Breaking it all down, arb-eligible players Mike Yastrzemski OF and Austin Slater OF agreed to contracts of $7.9 M and $ 4 M respectively. J. D. Davis 3B/1B, LaMonte Wade Jr 1B/OF, Tyler Rogers RHP and Thairo Estrada 2B/SS were all tendered contracts. The last four players and the team now have until January 12 to exchange proposed salary figures to be decided in an arbitration hearing between January 29 and February 16. They can settle on a contract and sign at any time up to the moment they walk into the hearing. Got all that? Good!
Now comes the weird part. The Giants did not offer contracts to three non-arbitration eligible players, Jose Cruz RHP, Thomas Szapucki LHP and Cole Waites RHP. If I understand correctly, these players do not pass through the waiver process but are free agents and can sign with any team, but are widely expected to sign minor league contracts with the Giants. I have to say I am not sure what difference the waiver process makes in all this or why they were not just waived at the Rule 5 40-man roster deadline and makes me wonder even more if maybe Aeverson Arteaga and Grant McCray should have been added. As it stands, the transactions leave 36 players on the 40-man roster.
There are rumblings of discontent among the fanbase on social media over the YtY and Slater signings. In a vacuum, both contracts are close to no-brainers for the Giants, but I don't think that is what the naysayers among the fans are reacting to. It's more about what this means for construction of the 26-man active roster where it's hard to see where any upgrades are going to fit. Breaking that down further, there are likely to be, at most, 14 position players on the active roster on Opening Day:
Players Under Contract Without Options: 8.
Michael Conforto OF
Mitch Haniger OF
Mike Yastrzemski OF
Austin Slater OF
LaMonte Wade Jr 1B/OF
Thairo Estrada 2B
Wilmer Flores 1B/DH
J. D. Davis 3B/1B/DH
Likely Starters With Options: 2
Patrick Bailey C
Marco Luciano SS
Both Bailey and Luciano have options so theoretically these positions could be upgraded except there do not appear to be upgrade-caliber players on the market at these positions.
Necessary Reserves: 2
Catcher
Middle Infield
Again, it's unlikely FZ is going to find upgrades available at these positions.
That leaves just 1 or 2 potential roster spots to upgrade which can be added at any position but are likely going to have to be OF or DH. If Matt Chapman 3B signs and nobody is dropped or traded, that leaves 0-1 upgradeable roster spots. Granted, Chapman represents an upgrade at 3B over J. D. Davis but not to the degree the fanbase is looking for in the Hot Stove League.
If the fanbase had more faith in FZ's ability to construct a roster this would probably be less of a worry but by all appearances he tends to acquire whatever shiny object he happens to be looking at without much consideration of how they are going to fit on a roster.
One could hope a trade is coming and some of these pieces would be part of it but then again FZ hasn’t ever really pulled off trades with mediocre talent going the other way! There have been more than a few injuries in the OF so maybe it makes some sense for depth and we know how much FZ loves his matchups. Middle infield is more of a concern IMO with very little depth after Thairo. Would love to see Luciano blossom into an anchor at SS but if he struggles there won’t be many other viable options.
ReplyDeleteIt could make sense to FZ to give Tim Anderson a one year prove it deal and see if he can have a career year. Rhys Hoskins would also seem to fit the profile of player we are used to seeing in FZ’s shopping cart. I could also see him signing Montgomery and Stroman or Gray over Ohtani, Yamamoto or Snell. Without any other moves that would put them at 40 and there wouldn’t be any obvious holes left to fill.
Defense up the middle would be upgraded with Anderson and 2 more potential RH power bats would be an upgrade to the lineup. Andersons speed if he bounces back would be an upgrade at the top of the lineup. Both Montgomery and Stroman would be upgrades to the rotation. Total commitment for those 4 players should keep them under the threshold and minimize long term commitments. Lots of boxes would be checked this off-season and all moves actually seem like moves FZ would make.
I would be OK with his scenario although I think it's time for the Giants to find out what they have or don't have in Luciano. Casey Schmitt and Fitz can also play the position so there is some backup.
Delete....but a 1 year deal for Anderson is a low-risk/high reward move.
DeleteThis should be the year they assess what they have in the farm. Given the free agent market, I cannot see how they can build a team that will be a contender (they can overachieve of course). I believe they will go after Ohtani and the two foreign players and avoid filling the 40 man with minor improvements. At least that is what I hope they will do.
ReplyDeleteYaz and Slater are productive players when healthy, no surprise they were offered contracts. But I was hoping they would let go one of them, to free up a OF roster spot for Ramos, Matos, and Meckler to compete for. Didn't FZ say after the season 1 of his biggest regrets was not giving Ramos a chance for more abs? Play the kids! They should still have a roster spot for a center field upgrade maybe Bellinger or Lee?
DeleteAssessing what they have on the farm might not be a great selling point to Ohtani et al.
DeleteTrue, what might help if they somehow come to an agreement soon with a top of the rotation free agent pitcher like a Blake Snell maybe Sonny Gray. Too bad Nola signed back with philly today.
DeleteHey Doc great post as always.. Having 1 or 2 open spots for upgrades to the 26 man roster made me think limited changes would be made to improve the 26 man roster. Then I see the 40 man roster is currently at 36 so not sure what to think . Should we anticipate that FZ is planning for major upgrades? There is always the trade market if FZ wants to rearrange the roster. It seems like FZ likes having a full 40 man roster.
DeleteYes, it seems the crunch is in the 26 man active roster more than the 40-man. If FZ acquires more than 1 or 2 upgrades, it looks like he's either going to have to release someone under contract or swing a trade or two.
DeleteI really hope social media reaction has absolutely zero effect on Zaidi's decision making. Why mind the cesspool of the worst of the worst kind of sports bloviating?
ReplyDeleteGreat Baggarly interview of Giants pitching coach Bryan Price on The Athletic.
ReplyDeleteExcerpts:
Price on starting pitchers: "That really leads me into my basic philosophy: Let starters pitch the innings."
"...for me to see a major-league team be consistently good over the long term, you need to have depth in the rotation and have pitchers beyond your No. 1 or 2 that are capable of throwing more than five innings, that are hungry and that are allowed to continue into the sixth, seventh, eighth innings when they’re on and pitching well. "
"I’m a simple person when it comes to my overview on pitching: The starters pitch the bulk of the innings and you utilize your bullpen as needed."
"...for starters, you want them to feel like they’ve earned the right to stay in games when they pitch their tail off."
Lots of stuff...
Well that's definitely a different philosophy than we've seen for the past 4 years. I do agree that you have to have starters go deep into games more often than not or it starts to wear down the bullpen. A bullpen game is a nice ace in the hole if your rotation needs an extra day or some other emergency but too many bullpen games also burn out a bullpen.
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