Thursday at AT&T Park was a farewell festival. It was kind of like the last day of high school, except with strikeouts and garlic fries.

On a postcard-sunny afternoon, the Giants played their final home game of 2009. Fans said goodbyes to several veterans who won’t be with them next season. Rich Aurilia received multiple warm standing ovations to salute his 1,291 games with the team. He’s not returning for 2010.
Randy Winn will be gone, too. Bengie Molina almost surely will be. Randy Johnson, also. The three of them absorbed their own applause, then dressed quietly after the Giants’ 7-3 victory, realizing their moments in the home clubhouse were dwindling.
All of this was expected. So was the afternoon’s announcement that general manager Brian Sabean and field manager Bruce Bochy will be invited to return when their contracts expire later this month.
But here is the brutal fact that nobody wanted to admit: More goodbyes will soon be necessary. One or more additional players in that same Giants clubhouse — probably some top-tier pitchers — must be sacrificed via trade this winter. Otherwise, the Giants will again have no legitimate hope of reaching the 2010 playoffs.
The specific decisions will fall to Sabean, who is not the unanimous favorite of Giants’ followers. And truth be told, anyone arguing about whether to dump or keep Sabean could find plenty of ammunition for either choice.
So why is Sabean back, ultimately? Keep in mind, Giants’ owner Bill Nuekom has been the team CEO for barely a year. He can’t have many trusted Major League Baseball contacts.
Here’s why that matters: If he had decided to dump Sabean, Neukom would not have known for certain where to turn for a replacement. He would have been guessing. Nuekom is man who craves certainty and order. It’s why he created his “Giants Way” manual. One page undoubtedly says: “Never fire someone unless you have a proven upgrade ready to step into the job.”
The same page applies to Bochy. There were times this summer when you wondered why, with such an impotent batch of hitters, he did not order up more bunts or hit-and-run plays. But then, Bochy would place the order — only to see the Giants botch the execution. And you wondered no longer. Bochy wheedled more wins out of the Giants this season than anyone had a right to expect last spring. That should count for something.
Which brings us to the 2010 Giants’ roster. A third grader could tell you that the batting order needs more power and brawn. Nothing in the Giants’ farm system can provide that as soon as next April, not even the vaunted Buster Posey.
So that leaves free agency. Millions of dollars are indeed coming off the Giants’ payroll. So it’s possible money will be there to buy up a big bat. Except for this catch: The top free agents with the heaviest bats, such as Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, will be very reluctant to take the Giants’ money.
This isn’t about deep pockets. It’s about deep outfield fences. And foggy nights when the ball doesn’t carry. When you have a ballpark that makes hitting tough, it’s tough to sign hitters. The Giants’ dilemma was best elucidated by a Tim Lincecum quote after his victorious Thursday start. Lincecum was asked to craft a sales pitch for potential free-agent power hitters that might bring them to AT&T Park.
“Well,” Lincecum said after a brief pause, “the wind blows out sometimes.”
How often?
“It’s usually during batting practice,” Lincecum said.
He hastened to add that the Giants’ clubhouse is a great place full of swell camaraderie. But camaraderie and a $13-million salary is still no guarantee of landing a Holliday or Bay.
That leaves a trade as the only realistic option. And there are numerous big swingers out there who might be acquired. But in return, the Giants will have to give up one of their talented young arms.
Lincecum is an untouchable because (A) if he leaves, fans would turn the 2010 season opener into Pitchfork Day and (B) he is the best National League starter west of the Rockies and on most nights, anywhere.
It’s a hard thing to contemplate. But to obtain the bat they need, the Giants will have to trade someone they love. It might be Matt Cain, who will try to win his 15th game Saturday in his last start. Or it might be reliever Brian Wilson.
Of the two, Wilson would be the easier to replace. But if you can get a quality boomer in the batting order every day, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to sacrifice a quality every-fifth-day starter. Would it?
Because here’s one other fact that no one mentioned Thursday: In three days, the Giants will conclude their 52nd season in San Francisco without a World Series title. They could end that streak next October. But they’ll have to trade for it.