This is the latest post of MLBTR’s annual Offseason in Review series, in which we take stock of every team’s winter dealings.
Apart from a late push in the Bryce Harper market, the Giants stuck to mostly low-profile signings and acquisitions in Farhan Zaidi’s first offseason as the club’s president of baseball operations.
Major League Signings
- Derek Holland, SP: One year, $7MM (includes $500K buyout of a $6.5MM club option for 2020)
- Drew Pomeranz, SP: One year, $1.5MM
- Pat Venditte, RP: One year, $585K
- Total spend: $9.085MM
Trades And Claims
- Acquired RP Trevor Gott from the Nationals for cash considerations
- Acquired OF Michael Reed from the Twins for OF John Andreoli and cash considerations (Andreoli was previously claimed from the Rangers during the offseason)
- Acquired C Erik Kratz from the Brewers for SS C.J. Hinojosa
- Acquired IF Breyvic Valera from the Orioles for cash considerations
- Acquired IF/OF Connor Joe from the Reds for minor league RHP Jordan Johnson and cash considerations (Joe is a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Dodgers)
- Acquired cash considerations from the Tigers for C Cameron Rupp
- Claimed C Tom Murphy from the Rockies
- Claimed OF Mike Gerber from the Tigers (later outrighted)
- Claimed RHP Merandy Gonzalez from the Marlins (later designated for assignment)
- Claimed RHP Jose Lopez from the Reds (later designated for assignment)
- Claimed RP Travis Bergen from the Blue Jays and OF Drew Ferguson from the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft (Ferguson has since been returned to Houston)
Notable Minor League Signings
- Gerardo Parra, Nick Vincent, Yangervis Solarte, Stephen Vogt, Fernando Abad, Craig Gentry, Donovan Solano, Jandel Gustave, Brandon Beachy (Cameron Maybin, Rene Rivera, and Matt Joyce also signed minors deals but were released in Spring Training.)
Notable Losses
[Giants Organizational Depth Chart | Giants Payroll Information]
Needs Addressed
Signed to a minor league deal last offseason, Derek Holland ended up being a major bargain for the Giants. After four injury-riddled and ineffective years with the Rangers and White Sox, Holland got back on track by posting a 3.57 ERA, 8.88 K/9, and 2.52 K/9 rate over 171 1/3 innings for San Francisco in 2018.
The Reds, Rangers, and Mets were all linked to Holland over the course of the winter, though the southpaw ended up returning to the Giants on a one-year deal worth $7MM in guaranteed money, plus the club holds an option for 2020 that could result in Holland earning as much as $15MM over the course of the next two seasons. There weren’t any big red flags in Holland’s peripherals from last season, so this new contract would also be well worth the Giants’ while if Holland remains healthy.
There’s more of an injury concern in regards to new arrival Drew Pomeranz, who has had health issues over the course of his career and pitched only 74 innings last season due to a variety of arm problems. At just a $1.5MM guaranteed salary, however, the Giants aren’t taking much of a financial risk on Pomeranz, and he is only a year removed from giving the Red Sox 173 2/3 innings of 3.32 ERA pitching. Pomeranz is penciled in as the fifth starter (behind Madison Bumgarner, Holland, Jeff Samardzija, and Dereck Rodriguez). San Francisco has the likes of Andrew Suarez, waiver claims Jose Lopez and Merandy Gonzalez (if they clear waivers and remain in the organization), and former first-rounder Tyler Beede as Triple-A depth options.
Hunter Strickland was somewhat surprisingly let go just prior to the non-tender deadline, though the Giants have been getting good results from many of their relievers this spring, leaving the club with a bit of a logjam for the Opening Day bullpen. Rule 5 Draft pick Travis Bergen has to remain on the MLB roster all season or else be offered back to Toronto, though Bergen has pitched well enough to retain his position regardless. Low-risk acquisitions Nick Vincent, Trevor Gott, Fernando Abad, or Pat Venditte could either provide depth if they remain in the organization, win jobs outright, or potentially move into roles left open should the Giants swing a late trade involving Will Smith or Tony Watson.
A change was made at backup catcher, as Nick Hundley will be replaced by pair of late-spring acquisitions. After it seemed like rookie Aramis Garcia and minor league signings Rene Rivera and Stephen Vogt would vie for the job, San Francisco changed course by adding veterans Erik Kratz and Tom Murphy. Rivera was cut loose, while Vogt and Garcia will provide additional depth in the minors. It seems like enough of a logjam that a future move seems inevitable, though the Giants want to have plenty of catching on hand as Buster Posey recovers from hip surgery. On the plus side, Posey seems to be making good progress and is on track to appear in the Opening Day lineup, though obviously the Giants will keep a close eye on their franchise player’s status.
Outfield was the Giants’ biggest need heading into the offseason, and the club ultimately brought in a number of new faces to supplement youngster Steven Duggar (who looks to play more or less every day in center field). Former Rockies/Diamondbacks outfielder Gerardo Parra will make the Opening Day roster after signing a minor league contract. The Giants essentially swapped one Rule 5 pick for another in trading for Connor Joe and letting Drew Ferguson return to the Astros. Michael Reed, Mike Gerber, and Craig Gentry are also on hand, while incumbent Mac Williamson remains in the mix for at least part-time duty in left field.
Yangervis Solarte hasn’t appeared in a big league game as an outfielder since 2014, though the former Blue Jays utilityman has been working out in left field during Spring Training with an eye towards improving his versatility. Between Solarte, Joe, and Alen Hanson, the Giants have several players with experience at multiple positions — potentially bumping Pablo Sandoval out of the mix.
Questions Remaining
Of course, the Giants could have made a much more newsworthy outfield upgrade had they landed Harper. The team was something of an eleventh-hour entry into “Harper’s Bazaar,” though San Francisco ended up being Harper’s apparent second choice before the star free agent signed a (temporarily) record-setting 13-year, $330MM deal with the Phillies. The Giants’ reported offer of 12 years and $310MM fell shy, though the team would’ve had to top the $350MM mark to truly outbid the Phillies due to California’s higher tax rate.
It goes without saying that signing Harper would’ve changed not only the trajectory of this Giants offseason, but also the team’s outlook for the next several years. With Harper in the fold, the Giants would have indicated a full-fledged push towards contending while many of their highest-salaried players (Bumgarner through this season, Samardzija and Mark Melancon through 2020, and then Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Johnny Cueto, and Evan Longoria through 2021) are still with the team. Along those same lines, the Giants also had interest in signing Yusei Kikuchi before the Japanese left-hander joined the Mariners.
Without Harper or Kikuchi, however, San Francisco left the offseason still straddling the middle ground between contending and fully rebuilding. The club has to this point resisted overtures from rival teams and held on to Bumgarner, Watson, and Smith; yet the Giants also took a very modest approach to adding to their roster. They weren’t going to deal any prospects from an already-thin farm system, and they settled for inexpensive free agent and trade additions after missing out on Kikuchi and Harper.
Joe Panik’s status is perhaps indicative of the Giants’ overall stance this offseason. The team kept Panik in the fold rather than non-tendering him following an injury-shortened and replacement-level season, at a one-year, $3.8MM deal to avoid arbitration. At the same time, however, San Francisco also looked into signing second baseman DJ LeMahieu while checking the trade market to see what could be obtained for Panik. As it turned out, the Giants didn’t get that upgrade, and will instead go into the season with a known quantity in Panik who the club hopes will rebound.
A case can be made that Zaidi may be waiting to see how things shake out; come mid-season, he may have some new trade avenues or even the makings of a contending core. After all, Posey, Belt, Bumgarner, Samardzija, Crawford, and Melancon were all limited by injuries in 2018 — better health from even a few of those names would likely make a difference in the standings. A full teardown wasn’t really possible this winter anyway since so many of those same players have limited trade value, due to their down years, health histories, hefty contracts, no-trade clauses, or all of the above.
On the other hand, it’s also unrealistic to imagine that all of those veterans will enjoy bounce-back years. With so many big contracts already verging on albatross territory for the team, one can’t entirely blame Zaidi for eschewing the type of expensive acquisitions that have backfired on the Giants in recent years. Signing a Harper or a Kikuchi is one thing, though settling for a lower-tier free agent as a stopgap isn’t the type of move that would fuel a bigger jump up the standings.
If San Francisco isn’t contending by midseason, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the club shift into a more definitive sell mode, at the very least on pending free agents like Bumgarner or Smith. It also wouldn’t be a shock to see the Giants explore being both buyers and sellers at the deadline — moving some short-term assets while taking on an expensive longer-term asset that could help them in 2020 or beyond. If the Giants were willing to spend $310MM on Harper, they’re clearly open to exceeding the luxury tax threshold again in order to land premium talent.
Should 2019 end up being the last hurrah for this group of Giants stars before a rebuild, it’s perhaps fitting longtime manager Bruce Bochy will retire when the year is out. The three-time World Series champion will manage a 25th season before stepping out of the dugout and starting his inevitable path to Cooperstown.
2019 Season Outlook
Frankly, there’s still a few days for the roster to change, which could shift the outlook. Regardless, an awful lot would have to go right for the Giants to go from 89 losses in 2018 to a playoff contender in 2019. In a very competitive National League, the Giants could themselves battling to stay out of last place in their division, rather than challenging the Dodgers for NL West supremacy.
How would you grade the Giants’ offseason moves? (Link for app users.)
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
I voted A, They did exactly what they needed to do; which is essentially nothing. Don’t spend money on anybody because you can’t buy the 15 or so wins you need to get a playoff spot. A lot of their contracts are untradeable; ride those out and pretend to field a competent team and hope you can trade a few guys midseason and do the same thing next year. That’s the cost of 3 world series and I’ll gladly pay it.
To some extent I agree. Their future was foretold when the dumped $55M into Cueto, Samrdija, and Melacon. It’s the big market curse of continually trying to be good. If this was a mid-market team, they wouldn’t have signed those guys, nor traded for McCutcheon or Longoria (Is TB still getting excoriated for that?).
But even big market teams occasionally have to re-tool.
I Voted C. . . They went after Harper. But got the depth they were lacking with Evans. At least enough depth to actually have DEPTH. The team is in flux. But enough veterans on the squad to at least be competitive. I don’t see them being just losers. No Way. But 80-82 is a huge season. And things can always swing one way or the other depending on how other teams do… I hope they can get to that .500 mark. And maybe just maybe they can make the noise that they are hoping they can.
I don’t see the giants as a 80 win team. They did nothing to get better than they were last year and are in bad shape. They had an AMAZING run during the World Series year’s hut they didn’t prepare for the future after 2014
You gotta respect this guys honesty when a few Giants fans still live in that 2014 year. My question to you is, what grade would you give the Yankees offseason?
@yankeepatriot
Of course you don’t see the Giants as an 80-win team; you’re content to parrot the lazy perspective that the team is old and completely devoid of talent (which is patently untrue).
The Giants were 56-54 on August 2nd, and then shut down several players due to injury. They weren’t going to get into a WC spot, so they made the smart move and got the surgeries started so rehab could begin sooner. They were a .500 team last year prior to shelving players in August, and that’s without Cueto most of the year, and Bumgarner for a significant portion of the first half.
All they have to do is stay healthy to be a .500 team, even in 2019. That’s not getting them to the postseason, but they aren’t the Marlins.
McCutchen was part of the team up until then. He’s not there anyone.
The Padres are probably going to be better. Potentially offset by Arizona.
They won’t stay healthy. They play .500 ball, Bochy should be a serious contender for Manager of the Year.
I would have to disagree. Simply by keeping everyone healthy they will field a way better team than last year. 80 wins is definitely in the forecast if everyone stays off the DL (or IL).
I had to go “F”. The Giants didn’t make one improvement in that OF. They didn’t need to go big but they didn’t really do anything IMO.
The only way to improve the outfield via FA was to give pollock, Mccutchen, Brantley or Harper money over a multi year deal. The giants suck and have far too much cash tied up into older declining players right now. I can’t fault them for not signing an OF. The last thing they need is more dead money on the payroll. They’re not exactly in the position to be trading what little prospects they have for immediate OF help either.
Building an entire organization of filler.
Since All Star break in 2016, Giants have been asleep at the wheel. Take a look at the record because it speaks for itself. Still, life is a pretty funny proposition after all…
If they would just come out and say that the plan is to wait for the bad contracts to expire then I would have given them an A, but trying to convince the fan base that this team somehow has what it takes to be competitive is rather insulting. So I gave them a D, even though I agree with the plan. The tradeable assets need to be traded by the deadline though.
I give them a C for the result, but I think Zaidi played his hand about as well as he possibly could have at this time. We’ll see where they are around the trade deadline, how much more value the tradable players have built back up, and what Zaidi can get for them.
That EYBS is finally dead…that’s not how baseball works.
Don’t really get the negative comments. What was Zaidi supposed to do? He took this job with a team with multiple, immovable contracts. They’re old and lack offense. He made multiple moves in an attempt to get younger and deeper. They tried to get Harper and he declined. Their bullpen is top 5 and starting rotation is top 10. If they can stay healthy, they will be better than last year. If they are out come July, they will move guys that are movable to get younger prospects. The Giants are going at this the right way. Look at so many of the teams that do nothing year in and year out, never competing or trying to win. Teams tank for years to finally get good and still don’t win or win just 1 championship. Giants have won 3 in the past 9 years, nobody else has. More moves are coming soon and if this team is competitive. We will see moves that may excite fans more come July. They’ve taken a smart approach and not spent foolishly. Gotta see what the current roster can do for a couple months before passing judgment
Bullpen is not top five and rotation isn’t top 10. Giants fans are delusional.
Bullpen is absolutely top 5. Just look at the numbers. It will have to remain in the top 5, cause their outfield situation is awful, and their two back up catchers are pathetic. They only made a run at Harper at the owners insistence, but otherwise are going cheap.
Reliance on Melancon? Good luck.
This comment right here exemplifies the ignorance of most of the commenters here who clearly know nothing about the Giants’ situation. Anybody who thinks the Giants will be relying on Melancon for anything this year is the delusional one. They will have 11 or 12 pitchers on their ML roster better than Melancon.
Anyone, stats will clearly tell you the Giants did indeed have a top quality bullpen last year, and Zaidi has arguably made it better.
Yep. 6th best. Should be top 5 this year without meathead strickland Gearrin Osich stinking up the joint.
Solid B, and that’s because they haven’t made an impact pickup for the outfield (which they probably still will in the next few days).
Zaidi has done exactly what is needed. He’s built depth at a few key spots, added versatility, and is setting the foundation for later moves. He can’t turn it around in one offseason. Very pleased so far.
release melancon, he has never lived up not only to the contract but the skills of the other bullpen guys and if that roster spot means losing someone like pablo, Joe, Hanson, or mac from the organization it may be time to eat the contract and move on
Instead of looking at each position and specific transactions and especially last years record, take a step back and look. 8/2/2018, they were 56-54 5 games back, 4.5 back for wildcard and riding a 4 game win streak. So what’s different to the team this year? Health (for now) and depth. So they don’t have a slugger. If I recall all three World Series teams combined had 5 – 20+ HR hitters and ONE 100 RBI hitter. Their chances this year rely on Bochys ability to spread the ABs around utilizing the new depth to keep as many players fresh and healthy the full year. Plus they don’t need HRs, they need baserunners. They need to use AT&T Park to their advantage and go with the pitch instead of pulling the ball. Can they be better than .500, I think yes. Besides any trades were pointless as our players were undervalued based on last years performance.. what would a 2016 Baumgarner, 2016 Longoria, a 2016 Belt bring in trade as opposed to now. Let’s see what they do before we write the season off.