FZ held his traditional end-of-season presser yesterday. I've tried to find the full recording but have only seen summaries and clips. He had a few interesting things to say but was understandably vague responding to questions about specific players he might pursue or not when the Hot Stove League opens. I'll go into more depth about what the Giants offseason needs are when we get into our depth chart analysis. What I'd like to do here is recap the points the beats are talking about and then pose a few questions I would have asked. Maybe they were asked but I have not seen them in any of the summaries.
FZ expects Carlos Rodon LHP to opt out which creates an opening to add a pitcher, which could be Rodon but he'll have no shortage of offers on the free agent market and won't come cheap. FZ prefers to keep Jakob Junis RHP in a swing role. Kyle Harrison LHP will likely join the rotation next season, possibly earlier than later. No mention of Sean Hjelle RHP.
Q: Is Sean Hjelle ready to compete for a spot in the regular starting rotation?
FZ is looking for younger, more athletic up-the-middle players. He is open to signing a shortstop regardless of Brandon Crawford's situation.
Not really a question but this creates a dilemma. Crawford does not really have the bat to move off SS and it might be a challenge to convince a top FA SS to move off the position, even temporarily. They will have plenty of offers from teams happy to have them immediately play SS.
FZ is open to bringing back Evan Longoria 3B and Brandon Belt 1B. Indicated they might have a reduced role.
Q: There are only 26 roster spots. If you bring everybody back, where's the roster room for additions?
FZ expects to hire a GM before the GM meetings.
Q: What qualities would GM candidates have to bring in new ideas to the organization? Comment: The Giants seems to have more than enough number crunchers. A candidate with a strong scouting background but who also understands the numbers like A's Assistant GM Billy Owens, who worked with FZ in Oakland, would seem like an ideal candidate.
Another question I didn't see: Are you satisfied with the current catching situation going into next season?
I think this off-season will be the most interesting under FZ's tenure, given the huge amount of payroll flexibility the Giants have now. While "the churn" only produced modest results in terms of finding our version of Max Muncy and replenishing the farm, it kept the giants fairly competitive while allowing them to shed payroll. We are now in this position to potentially open the checkbook this off-season.
ReplyDeleteEno Sarris, a Bay Area-based fantasy writer for the Athletic, was on KNBR Friday night (Oct 7th) and he fielded a question about the Giants’ GM hunt. He didn’t name any names, but he said he’s heard a few that the Giants have interest in. He said they were all in a similar vein to Harris in that their strengths were mostly in contract negotiations/getting contracts worked out.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a missed opportunity to get a development-focused candidate, in my opinion. Sarris expressed similar sentiments, even to the point of positing a potential reunion with Donnie Ecker in an assistant GM role. An interesting idea, as unlikely as it seems.
As always, thank you for the great work, Doc. Looking forward to a * hopefully * active off season.
Is it tampering if a team's management (or player under contract) talks about wanting a player still playing for another team?
ReplyDeleteJudge got slapped for saying Machado "would look good in pinstripes" when he was still with Baltimore.
Fortunately, we fans can hypothecate all we want!
Trea Turner played mostly 2B for LA last year and he played some 2B coming up and for the Nationals, BUT the Dodgers are not going to let him go -- they have $200M coming off their 2022 payroll. And when MLB suspended Bauer until 2024 it wiped out their $35.3M obligation - if it sticks.
It does make sense to talk to him and his agent - who knows what might happen. With Judge, he has some roots nearby, he might be persuadable.
Thing 3yrs 100,00,000
ReplyDeleteBob Nightengales on-line column reported that the Giants will go after Aaron Judge and Trea Turner this off-season. If the Giants offer is competitive it will come down to where they want to play. Also Giants have no plans to pickup Longoria s option.. we will see if Nightengale is right
ReplyDeleteIsn't Nightengale a notorious click-baiter?
DeleteYes he can be lol, but I just happened to read his column for USA Today. He's repeating what the Giants beat writers are speculating and FZ is saying that they'll be in on the top free agents. The Longoria item is interesting since he's saying the Giants have no interest in picking up his option. FZ said otherwise, but what else can he say.
DeleteI have lowered my Giants off season expectations after listening to a podcast with Pav's. He expects them to sign 1 big free agent "maybe" 2. The shortstop market will be tricky for them because they have Crawford. Maybe they can matchup in a trade for younger up the middle player. Good that Posey will be involved too. He was on board with signing Carlos Rodon for 2022 and with them signing Thairo Estrada who he saw play in a series.
DeleteIf we don't get a shortstop this offseason, what options do we have if Crawford retires in a year? Will there be good free agents next year? Will our top SS prospect be ready then? Trade for one?
DeleteI think that is part of the thinking to go get a top tier SS this winter. There are some SS's projected to be available next offseason, but none even close to the top tier for this year.
DeleteIf it means signing Trea Turner to play SS I would be okay with Crawford coming off the bench. And I can't worry about his feelings or his past contributions to the Giants. This has to be a huge priority. Also pay Judge whatever it takes. Please bring back Rodon as well. This- to me -would be the ultimate Giants off season. If they couldn't get Turner I would even be okay with getting Correa. They have to pay some people this year. I do not want Belt or Longoria back at any cost. These two have had decent numbers and still have hitting and fielding ability. Unfortunately their availability is not worth their cost on the 40 man roster. It is time to move on and give guys like Villar or even JD Davis time to play. This cannot be another off season where the top free agents stiff the Giants, and they search the scrap heap for 5 million dollar bargains. But I have a feeling we have seen this off season before.....
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