Winning architects built Rangers, Giants for the long haul

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers take great pride in the number of significant players they've developed through their farm systems, but both teams know they wouldn't be in the World Series without wheeling and dealing that continued as long as the rules allowed.

They spent the summer making moves — one team, then the other — almost as if they knew they'd be matching rosters for 10 days in the fall.

From the Rangers' high-profile grab of pitcher Cliff Lee in early July to the Giants' fine-tuning of their bullpen at the July 31 trade deadline to waiver claims and deals all through August that had both general managers accused of acquisition overkill — charges from which they've clearly been acquitted — the Rangers' Jon Daniels and the Giants' Brian Sabean have assembled collections of parts that have turned into magic potions for success.

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"We have some characters here, whether you want to call them castoffs or misfits," Giants manager Bruce Bochy says. "I compare them to The Dirty Dozen. That's the way they play, but they've coalesced into a team that goes out there to win."

That's perhaps the most surprising and gratifying part of the Giants' progression through this season: Personalities meshing on the fly, egos taking a back seat to changing roles.

"It did change our lineup and changed some roles," Bochy says. "I'll start with Pat Burrell. We brought him up to be a pinch-hitter. But the way he played, he forced himself into the lineup. It's nice to have a group of unselfish players who have one agenda, and that is to get to postseason. There is no complaining. They accepted their roles, which they probably weren't real happy (about)."

Rangers manager Ron Washington understands the difficulty of that immersion of personalities and adjustments to lineups, but he's seeing the results of a longer process.

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"Any type of change takes time," Washington says. "Any type of change takes repetition. It takes belief. It takes the right group of guys. I finally got the right group of guys. They started understanding how important pitching is, how important defense is."

Both teams have been building with a purpose, similarly focusing on pitching and defense.

"Everyone knows we built around pitching and more pitching on top of that," says Tim Lincecum, the Giants' Game 1 starting pitcher and two-time National League Cy Young Award winner. "We built the starting rotation around guys like myself and (Game 2 starter Matt) Cain, who came up through the system and understood it."

The Giants rotation of Lincecum, Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner will be the first all-homegrown group to start their team's World Series games since the 1986 Boston Red Sox used Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst, Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd and Al Nipper.

The Giants knew since spring training that the success of their season hinged on finding enough offense to support the pitching staff.

That was the focus most of the summer, beginning with the May 29 signing of Burrell, who had been released by the Tampa Bay Rays. He forced his way into a lineup that already had the surprising addition in center field of Andres Torres — signed as a 31-year-old journeyman free agent before the 2009 season.

The rest of the offensive additions came in August, when players had to be slipped through the waiver process. Infielder Mike Fontenot came from the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 13 and outfielder Jose Guillen from the Kansas City Royals two days later. When Cody Ross was claimed off waivers Aug. 22, the biggest question was how could the Giants fit him into their crowded outfield.

They found a way, especially when he hit and kept hitting, so much so that he became NLCS MVP.

The Rangers were equally active all summer, supplementing a team with good offense, improving defense and a pitching staff beginning to dispel the theory that effective pitching in the Rangers' ballpark would never be more than a pipe dream. But they were lacking one main ingredient.

"We were able to put some pieces together to compliment what we already had," says owner and club President Nolan Ryan. "Cliff (Lee) was the biggest one. He gave us that lead horse."

Lee's July 9 acquisition from the Seattle Mariners topped off a rebuilt rotation that improved so much that Texas' first two starters of the season aren't even pitching in the postseason. Rich Harden has been released and Scott Feldman was left off the active roster.

Lefty C.J. Wilson was moved from the bullpen into the rotation and former Ranger Colby Lewis was re-signed after spending two seasons in Japan.

Now, Texas had a rotation to match the powerful lineup Daniels had been building. Designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero was signed in the offseason to hit fourth between Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. They had come in trades — Cruz in 2006, Hamilton before the 2008 season.

But the other key deal to augment homegrown hitters Michael Young and Ian Kinsler was in 2007, when shortstop Elvis Andrus and closer Neftali Feliz came from the Atlanta Braves' minor-league system in a deal for Mark Teixeira.

Daniels filled out his lineup by adding catcher Bengie Molina on July 1 and outfielder Jeff Francoeur on Aug. 31, the last day for players to be added and be eligible for the playoffs.

The Rangers GM says he doesn't have a favorite deal.

"I'm most proud of putting together our management team," he says. "Our front office, Ron Washington, putting that team together — how well they work together."

That, Daniels says, allows him to make moves with confidence.

"I hadn't seen Colby Lewis 2.0," he says. "Our people had, and they convinced me he had reinvented himself as a pitcher. They were right on."