Giants’ season recap: Where do they go from here?

Joe Panik was packing his gear for the winter Sunday when a reporter shook his hand and said, “See you soon.” The second baseman responded with a look that was easy to translate. It said, “Let’s hope.”

Change is coming for the Giants. It has to come. They did not fire general manager Bobby Evans and launch a baseball-wide search for a leader who would walk into AT&T Park and say, “Hey, this was a fluky two years. Let’s stay the course.”

Ownership and management need not apologize for trying to keep the good times rolling after three World Series championships in five seasons. Fans in cities such as Cincinnati, San Diego and Miami would kill for that kind of annual commitment to prosperity.