Friday, February 7, 2020
Hot Stove Update: Zaidi Blocks Kids
The Giants signed Hunter Pence to a 1 year/$3 M contract today with another $2.5 M of incentives tacked on. Pence is a beloved figure from 2 of the 3 championships and the hero of 2012. He had a pretty good season last year in Texas playing in a home park that is a whole lot easier to hit on than The Oracle. In isolation it doesn't seem like a terrible deal for the Giants. My problem with it is where is the fit in the short and longterm plan? Farhan has now gone from raising hopes of a couple of impact signings to evaluating younger players to blocking those same kids with guaranteed contracts for.....well....let's say for non-impact players.
Look, there are only so many Active Roster spots. Yes, it's increased from 25 to 26, but it's a lock the Giants are going to carry the maximum allowed 13 pitchers which leaves 8 starting position players and 5 position bench players. One of those position bench players has to be a catcher. Pence and Wilmer Flores now both have guaranteed contracts as does Donovan Solano(maybe Flores starts at 2B making Solano one of he bench IF. Add in Pablo Sandoval and Yolmer Sanchez who are all but locks for Active Roster spots and that's it. Jaylin Davis and Mauricio Dubon will fight for the final roster spot. No other "young" players have a ghost of a chance barring injury(OK, Sandoval will likely start the season on the IL, but for how long?).
I am not so sold on "the kids" that I would be against a clear upgrade such as a Castellanos, but to block them with this collection of mediocrity is just one more disappointment out of the current management.
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Just to add to the confusion, the Giants also signed long time Bobby Evans "white whale" Billy Hamilton. At least it's a minor league deal in which I'm guessing he will work with the Giants wunderkind development team in the minors and hope for a chance at a MLB gig down the line.
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Let's try to project a likely Opening Day positional roster(excluding pitchers):
C Buster Posey
1B Brandon Belt
2B Wilmer Flores or Yolmer Sanchez
3B Evan Longoria
SS Brandon Crawford
LF Alex Dickerson/Hunter Pence
CF Mike Yastrzemski?
RF: Jaylin Davis?
Bench: Tyler Heineman or Aramis Garcia, Donovan Solano, Mauricio Dubon, Wilmer Flores or Yolmer Sanchez.
Pablo Sandoval IL
That's 13 players + 1 IL who will bump one of the 13 when he comes off.
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Doc, I agree with what you're saying that blocking the kids is not good since they need to find out which young players will makeup their next young core group of players. That said I think youngsters like Yaz, Jaylin Davis can learn so much from a vet player like Pence, and he might make a nice platoon with Dick. I like the signing. Read an article once where Astros pitcher Colin McHugh said having vet pitchers around during the Astros rebuild helped further his career. Yolmer Sanchez signed a minor league deal. Is he a lock to make the team? Zaidi said something interesting that he doesn't mind signing vets to minor league deals since it makes younger players feel they have a chance to make the team. Zaidi has said that he considers whether a veteran he's thinking of signing would take away too much playing time from the kids, so I trust he did his due diligence with Pence. It sounds like you like me are not fans of rebuilding, i think Zaidi is doing what he can, rebuilds take time. Impact free agents aren't coming to SF, until the team shows progress building a young core. I think young players like Dubon, Davis will get their abs if they deserve it. We know that Zaidi and Harris will tinker with the roster to make sure that happens throughout the season. Although I don't like rebuilds, I'll try to keep my comments positive here.
ReplyDeleteI feel like fans are unhappy when we don't sign anyone - and still unhappy when we sign older players because they are blocking. Can't have it both ways.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if we would trade pence, but if he could do anything close to last year's production I wouldn't mind flipping him at the TDL. Or keeping him and letting him be one of the better bats in the lineup.
It has been a head scratching offseason or two to say the least. One clear message I am seeing from ownership and Farhan is that they intend to lower their payroll in the short term and possibly reset it going forward. Gone are the days of being a top 5 payroll team yet crab sandwiches will remain $20 each!
ReplyDeleteI understand the business side of running a baseball franchise but ownership is sending a clear message that they are more interested in their pocketbooks than winning by a large margin. This ownership group in the past has been incredibly generous and willing to spend to have a chance to win but if profit is all they are interested in now, I might as well just become an A's fan.
I would like to believe that Giants fans are smarter than the owners (and A's fans) and can see right through their scheme. It saddens me to say it but as fans I think we need to put our foot down and stop giving this team our hard earned money if all they are going to do is pocket it. I will be watching every game on TV for as long as I can stomach them but I won't drive over the bridge to pay the same prices I did when this team actually spent money on the product on the field.
If you compare what the Giants are doing to other rebuilds it feels like this won't be a quick one either. The Astros took about 6 years of sucking to get where they are and after this year we will be 2 years deep with likely 3-4 more to go. Even Sabes and Evans were able to rebuild after Bonds in less time so it is hard to be onboard with this plan.
Looks about as promising as remake of 2019 without Bumgarner and Smith although a couple outfield positions are settled with Yaz + Dick/Pence? a lot better than Joe and Reed.
ReplyDeleteSolano/Dubon/Sanchez make 2B potentially better.
But Davis, Duggar, Rickard, Slater, Shaw are competing for 2 OF slots.
With Hamilton and Pence, I wouldn't be too concerned. Last season, they had Solarte, Maybin, and Parra. None stuck. Though I think that pence will stick, I doubt Hamilton stays long.
ReplyDeleteNot concerned either, they have Pence, Yaz, and Dick guaranteed spots. I'd like to see Jaylin Davis, Duggar, and Slater get their Abs. While NRIs Rickard and Hamilton add to the competition. That's what spring training should be about for this team as constructed. Young players have to earn their playing time. Pence was a much needed signing for only 1 year. It sounds like they tried to sign Castellanous. I've wondered if it would have made a difference if they made an offer like 4 yrs $80 mil, would he have accepted .He got 4 yrs $64 mil from the Reds. It sounds like most free agents didn't want the Giants $$ this off season.
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