Giants Fans Furious at the Front Office

Today is a sad day for all San Francisco Giants fans. Their superstar player won't be around after the end of this season. His last game at home will be next Wednesday night against the Padres. Barry Bonds will no longer be a Giant after that. When the Giants had their press conference this evening, owner Peter Magowan looked like he just came back from a funeral while general manager Brian Sabean was all business as usual. Sabean spoke like a confident man and said he plans to retool the team through free agency and trades but of course, gave no specifics. Does this man have a plan? I seriously doubt it. The only plan he seems to have is to annoy season ticket holders and frustrate them with his incompetent decisions. Magowan makes the ridiculous move of resigning Sabean to a new contract while cutting ties with his superstar player. The last time ownership sided with the front office over a player in the Bay Area was when the Warriors ownership sided with Don Nelson over Chris Webber and we all know how bad that decision was.

Principal partner Larry Baer got on the local TV channel this evening and said he expects the attendence next year to be over three million. He said the fans want to see the Giants win and will go out to the park to watch players such as OF Rajai Davis and pitchers Noah Lowry and Matt Cain. Is this man delusional or what? Giants fans do not care about Davis, Dave Roberts, or Noah Lowry. They care about Bonds. Giants fans already have said they will not renew their season tickets for next year as there will be no Bonds in left field or an All Star Game. Bonds brought excitement and joy to all the fans for 15 years. Kids were looking sad this evening at the park when they found out their favorite player would not be back in a Giant uniform in 2008.

Giants fans are angry and furious at the front office. The message boards and forums are filled with fans saying they will not renew season tickets or go to a game next year. I don't blame these fans either. Why would you renew season tickets when you can just go and buy a ticket at the ticket office outside the park? Games will not be sold out anymore. The Devil Rays may be in last place but they are not a boring team. I would pay to watch Carl Crawford, Scott Kazmir, Carlos Pena, and B.J. Upton play. Can I say the same about Kevin Frandsen, Dan Ortmeier, and Guillermo Rodriguez? You already know the answer to that. Give me a 43-year-old Barry Bonds over all of those players.

The front office is trying to place the blame of the team's losing record to Bonds. The fact is that if Bonds was not on this team, the Giants would be looking at over 100 losses this year. It is Sabean's fault and not Bonds for signing Rich Aurelia, Ryan Klesko, Dave Roberts, and Barry Zito. How about the new contract for Ray Durham? Is that Barry's fault too? Is it Barry's fault that Zito had the worst season of his career or that Matt Morris couldn't get his curveball over? Fans came to the ballpark this year to watch Barry hit home runs and not to watch the
Kevin Frandsens of the world. You can bet next year that there will be lots of empty green seats at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. Congratulations to Brian Sabean and the whole front office of the Giants for getting rid of their meal ticket and best player. Come next year, the 2007 season will be considered a success compared to the 2008 season.