SAN FRANCISCO — Not many major-league franchises do sendoffs and acknowledgments as well as the San Francisco Giants.They held days of appreciation for Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford. They retired Will Clark’s number. They’ll honor newly enshrined Hall of Famer Jeff Kent with a number retirement ceremony at the end of next month. Wall of Fame recipients? They receive more ovations than a Kennedy Center honoree. You cannot call someone a Good Giant™ without the proper typographical flair. The accolades and applause aren’t reserved for the franchise icons, either. When former Giants right-hander Tyler Rogers visited with the Toronto Blue Jays three weeks ago, the video productions team had the highlight tribute video cued up to show between innings.When you win the admiration of fans at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, that bond is difficult to break. Hunter Pence was such a Good Giant™ that the organization saluted him twice. The first time, he was gifted a motorized scooter and whizzed out of the ballpark.So many things have changed at Oracle Park this season. The team has fallen fast and hard in literal and figurative ways. Even the scooter rides are dangerous now, especially when a mishap gets ominously time-stamped as “early Saturday/late Sunday.”Why haven't there been many MLB trades yet?Andy McCulloughBetween any sets of lines you choose, this entire year in San Francisco has been a study in ineptitude.And against that shabby backdrop, Luis Arraez has been a shining light.When the Giants signed Arraez to a one-year, $12 million contract in the offseason, they made the risky decision to let him play second base every day, even though the rest of the league had relegated him to “designated hitter and first base if necessary” status. Arraez responded by mixing belief with work ethic and turning himself into one of the league’s best defenders at the position. He entered Wednesday’s homestand finale with plus-10 OAA (outs above average), which ranked second at his position and tied for 10th among all players.At the plate, of course, Arraez has delivered everything the Giants expected and then some. The three-time batting champion is on his way to a fourth. He has seemingly bent every blade of outfield grass at one point or another while hitting .361 in 49 home games. His 4.5 percent strikeout rate is the lowest in the majors.You can be a productive major-league player. You can be a competitive major-league player. Being one does not guarantee that you will be the other. Arraez fits the dual description. It wasn’t his fault that not enough of his Giants teammates could say the same.The Giants are on their way to missing the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons. As they seek to create a winning culture, Arraez’s competitiveness is an emblem for everything the organization must stress to turn itself around.