Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi tells Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic that he anticipates a reduced volume of player transactions during the 2020 season, both for his club and around the game. (Zaidi also thrashed the hideous recent remarks of a Scottsdale city council member in the chat, which is well worth a read in full.)
Zaidi’s most notable transactional strategy to this point in his tenure has been the constant working of the waiver wire. The Giants’ immense roster churn has resulted in the discovery of a few gems and helped the team build in some depth that suits Zaidi’s vision.
That approach also seems a tenuous one in the midst of a pandemic. Zaidi acknowledged as much, calling it a “fair concern” that bringing in new players too often might increase the risk of disease transmission. He predicted that, “under the circumstances, I think you’ll see fewer transactions around baseball — certainly transactions in which you’re bringing in guys from outside the organization.”
It certainly will be interesting to see how this holds up under the pressures of a campaign — particularly one in which there’ll be a much shorter horizon for finding success due to the compressed schedule. Pitching health is a particular concern given the short ramp-up period. That seems also to be the primary potential source for roster movement.
Of course, most teams turn over their 40-man roster far less often than the Giants did last year. Zaidi indicates he doesn’t expect to continue that frantic pace, coronavirus or not. It seems last year’s blitz was more a one-off farm reshaping than an ongoing strategy.
Per Zaidi: “I think we’ve got a group of players that could get us through the season. I don’t think there will be as much motivation to look outside the organization because we like our depth.” The Giants “felt really good about the group of guys we had in camp,” he says.
No doubt the Giants will still be quick to act if and when they see a chance to achieve significant value through the waiver wire. But it appears that the bar will be raised a bit in 2020.
DarkSide830
well less time = less transactions that seems to follow.
RichieAssburn
Well, he’s the same guy that watched Gabe last year and said, “There’s our guy”. So yeah
mp9
What a Genius!
keysox
No talent, old team = few transactions
No hope
PutPeteRoseInTheHall
there is talent, as well as guys who have the potential to be great
scottn59c
@twardd09: I agree, but not in 2020. Zaidi’s a smart dude, and he’s paying lip service to the idea that safety takes precedent this season. But the subtext is that the Giants are punting on 2020 (which I think everyone already knew).
What I’m kind of wondering about is how much of that upcoming talent from the farm we’ll see. Does it make sense to start the clock of a player like Bart right now when you’ll get less than half of a season?
tedtheodorelogan
What other options do they have with Bart? He needs to play every day. If he looks good they should try to sign him to a team friendly deal that buys out a couple of years of free agency but still sets him up for life.
scottn59c
Are all levels of the minors totally out this season? (Or has that yet to be determined?)
2020WorldChampions
@twardog Huh? This Giants team is awful. Have even taken the time to compare the Giants Roster with the rosters of other NL West teams? There is no Tatis Jr or Machado. No Arenado or Bellinger or Mookie Betts. You sound delusional
spooky
Says the Dubs fan since 2015.
2020WorldChampions
@Spooky Try ’93 Chief. I grew up watching guys like Bimbo Coles and, Jon Barry play. I also watched guys like Matt Williams and Dave Burba play at the Stick! You’re a tard
nentwigs
“…guys who have the potential to be great…”
Except that they’re NOT VERY GOOD !!!
scottn59c
@Dubs:
Yeah, the current roster sucks, but twardog was referring to the talent that is in the pipeline. Tatis Jr and Machado were much ballyhooed as prospects, and while it’s never a guarantee that pedigree = success, where a farm is ranked says a lot about future talent. And SF has some potentially excellent players coming up.
Joey Bart is the 14th highest prospect in all of baseball right now. Marco Luciano is 35, and Heliot Ramos is 65. Hunter Bishop is #71 and Seth Corry is #99. That’s 5 guys in the top 100 and it doesn’t count Will Wilson, the former Angels #1 pick that the Giants basically purchased when assuming Cozart’s contract or Patrick Bailey, the 13th overall pick in this year’s draft.
FireJames
No MiLB this year
spooky
93′ was Run TMC not Bimbo/JB era but whatever man. I know a bandwagoner when I see one.
Howie415
Bimbo Coles and Jon Barry? That’s all you remember. Pathetic.
2020WorldChampions
Keysox is correct. The Giants would have clearly benefited from a cancelled 2020 Season
rightyspecialist
@Dubsdynasty This is the most accurate comment on the thread
adultsagainstthedh
I speak as a six decade Giant fan, What he shoulda said was that while the approach looked good on his resume all the teams are scouring the waiver wire now. It’s a tired metooism, about as strategic as a roulette “system”. But hey, it’s OK ’cause as we’ve been assured Kapler’s gonna Rock the city.
MWeller77
Mr DiPoto on line 1
Capcalhoon
Whatever he did found a low cost Mike Yastrzemski so I’m OK with whatever he has planned this season.
pustule bosey
I mean he really has done so much more than people not paying attention to give him, – the farm ranking has gone from near the worst that didn’t even have the inventory a few years ago to field their AA team to #10 in the top third – and as he is doing it the older contracts (except longo, I really hope he finds a way to move that) are expiring – it is a slo mo teardown which is really all you can expect in the position the team was in when he got it.
paddyo furnichuh
He also had a great quote on the Scottsdale councilman.
pato349
This would be totally acceptable if the Giants were the A’s or Royals or Tigers or Marlins. Those teams have revenue generating issues that the Giants do not have and won’t unless they keep this up! The lack of spending and efforts to put a competitive team on the field over the last 3 years is likely to have a lasting affect on the fanbase.
Farhan and ownerships faith that the ballpark is the actual draw and fans will come to enjoy the experience no matter what AAA rejects are on the field is completely false. Last year attendance was way down and prices for crab sandwiches, cha cha bowls and parking never went down. When Bonds was on the team it didnt matter what their record was but with not a single superstar to speak of there will be no fringe fans, no families willing to drop $500 to go to the game, and no interest in a team that blows hot air up their fans rear ends claiming they are trying to be competitive while going through a half a decade rebuild.
When stadiums do open back up I will be taking my family and my hard earned dollars to the other side of the bay to watch the A’s. At least they are upfront with their fans and don’t try to bleed them for every penny. The expectations are clear and the fans know what to expect. That’s probably one of the reason A’s fans are so loyal through all the roster turnover, stadium issues, and ugly uniforms!
scottn59c
Dude, c’mon, the A’s are the kings of cheap!
Roster construction can go a lot of different ways. Remember that the Giants were all in on Bryce Harper when he was available (which was under Zaidi’s tenure). You play the hands you are given, and he’s doing his best to run out the last of the long term contracts while filling holes so that the real $$$ can be spent once the new window of contention opens. To be a major market team in good shape, like the Dodgers are now, you need: A good farm, cheap depth, and a stockpile of $ for filling holes with free agency. The Giants are almost there. All teams must go through rebuilding at times. Fans would do well to bear that in mind and to be supportive through the good times and the bad.
And don’t worry about dropping a bunch of money to go to games. No one’s going to be going to Oracle to watch games this year.
tedtheodorelogan
As a Giants fan I fully support them not spending the last few years to get a bad team to a mediocre team. They need to let the terrible contracts run out, the minor league talent needs to contribute at the major league level on the cheap, and then they can spend on free agency again. They tried to sign Harper, who wouldn’t have made a difference. They tried to trade for Stanton, who wouldn’t have made a difference. All those guys would have done is hamstring them further while being mearly good, not great players.
pato349
How many games did you go to last year? Trust me I am going to change my tune in 4-5 years when they hopefully are good again but what am I supposed to do until then cuz I’m not gonna spend $500 to watch a hot mess on the field
dandan
You’re easily the worst Giants fan I’ve ever come across in my life. You’re quite literally the definition of a “bandwagon.”
pato349
You call yourself dandan. How seriously do you expect me to take you?
xtraflamy
@dandan is not wrong, though, no matter how much you mock the handle. Waiting to go to a game only when the team is succeeding is the very definition of a bandwagon fan.
wild bill tetley
Considering where SF has ranked the last few years, how other teams have traded chips to win and other factors, the Giants should be #10. Zaidi has done absolutely nothing to warrant any credit. Nobody is paying attention because he continues to remain quiet while the big contracts come off the books.
scottn59c
Last year’s team was in contention at the deadline thanks to the (mostly) excellent waiver pickups and trades Zaidi made for guys like Yaz, Dickerson, Pillar, Solano, etc. There were a number of rather shrewd trades like getting (absolutely any) return for the Melancon contract and turning Will Smith and Sam Dyson into some nice pieces for the future, particularly Mauricio Dubon, who looks ready to be a solid contributor.
This guy was one of the main architects who built the current juggernaut Dodgers. He’s doing a good job biding time and making the right moves until it is time to compete again, which will be in the next 2 years or so. I think the guy deserves a lot of credit.
pato349
This is a really sad take because you are praising Farhan for basically doing nothing. Friedman is the guy who built the Dodgers back up I really don’t know how much Farhan had to do with it and at the end of it all they still haven’t won a WS since 1988! Anyone can be cheap and take a team through a rebuild. Nobody is really going to know if it all worked out for another 3 years at least. Giants fans have absolutely nothing to look forward to until then and there is no guarantee any of the guys he has picked up will work.
In the meantime I would have been satisfied with a Rendon or Harper just to give us something to enjoy during this rebuild (don’t forget how Larry Baer insisted they weren’t going through a rebuild a year ago) so at the end of it all they think the fans are stupid enough to keep paying ridiculous prices to see a garbage product. How can you support this and be patient for 5 years in the hopes that this guy really knows what hes doing??? Isn’t being a well rounded GM/VP being able to excel at the FA market, draft, trades, and international market and not just focus all your efforts on the farm? Who was the last big free agent Farhan signed? Has he ever signed anyone for more than 50 million not including resigning kershaw or jensen?
hopper15
You’re very naive if you think Zaidi did nothing to help the Dodgers.
2020ball
Fahran pursued Harper and was one of the finalists for his services, so I’m missing your point. It sounds like youre advocating to sign a free agent just to sign one, which isnt shrewd business in the middle of a rebuild. Being a well rounded GM likely involves not making rash mistakes, so while you can argue he’s being too conservative given the team he inherited I think thats the right course.
pato349
They have sooooooo much money you are really missing the point! They don’t need to be cheap and players like Rendon and Harper are players you build around so in 3-4 years when the young talent comes up you already have some established superstar(s) to show them the way. The Giants never truly had any intentions of signing Harper. If you thought so then you are just the kind of sucker Giants management is hoping for. All it would have taken was more money but conveniently they came up just short….
scottn59c
“Who was the last big free agent Farhan signed? Has he ever signed anyone for more than 50 million not including resigning kershaw or jensen?”
He’s been GM through just one year of a rebuild so far, so I wouldn’t keep your sights so lofty. As I and others pointed out, he was in on Harper (which I’m glad didn’t come to fruition) and he’s staring down the barrel of a seriously truncated season. Why WOULD he sign a massive FA contract right now? Given that just about all the bad contracts come off the books after this year, doesn’t it make sense to ride it out?
Pato, I know you and I don’t see eye to eye on this and that I’m unlikely to convince you, but I think you need some more patience, my man!
pato349
I’m mostly playing devils advocate but the points I’m trying to make are valid. He was the GM for the Dodgers and in the front office with the A’s and he never once made a big splash in free agency. It isn’t the end all be all but there is value in having a superstar to build around.
In his past two positions with the A’s and Dodgers he had financial restrictions which forced him to build from within while at the same time inheriting a very strong farm system.
Fast forward to 2 years ago when he was hired as our VP/GM and in 2 years he hasn’t signed a single piece that will complement our young core in 2-3 years. All the while the Giants ownership is telling their fans to buy season tickets because they will never go through a rebuild and 2 years later we are still 3 years away from seeing the light
xtraflamy
You mustn’t know very much about how baseball business works now. A lot of teams’ stars are from a time before MLB locked down wild international spending, and spending in general. If a team spends all that money you keep ranting about they are penalized… heavily. Losing international draft money, sliding down the draft by 10-15 picks, losing picks, incredible tax, other penalties. Even the Dodgers, Red Sox and Yankees cut costs and stopped spending because of the penalties.
It literally destroys your team’s future to overspend in today’s rules. The only reason it would be worth it is if it would push an already amazing team over the threshold to win a World Series. It makes no sense to pile on these penalties just to have a star surrounded by a rebuilding development team…forever.
Just settle in and enjoy what you can — or take your business elsewhere for a while and stop shouting at clouds. Even you admit that it will likely be better in a few years. I guess we’ll just see you then, with the other bandwagon fans.
2020ball
why not just go get thear guy in 3 to 4 years?
2020ball
“and other factors” ….such as? to give him no credit for improving the farm system seems pretty assumptive
pato349
All you have to do to improve your farm system is lose and trade away players for prospects. It isn’t magic
2020ball
that is a factor for sure, but quality of guys brought in does matter, probably more so.
JohhnyBets67
Zaidi inherited 8 of the Giants current top 9 prospects from Bobby Evans’ regime.
The one he didn’t inherit was the 10th pick in last years draft. Bobby Evans gave him a nice slate of prospects as he went out the door. Zaidi’s grabbed some solid guys in trades— Beck, Wilson, Dubon. But those guys haven’t been the main reason for the huge rise.
scottn59c
That’s true, but Zaidi’s only been there for a season, so it remains to be seen how his handprint on the minor leagues will affect the team. But so far, the waiver moves that paid dividends and the taking on of Cozart’s contract for Will Wilson strike me as shrewd moves. Time will tell.
JohhnyBets67
I agree with you for the most part. Hanging onto Will Smith last year was a mistake though. Bumgarner seems to be a mistake as well, though I know that there was other considerations he had to deal with in that scenario.
I think it’s far too early to give Zaidi any kind of grade. You definitely can’t give him the lions share of the credit for the prospect rise. That was my main point there.
Armaments216
Billy Hamilton could be fun for the 2020 extra innings rule
Datashark
Well they didn’t get him for his hitting that is for certain.
Misterants
Only if he wasn’t used in all 9 innings or happened to make the last out
Armaments216
Yep. If he makes the team it’s probably as a bench player. Especially with a 30 man roster. But the extra-inning rule seems to make a player like Hamilton more valuable to keep on the bench.
giantsphan12
To put Hamilton on 2nd base via the “new extra innings rule” he has to be the guy who made the last out. The teams can’t just pick their fastest base runner each time they enact that rule.
Datashark
He still has 8 more catchers to sign.