The Astros reportedly agreed to a 2 yr/$32 M contract with OF Michael Brantley today taking the second of three #2 tier OF FA's off the market. Brantley joins an Astros OF mix of George Springer, Josh Reddick, Kyle Tucker, Tony Kemp and Derek Fisher. Brantley's best fit is LF. The signing may increase the likelihood of a trade of Reddick or Kyle Tucker, the latter could be used to land C TJ Realmuto from the Marlins.
It's a bit surprising that the Astros were able to limit the term to 2 years, limiting their risk of injury recurrences which seems quite a bit higher than average for Brantley. As long as he's healthy, he should more than earn back his salary. Nice deal for the 'Stros!
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Good Move for SF, not having Brantly to Temp SF Mgmt is a good thing, though I believe the New Guy is smarter than the Old Guy.....he won't cave into Boch as easy.
ReplyDeleteRemember in Moneyball when Howe wouldn't play Hatteberg at 1b, kept starting Pena? So Beane traded Pena so Howe would have no choice? Don't know how close to the real story that was but it was clever...
DeleteDoes SF really need to spend big for a LF? Shaw should be working with a hitting coach to improve his K rate and I'm pretty sure Mac Williamson was ripping the ball off LHP before he had his concussion SO there's your potential R/L power platoon in LF 2019 - Duggar/Gerber/Slater/Ferguson good OBP and strong defensive platoons in CF/RF. Longoria/Sandoval platoon at 3B, Crawford/Avelino at SS, Panik/Hanson 2B, Belt/Posey 1B, Posey/Garcia C. Dumpster dive S Vogt if his shoulder is back from surgery for a LH bat at C. Add Kikuchi if you can get him and/or dumpster dive Nate Karns RHP or pony up for Trevor Cahill (31, 2.0WAR) and/or Holland (32, 2.0WAR) or pony up very big for Keuchel. If SF is not close in July - fire sale and stock the farm?
ReplyDeletelike your analysis - Brantley at age 31 probably has 2 or 3 good years left (who knows) and the Giants are more than two years from really contending - so why spend $32 M now when the Farm is dry.
DeleteYes - give the Boys until All Star Break to see how they perform and maybe dismantle the team if they are out of it.
The only difference between what Farhan is doing with the Giants and what Jeter is doing with the Fish is Jeter is honest about it. This team needs so much more help than what has been done so far and what is likely left to be done to be competitive in 2019. Farhan has brought that across town frugal mentality with him and he plans on building this thing from scratch. Doesn’t make any sense for him to make anything but small FA moves this offseason mixed with a few trades for prospects. If it walks like a duck.... it must be a rebuild
DeleteIf the Giants plan to compete in 2019, I believe they need to add at least 1 proven commodity in the OF, either by FA signing or trade. My choice would be AJ Pollock, but there may be other options just as good or better available on the trade market. Then you can let the Motley Crew Farhan has assembled fight it out for playing time at the other 2 OF positions.
DeleteAn FA signing that Zaidi does not make will not come back to bite the Giants in 2020.
ReplyDeleteDitto trading prospects.
That reminds me of the saying “you can’t get a hit if you don’t step up to the plate”. This team has money to burn and can afford to make mistakes and move on. Boston just won a world series after signing Panda and Hanley to some lf the worst contracts in history. They can afford to make mistakes to at least give the impression they want to comptete this year but instead it looks like they are going to rebuild and hope nobody notices. I don’t mind the rebuild but I’m not going to pay $15 a beer to watch garbage.
DeleteI read somewhere that Farhan and the Giants don't want to increase payroll commitments beyond 2020 which severely limits their FA options. They may be able to add some significant upgrades through trades. Still a lot of time left.
DeleteNo, it's more like taking a 2-0 pitch that isn't the one you want. There's a huge difference between not stepping up to the plate and deciding to swing at the next pitch no matter where it is.
DeleteGiants have thrown a lot of good money after bad recently and I, for one, applaud Zaidi for not rushing in where fools dare to go with all due respect for Alexander Pope and his angels.
Zaidi will swoop in with short contracts to fill some immediate holes, but first he wants to see if he can hook Yusei Kikuchi to a Maeda-type incentive contract.
ReplyDeleteAfter the FAs who can get great contracts are off the board, there will be a number who will take 1-year deals to reset for next year.
Maybe AJ Pollock will fall into that -- his injuries may be non-recurring but they are oft-curring and have limited him in each of the last 3 years and 4 of the last 5.
It would take a ballsy GM to bet 3 years on that record.
He needs a good year to build credibility.
Well, we know from his Dodgers tenure that Zaidi loves pitchers with injury histories like Kikuchi and his balky shoulder. He seemed to make that work in Dodgerland. We'll see if he can sustain the magic in SF.
DeleteAs for Pollock, I seriously doubt he will have to settle for a 1 year contract.
I like the discipline being displayed so far, I like the Platooning being talked about especially at SS and 1B plus Garcia at C and Hansen at 2B. I would want to see Gerber and Ferguson in the OF before we start trading limited resources. Would also like to see us get Kikuchi. How many days until Catchers and Pitchers Report!
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