Even with loss, festive mood at Oracle refreshing

The story wasn’t so much the scoreboard, showing the Giants’ 114 loss to the Mets, but the spectacle. Oracle Park’s bleachers and lower decks were packed with fans enjoying a glorious Saturday afternoon. It felt like a resurrection of spirit after a dismal early season, and it brought home a point that applies every year.

It’s not so much about winning the World Series, although that’s extremely nice. It’s about being relevant, staying in contention, giving people good reasons to care right into September.

Astoundingly, the Giants

have reached that point. A single loss to the Mets does nothing to wreck the mood — not after 14 wins in the 16 previous games and a world of pleasant surprises.

Without question, Farhan Zaidi will be baseball’s most closely watched baseball executive as the July 31 trading deadline approaches. For teams like Washington, Cleveland and Philadelphia, the needs are clear and the goals firmly established; a crucial trade or two could lead straight to the postseason. Zaidi is looking at two distinctly different missions, each packed with logic, with teams eager to see exactly how the Giants feel about Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith.

Attendance matters everywhere, but especially at Oracle, where the Giants have a spectacular longterm track record and recoil at the sight of empty seats. It would be terribly disheartening for fans to watch those two key pitchers be traded away, most likely for prospects still unprepared for the big leagues, and the season’s final two months become a downward spiral.

And it raises a notion that sounded insane in June: What if the Giants do nothing? Wouldn’t it be cool to sneak into the wildcard playoff game, put Bumgarner on the mound and see where it leads, especially if the recuperating Johnny Cueto is able to pitch by then? The next stop would be a Division Series against most likely the Dodgers, a team the Giants tend to play on even terms. Why not shock the world with a colossal upset of (by most accounts) the best team in the game?

Even more intriguing, not to mention realistic: Are the Giants good enough to stay in contention without Bumgarner, Smith and perhaps another key reliever? As we find ourselves pleasantly enthralled with Alex Dickerson, Tyler Beede, Mike Yastrzemski and Donovan Solano — none of this happens without fresh faces changing the Giants’ mood — is it a sustainable product?

Nobody knows how the next few days will unfold, not even Zaidi, who can’t make a call on Bumgarner until he sorts through every offer. That could take him right up to the deadline’s final minutes. So we’re

all just speculating now, but a few things seem clear:

The Giants are the secondbest team in the NL West. San Diego has the best young talent and a scary lineup (Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a 463foot homer to the opposite field at Wrigley Field on Saturday), but the pitching just won’t cut it. Arizona might decide to cut costs, with a number of key players — including Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray, David Peralta and Adam Jones — rumored to be available in trade. Colorado was so resolutely dreadful in being swept by the Giants in that recent fourgame series, even general manager Jeff Bridich sounded resigned to failure, telling mlb.com that his team is playing “really bad baseball. We’re finding ways to lose, collectively as a group, instead of finding ways to win.”

Washington, with exceptional talent young and old, has the best shot at earning the top wildcard spot. The Giants know they can hang with St. Louis (still looking for the authentic Paul Goldschmidt), Philadelphia (way too erratic) and Milwaukee (not as threatening as last year).

As we’ve seen with the Mets of late, terrible defense can leave a team in tatters. The Giants are among the best in this category, especially if third baseman Evan Longoria recovers from a troubling injury (plantar fasciitis in his left foot), and it makes a huge difference when the games really count.

There is beauty and a fine precision to the Giants’ lateinning bullpen strategy, with the likes of Reyes Moronta, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson and Smith keeping games close and manager Bruce Bochy a master at keeping arms healthy. Yes, relievers blow hot and cold and often seem interchangeable, but there are plenty of good reasons to keep this unit intact.

It’s refreshing to hear insiders list the minuscule odds on Kevin Pillar, Stephen Vogt and Pablo Sandoval being traded, because they’re all significant players in the team’s resurgence. If someone can explain why Dickerson really isn’t a .300plus hitter with an infallible stroke, please step forward. There he was again on Saturday, belting a tworun homer in the ninth just before that other terrific find, Yastrzemski, parked a solo shot of his own. The Dick & Yaz show, everybody. Just as we all predicted in March.

Bruce Jenkins is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: bjenkins@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Bruce_Jenkins1