The Hot Stove continue to show signs of life with several new signings while the Giants continued hang out on the sidelines.
First Forever Giant Sean Manaea LHP agreed to a deal with the Mets that the Giants probably could have had if they wanted it. Apparently they did not. The deal is 2yr/$28 M with....you guessed it, an opt out after the first year. In other words, pretty much a 1 year extension of his deal with the Giants with a small raise. Maybe the Giants have plans to sign a bigger name pitcher than Manaea.... or 2, but if that's their thinking they better get on it pronto because those types of pitchers are dwindling fast. He's definitely a guy who could eat some innings and take some pressure off the kids until Ray and Cobb are ready. Maybe the Giants think they can sign someone to fill that role for less money? Not so sure in this market.
Then the Dodgers signed OF Teoscar Hernandez to a 1 yr/$23.5 M contract except, get this, $8.5 M is deferred to 2030-2039. How Dodgery is that? Hernandez' main value to the Mariners last year was in durability. While he hit 26 HR, his rate stats were not that impressive and he only generated 1.8 fWAR in 678 PA. So basically, yes, the Dodgers can have him and his deferred money. BTW, California State Contoller Malia Cohen is not happy with the Dodgers or Shohei Ohtani and made a request to Congress(I assume of the United States) to cap deferred payments. Fat chance she will get any action from this Congress but I like the idea.
Lastly, Shota Imanaga LHP who yesterday was rumored to be on the verge of signing with the Giants, and where have we heard that before, actually signed with the Cubs. Shockingly the deal is for only 2 yr/$30 M in guaranteed money but contains options and escalators that could push it up to around $80 M. So yeah, they, whoever "they" are, were pretty much trolling us Giants fans. So, either the Giants have their sights set on another pitcher or they have decided to sit out what's left of the top of the market. I know Imanaga has his warts, but. he sure seemed like a fit for the Giants and this seems like a deal the they could have easily topped.
What a bizarro back to back off-seasons to be a giants fan.
ReplyDelete- Fan
Starting to look like there must be something basically wrong with their approach to the free agent market. A couple of things come to mind: 1. When negotiating at this level, ownership has to be involved. I wonder if some of the baffling things to publicly come out of Greg Johnson's mouth and yes, Buster Posey's too....and FZ's, are symptomatic of how they come across to the free agents in private? 2. I wonder if their past indifference to signing Japanese and the less than positive experience of the ones who they did sign is a much bigger negative in the eyes of current free agents than we realize?
DeleteSpot on DOC..These players, if they have the choice, just don't want to play for FZ and his delusional smarter than everybody vibe or Giants ownership. I really don't think FZ appeals to FAs and I think the FAs are afraid of being signed and then the Giants Fornt office and ownership do nothing else other than the churn, reclamation deals and dumpster dives. That's how i see it.
DeleteAnd it's deja vu all over again with another big FA..How the Giants are extremely interested, trying their hardest and then THBFFTT!!!! The excuses, rationalizations and post mordems.
Will this happen when somebody else signs STROMAN also??
SteveVA
It's hard to say if they're doing something wrong with their approach. Teams win some and lose some free agent pursuits. The Giants signed several 2nd tier free agents last year. They did get Correa to agree on a huge crazy contract, but he failed the physical. I'm wondering if the way the pitching staff was handled last year might discourage pitchers from signing. I like how FZ is communicating the off season pursuits, he has under promised and hopefully will over deliver new players once the season starts.Greg Johnson should stay away from speaking in public. it's a tough off-season to follow since a bunch of Boros clients still haven't signed yet. But FZ can always look at the trade market for pitching and backup shortstop. Shane Bieber anyone? He has 1 year remaining on his contract . Any room for JD Martinez? He's been linked to the Giants and Jays.
DeleteImanaga received a lower contract than I would have anticipated. Note that while the Giants were out, big guns like the Yankees, Dodgers, and Mets were also out, as well as the Angels. All these baseball minds might be looking at Imanaga as a lower tier pitcher.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest problems with their approach to FA is that Farhan has failed to build a winning organization that is attractive to top level free agents who want to win. He has had 5 years to rebuild the G's and they are a rudderless ship with no direction, no stars, no top level farm system and a stats driven platoon environment that takes players out of the game even when they have gone deep in the previous at bat. I'm mean what competitive athlete would want to sign with this organization if they had any interest in winning............
ReplyDeleteOne of the problems that Zaidi and the front office has is that they blame a lot of their troubles on tired excuses. They have blamed their problems on money lost during COVID, poor farm system they inherited, downturn of the city. I'm not sure if they realize it but these are problems 29 other teams are facing. Dodgers lost more money during COVID, there are more homeless in LA and per capita than in SF so the reasons Zaidi gives during interviews are just a bunch of nothing words. Also, the city just voted to provide land for the Mission Rock Project to the Giants worth over $2 billion so there is a great deal of money coming. I am getting the feeling that the MIssion Rock Project is first priority for this ownership group and the ballclub and park is lower priority. As such, the ownership group have transitioned from being owners of a ballclub to becoming real estate moguls.
DeleteThe state of the Bay Area does not seem to bother Buster Posey, Matt Cain, Pence, or big names in other sports such as Curry, Klay, Durant, or Bosa. The thing about pointing fingers at problems is that three fingers are pointing back to you.
It does seem like there was a shift in ownership attitude around the time the real estate project was announced.
DeleteThey hinted that the Mission Rock project would be a source of revenue for the ballclub but it seems like the other way around.
DeleteThe adage "You need to spend money to make money," is true as long as you are increasing the value of your product. At the same time, it will cost a lot more money in the future to get the fan base back in the seats. I am hoping that the Giants move soon in order to add value to the franchise. If they start Kyle Harrison, Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck, I would think at least one of those three would fail to live up to expectations. So......go out and get a pitcher. Get Chapman to play 3rd while you are at it FZ,
ReplyDeleteThe organization has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to Asians. The Warriors recognize that Asians are a significant part of the fan base and recognize the demographic with special uniforms and major Filipino (Sarap Shop), Chinese (Dumpling Time), and Burmese eateries at the Chase Center. At Oracle, the Asian Heritage Nights are usually very low key Tuesday Night events against lesser teams and Oracle has a lumpia stand and sells poki. Also, when there was an uptick in violence against Asians, the Giants made a quiet donation and that was about it. Where the Warriors embrace and appreciate the diverse fan demographic, it is far more than what the Giants have done historically and what they do currently.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants do not really do much in Asia, also. In Asia, they have MLB Stores in Hong Kong, Philippines and Japan. Caps with NY (Yankees) and LA are very popular almost like Coach or Gucci here. SF is non-existant. If they had paid attention to this market, the Giants could have generated some interest and revenue with a small amount of PR. From the looks of the lack of Giants' product placement over there, this market is something that they paid little or no attention to. Unfortunately, the Dodgers did pay attention to Asia and LA caps and gear are hugely popular over there. No suprise if players like Yamamoto or Sasaki who grow up fans of the Dodgers want to end up playing for the biggest MLB brand in Asia, the team Nomo played for.
Basically, not only are the Giants bidding against the Dodgers but they are bidding against decades of their own indifference. Its going to take more than lighting the players' name up on a scoreboard or a catered sushi meal to get that name on the dotted line. It is clear that if the Giants need to change their ways of thinking.
This is not to be under-appreciated. The Dodgers, with their history (previous signings of players like Nomo, Ryu and Park) in the player market got a toe-hold. I sincerely believe the Dodgers will make money on the Ohtani signing. It most definitely gave them the inside track on Yamamoto. And any other Free agent they want to dangle a "Hey, sign with us, take a little less and come be a World Champion in '24."
DeleteImanaga may well be a #3 or #4. Guess who needs a #3 or #4? Would it take an overpay? Almost certainly. So what? The farm has not produced. That's the cost! Right now, our goal is just to get to 85-7 wins for a possible WC. Division title is closed for at least 5 years. Sounds like the Cubs deal was creative, with boatload of "prove it" money, and an early option out. So, when do the Giants get creative, I'm wodndering???
Also, MLBTR's free agent predictions are usually pretty damn good. The Imanaga underpay stands out. As does the EXTREME overpay (per MLBTR's prediction) for Jung Hoo Lee. I get Korea, especially for bats, is unpredictable. But it seems very odd.
The Giants seem like they're nothing but on their perpetually on their heels.
Just saw a tweet from Pavs that the Giants viewed Imanaga as a backend starter and preferred other pitchers. Ok I can see why they didn't want to commit a 4 year contract to imanaga, but can they get 1 or 2 of the other pitchers they are looking at?
ReplyDeleteIt's getting hard to read comments except LG and yours, Doc.
ReplyDeleteYou should see some of the ones I moderate out.
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