The Great Farhan

[holiday613]

Many here were upset that Farhan didn't immediately rectify the mess that he was inherited with ( Thx to Sabean/Evans) but you have to admit that he has done a stellar job since he took over..Farhan decided not to throw money at free agents, when he knew the team would be flawed with many albatross contracts around his neck, rather he started adding small pieces to the puzzle making the team deeper, more talented and better rounded..Now we are witnessing his genius first hand as this team doesnt seem to have much dead wood around it..Every player seems to fit a design to help the team out..His many small trades have paid off tremendously and now he has a ton of money to really make a big splash for next year Free Agents if he chooses to do so..His FA signings have been a work of art and his many small trades have had fantastic returns...I can't remember the last time that I liked every single person on the team..This is a testament to Farhans genius and I hope we all applaud him here for his baseball magic....

[klaiggeb]

Mordy, I totally agree.

And remember, I was one of his BIGGEST critics!

He has really done a bang-up job for us, even, IMHO, better than my favorite Giant GM, Sabean.

[Islandboagie]

Farhan has done a decent job, but there's a lot more work to be done for me to sing his praises like you guys have. Sabean inherited a team in tatters too, he made more risky trades, signed some riskier free agents, found more hidden gems, drafted more high profile prospects and kept us competitive throughout most his tenure, while winning 3 Championships and 4 pennants. Farhan has been good, but he's a far cry from being at the same level as Sabean, no matter what your trendy sabermetric handbook tells you.

[reedonly]

The one big stain on Farhan’s list is the signing of Kapler.

[klaiggeb]

Two things:

1-, boagie I disagree with you about Farhan and Sabean. I don't use sabermetrics to evaluate anyone.

My belief that he has done a better job than Sabean is based upon my observations.

IMHO, he has done more in a really, REALLY short period of time than I would have thought possible.
a-Smyly, Gausman, Pomeranz.
b-Yaz, Solano, Flores, Dickerson, Ruf, Flores

And those are just the top ones that come to mind.

Now add his rebuilding of our farm system into one of the 5 or 6 best farm systems in baseball.

Sabean was good, I could even say great.

But what Farhan, the guy I DIDN'T WANT, has done so much in such a short period of time, it's been amazing.



As Reed said: the ONLY stain, and it's a big one, on Farhan's resume is the hiring of Captain Plastic Fantastic, Kapler.

[Islandboagie]

The year before Sabean arrived the Giants were in LAST place, the year he took over they won the division. He totally revamped the lineup and pitching staff. Zaidi has done a lot, no question about that, but if you use that as your reason behind why you think he's been better than Sabean, then you simply have forgotten what Sabean did in 1997, Boly.

I'm not bashing Zaidi's accomplishments, but the farm system was going to see a positive turnover because of the Giants being one of the worst teams in baseball for a few seasons leading up to the hiring of Zaidi. Bart and Ramos were already signed prior to Zaidi's hiring, and those two are pushing a lot of our farm system's value. The farm system was going to see a large improvement regardless of who was running the show after 2018, but of course, Zaidi has done a nice job at following up on that, especially landing Luciano, and trading for Dubon and Wilson. And of course, the acquisitions of Yaz, Solano and co. have made us into a team that's not painful to watch, which I'm very grateful to Zaidi for. But what Sabes did was far more drastic in a short period of time. We went from worst to first in one season under Sabean, Boly.

[klaiggeb]

If we are arguing about two very good GM's...that's a great thing to be happening!

It sure beats the heck out of "who's worse!'

[holiday613]

i agree that Kapler was a bad pick but then again i thought Bochy and certainly Dusty Baker were horrible managers too.. Sabean might have been great at first but he certainly set this team back later on with disastrous long term contracts. Farhan dropped the ball this season with the bullpen but I have full confidence he will quickly fix it.. Doval certainly looked fabulous today and I expect Sam Long to replace Alvarez shortly... The Marlin series was disappointing but overall i still like the team on the whole..

[reedonly]

Zaidi seems to have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the bullpen. It was a weakness when he was with LA and now a problem in SF.

[holiday613]

is reedonly the old Allen Reed???

[Islandboagie]

Why in God's name would you ever think Bochy was a bad manager? He was an excellent manager for San Diego, consistently making Baker and Alou look stupid, then solidified his spot in the Hall of Fame with us.

[holiday613]

Because Bochy had the tendency to stick with over the hill vets at the expense of the up and coming young stars.. I still remember how he refused to play Posey because of the leadership of Bengie Molina who couldnt hit the side of a barn.. It was only after Sabean forced his hand by trading Molina did the Giants go on to win championships.. Thats just one of many examples...

[Islandboagie]

That is probably true, he also played Aaron Rowand far longer than he should've after it was clear Torres was the much better option in CF. Then again, he also played Renteria and Uribe more than most of us fans wanted, but that turned out to be the right move because they went on to be a big part of us winning a Championship.

There are a few situations that us fans were probably right about, and we can be somewhat confident about that now. But, there were FAR more times Bochy was right, and we were wrong. Dead wrong.

Let's look at how he handled Posey, did the way Bochy handle Posey ruin him? No, Posey caught fire and went on to win rookie of the year. We could say Posey should have been our starting catcher earlier, but maybe he was eased into the position at the perfect time. We can't really be sure about that. Yes, I agree with you that Sabean probably moved Molina on purpose so Bochy couldn't use him anymore. But do we know for sure that's how it went down? The answer is we don't.

Bochy could have been trying to get the best out of Posey at the right time. This might surprise you, but Bochy was pretty damned good at that. As we know, minor leaguers that transition to the majors the first season often tire out near the end of the season and it was clear the Giants wanted to go the distance. So maybe Bochy did the right thing by not throwing Posey into a starting catcher role as early as we wanted.

I had a big problem with the way Bochy treated Nate Schierholtz. Nate would have a good game, next game Bochy would sit Nate on the bench without any good reason I knew of. Come to find out later that Nate Schierholtz was always coming to the ballpark saying he couldn't start. I loved Schierholtz, until I learned that he was a big pusscake that tried to overuse his doctor's note.

I get what you're saying, but your complaints with Bochy really only point out the fact that he perhaps wasn't perfect, it doesn't explain why you claim he was bad. Your examples, even if they were 100% accurate still don't trump 3 World Championships, they just don't.

[holiday613]

Fair points boagie.. its just the feeling of resentment that still resides in my inner conscience that makes me feel this way.. I always felt the Giants won those championships despite Bochy not because of him but I will concede i might have been too hard on him.. There are way more examples that I have already forgotten.. Lets move on!!

[Islandboagie]

Fair enough.