Giants Parade 2014: Best Title Celebration Moments and Looking Ahead to 2015

The San Francisco Giants donned the club's traditional orange and black, on Halloween no less, to celebrate their third championship in the past five years. A quiet dynasty has emerged on the bay, and the foundation is in place for the success to continue.

It wasn't the greatest day for a parade with some rain falling throughout the festivities. That certainly didn't prevent the fanbase from turning out in full force, though. John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle passed along an early shot of the crowd:

Among those soaking in the atmosphere was longtime Giants star Barry Bonds:

The WWE sent Daniel Bryan to the parade to present a championship belt, worn loudly and proudly by outfielder Hunter Pence:

Announcer Jon Miller also got into the act, as the team noted:

While these days are memorable for the players, they are really to give the fans who supported them all season a chance to bask in the glory as well.

Pence made that clear:

As did Buster Posey:

And of course, the parade wouldn't have been complete without a Panda float to celebrate the clutch postseason hitting of Pablo Sandoval. MLB GIFS captured it:

As the celebration slowly fades away and the organization begins looking ahead to next season, Sandoval will become a key focal point.

The third baseman has been nothing short of outstanding during the team's last two World Series runs. He's tallied 50 postseason hits over that span, with the most recent 26 surely providing a boost as he prepares to hit the open market.

Janie McCauley of The Associated Press provided comments from Sandoval, who should be able to command a lucrative long-term deal at age 28.

"I want to wear that jersey for the rest of my career," Sandoval said. "I'm going to go from what my heart tells me."

Whether the front office can make that happen and still leave itself enough financial flexibility is the major question mark. He's not the only high-profile free agent for San Francisco.

Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong, Sergio Romo and Michael Morse are the other notable names set to see what the market can offer. That's a lot of talent that could walk out the door, and it would be difficult to replace them all, especially if a big extension is handed to Sandoval.

The good news for the Giants is that their two most important players will remain in place. Madison Bumgarner—who willed the team to the finish line in Game 7—and Buster Posey are the building blocks for the future, and extremely good ones at that.

Once the dust settles after the offseason frenzy, the question will become whether San Francisco can reverse the only negative trend over the past five years. That being missing the playoffs the year after winning the championship.

Sandoval must be the top priority. But the Giants can't pay him so much that it prevents them from bolstering the starting rotation. It's a delicate balancing act that could very well determine their fate as they look to repeat.

One thing's for sure: If the Giants qualify for the playoffs, knocking them out is proving to be an amazingly tricky task.