SAN FRANCISCO -- For the first time in eight years, Farhan Zaidi will not be spending October watching his team participate in the postseason. But that doesn't mean it'll be a quieter month for the Giants' president of baseball operations.
The Giants have to hire a new general manager and manager. They have to decide what they want to do in the bidding for Madison Bumgarner. The bullpen has holes, and will have two gaping ones if Will Smith and Tony Watson depart.
Then there's the lineup, and as Zaidi went over the situation on Tuesday - he pointed to that group as the one that represents his biggest need this winter. Asked what specifically stands out about the roster deficiencies, Zaidi said the Giants simply must figure "out a way to generate more offense in this ballpark."
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"When you look at our home record and road record, there's a feeling that if we could have sustained offense a little better in this park it would have put us in a better position," he said.
The Giants finished just 35-46 at home, tied for the worst home mark in franchise history. They scored 271 runs at home compared to 407 on the road, where they went 42-39 and generally looked like a contender.
Two of those road wins came at the end of August, when the Giants outscored the streaking A's 15-9 while winning both weekend games. Zaidi repeatedly pointed to that series, which got the Giants back to 65-65, as one that stood out given what happened afterward.
"You looked at the rest of our schedule and we had a daunting road schedule in September, playing some very good teams on the road, and you felt like we were going to have to really make hay (at home) in the games and the series we had left," he said. "We went 6-7 on our last two road trips against some good teams and we were 6-13 at home. Obviously the offensive output in those 19 games was a major issue."
San Francisco Giants
The Giants scored just 58 runs over those final 19 home games. With a city ready to erupt for any sign of life on Bruce Bochy's final weekend, the lineup got shut out twice and swept by the Dodgers.
Zaidi said the major goal will be finding ways to be more dangerous at home, regardless of what position an option might play. That could ultimately lead to some changes, and less playing time, for core players. Buster Posey didn't hit his first homer at Oracle Park until the final homestand and slugged just .335 at home.
Brandon Crawford had a .209/.292/.269 slash line at Oracle Park. Evan Longoria crushed in away games but had a .658 OPS at home. Brandon Belt was at .709 with just five homers and 20 RBI.
While some of the newcomers had their moments -- Kevin Pillar and Mike Yastrzemski did hit for power at Oracle -- the only hitter with an OPS over .800 at home was Alex Dickerson, who had a .942 but had trouble staying on the field.
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In future years, it may be easier to sell free agent hitters on coming to a park that will have new dimensions. But that may be a tough ask this winter, so the Giants likely will have to get creative with trades. If you've proven you can hit at Oracle Park in the past, you're going to be on the front office's wish list.
"For us to identify ways to improve in the ballpark, that's going to be a major goal," Zaidi said.