The Giants are the 5th most valuable franchise in baseball, and they didn’t get there by chance. The loyal fans, the history of the franchise, the former hall of farmers, the magical postseason runs, the Giants have always been a big-name franchise. And this year was no exception. The Giants have earned themselves a spot in the postseason this year, and as of right now, are the best team in the National League, and possibly the entire MLB. How did they get there, what did they do to get there, and what are their goals come October time? Let’s dive in a little deeper.
The San Francisco Giants were born in 1883 and were known as the New York Giants. They would later become the San Francisco Giants on May 28, 1957. Through those 72 years, they had some success, winning 4 world series trophies, but they did become home for many Hall of Famers, such as Willie Mays, Christy Matthewson, and Mel Ott. The luck continued for the Giants with the move to San Francisco. They have since won 3 more world series trophies since moving to the Bay and maybe on the cusp of winning their 4th come this October. The San Francisco Giants have a lot of history, the forefront of it being the greatest hitter of all time, Barry Bonds. As you know, 756 career home runs, and a little bit of controversy on how he hit those home runs, but he, nonetheless, is the all-time leader in home runs for a career. Other notable halls of fame players include Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Tim Lincecum, and now, Buster Posey, who has had a phenomenal career and 2021 season, his stat line this year being a .300 BA, a .391 OBP, a .503 SLG, a 141 OPS+, with 17 home runs and 45 RBI.
Now that you know the history of how the Giants came to be, let’s get deep into what they have accomplished this season. They have the best record of any team this year. At the time of writing this, they have earned a postseason spot and have a record of 97-53.
The Giants had 4 all-stars this year, including breakout seasons from veterans from the world series dynasty, those being Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford. It’s very shocking knowing how they were expected to perform before this season started. Everyone anticipated them to have another lousy season, finish under .500, and just play the same quality of baseball the Giants have played the last 3 seasons since the fall of their world series dynasty from the 2000s and 2010s. But they exceeded expectations this year, and are possibly the best team in the entire league
There are 3 reasons why the Giants have been successful this year. First, lots of unsuspecting young players stepped up this year. One of the biggest examples of this is LaMonte Wade Jr. Wade was a below-average bench guy for the Minnesota Twins for 2 years. The Giants traded for him in the 2021 offseason, and he has made a name for himself in the Bay Area. Giants fans love him, his teammates love him, everyone loves LaMonte Wade Jr. Off of that, looking at San Francisco’s lineup, it doesn’t shock you as an overpowering team like the Dodgers or White Sox. There aren’t too many huge names that stand out. It’s really all solid role players, such as Mike Yastrzemski, Donovan Solano, Brandon Belt, Darin Ruf, and Evan Longoria, another all-star veteran who is having a breakout season. The addition of Kris Bryant before the trade deadline from the Cubs has also been very important. He has slid into this lineup extremely well and has continued to produce and be an all-star.
The Giant’s approach this year financially has been pretty solid. They collect decent pieces, train them up to a few good years, and then trade them all away and get 2 or 3 all-star caliber pitchers. Their ace this year, Kevin Gausman, is having a Cy Young season. Every team needs an ace, and the Giants got theirs last year. But the pieces they wanted to trade for value, have all stepped up and have formed an excellent rotation. Anthony DeSclafani, Johnny Cueto, Alex Wood, and a few fill-in players from AAA and some they acquired at the deadline, for example, Logan Webb. Webb has been bouncing around in the Giants minor league system for 6 years….and in the last 15 games has allowed 2 total runs. An absolute stud. In the bullpen, they have the breakout star Tyler Rogers, who has assumed the role of closer, and everyone else in the bullpen is good. Guys like Jake McGee, Jarlin Garcia, and Jose Alvarez have a combined ERA of 2.59 this season. f they can go all in this offseason and flip a few of those players for even better pitchers, the Giants are going to get even better.
The last reason I would say they are successful is culture. Every good team that really has ever won a lot, has had good culture and plays as a family. The 2020 Dodgers are a great example. That squad is so connected and bonded together, that they play together and play for each other which boosts their play. They’ll have a big fantasy football draft in the offseason, they all support each other, they go to events with each other. That squad was and still is bonded together, as are the Giants. They have a great clubhouse culture, they play for each other, and they all love each other. Especially with the history the Giants have for having notoriously toxic and rude players, they have formed a good group this year and are getting better
Now, it’s not just this year the Giants have been making moves. They have spent the last 4 seasons preparing for this. Ever since the most recent world series win in 2014, they recognized that the next 2 seasons would not be as successful. Every successful dynasty will eventually come to an end. If you’ve ever watched the last dance, that’s the point of the show. It’s a deep dive into the final season of the Michael Jordan Bulls, and how they fell apart the following seasons. The Giants decided that they needed to hit the reset button for the future, and build up more money and draft some prospects and young talent. They decided to part ways with a longtime member in the organization in Pablo Sandoval (he would return a few seasons later), and Mike Morse. Both players had been big in the postseason and regular season but were valuable and aging, so they needed to get rid of them. They signed Jeff Samardzija, who has been with them since. They traded to get draft picks, which ended up being some of the players they have on the current roster. And ever since then, it’s been claiming mediocre pitching pieces and freeing up cap space, and making money.
So there you have it, the underdogs of the 2021 season. From the veterans who have been there for almost 10 years, to the unsuspecting rookies who have popped off this year, to the mediocre pitching that accidentally became one of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball, the Giants are the #1 team in baseball as of now. Every season has that one team that comes out of nowhere and exceeds expectations. 2019 had the Washington Nationals, the 2006 St Louis Cardinals, now the San Francisco Giants. And maybe, just maybe, the Giants will too earn a ring come October time, just like those other two teams.
