​Just six days ago I noted that the last time the Giants found themselves in last place in July wasn’t far in the rearview mirror: it was 2019. Of course, the current situation bears little resemblance to that rebuilding mess. The 2026 Giants were expected to be good, or at least in the running for “decent,” while 2019 was anticipated to be borderline unwatchable. At the All-Star Break, Bruce Bochy’s Farewell Tour found the team at 41-48, last in the standings but only 5.5 games out of a Wild Card, riding a 7-3 stretch. Yes, the run differential hovered around -70, but the team wasn’t as disastrous as the present one; and a couple of weeks later, they stood 50-50 and just 2.5 games out of a Wild Card. You’ll recall that Farhan Zaidi treated that deadline as a blend of selling and buying.
This isn’t to claim Zaidi was a better baseball executive than Buster Posey, but it is interesting to note that after the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Zaidi didn’t do much to improve 2019 on the fly, yet through thoughtful planning and decision-making, he managed to coax a bit more success from the roster. That feels like a notable contrast between the two front offices. Talent wins games, yes, but in an era of “helicopter” executives, a lighter touch or a more hands-off approach often seems out of step with how things are done now.
If you want a more recent example, look at the Colorado Rockies. They didn’t overhaul their roster in the offseason, yet through deliberate planning and disciplined decision-making, Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes have managed to extract more value from the roster. From 2022 through 2025, the Rockies were the league’s worst offense, posting an 81 wRC+ across 648 games. They walked in 7.3% of their plate appearances and struck out 25% of the time, ranking as the third-worst baserunning team in the sport. This year, they’re at a 93 wRC+ (28th), but their walk rate has ticked up to 8.3% (24th) and their strikeout rate has fallen to 22.9% (21st). They’re now only seventh-worst in baserunning, with the Giants ranking as the worst in that category.
So this isn’t merely a dig at Buster Posey and Zack Minasian, who are relatively new to their roles compared with Colorado’s front office this season and even the Giants’ 2019 setup. That said, the Giants — as the 2021 season demonstrated — did have genuine talent on the roster. And that was likely true for this year’s team as well.
In the end, it seems the Rockies are perhaps moving in the right direction simply by changing their process, a shift some might scoff at if they judge only by the pitching staff. Yet they’re on pace to win about as many games as the Giants did after three straight seasons with 100-plus losses. The Giants might be headed in the right direction because of the work being done in the farm system by Michael Holmes and Randy Winn, yet it would be optimistic to assume fans should automatically believe the team is on an unquestionable positive trajectory. It’s a reminder that front-office approach matters, and a proactive, well-timed plan can sometimes yield results that raw talent alone cannot.