State of the Giants: Management

I could make half of this post about how I think Bobby Evans was actually a pretty good GM and how he left the organization in a lot better shape than he is generally given credit for but we've been over that many times.  If I haven't convinced you yet, I'm probably not going to now.  Instead, I will focus on current Giants management and what that may mean for the team going forward.

Farhan Zaidi(FZ) is only separated by one degree from the godfather of applied sabermetrics, Billy Beane.  He has experienced the necessity of using data to succeed in a ridiculously underfunded environment. He has also seen what can be done with data when it is backed up by a virtually unlimited budget in Dodgerville.  While he was GM for the Dodgers, FZ and Gabe Kapler opened a new frontier by applying data to player development starting with the lowest levels of the farm system all the way up to the major league team.  This may be just my imagination running wild, but I have the feeling FZ and Kap weren't able to fully realize their vision for player development in LA and have been dying to reunite in a situation where nobody has veto power over them.  In what may be the most overlooked aspect of the new regime, FZ has installed young, enthusiastic, data driven educators throughout the system addressing every aspect of the game and how they believe it should be played.  If they are right, we should start to see tangible results as early as this season, if and when it finally gets played.  This may be the most underrated and important piece of what FZ brings to the organization.

As for the rest of his role as President of Baseball Operations or whatever his title is, the jury is still out.  PBO's/GM's can improve rosters through basically 3 avenues:  1.  Scouting/Draft/Farm System.  2.  Trades.  3.  Free Agent signings.  FZ has mostly eschewed big name/big budget free agents in favor of "churning" through large numbers of minor league deals and waiver claims, although he apparently made a serious bid to sign Bryce Harper. As for scouting and the draft, most of the top prospects in the Giants much improved farm system were acquired when Bobby Evans was still the GM both through the draft and international signings.  I will give FZ credit for adding to it in creative ways.  Trades are also a mixed bag but 3 stand out as clear wins for the Giants:  1.  Flipping 1 year signing Drew Pomeranz for Mauricio Dubon at the trade deadline.  2.  Unloading Mark Melancon's contract and getting a pretty good pitching prospect in return.  3. Essentially acquiring a second first round draft pick for the modest cost of Zack Cozart's $12 M contract.

I have a modest bone to pick with FZ in that his roster churning does not allow a large enough sample size to adequately evaluate a player and it also tends to create logjams without clearly improving the roster.  Too many times he's claimed or signed under-the-radar players who you can see the upside too only to bury them in an avalanche of additional signings and they never get a chance to show whether they can break through or not.  I mean, just as I am getting my heart set on seeing if Jaylin Davis can live up to his AAA stats or a full season of PA's from Mauricio Dubon, he signs the likes of Billy Hamilton and Yolmer Sanchez who would appear to be set to take playing time away from the younger, more promising players. And what is the point of bringing back Pablo Sandoval for one more season after signing Wilmer Flores to a 2 year contract?  Is the 2020 roster significantly better than Bobby Evans last roster?  If the answer is no and the reason is the rebuild, why all the contracts to washed up vets like Hunter Pence, BHam, Pabs and Yolmer Sanchez? Even Yaz the Younger(YtY), one of the few success stories of The Churn, was within 1 day of being sent packing with the rest and had his breakout game just in the nick of time.  So yeah, I'm not a fan of The Churn.  I think a more targeted approach would work just as well or better.

Gabe Kapler probably deserves his own post.  He comes in as Giants Manager with considerable baggage all of which has been hashed and rehashed.  So far, he's mostly said the right things, is refreshingly enthusiastic and clearly in lockstep with FZ regarding use of data in decisionmaking.  I see Kap as being a bit like drafting a HS pitcher who throws 100 MPH.  The ceiling is the HOF, but the bust potential is also huge.  He deserves the chance to see if he can breakout into an elite manager.

Grade C+ (with lots of upside)