The Carlos Correa free agent saga continues to be the gift that keeps on giving as most of the principle players finally spoke out....well, Scott Boras never stopped speaking out, but you know what I mean.
Carlos Correa: Correa was surprisingly not bitter in his comments saying he was "shocked" when a problem with his physical came up and he's never had any significant problems with the ankle since his injury at age 19. He said his takeaway lesson from the experience is that medical experts can look at the same set of information and have different opinions, an astute observation.
Scott Boras expressed frustration that the Mets consulted the same doc as the Giants. He also took a shot at that doc essentially saying they only looked at an MRI image without considering the current function of the patient then name-dropped a list of prominent orthopedist who he says don't think it's a problem. Fair enough but that begs the question of what the MRI showed. I looked it up and degenerative arthritis is the most common longterm complication of Correa's injury. Could the hardware be showing signs of loosening? Is there evidence of non-union of the fracture which makes him dependent on hardware that could loosen in the future? Those details would be interesting to know.
Farhan Zaidi, know around these parts as FZ, spoke to the press again and was asked if he felt vindicated. FZ took the high road and said not at all. His vindication will be based on the Giants on-field performance this season and beyond. His biggest frustration came when the original deal was reported before he had a chance to notify Brandon Crawford. That was a dig at Boras who had to be the source of the leak but FZ should have known that would happen.
In the end, it could be years before we know whether the doc and the Giants and the Mets made the right call or not as it will depend on whether the ankle situation shortens Correa's effective career.
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FZ addressed the Brandon Belt situation saying the Giants checked in on Belt and he appeared healthy, but there just wasn't room on the roster. He said he is really high on Lamonte Wade Jr and expects him to be the primary first baseman an expectation I am sure many fans would take vehement exception to. I can definitely see the upside in LMWJ but that's a lot of faith! Of course, there is no guarantee that Belt's knee won't flare up again after his first game with Toronto. Do they still use artificial turf up there?
Interesting that Sabol thinks of himself as a catcher first. From FG, "“Defensively, I kind of consider myself a Swiss Army Knife. I’m primarily a catcher, but I can be in the outfield and have also been taking some ground balls at first base. I’m hoping to be like a three-level player." We shall see what he can do behind the dish.
ReplyDelete"Taking some ground balls...three level player."
DeleteTake one position, say, first base, for example. There are many levels of defense - elite, great, good, average, below average, etc. Belt's defense, for many years, has been, to me, great. I hope we can get more than 'taking some ground balls level' of defense post-Brandon.
Re Belt's defense, I would say it was somewhere between Good and Great.
DeleteCrawford has a great arm but not always the most accurate. Belt gave him a big target, was great at scooping throws in the dirt and was outstanding at tracking down pop-ups down the RF line.
DeletePerhaps I was only remembering his peak defense years, so I defer to your grade of between good and great.
DeleteIt doesn't matter the defensive metric (FanGraphs, Statcast, etc.) you use, Wade is, at best, okay at 1B. He doesn't add a lot of positives, he doesn't have any huge negatives. He's got slightly more range than the average first baseman (74% success rate which is 4% better than league average) in fielding balls at his position. For the Giants his total 1B innings come in at +2 OAA and +0 DRS.
ReplyDeleteBut, that's also his best position. And I don't see a any defensive drop from Belt's most recent years. There was a time when Belt was putting up legit GG defense. Those days are gone and have been gone for a while. Wade is, basically, 2021 Brandon Belt. Perhaps even slightly better because Belt was really struggling on the field the past few years and could have really benefitted from becoming more of a DH.
The problem is there's nobody better on this club and Wade Jr., from what I've seen the past two years, is not the answer. Not with 1.5 bWAR/1.8 fWAR in 632 PAs. That's a full season's worth of playing and he's just not making a real difference and is helpless against LHP making him just half-a-player for all intents and purposes.
I don't think FZ and Kap see platoon players as liabilities. If they were to go with just one full-time first baseman, I think that guy has to be J.D. Davis but if LMWJ can bounce back to 2021 level, he's almost certainly a better option against RHP's.
DeleteIf they trot Wade out at first base, in opening day, then they're pretty much telling the fans that they've cashed in the season. He's one of FZs pets who will get much more reps than he should. Sad.
ReplyDeleteThe fall back plan if LMWJ struggles is to J. D. Davis the every day first baseman which isn't so bad. I think there is enough upside in LMWJ to give him a chance at the strong side of the platoon.
DeleteI remember reading that they expect LMWJ to rebound offensively due to the shift ban, but how good is his defense, how is JD Davis defensively? Wanted Belt to retire as a Giant, but maybe FZ went with going with younger players vs Belt's questionable heath. Tough call.
DeleteI think both LMWJ and J. D. Davis are capable of being at least average defensive 1B and will achieve that with added experience and repetitions.
Delete....and Wynns accepted assignment so they can invite him to spring training and put him back on the roster as soon as Luke Jackson hits the 60-day IL.
ReplyDeleteI predict that Wade, this season, will bat .210- .220, 10-13 HR, 40-50 RBI. 120 strikeouts and 25 walks, in around 100 games.
ReplyDeleteIf J.D. Davis is superior, which he is, then why wait to put him at first base? He's still FZs find. Just put him at first, Villar at third, and bring up Schmitt after he's mauled AAA pitching for two months (which he undoubtedly will).
If that is LaMonte's slash line after a month, he likely won't get close to 100 games, but if he is healthy, he should be a lot better than that and better than Davis against RHP's.
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