For the most part, the Giants built their pennant-winning team through trades and free agency. The lack of homegrown talent does not mean that the Giants have a weak farm system. San Francisco's farm system rates out as average overall, featuring very strong pitching, but contributing very few hitting prospects. The focus on pitching is deliberate, and GM Brian Sabean has made a habit of trading pitching prospects for veterans in recent years. It has worked out well.

Here's a position-by-position look at how the Giants built their 2002 club.

Catchers
Benito Santiago, Yorvit Torrealba
Santiago was signed as a free agent during spring training of 2001. He did not require draft choice compensation. Reserve catcher Torrealba was signed out of Venezuela by the Giants in 1994, one of the few home-grown guys on the roster. He's a strong catch-and-throw guy, only 24, so he'll have a long career as a backup. He can hit for average, but doesn't have enough power to start on a regular basis.

First base
J.T. Snow
Snow was originally in the Yankees system, then was traded to the Angels in 1993. He came to the Giants in November of 1996, in exchange for left-hander Allen Watson and right-hander Fausto Macey. Macey was something of a prospect at one point, though he never developed into a real pitcher. A good solid trade for the Giants.

Second base
Jeff Kent
Remember the Matt Williams trade back in November of 1996? People thought Sabean was insane at the time, but it's worked out pretty well. No prospects were exchanged here.

Third base
David Bell, Pedro Feliz
Bell came to San Francisco this past January, traded from Seattle after he lost his starting job at third base to Jeff Cirillo. The Giants gave up Desi Relaford to get him. Backup third baseman Feliz was signed as a free agent in 1994, from the Dominican Republic. He emerged as a prospect in 2000, hitting .298 with 33 homers in Triple-A, but his strike zone judgment is weak, and has kept him from earning a full-time role in the majors.

Shortstop
Rich Aurilia
Aurilia came to San Francisco way back in 1994, acquired in a Christmas Eve trade with the Rangers along with first-base prospect Desi Wilson, in exchange for John Burkett. At the time, Aurilia was a Double-A shortstop who'd hit just .234, although he did show some power and good strike zone judgment, and has developed into a better player than most scouts anticipated. Wilson never developed.

Left field
Barry Bonds
The Giants signed Bonds as a free agent in December of 1992. The Pirates received a supplemental first-round pick in compensation, which they used to acquire high school first baseman Andy Rice. Rice never developed, while Bonds has evolved from an excellent player into the best left fielder who ever lived.

Center field
Kenny Lofton
Acquired from the White Sox this past July, in exchange for minor-league pitchers Felix Diaz and Ryan Meaux, an example of Sabean trading prospects for a veteran. Diaz has a very live arm, and should be ready to contribute within the next year, though his track record is a bit erratic, and he isn't a true blue chip. Meaux throws strikes, but doesn't throw that hard, and projects as a bullpen lefty.

Right field
Reggie Sanders
Sanders signed as a free agent this past January, after playing for the Diamondbacks in 2001. Sanders had not been offered salary arbitration, so Arizona did not receive a draft pick in compensation.

Reserve outfielders
Shawon Dunston, Tom Goodwin, Tsuyoshi Shinjo
Both Dunston and Goodwin were signed as free agents last spring. Shinjo came to the Giants from the Mets, along with Relaford, in exchange for Shawn Estes last December.

Reserve infielder
Ramon Martinez
Martinez was acquired from the Royals in a minor-league trade in 1996.

Starting pitchers
Livan Hernandez, Russ Ortiz, Kirk Rueter, Jason Schmidt
Hernandez came to the Giants from the Marlins in July of '99, exchanged for pitching prospects Jason Grilli and Nate Bump. Both of those guys were considered hot prospects at the time, Grilli especially, but both have struggled with injuries and inconsistency, and have been unable to reach their potential.

Ortiz is the only home grown pitcher in the playoff rotation, having signed as a fourth-round pick in 1995 from the University of Oklahoma. Rueter was acquired back in 1996, traded from the Expos in exchange for Mark Leiter. Schmidt came over from Pittsburgh midway through 2001, traded along with John Vander Wal in exchange for outfielder Armando Rios and pitching prospect Ryan Vogelsong. The latter was considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, but hurt his arm soon after the trade.

Relief pitchers
Robb Nen, Felix Rodriguez, Scott Eyre, Jay Witasick, Tim Worrell, Chad Zerbe, Aaron Fultz
Nen was another trade acquisition, from Florida in November of 1997 for three pitching prospects: Joe Fontenot, Mike Villano, and Mick Pageler. Fontenot and Villano were well-regarded, but again, injuries and inconsistency doomed them. Rodriguez was picked up from Arizona for two roster-filler prospects, lefty Troy Brohawn (since reacquired) and outfielder Chris Van Rossum. Eyre was claimed on waivers this summer from Toronto. Witasick came from the Yankees in exchange for Vander Wal last winter. The Giants got Worrell from the Cubs for farm system product Bill Mueller in November of 2000. Zerbe began his career in the Dodgers system, but was released and drifted to independent ball. The Giants picked him up as a minor league free agent in '98. Fultz began his career with the Giants, a sixth-round pick in 1992 from a junior college in Florida, but took a roundabout way to San Francisco. He was traded to the Twins in '93, then was released and re-signed by the Giants in '96. We will count him as a farm system product.

Not on playoff roster
Ryan Jensen, Damon Minor, Marvin Benard
The Giants drafted Jensen in the eighth round in 1996, out of Southern Utah University. Minor was also drafted in '96, a 12th round pick from the University of Oklahoma. Benard was a 50th round choice back in 1992, from Lewis and Clark State College in Idaho.

Analysis
Of the 28 players listed above, six were signed as free agents, 14 were acquired in trades, one was picked up on waivers, five were drafted out of North America, and two were signed as Latin American amateurs. The Giants have built their success mostly through astute trading and free-agent acquisitions. Of the regular players and rotation starters, only one (Ortiz) was a product of the farm system.

Note that the Giants did a good job of trading prospects: none of the prospects they let go in acquiring veterans has turned into a good player. Perhaps other general managers should be suspicious of any prospects Brian Sabean is willing to trade. He seems to have a good instinct about when it's time to cut bait on a young pitcher.

Future outlook
The Giants have a lot of age on their roster, and it will be interesting to see how they approach keeping the team intact. The farm system has three of the best pitching prospects in baseball ready for auditions next year (Jesse Foppert, Jerome Williams, Kurt Ainsworth), with more live arms backing them up at lower levels. But the system is extremely thin in position players, and Sabean will have to find a way to leverage all that young pitching into a decent offense, to keep the team competitive in the long haul.

John Sickels is the author of the 2002 STATS Minor League Scouting Notebook. He is currently writing a biography of Bob Feller. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with his wife, son, and two cats. You can send John questions or comments at JASickels@aol.com, or you can visit his homepage at johnsickels.com.