the Hot Stove heated up on Day 3 of the Winter Meetings, but it was another quiet day for the Giants. The Marlins continued their firesale sending OF Marcel Ozuna to the Cardinals for a package of prospects, RHP Sandy Alcantara, OF Magneuris Sierra, RHP Zac Gallen and LHP Daniel Castano. All 4 are solid prospects with excellent chance of helping the Marlins rebuild. The Cardinals already had a glut of OF's at the MLB level and none of them were going the other way in the trade, so expect more trades by the Cardinals down the road. Ozuna represents a clear upgrade on every Cardinals OF except possibly Tommy Pham.
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Later in the day, the Cardinals were rumored to be close to a deal with the A's for Stephen Piscotty in return for a couple of A's prospects.
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The Angels acquired 2B Ian Kinsler from the Tigers for 2 prospects. Kinsler is owed $11 M for 2018 after which he will be a free agent.
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The run on relief pitchers continued with Anthony Swarzak to the Mets, Juan Nicasio to the Mariners and Joe Smith to the Astros. Brandon Kintzler agreed to re-sign with the Nationals.
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Manny Machado is reportedly on the trading block. The Giants reportedly made an offer which included Christian Arroyo. The White Sox are reportedly the most aggressive suitor for Machado and the Giants don't have the prospects to compete with the stash the White Sox have built up through their own firesale trades.
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The Giants pursuit of OF Billy Hamilton has reportedly stalled due to a disagreement with the Reds over what prospects would be going the other way. I would read that as the Reds asking for Heliot Ramos and the Giants refusing to include him.
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A reminder from Jason Martinez of MLBTR that really not much has happened so far this offseason beyond the signings of a whole bunch of relief pitchers. He is confident the Giants will plug their holes in CF and 3B with good players.
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A 1-year rental @ $17M +/- and probably +.
ReplyDeleteMachado is a stud and will likely have an MVP contract year but 2017 was less than memorable.
If that's what the Giants think of their #1 prospect they must not think Arroyo is their IFer of the future.
IF Machado reverts to form he could be a difference maker in 2018 and go a long way to filling the hole but he's be added to the many Giants who HAVE to have better years!
UGH. jp
.....or the Giants knew it would take a strong package to get Machado in a trade and thought Arroyo might be one the Orioles wanted.
DeleteYeah, agree with DrB, just because they included him does not mean that they don't think he's their 3B of the future, Machado is great offensively and defensively now.
DeleteThe problem with him is he wants to be a shortstop and is preparing to play that position in 2018. Any team trading for him who does not allow him to do that probably has zero chance of signing him afterward.
Mr. Martinez may be confident, but to me if the 3B & CF don't come up from the minors, there's not much out there. I'm not sure who has been signed off this CFer list, but Where's the Beef?
ReplyDeletePeter Bourjos (31) -- Not an answer.
Lorenzo Cain (32) -- He can hit well and would be the best leadoff on the team, but he's at the age when the wheels come off.
Tyler Collins (28) -- Not an answer.
Rajai Davis (37) -- Not an answer.
Jaff Decker (28) -- Not an answer.
Jarrod Dyson (33) -- Not an answer.
Carlos Gomez (32) -- Coors Field Product. Horrible road splits. Is not an answer.
Austin Jackson (31) -- No power fielding upgrade. But not a real answer.
Jon Jay (33) -- A fielding upgrade over Span. But that's not saying a lot. No power.
Cameron Maybin (31) -- He's, pretty much, a corner OFer now and his hit-tool isn't really worth it to me.
Alex Presley (32) -- Not an upgrade.
Melvin Upton Jr. (33) -- Oh boy. That'd be a mistake.
And our farm... Well, I just don't see where we have the horses to trade for a real solution at CF, or 3B for that matter.
I think it's time to pay the piper and there are no realistic fixes. We're not the White Sox who have fire saled themselves into a deep and stocked farm system. We've been sending prospects out for stop-gap solutions for some time now. Add in we had a (fairly normal) rough patch with our prospects we drafted while winning...
In short, I just don't think there's enough there. Not for trade purposes at least. There's no long-line of blue-chippers. Arroyo, Beede, Shaw... Lots of teams have guys like that. They're not Reyes or Torres or Guerrero Jr. or any of those other elite 'drool over' prospects. Even if we think otherwise.
Dyson is the answer. Span was -3 wins in defense in 2017 in CF, Dyson has consistently been +1-2 wins defense in CF, and that's playing part time.
DeleteHis problem is he don't hit LHP at all, but nicely vs. RHP.
Thus the solution is to have Slater platoon with Dyson in CF, hopefully he's not so bad, plus it's only LHP, and between the two, they average +1 Win, resulting in a 4 win improvement in defense in CF, plus their hitting together (Slater killed LHP last season) should match what all the SF CF did in 2017, which was OK.
I'm OK with Sandoval at 3B to start the season. Either he hits or Arroyo gets to start for a while in late May (or maybe even Ryder). By midseason, there will be 3B available for short term rentals that will help there. But he did OK after a slow start with us, and was hot that last few weeks of the season, I have hopes he can get to another higher level, but don't expect it.
I'm OK with the above because I think as long as everybody returns to health and prior production, we should be OK. People keep on pointing to 1.5 seasons, ignoring that the vast majority of the injury issues we went through in 2017 was one-offs that should not repeat, other than maybe Belt, who seems to always have something happen. The key returnees to prior are Cueto, Moore, Shark, Melancon, Smith, and Belt.
It would help if Crawford returns, but I don't think critical. Pence actually hit his normal numbers after his slow start. I think that knee injury affected him more than he would admit and that caused his bad May that tanked his overall numbers. Panik was great after a slow start, as well. Moore was basically his 2016 self in second half until that last start. Shark was good in the last 40% of the season, he needs to be more consistently good and not be lost at times. Span actually was the best hitting OF last season, and should be OK in LF, and especially in a platoon, either Slater or Williamson (if Slater platooning in CF).
Hey Doc, how in the world could the Reds ask for Ramos? Lol, just go sign Jarrod Dyson instead. Hamilton is,ok, not get.I think that the Giants wasted a chance in Rule 5, hope I am wrong there.
ReplyDeleteEvans, needs to go home, this has been a dasterious 2 weeks for the giants,organization. I believe if we don"t get Manny from Balitomre, it is going to be a long offseason. I am not a big fan of Jay Bruce. Unless on short contract. How do we lose Albert S, for nothing, couldn't the Giants traded him for something, they might in the future, but couldn't they thrown him in a deal.your thoughts Doc.
The 2014 World Series was a phenomenal ride, topped off by MadBum's Bunyonesque performance in game 7. But I think it gave the Giants' brass and many fans a false sense of the status of the organization (coupled with the sudden explosion of home runs the following years.). Whatever moves the Giants make, they won't be very interesting simply because the team does not have the pieces to make a dramatically positive move. if a team holding a 2nd tier player is first asking for Heliot Ramos, then you know that team knows the G's don't have much to offer and they'll move on to a team that is holding greater value in its farm system or on its roster. And if they want to get below the tax threshold, then forget about a big FA signing. And of course, IMHO
ReplyDeleteI think it's more that teams think that the Giants are desperate and thus are asking for Ramos. Reminds me a lot of the end of the Bonds era, when they could not execute many trades because other teams kept on asking for Cain and ended up trading with another team. I think other teams would be satisfied with Arroyo, Beede, others, but think the Giants, being so bad last season, would be desperate enough to make a stupid trade.
DeleteIt's kind of like that for fans too, it was a bad series of injuries coupled with poor performances that killed 2017. If Cueto, Melancon, and Smith can get healthy and performing, and the other perform as they were at the end of 2017, the Giants will be competitive, and with a good defensive CF, should get into playoff contention as well.
I think the possible trade for Stanton gave fans the wrong impression of what the Giants will do this off-season. They were willing to go over for a big bat like him, but there's no one else who really matches him in the free agent market, or is possible through the trade market. Stanton was only even possible because the Marlins weren't asking for much back, and the expectation that Stanton would opt-out in 3 years.
I expect a relatively minor trade or signing (Dyson) to upgrade CF a lot through defense, a Huff type of signing to fill the starting 3B, though I would not be surprised to see Sandoval starting, I viewed this more as the Giants telling Sandoval to get cracking and get into shape during the off-season, and covers them in the off chance they decide to sign a big bat at 3B after all. And apparently the bullpen upgrade is Fernandez, because if they sign anyone good, there is no space in the bullpen for Fernandez (unless someone is traded).
Here it is Dr B: "the Padres are dangling infielder Yangervis Solarte in chatter with rival organizations, Heyman reports on Twitter. Solarte, 30, is controllable for the next three years at affordable costs (a guaranteed $4MM in 2018 and then club options totaling $13.5MM for 2019-20)"
ReplyDeleteGet it done, Bobby!
DeleteBrewers were pursuing FA Swarzak for righty RP but didn't want to spend that much - Dr B! SF is all set up to trade a righty reliever for CF Brett Phillips - how about Strickland?
ReplyDeleteFinally, trade Samardjiza for Clint Frazier RF and pick up FA RP Hector Rondon with the extra salary space. 2018 SP: Bumgarner, Cueto, Moore, Blach, Stratton, and all position prospects intact. OF Pence/Span Phillips CFrazier, IF Belt/Posey Panik Crawford Solarte/Arroyo, C Posey/Hundley.
ReplyDeleteGiants are in discussion regarding Avisail Garcia of the White Sox. I'm not sure what to make of it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what to make of it either. As long as they are trading someone on their "OK to trade" list, I would be OK with it, but he's poor defensively in RF too, just not as bad as Pence, and I expect some regression from Garcia in 2018, as his BABIP was .392 in 2017, and even the best hitters in baseball can't maintain that high a rate. His career number is basically .340, so I expect a large regression for him (his last two seasons, his only other full seasons played, was roughly .310). So if we aren't giving up much, I'm OK, but I expect them to be asking for some of our top guys, so in that scenario, I'm a definite no. Basically, we'll take him if he's a salary dump, not otherwise.
DeleteI had him on my Fantasy team the year his wife died of some cancer-related complications, leaving behind two little girls and her husband. It was really sad to see.
ReplyDeleteI thought Giants could have picked up H Rondon but they missed that opportunity: "In a move to further bolster their bullpen, the World Series-champion Astros agreed to terms Friday on a contract with free-agent right-hander Hector Rondon, according to sources. The club has not announced the deal, which was pending a physical. MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal reported that the deal is for two years and is worth $8.5 million and Rondon passed his physical." 2 years 8.5 mil to make the back end of the bullpen lights out - maybe it's another case of no one wants to play for the Losingville Losers, although I haven't heard of them even trying for Rondon who could have bounced back with SF...
ReplyDelete