The Giants go into the Hot Stove League with third base as their deepest position, but like many other positions on their roster, the depth chart is unsettled without a clear first stringer.
MLB:
Evan Longoria- .244/.315/451, 14 HR, 298 PA. If/when Longo is on the roster and healthy, he's still likely the first stringer both by pay scale and performance. That is probably as good an argument as any to pay the extra $8 M to bring him back for a final year on his contract. The problem is injuries have kept him off the field for half the games last two seasons.
Wilmer Flores- .229/.316/.394, 19 HR, 602 PA. As we have said several times already, Wilmer was overused and over-depended on for power. Needs to go back to being a true back up at multiple positions with a target of around 300 PA's.
J.D. Davis- .263/.361/.496, 8 HR, 158 PA. Probably the best all around hitter of this group and 3B is his best fielding position where he is approximately average. If the Giants buy out Longo's option Davis and Villar should compete for the starting 3B job. If Longo stays, Davis moves to 1B or DH. Could/should he be flipped in a trade?
David Villar- .231/.331/.455, 9 HR, 181 PA. Villar put on quite a show at the end of the season to force the Giants to seriously consider him for a starting position in 2023. His minor league track record suggests he is for real and can sustain or even build on his rookie success. On the other hand, he has options which could enable the Giants to send him back to AAA as depth, especially if Longo comes back.
Jason Vosler- .265/.342/.469, 4 HR, 111 PA. Batting LH is Vosler's ace-in-the-hole which gives him a leg up on a utility role. It doesn't hurt that he can play multiple positions.
AAA:
Casey Schmitt(3 levels): .293/.365/.489, 21 HR, 526 PA. Schmitt raked through A+ and AA and kept it going through 16 PA's at AAA at the end of the season. Rated as a plus defender at 3B with a legendary arm(he was a 2-way player in college). Gotta think he's the Giants 3B of the future and the future could be now.
AA:
Sean Roby- .219/.286/481, 25 HR, 353 PA. Light tower power but way too much swing and miss in his game and generally not rated as a good defender.
A+:
Luis Toribio- .209/.309/.429, 21 HR, 437 PA. Lefty-hitting version of Sean Roby. Played more 1B than 3B for the Ems.
A:
Yorlis Rodriguez- .258/.291/.425, 16 HR, 459 PA. Pretty good season for SJ but has been in the organization a long time.
SF might make a deal with Longo if they don't take the $13M option: $5M owed for 2013 + something less than $8M. He's missed a lot of games every year since he played 156 for TB in 2017. Fortunately, they won't deal with Borass who would keep them guessing until April.
ReplyDeleteI see a glaring similarity between every position you have covered so far and likely each of the ones you haven’t. Lots of mediocre players who are difficult to tell apart and none of which or any combination of them is very exciting. The churn has created butter when FZ was trying for whipped cream.
ReplyDeleteWe finished with exactly a .500 record which is fitting I think since this team is so incredibly average. It would be nice if one or two of these guys at each position stepped up and became stars but the odds are none of them will get a fair shot to prove themselves or they just aren’t good enough. None are at all valuable either on the trade market.
With the biggest move of FZ’s tenure being a 3 year contract to LaStella, it’s hard to gauge what could be coming this off-season. Seems like they need to make it the biggest and splashiest yet if they want any chance of improving this team and the hopes of this fanbase. On the other hand they probably don’t need to make any moves at all with the players in hand and could likely finish right around .500 again next season with a lower payroll.
Tough decisions for an ownership group that has benefited from a loyal fanbase to the tune of billions! I don’t think just getting Judge is enough. Money needs to be spent and/or a few big trades need to be made. Not a stretch to say this is the most important off-season for the Giants in the last forever years!
Except for the LaStella being biggest contract part.
DeleteA (big?) problem with signing Longoria (and worse if Belt), giving Flores (602 PAs last year) a new contract, and, to some extent Crawford's 2nd year (458 PAs last year) plus Davis and Yastrzemski (558 PAs last year) is these guys will have to get AB's and they could squeeze out more productive ABs by players signed or traded for.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants are loaded with past-their-prime players – 30 + yo – who are not going to get better.
If you want an average team, play average players.
As Anon says above, if you shoot for .500, don't complain or make excuses if that's where you end up, +/-.