Reason for optimism: Fans are blessed with a core quintet of consistently excellent 4.0+ WAR players.
Reason for pessimism: That consistency leads to an uncomfortable query: Where's the upside?
They certainly took one of the strangest paths possible to get where they wanted, but on Oct. 11, 2016, shortly before midnight ET, the San Francisco Giants were as well-positioned as possible to extend their curious even-year success.
Down 2-1 in the series but with a three-run lead at home against the Chicago Cubs in the National League Division Series and three outs away from forcing a one-game playoff with the best team in baseball, the Giants' bizarre season looked set to continue. They had spent the first half of the season locked in a battle for the best record in baseball; astoundingly, they spent the second half of the year locked in a battle for the worst record in baseball. It was an odd path, but in the end, the Giants blew the lead against the Cubs, lost the series and essentially finished as what they were -- an 87-win team with 87-win talent and a run-differential nearly identical to their hated NL West foes, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
