The latest from San Francisco….
- President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters (including Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle) that he would like to acquire a platoon player before Spring Training camp opens, though not anyone ticketed for something close to an everyday role. The Giants would prefer to give their young players more time rather than block them with a veteran regular, which Schulman feels lessens the chance of a new contract with Kevin Pillar. The team has been already added several veterans as depth pieces in recent days, such as Wilmer Flores (whose multi-year deal hasn’t yet been officially announced), Brandon Guyer, Yolmer Sanchez, and Pablo Sandoval.
- Speaking of the Panda, Zaidi said the 33-year-old is recovering well enough from Tommy John surgery that Sandoval could return to hitting action during Spring Training. It will still take “a month or two into the season” for Sandoval to be ready to throw, Zaidi said, but that would still represent a pretty quick recovery considering Sandoval went under the knife in early September.
- Zaidi also had positive health news about Tyler Anderson, as the left-hander might not begin the season on the 60-day injured list. Anderson underwent knee surgery last summer and was claimed off waivers from the Rockies at the end of October, only to be non-tendered and then quickly re-signed by the Giants in early December. The knee problems turned 2019 into a lost season for Anderson, who pitched only 20 2/3 innings for Colorado and posted an ugly 11.76.
- Manager Gabe Kapler discussed his rotation with the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea on the “Giants Splash” podcast, naming Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Gausman, and Drew Smyly as the projected top four heading into Spring Training. There was no doubt about the top two names, though Kapler’s confirmation about Gausman and Smyly leaves quite a battle for the fifth starter role among the many other starters (both young arms and more experienced names like Anderson) in camp. As Shea notes, things could very possibly change over the course of camp or the season, depending on injuries, trades, or various pitchers performing better or worse than expected. If the Giants look to deal some veterans at the trade deadline, Samardzija, Gausman, and Smyly all stand out as logical trade chips, as all three hurlers will be free agents after the 2020 season.
The Giants splash podcast episodes about invites to big league camp contain much more interesting info about guys we’ll see this st.
Hunter Pence is Next. World Series Bound!!!
Why are they bringing back Pablo Sandoval and possibly Hunter Pence. The Giants should be rebuild and not bringing older players back.
Pablo’s a bench piece and Pence is only a rumor at present. Even if both end up signed to SF for 2020, they would be there in the depth/mentoring capacity only.
The rebuild is indeed in progress.
My sentiments exactly. They both contributed but the team needs younger players. I would bring back Pillar, even if it is for just a year or two.
if you want younger players pillar is a bad idea since it would block dubon, yaz and davis getting legit time in the outfield (i know dubon is currently IF but there is a lot of talk of him playing in the OF this season)
If Pillar is willing to be a 4th OF and start against lefties then SF is the perfect place for him with all the lefty hitting OFs. Pillar’s numbers against lefties are good.
Red Sox should be all over Pillar right now given JBJ’s struggles. That’s a better spot for him than San Fran.
>bring back Pillar
For the love of all that is holy. He’s not coming back. Get over it, people. He’s not even that good.
Don’t tell me what to do, A’s fan. You haven’t won the W.S. since before you were born.
If Farhan can trade a few of the starters for similar returns as he got for Pomerantz, Dyson, and Melancon last year, and a few of the younger guys show some promise I’d consider this year a success. That’s really about as high as I care to set my expectations for this season.
This.
Agreed^!
Looking at that rotation doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence, but it could be worse…
Deeecent for a rebuilding team, with the flexibility to capitalize on trading well performing veterans while giving time to prospects that earn a look in the bigs…lets hope!
i think cueto could surprise which would totally change the outlook on the rotation but it will depend on anderson and gausman as to whether it is decent or a disaster
Is it really possible for a 3B to return to batting practice 7 months after TJ surgery?
Does anyone know of a position player that returned to action in less than a year after TJ surgery?
Depends on the severity of the surgery, and the fact he’s also not a pitcher. They did say he may not being throwing until May, which means he won’t be game ready until the end of June. 10 months is about the average for position players.
Oh but let’s not forget, Pablo is a formidable late inning reliever when needed! Tho, he may be left out of the bullpen until late summer due to his rehab.
Hahahahaha +1
Cueto did last year and he’s a pitcher
Given that Pablo can thrown almost equally well from either side, I’m surprised he hasn’t picked up the other-side glove and isn’t already taking grounders.
I had Tommy John surgery and I was back hitting in that amount of time. That’s the first thing to come back, you just have to build up to trusting your body and truly “unleashing” all your power and not subconsciously holding back a little something.
The Giants. Lol
Three rings last decade. Lol to the bank.
rings?? Giants just booked their 3rd consecutive below .500 season and will most likely finish in Last place in the NL West this season. rings? what 6 yeas ago? Yeah, the Spurs were the NBA Champs in 2014 . So what . Nobody cares. I don’t see Spurs fans on the Hoop rumor site talking about ‘ rings’ from 2014. Try buying a calendar. it’s 2020
Listen. If you don’t think having a run that resulted in 3 rings as of six years ago doesn’t speak of success, you have no clue as to how hard winning championships in any sport.
A troll. LOL
@righty: what is it that you “want” Giants fans to say/respond to your same old “Giants lol” posts? If someone responds, you’ll post: “Giants fans are so sensitive.” So, why are you such a predictable troll? Whatever your issue is with the Giants or the Giants’ fans, aren’t you intelligent enough to at least
Come up with a witty, or clever, or interesting negative post? Clearly not……
They should pick up Aaron Sanchez or Taijuan fr
I believe taijuan had a showcase the other day and topped out at 96. Unless I’m thinking of someone else.
Walker was only throwing in the mid 80s
My bad. It was a typo. But you got it. I bet he gets signed after the season starts if he can get his velocity up.lol. that’s a big difference in a showcase! Wrong spot for a typo.
Another platoon piece? They already have 5000+ bench options, not much in the way of quality starters though.
People keep saying that, but we don’t even know. They’re reclamation projects. And hopefully they’re good enough to net more young talent. That’s all we want right now.
The last time the Giants had this many “reclamation projects”, they were guys named Huff, Uribe, Burrell, and Ross, among others. That was in, uh, 2010. Not that I’m a Pollyanna or anything…
The pitching won us a World Series that year. Our staff doesn’t exactly look like Madbum, Lincecum, Cain, etc.
Having a lot of platoon/depth pieces prevents fans from having to watch Gorkys and Kelby take 500+ ABs and also prevents the team from losing 100+ games.
The whole philosophy for this year seems to be to have a competent team at the MLB level while getting good looks at the top prospects in the upper majors (Bart, Hjelle, Ramos). If the major league team surprises and the top prospects seem ready, not inconceivable that Farhan steps on the gas at the deadline and acquires a lot of cheap/free rentals.
Sandoval’s a beast!