The San Francisco Giants: A Giant mess in San Francisco

The San Francisco Giants have had a rough start to the year. With everything from an inept offense to front office issues, there seems to be new drama each day.

It’s time to call the 2019 San Francisco Giants season what it is; a Giant mess.

Rebuilding or retooling can be ugly in any sport. No one likes to see their favorite players getting older and moving on, all the while enduring loss after loss.

That’s where the Giants find themselves right now and it starts at the top of the organization. With the hiring of Farhan Zaidi as president of baseball operations during the offseason, many fans looked forward to seeing what moves the former Dodgers executive would make to fill the needs of the team.

In the months since his hiring, that excitement has died, to put it lightly.

Low-cost offseason acquisitions like Connor Joe, Yangervis Solarte and Gerardo Parra were unable to provide a spark to the offense and have since moved on. The only addition that has brought with it any positivity was the trade for center fielder Kevin Pillar, and while his defense is unmatched, he too has struggled at the plate.

With the overall lack of offensive talent currently on the roster, many are beginning to second guess and criticize the front office for its ineffectiveness and overall failure to acquire a spark plug for the lineup.

However, there can only be so much blame placed on the front office when players are not performing. At the end of the day, the team executives can’t go out and play for the guys that they acquired. While criticism will come and go, Zaidi deserves some credit for actually making moves and pursuing pieces to help the Giants, rather than remaining stagnant and watching them flounder.

Unfortunately, that is not the only front office issue that has presented itself.

Over the weekend, veteran starter Derek Holland dropped this gem:

The Giants were quick to shut down the fake injury speculation, providing reports showing that Holland was in fact injured:

Holland has not been nearly as good this season as he was last year with a 6.75 ERA in seven starts before he was moved to the bullpen. Those comments may have just been him airing his frustrations with his performance and the team’s performance as a whole, but players calling out the front office are not a good sign for a team in the midst of retooling.

At a certain point, the players need to take accountability for their poor performance.

The Giants have serious talent issues at the big league level. Nobody wants to see their favorite players go, but at a certain point, trading guys and rebuilding becomes a necessary evil.

Guys like Madison Bumgarner and Brandon Belt have made their mark on the franchise. But the current state of the team means building back to contention should take priority over making the fan base happy. The impact of the team’s struggles is already on full display at the stadium with empty seats all around the stadium.

This is no longer an overreaction. Keeping the past season’s struggles in mind, the San Francisco Giants desperately need to improve. It’s going to take time and it’s going to be painful to watch, but baseball is cyclical.

The three World Series runs are in the past and this team is no longer in a position to contend with the current roster. It’s time to rebuild a winning culture in San Francisco.