I found myself meditating on the Giants 2024 season which, based on reading comments here and other Giants-oriented social media sites, most fans hated. On one level, I hated it too. I want the Giants to win the World Series as bad as any fan alive, although at least I now know when my life ends I have witnessed not just one Giants World Series win but 3! From a results-oriented perspective, 2024 was an extremely disappointing if not disastrous season. Farhan Zaidi deserved to be fired, not just for the outcome of the one season but for his overall body of work and apparent dysfunction at multiple levels of the organization.
On the other hand, is the prospect of winning the World Series or getting into the postseason is the only reason we hardcore fans watch the game? If that was the case, I can count on less than two hands the total number of seasons worth watching in my lifetime. Speaking for myself, I find fascinating things to watch and remember from almost every season, no matter how disappointing or unsuccessful from a W-L standpoint. Even the 2023 season, which IMO, was way more disastrous than 2024, was fascinating to watch as the team descended into utter chaos on the field leading up to Gabe Kapler's emergency firing. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that in almost 60 years of following this team. Horrifying but also fascinating enough I couldn't not watch it.
With that in mind, here are some the experiences from the 2024 season that made it enjoyable and worth watching despite the lack of success in making the postseason:
Matt Chapman's Defense. What a joy to watch! It was like you wanted to watch every game just to see him make another amazing play. The one game-saving, bare-handed play has to be one of the greatest defensive plays I've ever seen and I spent 13 seasons watching Brandon Crawford play shortstop. Chappy wasn't too shabby at the plate either. Much better than I anticipated. I knew he was a good defender but the D was an absolute revelation too.
The Jorge Soler roller-coaster ride. Overall, Jorge Soler's tenure with the Giants was a disaster but fascinating to watch at the same time. From completely face-planting as a middle-of-the-order power bat to actually making some contributions after Bob Melvin moved him to leadoff hitter to his uexpected trade to the Braves at the deadline. I found the whole saga interesting, if frustrating, to watch. Even the trade was a disaster and a microcosm of why FZ needed to go. The Giants offense was measurably worse after Soler's departure and FZ had no plan to replace his contribution, little as it was. He said the plan was for Marco Luciano to be the DH but that lasted, what, one game? From then on DH was one more black hole in the lineup.
Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald. How fun was it to watch a couple of rooks, one who had dropped off the prospect radar screen and another who was never on it, come up and win starting jobs and make some memorable plays in the process. Ramos became the first right-handed batter with a Splash Hit in the entire history of PacBell/AT&T/Oracle Park. Did you see it in person or on TV? I saw it on TV. And didn't Fitz set some sort of record for a certain number of home runs within a certain number of days?
Kyle Harrison and Hayden Birdsong. They had their ups and downs but I enjoyed watching both of them take their first steps toward becoming building blocks for the Giants rotation of the future. There were several other young potential future starters or relievers who made their MLB debut. Maybe someday we'll look back and say it was fool's gold but maybe we'll look back and say we saw the next Giants dynasty form.
Ryan Walker's emergence as the Giants Closer. He's got that extreme cross-over delivery and man, does he compete! Give me a Closer like him over a 100 MPH thrower any day.
Camilo Doval's struggles. OK, I'll admit most of this was not only not fun it was extremely frustrating and disappointing to watch, but there was one game after coming off the IL where he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and there was this weird game-delay while the umpires hashed something out. Doval just kind of stood there and then lazily played catch with Patrick Bailey(I am actually not sure if Bailey was catching at that time. It might have been Curt Casali). Anyway, you couldn't help but think the delay was icing him and he would be even worse when play resumed. Lo and behold, he suddenly had perfect command of his pitches and finished off the inning with aplomb. Amazing and fun to watch!
The promise of Grant McCray. McCray's late callup was admittedly a mixed bag and he clearly needs some more seasoning in the minors but he had his moments and the tools were obvious. Power, speed, defense. Fun to watch.
Blake Snell's No-hitter. Overall, the Blake Snell signing was a disaster and I wish him the worst with the Dodgers but for a brief moment in the second half he was the best pitcher in the game and we got to watch another Giants no-hitter. How about that?
After all of this hoopla over the Dodgers’ offseason signing, this column really put things into perspective for me. It made me remember why I’m a Giants fan. Winning is great, but what has been so much fun over the years to me is when we get to see a team get better — both individually and as a group — as the season wears on. That’s why those World Series winning teams were extra special, nobody thought they were the absolute most talented or high-priced roster in baseball. Last season, my hopes weren’t high for winning the division. I was really rooting for signs of improvement from some of the youngsters. One of those was Keaton Winn. Although he wound up missing most of the season with a bum elbow, I thought he looked sharp in the early going. If he could ever stay healthy, I think Winn could be a real contributor. Same goes for Tristan Beck. Roupp surprised me when he got called back up in late summer — he looked like he’d finally put it all together. I’ll be looking forward this season to see if Harrison can keep building on his off-speed arsenal and whether Birdsong is the real deal, or just a flash in the pan, so to speak. I’d like to see Wisenhunt get his chance, too, and prove he’s a keeper.
ReplyDeletegreat article you wrote. I get attached to players too. A few memories of mine from 24....I love Birdsong's attitude on the mound pitching. And # one is Ramos reemergence last year. One more memory from 24 is Fitzgerald. My all time favorite memories was witnessing McCovey's call up, 3rd baseman Chris Brown giving my son a baseball. My biggest Giant's regret was the '62 World Series. Boot camp for me @ Lackland AFB. Yep, missed the whole series. I'm an old timer now.
ReplyDeleteFitzgerald for me too.Something about watching a kid blow up who nobody saw coming.
DeleteMore then honorable mention to Walker & Ramos too.
So, dominant closer, and IF & OF with pop.
Pretty damn impressive showing from a 'terrible' (cough) farm.
Spancer Bivens was one of the most intriguing story lines of the season for me and it's rare to see his name on anybody's lists of returning hopefuls. But his was/is a feel good story both in his journey and how he handled his (mostly) success once he made it. As the season went on it looked like BoMel really started to rely on Bivens to eat innings when he brought him in and it seemed like he (again, mostly) did. Like he was a bona fide big leaguer or something. A fun story and player to root for. I hope he is able to come back and really stick with the team. He's earned it in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteI would add Matos winning player of the week
ReplyDeleteI honestly don't have mny fond memories of the season..WALKER's emergence tops my list..And it was good to see RAMOS and FITZ excel but I highly question their consistencey going forward..MATOS's HOF week was pretty special too...One dark horse for me was the way LANDON ROUP pitched towards the end of the season..For some reason, I got a soft spot for him which is bad news for him.
ReplyDeleteToo many idiotic and bad things to mention, especially associated with the incompetent (in building a MLB team) FZ and this should be a feel good thread....but one I really remember was the breataking deadline deala For Mark Canha and some kid from Atlanta..basically raising the white flag on the season (even if it was likely going there any way) and neither rebuilding or going for it.
SteveVA
A sidelight to 2024 is how high we went into the season because of the moves over the winter, all the way to Opening Day with expectations.
ReplyDeleteWe were right to be hopeful.
Perhaps we forget that 2023 was actually a good season until September, finishing August as a playoff team, albeit the 6th team, winning 4 out of 5 to complete the month in 2nd place in the division with a 70-64 record.
But then collapsing in September, going 9-19 to finish the season.
The needs were assessed, and Ownership opened their wallets, acquiring Lee, Snell, Chapman, Soler, & Hicks, thus going over the penalty threshold payroll.
And a new manager with a winning career, although never a World Series win in 20 years of managing with division wins in AZ and Oakland.
We expected better, although .500, which would have been a disappointment, was within grasp until game 161 when Snell put himself ahead of the team.
This is not to say that Zaidi didn't "have to go." He had some successes, his drafts were up and down, but the Giants were a better team at the end of 2023, on the field and on the farm, than the team he took over.
The Hated Ones signed left-handed RP Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72MM deal.
ReplyDeleteWith a career bWAR of 8.7, last year he was 9-6 and a 1.75 ERA with the Marlins and Padres and an All Star pitcher.
He would have looked good in a Giant U-ni, although relief pitching isn't a priority for SF.
The overly-rich Dog-ers get a little richer.
Their 2025 payroll is now double SF's, $369M to $181M per Fangraphs
(https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/breakdowns/payroll)
Doc, another great piece you put out for us!
ReplyDeleteGenerally all the other comments posted are great.
For me the most disappointing event from last season was thee way Farhan treated Brandon Crawford.
Honestly believe Management/Owners should have stepped in.
Not saying he deserved a fuilltime job at short > but more dignity.
Thanks again Doc!
Richard in Winnipeg
The way he treated Brandon Crawford, JD, and Cobb probably got Zaidi fired.
DeleteI am pretty sure what got FZ fired was an assessment by ownership that he really wasn't getting anywhere and did not have much of plan to get out of the rut. That, and based on what I've read, dysfunctional communication and working relationships on multiple levels including prospective free agents and their agents.
DeleteThe first thing Buster said when he took the role of POBO was that he wanted the POBO to be a servant-leader. The brusque way Zaidi treated Crawford, JD, and Cobb as well as the flip-flopping of young prospects like Matos and Luciano is probably what Buster was referring to. The way Zaidi acted, especially in the aftermath of the cutting of JD made the front office appear cruel and Zaidi lost the clubhouse in comments made before the Cobb trade. He built the team to be a second half team but still was challenging the team to play better.
DeleteHow was Zaidi supposed to treat Crawford? Crawford thought he could keep playing and he obviously was out of gas, like completely empty tank. How do you tell a player like that there just isn't room for him on the team without hurting his feelings? I liked JD too but as it turns out Melvin and Zaidi made the right decision to replace him with Matt Chapman and there just wasn't room for him on the team anymore either. I don't remember what the issue was with Cobb, but he wasn't exactly contributing either. I think Buster has done a great job so far but I do worry he might have a harder time making a tough call on a former teammate(not many of those left anymore).
DeleteFor Brandon Crawford, Zaidi just said they were not interested in re-signing him as a player and did not make any counter-offer to Brandon to stay in the organization as a coach or assistant. According to Crawford, Zaidi pretty much ghosted him. Also, the year before, they signed Correa to be shortstop without telling Crawford.
DeleteJD was a player who won in an arbitration hearing. After the Giants signed Chapman, they tried to trade JD and found no takers. Because JD won in arbitration, the contract was not guaranteed so he lost all but $1.1 million of it and ended up taking a lesser contract with the A's. The whole process cost him about $3-4 million. Zaidi was quoted as saying they were well within their rights and the CBA is cut and dry on this kind of thing. JD's agent filed a grievance. JD made comments about the front office being one that free agents should think twice about signing with and Slater said members of the team were worried it could happen to them. This is not a good look for a team that has trouble attracting free agents.
As for Cobb (and Estrada), they were popular players in the clubhouse and there was anger at them getting let go and indecisiveness of Zaidi.
I agree with the decisions as baseball decisions but the way he did it was cold and the players felt Zaidi did not communicate well and did not treat Crawford, JD, Cobb, and Estrada as people. Buster does not tolerate having a clubhouse that is afraid of the front office and does not want to have a front office with a bad reputation around the league.
As I said, poor communication on multiple levels was a big factor in why FZ got fired, but I just want to be clear, those decisions you listed were completely correct from a baseball standpoint and I don't think those by themselves would have gotten FZ fired.
DeleteI too enjoyed watching Matt Chapman play the hot corner. I went to a game with my buddy and watched from his company's corporate seats right behind 3B. Chapman made play after difficult play and was flawless. I am looking forward to watching Chapman and Adames play on the rihght side of the infield. Maybe Adames will channel some Hunter Pence mojo and give the 2025 team spark to beat the team from LA. Webb-Ray-Verlander-Hicks will have to anchor the rotation with plenty of young guys to step in when the guys above wear down and injuries occur. Agree that Birdsong was fun to watch. Ryan Walker was amazing and I expect him to continue. Bring on 2025!
ReplyDeleteOh and this Dodger stuff scooping up any and every player they want--this time Tanner Scott--is just absurd...And, yeah, I'm jealous too..
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
The Dodgers have, for all practical purposes, lapped the field with payroll and that's with them getting Roki essentially for free.
DeleteI'm not happy that Manfred didn't do or say anything about the Ohtani signing with the Dodgers. An obvious attempt to get around the luxery tax rules. Maybe im wrong but didn't MLB create the luxery tax rules to discourage owners like Steve Cohen to spend too much on payroll? How come he doesn't do anything to the. Dodgers? It seems The competitive balance in MLB is getting more out of whack every season. Changes need to be made. Hate to say it but maybe a strike needs to happen when the current agreement expires.
DeleteThere is entertainment for any true baseball fan in every pitch of every game. The joy of Winning the WS is fleeting and eventually can feel like a burden while going into a season with hope in the future can almost feel better than coming off a WS win. If you love this game then you love more than just how far your team went. I love the Giants more than doctors would recommend but probably enjoyed watching last years world series more as a fan than any since I was a kid.
ReplyDeleteThere is hope for this team in all the players each of you have mentioned. I would throw Luciano in the mix as well. Imagine if he came around this year and it was because he was able to overcome all his struggles from 24. If Camilo comes back to form we might have the best bullpen in the majors right? The fact that theoretically every young player should get better each year gives us a dozen players at least that could be this years version of Fitz or Ramos last year.
Buster has done a solid job this offseason and maybe his presence alone brings the best out of them. Adames is one of the best people in baseball according to anyone you ask. Verlander is a legend no matter whether he throws a single pitch that was money well spent. I cant wait to see all of the potential reached including Eldridge who got all our hopes up in 24!
I think Matos will be the 2025 breakout star. He will be getting away from launch angle and will spray the ball which he does best.
DeleteAs long as the MLBPA refuses to allow a Payroll Cap, teams like the Dodgers, Mets, and some others with Ownerships that don't care how much it costs will spend whatever it takes.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants did spend freely last year and put together what we though was a contender, but we and especially FZ know how that worked out.
Five teams are already over the first threshold for 2025 ($241 million) with the top 3 in the National League. It's clear that one of the Southland teams doesn't care how much it affects their drafting (order and number of picks) or their profitability (although LA does fill their much larger stadium).
It is true that a few teams have "snuck" into the WS without having over the threshold payrolls. Since 2016, all the WS winners have have come from well-heeled teams. The last "small" market team to win the WS was Kansas City in 2015, and before that, when the 2003 Marlins won, large market teams prevail. (St Louis, at the 20th largest US metropolitan area, is considered by MLB to be small-market but the Cardinals and their well-healed Owner — DeWitt — own their market and make beaucoup money. Miami itself is hardly small-market: 7th in US and half-again bigger than SF.)
For Metro population data, see: https://www.thoughtco.com/largest-metropolitan-areas-1435135)
With the A's gone, SF should enjoy a satisfactory attendance as long as they put a credible team on the field which they should be able to do without a huge payroll. As of this moment, SF is 9th in 2025 Luxury Tax Projection per Fangraphs-Roster Resource, 5th in the National League, with a payroll projection of $222M, $19MM below the Luxury Tax Threshold, perhaps they are saving some for deadline trades if they are doing well.
Sam Francisco's biggest problem is that it wants to rebuild and wants to compete every year. There needs to be a three year plan, but instead, they commit to a series of 12 3 month plans. There needs to be some very painful trades of useful players who will peak in that time.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree with more. They need to do an honest evaluation of their team and make some tough choices based on that evaluation. How far are we from having a realistic shot at making the playoffs? If it's more that 2 years than we need to trade some assets. Start with Yastrzemski who probably will not be with the team after the season and work your way up to Webb. I know trading Webb would be an unpopular move but he's has the most value. All-Star pitcher, who is under a team friendly contract for the next 4 years.
DeleteSorry to break it to you but the Giants have never operated under the tear down/build up model since 1993 when Peter Magowan led the ownership group that bought the team and I am pretty sure they are not going to start now. I think there is a chance YtY gets traded during the season if the right offer comes along. I would be shocked if Logan Webb gets traded.
DeleteI enjoyed the emergence of the young hitters and pitchers and hope to see further development of those players who have already gotten experience in 2024 as well as the debuts of more rookies in 2025. Hopefully Buster, BoMel, and the team can build on the excitement of an upcoming young team anchored by a solid veteran core. It hearkens back to the Roger Craig led “You Gotta Like These Kids” days. Perhaps the Giants PR folks can promote a sort of Star Wars good vs evil vibe to the season as the spectre of the Evil Empire looms over the entire sport.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your good post Doc, with lots of good comments. I enjoyed the season Matt Chapman had and like that he's becoming a team leader. I enjoyed following the young pitchers like Harrison, Birdsong , Roup and hitters like Ramos and Fitzgerald have good seasons. Hope they can build on it in 2025. Spencer Bivens was a cool story bouncing around minor leagues and foreign leagues until finally getting his MLB shot. I just want the Giants to be at least reasonably competitive every season, if they make the playoffs great, if not at least there were positives. The seasons I would hate are the ones the lose 90-100 games like 1985.. I hope that young players like Luis Matos and Marco Luciano can contribute in 2025. I've always thought the Soler trade was a salary dump maybe I'm wrong. I'm thinking the only way that FZ got the braves to take all of Solers salary was to agree to a lower rated minor league prospect Ceballos. Good trade payroll wise, bad trade prospect wise
ReplyDeleteWatch for my upcoming profile of Sabin Ceballos. I think he's actually a pretty darn good prospect who could really break out this season.
DeleteThis is a bit off topic, maybe 'my thoughts on the 2025 season and beyond'. I'm watching the top few teams sign all the good players. I looked back through your articles to see what you had to say about the salary cap. I didn't find much or I'm not searching the right way.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, MLB becomes less and less enjoyable every year because its becoming more and more unbalanced. I understand that its the players who are not wanting the cap. and yes, someone like Soto would not get the $700million contract. But i think this non-competitive landscape is killing the sport. When I was a kid I remember MLB as being USA's premiere sport. Now its a far cry from NFL and NBA.
How can I or anyone get behind supporting a salary cap movement?
I am not sure I support a hard cap and I am not seeing any way the MLBPA would ever support one. I do think some relatively minor adjustments could have prevented what's currently going on with the Dodgers. 1. Don't allow the cap hit to be reduced by deferred payments. Go ahead and allow deferrals but make the cap hit be strictly AAV in today's dollar value. 2. Make international players who are already established stars in their country's major league full free agents. No way should a player with Sasaki's credentials be treated the same as 16 year old Latin American prospects. Alternatively they could just ban posting of asian players within a certain period of time after they sign with a professional club in their home country. 3. Increase penalties for going over cap, not in higher monetary penalties but in draft picks and bonus pool space. Make going over cap really hurt the team's ability to acquire future talent. 4. Although not directly related to competitive imblance, I would also like to see more freedom to trade draft picks but would limit it to current draft cycles to prevent teams from trading away 10 years of draft picks.
DeleteAnd I still believe there is going to be a day of reckoning for the Dodgers. At some point in the not-so-distant future, they are going to have quite a few high-priced old players with diminished tools and skills under contract on the roster. What do they do then?
DeleteThe day of reckoning might be 2026 when they get a new CBA
Delete
Deletethey will just spend more
I hear what you have to say... and I appreciate it. I have a hard time seeing the lower 1/3 of the league ever having more than a snowballs chance of fielding a competitive team while I see the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets in the playoffs every year for as long as they keep spending.
DeleteThe NFL and NBA do not work this way. This year it looks like OKC and Cleveland dominating the NBA with 2 upcoming potential dynasties and Kansas City going for a three peat in the NFL. I don't think you will see these markets fielding dynasties in the MLB ever again at this rate.
I think MLBPA is not going to support a cap like your saying, but I also think they are playing a large hand in killing MLB and its going to bite them down the road.
Freddie Freeman will be 36 next season and the Dodgers starting pitching has a tendency to get injured. They may have hit their limit by not pursuing Soto or Burnes. It looks good on paper for them now but we shall see soon.
ReplyDeleteMLBTR is running a poll on fan support for a salary cap in the next CBA at the end of the 2026 season with 2 questions: should there be a salary cap and would you be willing to lose the 2027 season to get one.
ReplyDelete(1) salary cap leads 2-1
(2) lose 2027 is almost exactly 50-50
(https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/)
Interesting poll. Thanks for posting that.
DeleteSome disappointment for Meckler not even getting a cup of coffee this year.
ReplyDeleteWith a career AAA OPS of .900, he doesn't seem to have the power to play anywhere but CF and the Giants might be "long" there.
What about 2B?
I've read reports that Meckler intentionally worked on getting stronger and hit something like 8 HR's in a few weeks at the end of last season. If you add just enough power to make pitchers respect him, he's could be a darn good hitter who would "keep the line moving." Buster and Melvin have a big challenge separating out the wheat from the chafe among the logjam of prospects FZ promoted over the past two years but I would like to see Meck get another shot with his newfound power.
DeleteHe is still a rookie with a .900 OPS in AAA.
DeleteMight be interesting to start playing some 2B in Sacramento? Somewhere along the way he did play there for 16 games, 55 chances with 3 errors. Ouch.