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Giants management potentially risking job security as it stands by small-ball philosophy

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A Major League season featuring a record 6,105 home runs was the first clue that times have changed.

A fall classic featuring a Houston Astros team that hit a World Series record 15 home runs across seven games was an indication that baseball is in the midst of a revolution.

A hire of an Astros’ assistant to take over as the San Francisco Giants’ new hitting coach was practically the franchise’s admission of guilt.

But alas, on Monday morning, Giants’ general manager Bobby Evans, vice president of baseball operations Brian Sabean, and manager Bruce Bochy confirmed the organization was not backing down. San Francisco won three World Series titles with a small-ball approach, and new hitting coach Alonzo Powell was brought in to maintain that philosophy.

“You’ve also got to understand the ballpark,” Powell said on a conference call with reporters. “You’re not just going to turn around and hit home runs. The biggest thing is we have to find hits. We have to find walks. We have to find ways to get on base and keep the chain moving to the next guy. You have to understand the league and the NL West is one of the hardest places to hit the baseball. We have to do the little things to compete, to get on base and get runners over and get the runner in. Those are the things we have to be efficient in if we’re going to succeed the way we want to succeed.”

The “little things” are what carried the Giants to World Series wins over the Rangers, Tigers and Royals. The little things were timely two-out hitting, focused two-strike approaches, and clutch bullpen efforts. The big things were Buster Posey and dominant starting pitching. San Francisco still has Posey, and Giants’ management believes its starting pitching, led by 2014 postseason star Madison Bumgarner, is still its “bread and butter.”

The Giants aren’t just hoping the 2017 regular season, the postseason and the World Series are a mirage. They’re banking on it.

Evans and Sabean have referred to San Francisco’s 64-98 record and last-place finish in the National League West as an aberration. The Giants may not necessarily believe that home run totals will regress to the mean, but they do believe they don’t need to hit the ball out of the park as frequently as their peers to compete. While Powell’s two-year stint with the Astros coincided with Houston’s rise to the top, the Giants were not specifically taken with the World Series winners’ gaudy home run totals. Bochy saw the way Powell’s hitters cut down on their strikeouts, and the way Houston put the ball in play.

A match was made.

“You talk about power, he (Powell) really expressed it well with our ballpark and everything and what I like about Houston is they can play the little game,” Bochy said. “They cut back their strikeouts, were able to play small ball when needed and keep the line moving. So again, I look forward to working with him.”

Perhaps Giants’ management feels boxed in. Perhaps more philosophical changes are part of a long-term plan for improvement, but Evans, Sabean and Bochy feel tied up by the significant commitments the Giants have already made to the players on payroll. If that’s the case, the Giants’ can’t exactly publicize their eagerness to get veteran contracts off the books and begin a youth movement. Evans and Sabean have reiterated that they’ll explore various trade opportunities this winter, and if those opportunities come to fruition, a roster overhaul may begin sooner than San Francisco expects.

But at least for the time being, the Giants must respond to baseball’s power surge with the hand they dealt themselves. And right now, the franchise is not prepared to fold.

“It’s complicated because after a 98-loss season, we do have some glaring weaknesses,” Sabean said, when asked about the Giants’ offseason priorities. “Centerfield needs to be upgraded. We have to find an everyday third baseman and we have to be resourceful in how we reconstruct the bullpen.”

Evans, Sabean and Bochy are the first to admit the Giants’ 2017 season was a failure. They’ve acknowledged miscalculations, rearranged the coaching staff, and formed a big-picture perspective about plans for a turnaround. Part of that perspective, though, is their belief that with the right pieces in place, the Giants can contend in 2018.

They also know their weaknesses are deeper than just a deficiency of power throughout the lineup. The Giants’ defense was atrocious, and their bullpen wasn’t deep enough. To compete in the National League West, they believe they need more than just a middle of the order presence.

“In a perfect world, lord knows we need more power,” Sabean said. “Now will that come in the form of more doubles? Being able to hit some more home runs, a bigger bat in the middle of the lineup, etc. But I think we all admit that centerfield, third base and the bullpen are areas that we just can’t run from good pickups.”

By prioritizing outfield defense, a starter at third base, and a more complete bullpen, Evans and Sabean are taking a calculated risk. Instead of rushing out to sign J.D. Martinez and pretending that one change will restore relevancy, the Giants are hoping incremental improvements across the roster offer a bounce-back opportunity.

It’s an approach that appears thorough and deliberate, and one that could ultimately prove that to compete in the modern world, a team doesn’t need to hit 200-plus home runs. Nevertheless, it’s also a strategy that threatens to put San Francisco behind the times, and puts the jobs of Evans, Sabean, Bochy and others directly on the line.

If the Giants make several incremental changes without adding more legitimate offensive threats, the methods of the front office could come off as outdated and ill-equipped to function in the modern game should the team struggle to compete in 2018. San Francisco’s coaching staff reassignments already proved the franchise is eager for new voices to be heard, and if the Giants flounder again next season, there could be a call for new voices at the top.

As Major League Baseball falls in love with the long ball, the Giants insist they’ll stay patient with small-ball. Sabean and Evans have constructed championship rosters before, and they certainly have the baseball acumen in the front office, and in the dugout, to do it again.

The Giants’ management will soon begin taking risks that put their job security at stake, but after a 64-98 season, any personnel decision, philosophical shift or attempt to correct the team’s flaws is going to do so anyway.