As expected, the Giants jumped right into the free agent market and signed Kyle Blanks to a Minor League contract…..wait, what? The Giants are dumpster diving again? Well, it figures. Seriously though, the Giants are reportedly nearing a minor league deal with former Padre Kyle Blanks. In case you don't remember who Blanks is, he is a gigantic man listed at 6'6', 265 lbs, and he does not appear to be overweight! He has played a passable 1B and LF for the Padres and put up a respectable .241/.322/.416 slash line in 933 PA's. In limited action in the last 2 years, he put up a .333/446/.489 line in 56 PA for Oakland in 2014 and a .313/.352/.522 line in 71 PA for Texas in 2015. His career minor league line is .303/.392/.518 in just over 2500 PA's. He has tended to come up with injuries just as he appeared to be gaining traction in the major leagues.
I have always liked Kyle Blanks and thought that his ceiling is outrageously high. He is extremely athletic for hi size. As with most tall hitters, he has trouble controlling the strike zone at times. Since it is a minor league deal, I LOVE this signing. I can finally dream of a breakout season for Kyle Blanks….for the Giants!
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The Mariners made another trade today sending RHP Tom Wilhelmson and a minor league OF to the Texas Rangers for CF Leonys Martin and RHP Anthony Bass. Martin had a disappointing season, betting just .213. Mariners GM Jerry DiPoto says he thinks a bounceback is possible due to a very low BABIP for Martin last year. I like Martin to and think he has a ton of upside. Giving up Wilhelmson who had lost the Mariners closer job in the past, is a small risk, especially with Bass coming back the other way.
Grades
Mariners- B+. Small price to pay for a ton of upside.
Rangers- C+. They get a nice bullpen piece, but are selling low on a very talented player.
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One of the Dodgers many co-owners was quoted today as saying he expects the Dodgers payroll to drop from nearly $300 M to around $200 M for next season. Not sure how they fit a Greinke re-signing into that. There is a growing sense that re-signing Greinke is not the slam dunk for the Dodgers that it's widely believed to be.
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I had heard whispers of that, about LA not resigning Greinke, but just assumed it was smoke until this bit of news. That would certainly be justification for the Giants to exceed the threshold again, if Dodgers are cutting back. Could he return to the Royals? Glass is a billionaire and if ever was a time to go all in, it is to repeat.
ReplyDeletePlus, perhaps this is signs of their cable deal about to be renegotiated, Shankbone has written a lot of how badly that is turning out, how few people are signing up. Perhaps fiscal reality is coming to LA for the next few seasons?
Would Greinke want to go back? I don't remember how his tenure was there. He asked to be traded, but that was because he "wasn't motivated to play for a rebuilding team."
DeleteOn the Blanks signing, I fully agree with you Dr. B. Ideally, he can be a right-handed power bat off of the bench and a fill in OF/1B. At worst, we wasted a minor league salary. Given how many injuries we saw last year, depth is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI saw Blanks a few times here in Reno. In 2014, I saw him hit an easy swing opposite field line drive home run that cleared the stadium by a country mile. Admitted, the ball flies in Reno, but it was among the longest home runs I've ever seen anywhere.
Maybe Blanks is backup insurance for Belt if his concussion symptoms continue?
ReplyDeleteWonder if Giants are thinking about Parker playing 1B (if Belt can't go or is hurt)?
That's often a natural transition although it's usually older players.
Poor man's Michael Morse?
ReplyDeleteI don't know about that "poor." Morse and Blanks each have a total of 3.6 fWAR in their MLB careers, but Morse has had about three times as many plate appearances as Blanks. Blanks's injuries have kept him from playing anything like as much as Morse every year, though when he has played he's a good bit more productive.
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