Giants are beginning life without Bonds

SAN FRANCISCO -- Brian Sabean sat alone at the end of the home dugout Friday afternoon, bundled up in a black jacket beneath gray skies and persistent drizzle, watching this year’s edition of the San Francisco Giants take batting practice.

The Giants could be dreadful this season, perhaps historically so. Sabean, the general manager, cannot put a happy face on this product, and to his credit he does not try.

And so, from that lonely spot in the dugout, he declined to challenge the consensus that the National League West is so strong and the Giants so weak that they are the one team with no chance to win the division. He could proclaim the Giants contenders, but he won’t.

“It doesn’t seem that way,” he said.

It is Year 1 A.B. (After Bonds), with barely a trace of the face of the franchise through this decade and the last one too.

Barry Bonds set the all-time home run record here seven months ago, and already every tribute -- indeed, his very name -- has been scrubbed from the outfield walls. In the clubhouse, the recliner that separated him from his teammates has been removed. Matt Cain moved into Bonds’ old locker -- well, one of them.

And, in the Giants’ team store, you have to pass the Rajai Davis T-shirts and Noah Lowry bobblehead dolls before you can find any Bonds merchandise -- commemorative sweatshirts from the record-breaking night, shoved into the lower rung of the clearance rack, slashed from $60 to $25.

The scalpers will be slashing their prices too. The Giants happily offered Bonds and the All-Star game last year. The pitch this year: The Giants’ 50th anniversary in San Francisco, with no World Series championships and none on the horizon, with too many veterans in the lineup to buy into the rebuilding theme.

The rebuilding could be painful in more ways than one. The Giants open the season today at Dodger Stadium with two starting infielders, a starting pitcher and a setup man on the disabled list.

“We’re in a state of flux, unfortunately,” Sabean said.

The Giants imported veterans year after year, in a futile bid to win a World Series with Bonds. They advanced to the playoffs four times in eight years, but even with Bonds the last three seasons were losing ones.

They finished in last place last year, and now they’re trying to rebuild with no idea which kids can play, with old guys standing in the way.

“You have to learn from your past,” Sabean said. “You have to learn from your relative mistakes. Hindsight tells us we should have done this two years ago, whether we had Barry or not.”

The Giants, established in 1883, never have lost more than 100 games. This could be a first, although the players aren’t in the mood to make that kind of history.

“I don’t think we’re even entertaining that,” outfielder Dave Roberts said. “We’re going in with the attitude that we’re going to be in every game. If you’re in every game, and you execute, you have a chance to win.

“Last year, we were in basically all of our games. We found a way to lose.”

Indeed, the Giants led the majors last season in games decided by two runs or fewer. They played 94 such games, losing 55.

With Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito joining Cain and Lowry in the rotation, the Giants got a quality start in more than half of their games, ranking second in the league to the San Diego Padres.

But what happened here Friday night was ominous: In his final start of the spring, Lincecum left the game after pitching five no-hit innings. He did not leave the mound with a lead, though, because the Giants had not scored against an Oakland Athletics minor league pitcher.

“It’s tough to win and develop at the same time,” Sabean said. “The only thing that gives us some solace is the pitching staff. Hopefully, we can be in every game like we were last year, and then figure out how to score four runs a game.”

That could be challenging with a lineup in which Randy Winn is slated to bat third and Bengie Molina fourth, since neither man ever has hit more than 20 home runs in a season.

Five of the first six batters in the lineup could be 33 or older: Roberts, Winn, Molina, Ray Durham and Rich Aurilia. All but Durham and Aurilia are signed beyond this season, so long-term contracts that helped attract a supporting cast for Bonds now hinder the rebuilding effort.

“We’re not going totally young this year,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s difficult to do it in one year.”

It could be difficult to do it in two or three years, since it is the offense that needs repair, since their top prospects played no higher than the Class-A level last season and since the Giants’ minor league system has not produced an impact hitter since Matt Williams two decades ago.

There is no Russell Martin here, no Matt Kemp, no James Loney. There are outfielders to try in Davis and Fred Lewis, infielders to try in Kevin Frandsen and Eugenio Velez. The need to audition youngsters means that veterans are guaranteed nothing except their salary.

“It’s up to them to keep their jobs,” Sabean said. “We’re in a position to want to play the best eight people. Contracts and experience aren’t going to dictate it.”

Sabean got a two-year contract extension last summer after faithfully upholding the ownership mandate to try to win with Bonds, every year, to sacrifice prospects when necessary, to keep the stands full so the team could pay its mortgage on its privately financed ballpark, even as the rest of the NL West got younger and ultimately passed the Giants by.

“We’ve got a very good fan base that pays a lot of money to support the club,” Sabean said. “That’s been our business model: Every year, we’ve been able to sell the fact that we had a chance to get to the playoffs, and beyond. Now we’re in a different mode.”

This is hangover mode, payback for all that dependence upon Bonds. Aurilia, here for the good times and the lean ones, won’t blame management if this season goes awry because the Giants put off the future for so long.

“There comes a time when you have to cut ties and start fresh,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”

The Giants did get to one World Series with Bonds, although they lost to the Angels. The Giants players all got an NL championship ring.

Was it all worth it? Aurilia, the shortstop on that 2002 World Series team, pauses to think about it.

Framed that way? He shakes his head no. He and his teammates play for one ring, he said, and the NL championship ring is not the one.

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com

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DODGERS vs. SAN FRANCISCO

Today at Dodger Stadium

1 p.m., FSN Prime Ticket

* Starters: Penny (16-4, 3.03) vs. Zito (11-13, 4.53)

* How the L.A. Dodgers have fared on opening day: 24-26.

* Dodgers’ record vs. San Francisco (2007): 10-8.