2012 San Francisco Giants Front Office: How They Failed Their Team and Fans

Carlos Beltran is a St. Louis Cardinal for $26 million over the next two years. Yes, Giants fans, that is all it took.  Just $13 million in 2012 and 2013, with a full no-trade clause, and Carlos Beltran could have been had. Instead, the Giants front office let him walk right out the door, seemingly without thinking twice. 

Remember that Brian Sabean announced, after trading for Angel Pagan at the winter meetings, that Beltran was no longer an option.  No matter how much his price fell, the Giants were done pursuing him.  Period.  End of discussion.  Melky Cabrera, Angel Pagan and a hopefully-healthy Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez are it.  The Giants offense is set, and the ownership could not possibly fit Beltran, the six-time All-Star, into their budget.

Why not?

Is this not the same organization that found room in its budget last offseason to give Aubrey Huff $11 million or was prepared to give Juan Uribe $20 million over three years before the Dodgers (thank goodness) offered him $21 million?

The fact that St. Louis went out and nabbed Beltran for the relatively acceptable price of $13 million per year is an absolute slap in the face to Giants fans and the organization.

Last July, the Giants traded their best pitching prospect, Zach Wheeler, for Beltran. Wheeler was not only viewed as the organization’s top young arm but was also considered one of the best prospects in the game. It seemed like a lot to give up at the time, a prized right hander for a chance to make the playoffs, but the Giants anemic offense necessitated the move.  After all, Beltran was the piece that was going to help the team make a push into the playoffs and possibly defend their World Series title.

The gamble did not pay off.  Beltran went on to put up nice numbers in his time at China Basin, but the Giants did not make it into October baseball.

However, there was still time for Brian Sabean to redeem himself. If he could keep Beltran around for two or three more years and the team made deep run or two into the playoffs, the trade would not be a total disaster.

It was not to be.

From the outset of the offseason, the Giants seemed resigned to the idea that Beltran was not coming back. Trades for Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan were not simply consummated so that the Giants could have nice pieces to go along with Beltran.  Cabrera and Pagan were the Giants’ additions for this offseason.

Now that Beltran is a Cardinal, the Giants learn exactly what they got for Wheeler, their prized right hander: no trip to the playoffs, 167 plate appearances, 17 runs, 7 HR, 18 RBI, and 27 K’s.

In the business world, that is called zero return on investment.

So, Giants fans, when the team takes the field in April and once again loses games 1-0 and 2-1, kindly direct your boos to the front row of seats located on the home plate side of the Giants dugout. That is where many of the Giants' ownership group take their seats. Boo not only because the Giants failed to make a good faith effort in upgrading their offense, but because they also mortgaged their future for two months of baseball that ended up meaning nothing.

As fans who sold out AT&T Park on a game-in and game-out basis last year and bought millions of World Series products, we deserve better than what the front office has done this offseason.

Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner deserve better too.

Therefore, I say to the Giants front office: How dare you!