About time to make some moves;Rowand, Tejada gone: S.F. will eat $15.3 million; Pill, Burrell join

No amount of go-get-'em optimism can mask the dire state of the2011 Giants , whose quest for a repeatNational League West title has plummeted in one month from probableto possible to long shot. The fans see it, the players know it andmanagement has to act accordingly. On Wednesday, the Giants acted forcefully and withoutambiguity when they cut two experienced players, outfielder AaronRowand and infielder Miguel Tejada, and ate the roughly $15.3million left on their contracts. The moves served three purposes: to put the best players on thefield for September, as management views them, to shed theclubhouse of two players who were not happy with reduced playingtime, and, if the Giants fall out of contentionquickly, to make their first look-ahead moves for 2012.