Not only did Will Smith not accept the Giants Qualifying Offer, he signed with another team all in one day. Let's see, if you have a choice between $39 M of guaranteed money and $18 M, it's probably a smart decision to take the larger number, even if it is spread out over 3 seasons. Add in Smith's stated desire to win a ring and that he is from Georgia and grew up rooting for the Braves and you can see the Giants really didn't stand a chance. Will Smith was not going to sign with the Giants equal money, so it's probably a moot issue whether the Giants were willing to go beyond the QO or not.
Smith was the top Closer on the market while the contract is fairly average for an established Closer, so it's a good deal for the Braves who may be only a Closer away from taking the next step in the postseason. On the other hand, multiyear deals for Closers have tended to not age well for teams that sign them.
So, where does this leave the Giants? They will have to pay a similar amount for a lesser established Closer or they will have to find one though The Churn. I bet you can't guess which route Farhan Zaidi is planning to take.....or maybe you can. The latter is probably the smarter way to go. Will Smith was an inexpensive setup man before he became an inexpensive league leading Closer. The Giants won 3 rings with low cost Closers. The last two free agent Closers the Giants signed were Armando Benitez and Mark Melancon. I think I've made my point. I am not among those who say the Giants don't need a Closer because they are not going to contend anyway. I think they can contend, at least for a Wild Card spot and they need a good Closer to do that. It's just not irrational to think they are as likely to find that Closer in The Churn for a fraction of the price which frees them to allocate that $18 M somewhere else. Which brings us to.......
*********************************************************************************
Farhan Zaidi talked about his Hot Stove goals with the press. Quotes are taken from a MLBTR writeup. "We're going to be open to anything and see what the market yields." "We're still in a mode where we want to compete next year. We want to play meaningful baseball deep into the season....but we want to do it in a way that creates flexibility for us....." Well, that's pretty close to what Brian Sabean said around this time of year for the past 20 years, so nothing earthshaking there.
More specifically, Farhan said he is looking for a left-handed hitting infielder with multi-position flexibility, a back up catcher and extra pitching. Notice there is nothing about re-signing Madison Bumgarner or another frontline SP in there or a mashing corner outfielder. I hope you had your heart set on Eric Sogard, Steven Vogt and Alex Wood. That's all well and good, but if payroll is what Farhan was referring to with numerous references to "flexibility", I'm not sure how much more flexible you can get when you are $90 M under the CBT threshold and you have multiple large contracts coming off the books over the next 2 seasons. So yeah, I'm not doing handsprings over Farhan and his Hot Stove goals.
*********************************************************************************
Speaking of Madison Bumgarner, as expected, Bummy did not accept the Giants QO and is now a free agent on the open market. Given Farhan's goals statements which pointedly did not include resigning Bummy and Bummy saying the Giants choice of managers would impact his decision, I'm not expecting him to be a Giant next season.
*********************************************************************************
RHP Jake Odorizzi accepted the Twins Qualifying offer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1. I bet that Buster is currently in Madbums ear, trying to get him to come back. Buster spoke highly of Kapler. Longo spoke highly of Kapler. I wouldn't be shocked if Madbum signed a nice extension with the Gmen. No reason to tell the rest of the league what we're planning as far as that's concerned.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Rogers might be a good option as a closer.
I'm happy for Will Smith getting a chance to pitch back in his home town with the Braves. I've read that the Giants will be in the bidding for Madbum but may offer a shorter term deal while his other suiters may offer longer term deals that he wants. I'm finding it hard to believe that Kapler being the manager instead of Joe Espada would impact his decision to stay. Pavs said that Bochy even recommended Kapler for the job. I don't expect Madbum back with the Giants either. On a positive note, it was reported that the Giants checked in on Marcell Ozuna.
ReplyDeleteUnless a bonifide can't-say-no-offer comes, Bumgarner will sign with a Southern team -- you can take a boy out of the South, but you can't ...
ReplyDeleteAtlanta after 4 consecutive years of increasing attendance has lots of salary space, Teheran and Hamilton are coming off the books, Flowers and Makakis have signed club-friendly contracts, and they obviously mean business with Melancon and Smith signed.
Alex Anthopoulos has made it known the Braves will make a big move when they feel they are one piece away — and that will be a starting pitcher! Will it be one with a sterling post season record?
Look for a long ((4 or more years) incentive laden deal, one Bumgarner will like.
So Odorizzi and Bum off the Giant's board? Who do you all see as other top of the rotation and third starter candidates of the Giants next year? Or do they go in with 5 question marks (including Cueto and Shark, imo)?
ReplyDeleteThe giants are supposedly a rich team, and last year the attendance started to dwindle ever so little, but a continuing trend over the last two years. A real contender would get people back in those seats. Sign Bumgarner, and Cole, sign one solid hitter who can hit 300 and pound out 30 homeruns, and suddenly the giants are contenders. The giants will have to recreate the bullpen which until the trade deadline allowed the weak hitting giants to have a 19-6 month. The giants actually had decent offensive numbers on the road, but could not hit at home whatsoever. They were the worst home hitting team in the N.L. by far, and that includes the Marlins. The hitting philosophy under Bochy and his hitting coaches just did not work well for the team as a whole. I would like this team to at least contend. Wild Card teams can go very far in the playoffs. Even win the World Series.
ReplyDelete