Per Cot's Contracts website, the signing of Harrison Bader leaves the Giants approximately $26 M under the CBT threshold. For the sake of this discussion, Buster Posey is willing to use half of that to sign at least one more player while leaving a bit of room for midseason upgrades.
Question: What position do you upgrade with that $13 M? Here are the choices:
Second Base
DH
Starting Rotation
Bullpen
None, keep your powder dry for a bigger midseason move
*Warning: Rants about ownership not spending enough will not be posted.
None. That isn’t enough money to get a difference maker. Keep the powder dry or — more likely — make another trade.
ReplyDeleteWithout a doubt in my mind, we should pick up a couple more RPs.
ReplyDeleteBullpen, Bob in Dixon.
ReplyDeleteMLBTR adjacent "Headliners" points out:
ReplyDeleteGiants to sign Harrison Bader ($20.8M for 2 years, ~ $10M/year)
Yankees re-sign Cody Bellinger ($162.5M for 5 years, ~ $32M/year)
So for $13M you can get ~1⅓ Baders.
According to what's left in MLBTR's unsigned Top 50 MLB Free Agents:
You can't get Galen.
You can't get Bassit.
You could get:
Giolito (almost - two years, $32M).
Martinez
Arraez
Littell
Verlander (maybe, but probably not)
Scherzer (maybe, but probably not)
So: Gioloto
Any interest in a lower cost, 1 year contract for Walker Buehler?
DeleteHe was good... but I always disliked Walker Bueler a lot.
DeleteThat's probably not enough to get any FA position that would help, but the trade market still is an avenue which would take prospects and a 2026 salary which would likely be less than $13M.
ReplyDeleteSuch as Brendan Donovan who will get $5.8M for the 2026 season (and more for 2027).
He would help the most, but is it worth giving up one of the Top 3 (Eldridge, Gonzalez, Hernandez)? The Giants do have 4 infielders in Doc's Top 6 so maybe one of them but not Eldridge or Davidson (the only OFer in the top 12).
Getting Donovan would give the Giants a very solid defense and improve the offense, perhaps more than any other (available) player.
Otherwise pick up Lucas Giolito because at least one of the Giants' 5 SP's will falter which would allow Roupp to
be a swingman.
As constructed now team can start with respectable roster, see how things go and be well positioned to be seller (contracts of this year's FA signings, Ray, any reliever who catches fire), or buyer (with legit SP prospects up & down the minors levels, lots of SSs & the #4 pick coming in to help patch or at least compensate for whatever stockpile gets depleted). Right now, in advance of that, I like just about any Brendan Donovan trade -- one I have in mind is Dakota, Kilen & one of the San-Jose/Eugene SPs, and I would have liked to be more in market for RP upgrading, but seems that ship's sailed and plenty of candidates go to camp, hopefully one emerges as legit CL.
ReplyDeleteThey said it above......the bullpen as constructed is going to lose games this year. They are either very young, coming off injuries or just plain waiver wire pickups. I am not saying One or two will not have good seasons....but a whole season with a pen like this is going to be a long one. The biggest issue is that the free agent market has already been picked clean...so unless a trade or two is made they better have the fire brigade standing by to put out the fires.
ReplyDeleteAre there any meaningful bullpen arms left in free agency? Looks pretty pricey for mediocre (and less) talent still remaining. Donovan was never a real option, St. Louis would never turn him over to the Giants for anything less than a haul, especially with so many American League teams and others kicking tires. Giolito is an injury away from being a big waste of a roster spot. Time to see if Bednar and some other youngsters in the system are ready and able to step up. Save any dry powder for the trade deadline.
ReplyDeleteStand pat. As it is, there's a workable plan for everything. Some plan for second, DH, RP or SP will implode, some will work out. I'd rather hold onto the 26 and prospect until we see a target. /PH
ReplyDeleteThese 24 pitchers are on the 40-man roster:
ReplyDeleteStarters:
Logan Webb
Robbie Ray
Adrian Houser
Tyler Mahle
Landon Roupp (probably)
Relievers:
Hayden Birdsong
Spencer Bivens
JT Brubaker
Tristan Black
Jose Butto
Matt Gage
Trevor McDonald
Erik Miller
Joel Peguero
Reiver Sanmartin
Carson Seymour
Kai-Wei Teng
Blade Tidwell
Ryan Walker
Carson Whisenhunt
Keaton Winn
The following 3 on the roster will be added to the injured list to begin the season:
*Randy Rodriguez
*Jason Foley
*Sam Hentges
There are 2 more likely pitchers to be invited to Spring Training (both have minor league contracts) if they are not already:
Kaleb Kilian
Gregory Santos
That's 23 pitchers (not including the 3 "injured") who will report to ST February 10 (according to SI.com). That's in 2 weeks!
Anon above suggests a half dozen pitchers who are still FA's, but do the Giants really need another pitcher?
An established (good) Closer would be nice but that is unlikely without a trade giving up someone the Giants won't want to give up.
The only obvious weakness for SF is 2B and the possibility that they can't live with the 23 (or 25) pitchers they already have.
So trade for Donovan and sign another pitcher to make an even 2 bakers' dozen.
I am intrigued by prospect to develop Teng &/or Bednar as closer
DeleteIf Bednar comes to camp healthy and throwing hundos, he could very well break camp on the active roster.
DeleteTeng was traded to the Astros to make room for Bader.
DeleteAny FA reliever signings will mean that they will have to make room on the 40 man. I'm not sure if any of the remaining free agents represents a clear difference maker.
DeleteRamón Urías: free agent, former Gold Glove winner, versatile infield utility player, positive dWAR, made $3,150,000 last year
ReplyDeleteI posted this yesterday but it pertains to today's discussion: "Speaking of oft injured players, do you think the Giants should take a flyer on Michael Kopech? He may have the best stuff of remaining FA relievers. Last year he only pitched 11 innings though. He had a shoulder injury and a torn meniscus last season, so one might say too many red flags. Some say he is the best reliever left on the market. It would have to be a one year deal at a low cost." Lots of upside there.
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteDepends on cost but yes, Kopech is a nice upside play. I keep coming back to Walker Buehler too.
Deletethere may be some character and makeup issues with kopech
DeleteJackson Kowar interest me for the bullpen
ReplyDeleteGiants must have at least 13 pitchers on the team. From the list above my eight RPs would be:
ReplyDeleteSpencer Bivens
J.T. Brubaker
Tristan Beck
Jose Butto
Erik Miller
Joel Peguero
Ryan Walker
Matt Gage
Some of the above are on the cusp for me. Depends on whether they should be established in the minors as a starting pitcher or do not have a strong enough track record to justify a spot. With that list, there does not seem to be an obvious closer. Maybe Ryan Walker if he gets his mojo back.
Don’t think SP. Saw an article that says Birdsong was working on his mechanics and Webb was thrilled. I see him as a dark horse 6th pitcher who establishes himself in rotation. We will need guys in a year, but lots of talent there. RP we are not gonna spend that kind of money. And it does not seem like an upgrade at 2b can be done at FA.
ReplyDeleteWe stand pat and look for the kids to continue to develop.
Birdsong has the talent to have a role either as a starter or reliever. If he were to be used as a reliever, the key would be how well he bounces back, how many times a week will he be able to go.
DeleteFWIW, if you add the 2926 Luis Hernandez signing to Prospects1500.com Top 5, they are the same as Doc's Top 6.
ReplyDeleteThey add Gilbert at #6 and Jordan at 7, giving the former a vote of confidence while pointing out that he had some problems adjusting to Oracle which is not uncommon: Devers didn't start out so well either but adjusted.
Are the Giants starting the 2026 season with 3 pitchers out with injuries?
ReplyDeleteWhy are there so many pitching injuries?
Would you believe that St Louis had none last season?
See:
https://mail.yahoo.com/d/search/referrer=unread&keyword=is%253Aunread&accountIds=1&excludefolders=ARCHIVE/messages/AAsJLksfsONgsVtbxKf2yexKUuf?.intl=us&.partner=ftr&.lang=en-US&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9sb2dpbi55YWhvby5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJaKrksNSYHE7bWnnjhu2OZlTfUncCcJzFDfOeJISwFDcaGhbJ-t8-1tJ20R69wYv1zUu3BRiDd8DIAyvSz_1TsD2Z0D9CcArZ7EiZ_AGwBPVJGKUcFCfXbtJuh0hvivGCCLolsVggybT2KiQVxwPCmTU5Ob4-M8aek8MxAqofK5
Not to put too fine a point on it but it almost seems like the fate of the team, good or bad, rests on Casey Schmidt's ability to stay healthy and productive for the whole year. If he could have a 2021 Crawford-like year, that would be nice.
ReplyDeleteHaving an adjusted Adames and a whole years of Devers should take a lot of pressure off a healthy Chapman who should respond with a a bounce-back year. Adding Bader will take the pressure off JHL (and the terror of the Ramos express coming in from LF) and anyone else who plays out there.
A long way of saying, I trust Casey Schmidt to have an up year (he's a good athlete who is going to be healthy and who now has a year of salt at a new-to-him position) more than I trust the any set-up or closers out there right now. They can have a competition to see if anyone emerges, but it's probably best to stand-pat at this point and have a reserve ready in order to go out and trade for someone when/if the contenders fall flat.
If the excitement the fans are feeling (based on the attendance at the fan-fests around the region) catches on in the Clubhouse and everyone can sustain the enthusiasm through the year, I'm saying there's a chance.
Krukow feels RP will be filled with an internal option.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the problem has been The Diamond and CarMax will change the perspective. Wife and I contemplating flying back to see the cherry blossoms, watch the Giants at Camden and take in a Squirrels game at the new park. kl- Alturas
ReplyDeleteCasey Schmitt's MLB progression
ReplyDelete2023 24 yo PA 277 .206/.255/.324/.580 OPS+ 60
2024 25 yo PA 113 .252/.283/.477/.760 OPS+ 113
2025 26 yo PA 348 .237/.305/.401/.706 OPS+ 101
Apologies. My above post was intended to be in the subsequent blog: "#16 Parks Harbor". kl
ReplyDelete