race: Tarutaru
home: Windurst
world: Phoenix
jobs: BLM 75, WHM 40
other: RDM 37, MNK 29
WAR 27, THF 15
adv: SMN 16, PUP 16
NIN 16, BST 14
rank: 7
zm: 13
cop: 5-2
toau: 26, SP
shell: DynamisBums
craft: Clothcraft 82(+2)
Cooking 61
Alchemy 59
Goldsmith 31
Fishing 18
Bonecraft 8
Leathercraft 5
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Friday, June 04, 2004
 Up Against the Wall
The de-Brewer-fication of the Giants has begun.
Jeffrey Hammonds was given the Donald Trump treatment last night, after the Giants lost horrifically to the Snakes. The losing streak is now at three. The team is again looking up at .500, and the view isn't pretty. It looks like...Coors Field. Oh wait, that's just today's destination.
Just before the Giants began their 10-game winning streak, Brian Sabean was quoted in Chicago newspapers as saying that he might have to "eat" quite a few of the vets on his rosters. I think he was referring to their contracts, but I've never underestimated the power of cannibalism as a motivational tool. Shawn Estes claimed that one of the Giants owners told him that the team almost released six veterans before the winning streak. I thought that had the ring of truth then. I think we're seeing the beginning of the purge now.
Hammonds may be just the first to go, especially if the Giants have their usual Colorado vacation this weekend. You could also see the likes of Wayne Franklin, Neifi Perez, A.J. Pierzynski, J.T. Snow and Brett Tomko dismissed in the next week or two. They would all be replaced by prospects.
Why release these guys? Why not trade them? I'm sure Sabean's been trying to trade them all. I'm sure he's gotten no offers worth even considering. Better to write them off as sunk costs, and give folks like Lance Niekro, Cody Ransom, Todd Linden, David Aardsma a chance to prove themselves. Will they? Probably not, but we know for sure that the vets aren't doing the job.
The only problem with my list of potential transactions is that it concentrates on the hitters. The Giants are really living and dying with their pitching. The winning streak was due to great pitching; the current losing streak is due to poor pitching. The Giants offense, while not great, has been chugging along all right for a month or so. I can't give it a great vote of confidence, but I'm personally more worried about Tomko, Hermanson, Franklin, Herges, and Rueter.
Should be a hectic month, one way or another.
Jefferson 7:34 AM
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