Bleah.

And another O-fer from Juan Pierre.

How the G-men hit against a stud like Peavy isn't really a good indication of how good or bad this team is.

If the team is anything like it was last year when getting dominated by studs like Livan "62-on-the-gun" Hernandez and Jamie "I-don't-need-no-stinking-62-on-the-gun" Moyer seemed like everyday fare, I'm not even sure if Peavy had to be on his game today to do what he did.

Evidence that Peavy was off his game: Didn't go 9.

I'll be optimistic as soon as I wake up in the morning, but right now this team looks a heck of a lot like last year's group.

"It was both nice and sad to see all the oldtimers."

Indeed...I was watching on television and actually lurched out of my seat in shock upon seeing John Montefusco barrel through the gate. He looked like a barcolounger upholstered in a Giants jersey. Then I had to wipe a tear away when Willie Mac reached for those crutches. I knew it was coming, since I had heard about his kneee problems, but to see him actually need assistance was pretty stirring.

Pedro's inner monolgue:

"I'll show all those bastards that say I won't lay off the 1st pitch!  Ha!  I'll really show them by laying off the 2nd pitch, too! Double ha!  There, now that that's out of the way, I'll go back to my old hacktastic ways for the rest of the season."

What's this?  What did they do to the other parking lots?  Were they just being used for something else or are they off limits for the whole year?

That's complete balls about the parking. I take BART into the city and walk to the ballpark anyway but if I had a car the parking situation would annoy the everloving snot out of me.

That's one of the immutable laws of a downtown ballpark, folks. Go to Wrigley, Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Camden Yards to some extent... they weren't built in the suburbs or in industrial parts of town with lots of parking space. I drive almost always, but I have some places I check first & I try to get there early so I can score them.  Take public transit to downtown ballparks, or else don't complain that parking is difficult.

See, me, I'm only ever reminded of Kirk Rueter in a good way.

Considering Zito's April history, I thought it was a pretty good start.

What are the chances that Feliz is already out of that job? Maybe keeping Niekro/Sweeney was strategy for the "crap, Feliz is worse than ever, isn't he?" thing that Bochy and Sabean must have felt during spring training. I know, I know... the chances are right around zero. But a guy can dream.

I'm really hoping that Bochy's decision to start Pedro in this game had more to do with an "Opening Day" lineup thing and not because he felt Pedro/Richie gave him a better chance than Richie/Ryan.

You're right, it's not just one game.  It's a near seamless continuation of the past three years.  More than three years, really.

This morning, I was listening to someone on KNBR complaining about Sabean's failure to bring in a legitimate power hitter this past off-season. You know, it's not like he didn't try.  

Brian Sabean's downfall can be traced to the absolute and utter failure of his farm system.  Under Sabean's watch (along with that of Director of Player Development Jack Hiatt and Director of Scouting Matt Nerland), the farm system has produced very little in the way of real pitching talent, and not even one position player that has had any real impact or value.

For the first half of his tenure, Sabean's failure to produce significant home-grown talent went largely unnoticed. He was able to build a World Series caliber team, starting with his astute trades for players like Kirk Rueter, J.T. Snow and Jeff Kent. He even saw Rich Aurilia, a guy he had scouted and helped Bob Quinn trade for back in '94, become a strong contributor at shortstop.  

Then, thanks to two key factors:

• Sabean's reputation, from his years with the Yankees, as a builder of strong farm system talent
• A free-agent market that was always flush with reasonably-priced, ready-to-sign talent

...Brian Sabean was able trade away the likes of:

• Jason Brester
  
• Darin Blood
  
• Joe Fontenot
  
• Mike Villano
  
• Armando Rios
  
• Ryan Vogelsong
  
• Jason Grilli
  
• Nate Bump
  
• Chris Magruder
  
• Felix Diaz
  
• Ryan Meaux
  

...and several others, far less memorable, for players like:

• Ellis Burks
  
• Joe Carter
  
• Robb Nen
  
• Jason Schmidt
  
• Livan Hernandez
  
• Andres Galarraga
  
• Kenny Lofton

And then of course, there was the ongoing presence of one Barry Bonds, giving the Giants year after year of the most awesome and the most productive hitting the game has ever seen.

The San Francisco Giants of the late '90s and early '00s were teams that hit for power, scored a lot of runs, played good defense, and pitched reasonably well, particularly out of the bullpen.

So, yeah, the failure of the farm system went pretty much unnoticed for a good stretch there.  But then a couple things changed:

1. The league got wise to the Giants farm system. They watched just about every last one of the players Sabean foisted on the Pirates, Marlins, Rockies, Marlins and White Sox turn out to be dogs. Suddenly, Brian Sabean was having a hard time getting anyone to take his calls.
2. Small and mid-market teams started benefiting from luxury tax and revenue sharing money, and they began signing their homegrown talent a bit more frequently.  The free agent cupboard began turning up largely bare. Those trade-deadline specials that Sabean once feasted on were no longer in great abundance.

Less talent available to trade for, and no one wants what you have to offer anyway.  Suddenly, it became very important for the Giants to have their own home-grown talent.  And that's when the bankruptcy of the Giants' farm system really became noticeable.

So, Brian Sabean is painted into a corner.  The organization is riddled with dead wood. Dead wood in the front office that is matched perfectly by the dead wood up and down the batting order (I'm going to go ahead and skip the all-too-obvious joke here about the Giants needing to up their erectile dysfunction advertising).

There are way too many "Special Assistants" and "Senior Advisors" who do basically nothing.  Way too many Directors who do far too little.  I mean, for the life of me, I can't understand how Jack Hiatt has kept his job as Director of Player Development for 14 years, or how Matt Nerland is in his eighth year as Director of Scouting.  I suspect it's because Brian Sabean is a decent guy who, beneath a sort of gruff exterior, actually deals with people with integrity and compassion. I think he's loyal to his guys and is loath to fire them.

I think we're witnessing Brian Sabean's swansong. I hate saying it, because I like Brian Sabean, and I applaud all that he did to build the Giants into a winning organization in the late 90's and early 00's.  And, even with the failure of the farm system, Sabean is still a largely competent GM. The Giants could do a lot worse.  In fact, they very well may do worse, once Sabean is cashiered (or more likely, kicked upstairs) after this year.

But hopefully, the Giants will bring in someone with some fresh energy, fresh ideas--particulary where building a farm system is concerned--and the long-overdue process of rebuilding the franchise can begin.  

It will probably be a pretty brutal process for at least a couple years. Lots of familiar faces and names will probably be kicked to the curb. Probably a few good people will be swept out, along with the incompetent.  But a clean sweep is badly needed right now for a team that has just one young player--Matt Cain--who looks like a sure talent they can count on for years to come.  There's no one else on their current roster, and no one else in their farm system--not even Lincecum or Villalona--of whom that can be said.

A viking funeral is probably the best thing for the Giants' current front office, and the sooner it begins, the better.  

Sabean not only has time to make things worse, he's got tremendous motivation to do so, knowing as we all do that he's the scape goat if things go south (as they seem likely to do).