After Barry Bonds finished his career with the Giants in 2007 and the team had yet to win a World Series in San Francisco, it was time for the organization to rebuild from within.
With Bonds and his chase for the home run record out of the picture, and new manager Bruce Bochy with one season under his belt, the Giants hoped to become the first team to bring a championship to the Bay since the 49ers did it in 1994.
In 2008, the Giants used the fifth overall pick in the MLB draft to select catcher Buster Posey out of Florida State. The Giants had struggled to solidify the catcher position after a trade for A.J. Pierzynski, who only lasted one frustrating season with the team, and Mike Matheny’s career was cut short due to concussions. Since the move to the shores of McCovey Cove, the Giants had put 19 different catchers behind the dish prior to Posey’s arrival.
Posey was one of the top prospects in the 2008 draft class and was a bright spot in the Giants organization throughout his minor league career. Taking a fast track through the minor leagues, he was called up to make his MLB debut late in the 2009 season due to injuries that sidelined then-starting catcher Bengie Molina. Posey began the 2010 season in AAA Fresno, but was soon called up in May and immediately made an impact, forcing the Giants to trade Molina and make Buster an everyday fixture in the lineup.
But with one World Series title under their belt, the Giants were far from finished. After Posey went down with a gruesome, season-ending injury, they called up shortstop Brandon Crawford, who was selected in the 2008 draft out of UCLA. Similar to the catcher position, the Giants struggled to find a mainstay at shortstop after Rich Aurilia left the team after the 2003 season. San Francisco sent out 19 different shortstops between Aurilia’s departure and Crawford’s debut with the team in 2011. With numerous shortstops unable to claim the position, the rookie stepped in and shortstop became his position to lose. Veterans like Omar Vizquel, Miguel Tejada, and Edgar Renteria worked as short-term solutions, but the Giants needed a young face to help lead the team, and Crawford was a perfect fit.
After struggling at the plate in his first few seasons, Crawford has seen his batting average and RBI totals rise to levels rarely seen from defensively gifted shortstops. He has established himself as one of the league’s premier infielders, earning himself a Gold Glove in 2015.
One area Crawford was always juggling was playing with a consistent second baseman. Ray Durham was the Giants’ everyday second baseman after Jeff Kent’s Giants career ended in 2002, but after Durham left the team, the Giants were left with a hole at second. Over twenty different players had a stint there since Durham was traded in 2008, but as injuries shortened the careers of Freddy Sanchez and Marco Scutaro, the Giants called on a young prospect within the organization.
Drafted as a shortstop in 2011, Joe Panik made his MLB debut with the team in 2014. Despite competition with Dan Uggla and Brandon Hicks, Panik won the job and became a mainstay at second base. Now, he and Crawford have provided the Giants with one of the best middle infields in baseball.
Brandon Belt made his MLB debut in 2011 following a strong spring training performance. With J.T. Snow’s departure from the Giants in 2005, the Giants lacked an everyday first baseman until 2010, when veteran Aubrey Huff helped San Francisco win its first World Series title. But Huff struggled the next two seasons, leaving the team without a dependable option
Drafted in 2009, Belt bolted his way through the minors and earned himself a spot on the 2011 Opening Day Roster, but as Belt struggled to adjust to big league pitching, he bounced back and forth between AAA and the big leagues in his first two years. He has now developed into the everyday first baseman the Giants were hoping for, and just this year, signed an extension through 2021.
With Pablo Sandoval rounding out the infield at third-base, the Giants looked to be the young, homegrown team of the future. The Giants would go on to win three World Series championships in five years, but things took an unexpected turn for the organization when Sandoval signed a huge free-agent deal with the Boston Red Sox after the 2014 season.
Rather than looking within the organization, as they did with the other infield positions, the Giants traded for free agent Casey McGehee, who had just won Comeback Player of the Year with the Marlins. McGehee did not pan out as the Giants hoped. He hit 213 with 11 RBI in 49 games and committed five errors in 32 games at third with San Francisco. McGehee was designated for assignment in May, lasting less than two months with the team.
As McGehee began to sputter, he Giants turned to rookie Matt Duffy, who was drafted in 2012 with the Giants and played in 34 games in 2014. Duffy shocked the Giants in 2015, coming second in Rookie of the Year voting and was a finalist in Gold Glove voting. Duffy got off to a slow start in 2016 and has struggled at the plate on the road, but he is starting to find his way at the plate and has played a phenomenal third base for the team, consistently being reliable for the pitching staff.
The Giants now find themselves in first place in the National League West and continue to see their young players perform. What came out of those years of under .500 baseball for the Giants was high draft picks and the desire improve. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Giants were a competitive team and the turn the organization took after losing the 2002 World Series was not what the front office or fans hoped for. From the years of inconsistency and finishing in fourth and fifth place, the Giants developed a core group of young players who now give the Giants one of the brightest futures the organization has ever seen. With all even-year superstitions aside, this group has energized a huge fan base and put the Giants in position to make a run at another title in 2016.