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September 30, 2008
Dear Eric,
As the 2008 season ended Sunday, I thought back to the end of Spring Training when our team was so unsettled and many people forecasted dire results for the Giants. We have to admit that we are all pleasantly surprised at how well our club came together over the final two months of the season. We can proudly tell you that the Giants organization is now in a much stronger position to return to our winning ways than we were six short months ago.
We entered the 2008 season with three main goals and I think that by staying the course throughout the year, we have been able to make great strides towards returning the Giants to winning seasons and a post season berth in the near future. Our goals remain:
- To develop more young players from within our organization.
- To change the team's culture in the clubhouse and on the field.
- To improve our level of talent on the field. (Especially in the bullpen and adding power to the lineup in 2009).
Several young players stepped to the forefront this season and have a real chance at becoming frontline players for the Giants in 2009 and beyond. Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson are two players that we were learning about last season and they took quantum leaps this year, with both earning All-Star honors and one being the frontrunner for the Cy Young Award. Pablo Sandoval, Emmanuel Burriss, Travis Ishikawa, Fred Lewis, and Nate Schierholtz have all positioned themselves to be in our starting lineup in 2009.
On the mound, Jonathan Sanchez, Sergio Romo and Alex Hinshaw each made great strides in their development and figure prominently in our plans. We also look forward to strong performances by Barry Zito and Matt Cain, as well as the return of Noah Lowry and Merkin Valdez to bolster our staff next season.
Following the trade deadline, Bruce Bochy and I made a concerted effort to play the younger players for the majority of the final two months of the season. We were rewarded for that decision as we were able to see how these young men could handle the daily rigors of the Major League schedule and the majority of them responded extremely well. So well, in fact, that the Giants posted a 28-27 record from August 1 on, which was seventh best in the National League and second best in the NL West.
Bruce and his staff are to be commended for their efforts in installing a new work ethic and clubhouse atmosphere with this team. With 16 players making their Major League debuts, and on average those players playing only 88 games at the double- or triple-A level, the coaching staff was doing an extraordinary amount of teaching at the big league level. In all my years of professional baseball, this is the hardest working group of professionals I have seen. For example, they were the only team to take infield on a regular basis. They have willingly put so much time on the field for early and extra work to improve the level of play for themselves and the team.
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