as closers, all without success.

This moment in recent history is important for two reasons. First, the loss of Robb Nen, Tim Worrell, and Joe Nathan left the Giants with no viable ninth inning options. Without the three would-be closers, the bullpen blew 28 saves in 2004, compared to only 17 each of the previous two seasons. The Giants only lost the division by 2 games, and the wildcard by 1 game; with a closer, the Giants would have gone to the playoffs for the third straight season. As well as keeping San Francisco out of the playoffs, the trade deprived San Francisco of much needed young talent. With the loss of star Liriano and the starter Boof Bonser, the Giants lost an important opportunity. Liriano and Bonser could have been traded for young hitters, something which the Giants need badly, or the Giants could have had cheap, young, and good pitching for years to come. This, however, was just the beginning of the bad things to come for San Francisco fans.