I also agree with you, for the most part, the Giants haven’t had many good enough young players. Looking back, I think of Pedro Feliz and Yorvit Torrealba as being the two guys who really should have gotten to play earlier. Neither are stars, but they were certainly capable everyday players.

In Torrealba’s case, the Giants might never have gotten A.J. Pierzynski (who’d they trade for him again?). It’s interesting because the year after they got Pierzynski, they went back to Mike Matheny, who was basically an older, more expensive version of Torrealba (good glove, no hit).

And when you say young players, that has a broad implication covering all, but you really mean young position players. The Giants have been very good about giving their young pitching prospects, when they are good enough to deserve it, the opportunity to start. For a recent example, you only have to go as far back as Lincecum, then Cain, then Lowry. And Sanchez was brought to the majors relatively quickly as well.