The Giants have signed 3 more pitchers as minor league free agents. Here are their profiles:
Raynel Espinal RHP. DOB: 10/6/1991. 6'3", 215 lbs.
2021(AAA): 11-4, 3.44, 117.2 IP, 8.80 K/9, 3.29 BB/9
2021(Red Sox): 0-0, 9.00, 2.0 IP, 0.00 K/9, 4.50 BB/9.
This is a serious signing of a pitcher who has a legitimate shot at being 5'th SP and could also help in a multi-inning relief role. Looking over his minor league record which starts in 2013 with the Yankees, you have to wonder why he did not get a whiff of MLB until last season. The only answer I can see is the Yankees farm system is a really tough neighborhood to live in. Fangraphs pitch tracker has Espinal throwing just two pitches in his 2 MLB IP, a 93 MPH FB(75%) and a splitter(25%). He probably needs to get a third pitch to be a MLB SP.
Luis Ortiz RHP. DOB: 9/22/1995. 6'3", 230 lbs.
2021(AAA): 2-2, 4.60, 43 IP, 9.21 K/9, 3.56 BB/9.
Ortiz is a big, burly RHP out of Sanger, CA. I really liked him a lot when I scouted the 2014 draft cycle. He's kind of kicked around in a couple of organizations(Rangers/Orioles) not known for developing pitchers. Maybe the Giants pitching mavens can finally unlock his potential?
Wei-Cheih Huang RHP. DOB: 9/26/1993. 6'1", 170 lbs.
2019(AAA): 1-2, 6.10, 31 IP, 12.19 K/9, 7.26 BB/9.
2019(MLB): 0-0, 3.18, 5.2 IP, 3.18 K/9, 7.94 BB/9.
Huang has not pitched in U.S. pro baseball since 2019. No word on why. MLBTR reports he struck out 5 batters in 3 IP in the DWL this year which is where the Giants may have scouted him.
Since November 3rd the Giants have signed 20+ pitchers (including Wood, DeSclafani, and Cobb). Then there are 20+ on your Top 50. There are another 20+ on the 40-man roster (at least the 3 above are duplicates). Plus who knows how many "belong" to the Giants developing and filling rosters.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the point?
It seems fairly unlikely there will be a CBA anytime soon: both sides seem pretty well dug in. The Owners are not even whiffing MLBPA "hot" issues and the Union doesn't want to hear from a federal mediator.
Even areas that might have some agreement (e.g. new bonus pool) have the sides talking back-to-back rather than face-to-face — the Union suggests a triple digit million dollar starting point, the Owners respond at less than 10%, the players edge down less than 5% — that ain't serious!
The Players seem resolute not to accept another "bad" deal, and the Owners surely will not accept anything that doesn't comport to their financial goals.
This has the making of Groundhog Day: Spring will be delayed 6 weeks. Or more.
Is there a Silver Lining?
The Minor Leagues can go on, can't they, sort of 2020 in reverse with non 40-man roster signees playing and the MLB players watching?
That could be interesting for a while. The Giants have a lot of pitchers to work through.
There is a great chance the minor leagues will have the spotlight to themselves for serious baseball fans to enjoy. There's also college baseball. Wouldn't want that to last all season but it's kind of fun to think about for a month or two of alternative baseball entertainment. Good point about it giving resourceful teams extra evaluation time.
DeleteMLBTR has an interesting take on this (Quick Hits: Minors Camp): veteran players signed to minor league contracts have the option of going to MiLB camps or not. The MLBPA isn't pleased: "the early opening of a minor league camp 'could be seen by the union as an antagonistic act by MLB' in the words of one source familiar with labor talks, as it could paint those minor leaguers as replacement players or scabs."
DeleteWhat should veteran players signed to minor league contracts do?
Lessen their chances of getting major league contracts or go against the Union (of which they are not, technically, members)?
Sounds like todays' politics, no?
Just one more example of the hypocrisy on all sides. If the MLBPA doesn't like it, all they have to do is bring all professional players into the union and represent their interests too.
DeleteThe owners are meeting this week Tuesday through Thursday in Orlando. At some point they will be losing money by not playing games in the spring and starting the season late. Its millionaires (players) vs. billionaires (owners). Call me an optimist, but I still see this playing out that the lockout will be over sooner rather than later. Both sides lose the longer the stalemate goes on. There are lots of unsigned players that need to find teams.
ReplyDeleteI may be way off base but my take on the owners meeting this week is it is an ominous sign. Again, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure what the owners learned from 2020 is the only part of the season they can't afford to lose is the postseason. Of course they need just enough of a regular season to give the postseason a fig leaf of legitimacy, but I'm pretty sure they don't care about the first 3 months of the season.
DeleteMany if not all MLB Owners want a true salary cap, but the PA will have no part of that. None. Nada.
DeleteThe PA wants a payroll floor (more spending), but a lot (maybe most) of Owners don't.
The Players seem to be united and have fan support.
The Owners are not quite so united and have far less fan AND pundit support.
IMO, the Owners will wave arms and resist starting the season thinking the Players will break when they aren't getting paid.
Concessions will come (perhaps with a tougher CBT which acts as a cap) and no one will be happy.
What if the teams ALL had a "Hard" Cap of $2xx,000,000. The low revenue teams that cannot spend that much could TRADE some of their unspent funds to high revenue teams FOR players: major league players with "low" salaries or before they become Free Agents or for prospects. The "poorer" teams would "buy" players with money they don't spend and they will get better. Teams that want to spend more and are rich in talent can spend more to make a push.
A lot of details need to be figured out but the Owners would get a Cap and the Players would get more spending.