8:13PM: The Giants officially announced Yamaguchi’s signing.
10:44AM: The Giants and right-hander Shun Yamaguchi are in agreement on a contract, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The deal is likely to be a split Major League/minor league contract, notes Slusser.
Yamaguchi figures to come with minimal financial risk for the Giants, as the Blue Jays are on the hook to pay him $3.175MM for the 2021 season. The Blue Jays recently released the Japanese right-hander to clear room on their 40-man roster for waiver pickup Joel Payamps.
The 33-year-old pitched for 14 seasons in Japan where he owns a 3.35 ERA over 427 games, which included 50 starts and 191 games finished. He signed a two-year, $6.35MM deal to join Toronto ahead of the 2020 season. The transition did not go as planned, however, as Yamaguchi pitched to a 8.06 ERA/6.43 FIP over 25 2/3 innings out of the bullpen with substandard strikeout (21.7 percent) and walk rates (14.2 percent).
Dumpster fire moves west.
They should’ve shunned Shun. Ahahaha!
it’s pronounced “shoon” but I guess the joke still works
Good thing it was only a 6 million dollar contract, because man o man did that turn out to be an atrocious signing by the Jays.
Yes. It could’ve been much worse, like when the Yankees paid a boatload for Hideki Irabu.
the japanese Nolan Ryan lol what was the guy boston spent a boatload on, he wasnt much better, maybe had a good season or two ?
Dice K?
Dice K. He was pretty awful too but at least he was more serviceable than Irabu. Irabu was an arrogant turd. The Padres won the rights to him but he said he would only play for the Yankees. Had Irabu stayed with SD, maybe he would’ve had better numbers and no George Steinbrenner to shame him about his weight. The Yanks would’ve been better off with Dice Clay.
Hickory dickory dock….
Little Boy Blew…
@scottn59c
he needed the money… ohh
Kei Igawa
And Kei Igawa, man what a disaster that was, only pitching 2 years in the major and had the number of the beast as his career ERA. Oh well, at least the Kuroda and Tanaka signings worked out well for them, despite the fact that neither one was able to lead them to the World Series, let alone win one.
Lmao, don’t disrespect the Yankee all time win leader in AAA.
No GM is perfect so what, a few million wasted, better than an albatross contract. Quit penny pitching like the As, Toronto is a huge market.
Giants aiming for high pick in 2022 draft.
haha, yikes!
2021 tanking
Farhan must have had to dig deep into the dumpster to find this garbage. Hey it’s a low risk move which means its good right? Don’t take any risks Farhan and you will never fail… you also won’t win anything but most Giants fans don’t seem to care they just love your process!
You’re a sad, sad fan. You must’ve thought the Giants were contenders when they got McCutchen and Longoria in 2018.
The Giants. LoL
Lol @ no padres WS titles
okay rightyspecialist
The padres and dodgers might be the 2 best teams in all of baseball. What exactly were you hoping for them to spend money on this offseason? Even if they had poached bauer and springer this off season, they still would miss the playoffs. So why not wait until after everyone comes off the books? Although that being said, i was kind of hoping they would have signed springer and used him through the rebuild
You really can’t put the Padres in the same class as the Dodgers. The Dodgers have the track record and a classic uniform, where as the Padres have potential and the only uniform in sports resembling a dirty diaper.
Another Zaidi dumpster dive hoping for lightning in a bottle.
You’d be without Yaz if Zaidi (or any team) didn’t do stuff like this, so…
true that
They also won 3 championships without Zaidi, so what’s your point?
@sadler, you’re correct, but I cant for the life of me figure out what YOUR point is
He’s been pretty good at it though. Signed Drew Pomeranz and that turned into Mauricio Dubon. But he’s brought pieces in off the scrap heap like Alex Dickerson, Mike Yazstrzemski and Donavan Solano who’ve been great for the Giants. Last year, Drew Smyly, Kevin Gausman and Trevor Cahill all provided solid innings for them as well.
Agreed mlb1225. Especially considering they are a team that doesn’t have a principal owner giving them an open wallet every offseason.
Watch this guy turn into gold for SF
I thought the same thing. It was his first year in the league last year. This is a good pickup by the Giants. I’m hoping Shun can translate some of his success in Japan to the MLB.
Exactly!
Why did Toronto give up on him so fast?
They brought him in in the weirdest season ever, playing in the US for the first time…seems like he’d get at least one mulligan
I wonder if this move hurts Toronto’s chances at signing future Japanese FAs
If you cut someone with Yamaguchi’s track record after 25 IP, you probably wont be looked at as a promising landing spot…
How many years?
Yeah I mean honestly I have no idea what to expect out of the guy, he gave up 25 runs on 28 hits in 25 innings, so it is a really small sample and his track record in Japan says he should be a lot better than that so I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned it around and I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t
The thing about dumpster diving is that it’s all free. Don’t like what you found? Toss it back and you’ve lost almost nothing.
Meanwhile your team continues to suck while you sort through trash. Low risk moves = no balls
Low risk moves = Yaz, Solano, Dickerson, etc.
Max Muncy, Justin Turner, Mike Yastrzemski. One of those guys is even from your own team.
Notice how after FZ was gone the Dodgers spent money on Mookie and coincidentally won the WS? How many years are you giving Farhan to make the playoffs in SF? Over under has to be around 5-6 years. That means he will have run this team for 7-8 years without making a playoff and most people seem OK with that. When did not winning jack become success? Yaz isnt going to be around then and Dick won’t either. Neither are cornerstone pieces just role players so until FZ figures out how to acquire actual MLB superstars, this team is going to continue to miss out on the playoffs.
Yes I say this as a dodgers fan but have mad respect for Zaidi for his time in LA and for his ability to find some low cost gems that can make a team more competitive while rebuilding farm. That’s the key of course, if he’s also working with scouting department to draft and sign well so farm system improves, otherwise it’s just spinning wheels in place. But these signings are low risk moves and if a few out of 10 pay off that’s well worth it. But again the long term impact will come in continuing to improve their once-barren farm system. Fans should be a little patient tho. And I say this as someone who should be biased in hoping they are never good again haha.
giant4life I know you’re a troll with multiple accounts who upvotes his own posts but I absolutely love how near-sighted and so-wrong-its-funny every single post you write is. The sheer amount of time you waste in life doing this if mind-boggling for the 0.5% of attention you create and desire. I somehow take joy in it.
Sorry Jek, I upvoted him. And I’m not Giants4Life.
I said this at least a couple years ago. Never, ever trust the Billy Beane executive tree.
I only have one account but I do have 2 eyes. What I see with those 2 eyes is a team that isn’t taking any risks and seems content to live in mediocrity while primarily lowering payroll and little else. Everyone loves to point to the farm system and give Farhan credit but 8 of the top 10 and 15 of the top 20 were already in the system before FZ got here. The guys he has acquired are either role players or long shots. He hasn’t won anything yet hasn’t been bad enough to draft high enough in the draft to improve his chances of selecting a future star. What has he done other than sift through garbage and lower payroll?
@giant4life Playoffs?? LOL Zaidi can’t even field a team that finishes with a record above .500
@Giant4life: I could understand you being as aggrieved as you are if all the old veterans were gone and the team was still dumpster-diving. Take a step back and realize what SF’s situation was. FZ has made great pickups and kept the team in contention, all through a rebuild; You really can’t ask for more than that. FZ and you and I all know that the veteran contracts come off the books after this year. That’s the time where the window to spend and maximize the ability to compete opens. If that time comes and goes and nothing changes, then I’ll be on your side of the fence. But just because FZ has not blown through $$$ like Bobby Evans did doesn’t mean that he won’t spend money when the time comes. GMs are savvy and are not one-trick ponies who never evolve. He’s made the best of a bad situation so far, and he rightfully deserves a little more time before you draw such a dour conclusion.
Duuuuude… as a fellow Giants fan, you are making us look bad. What “risks” would you take, and what other moves would you make to make this team a contender?? Zaidi acquired a dumpster fire of a team full of dead contracts, and as things look, the best is yet to come.
Look at a team like the Reds, who are practically tanking a year after making the playoffs. Other bad teams are also tanking or standing pat. Meanwhile the Giants are paying money to improve a team that likely won’t be competitive for a few years.
And as far as risks go… was Gausman last year (which paid off nicely), and deSclafani, Aaron Sanchez and Wood this year not risky enough for you?! That’s an entire rotation of high risk/ high upside, exactly what the Giants should be gunning for until they have more certainty on their roster. Not to mention Yaz, Solano, Dickerson, and a bunch of promising bullpen pieces.
Seriously… what would the 2021 Giants look like for you? I am actually really curious.
Throwing money at free agents does not create a playoff team. The Giants are far behind the Dodgers and Padres. They need to take time developing a solid farm system—which they are doing under Farhan. Giant fans who do not have the patience are apparently unable to see or understand the ups and downs of major league franchises. If I’m a Pirates fan, sure, I’m pissed off. But Giants fans only sound whiny when they can’t grasp that.
giant4life:
The Dodgers spending money now had nothing to do with Zaidi leaving LA. When Friedman and Zaidi took over they inherited a bloated roster with a payroll over the lux tax threshold. It $277M in 2014 when they were hired. And they had guys like Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, and Josh Beckett on the team.
Clearly Friedman thought highly of Zaidi. He was Friedman’s first hire, one month after taking the job.
Plus you can’t have it both ways. It Zaidi had that much control over spending, that he limited it so extensively, then you have to give him credit for building what is now the best team in baseball.
Not saying they should throw money at free agents just criticizing the process that hasn’t shown any real results yet. No high draft picks and no playoffs has put them in baseball purgatory. Gausman last year should have either been traded before the deadline or they should have made moves to bolster the pen. Instead FZ screwed up and threw out a QO thinking someone else would sign him and they would get a pick. That ended up costing him 19 million for one year for a player he could have had for much less as a FA. They missed playoffs by one game and the funny thing is that if Melancon were the closer all year they likely don’t blow all those saves. Instead FZ gets credit for trading him and never really replacing him. Look ahead to next offseason and don’t be surprised if it is more of the same. Short deals for mediocre players and the excuse will be they have lots of holes to fill so they have to spread money around. Hard to see next offseason including any big money spent on any one or two significant players.
Yeah i agree. As a fellow die hard giants fan you are really pissing me off. @giant4life your takes are awful. You cant really be that ignorant and i hope you are just a pathetic troll. The giants had the highest payroll in baseball a couple years ago. Farhan took over a team that “went for it” by resigning all their world series veterans and traded for guys like mccutchen. Signed cueto and samardjiza. We all knew this would happen. All of those world series guys are off the books next year. Then we can start judging farhans moves
You are not wrong for the most part. Why hasn’t Friedman hired anyone to replace FZ since he left if he was so valuable? Everywhere he goes his prime objective is the same which is to lower payroll while “building the farm”. In LA he had Friedmans help evaluating talent and dealing with other GM’s. In Oakland he had Beane doing the same. Here he is by himself and seems like a deer in the headlights. Even the Dodgers couldn’t do it with the team that was built during FZ’s time there and the reason is likely that he will never be comfortable making the big deals it takes to win a WS.
I’m confused – you criticize the Giants for not trading away Gausman, their best starter. If you had left it at that, I could give you credit – why not try to get something of value for a player that cost nothing but money?
But then, you also go on to criticize the team for trading away an overpaid, albeit decent, reliever (Melancon), which led to them missing the playoffs by one game.
Which one is it? If the Giants trade Gausman, they do not get within one game of the playoffs, even with Melancon.
giant4life:
The process? WTH are you talking about? That process is what all teams do to a certain extent. Just look at today’s MLBTR:
Tigers sign Ben Taylor, Cale Colshow, and Ricardo Pinto.
Indians sign Ryan Lavarnway.
D’backs sign Ben Heller.
The only reason Yamaguchi was available was the Jays picked up Joel Payamps.
If you were a Dodger fan you probably would have made the same complaint about them picking up Justin Turner, Max Muncy, and Chris Taylor. None of them had a very good track record when they signed. And yes, I’m aware that Turner was signed prior to Zaidi being hired, but it’s still the same type of signing.
You must have tunnel vision when it comes to the Giants versus the rest of the teams. All teams take flyers on what, so far, have been marginal players, Sometimes it’s a guy that surprises, most times not but worth the look, and sometimes it’s MiL depth.
A real Giants fan shouldn’t be content to wait 5+ years to be competitive or challenge for the playoffs or World Series. And quit using excuse how much money is coming off the books after 2021. Even after money is off the books how much will Zaidi actually spend. I expect more.
“In LA he had Friedman’s help evaluating talent… Even the Dodgers couldn’t do it with the team that was built during FZ’s time there and the reason is likely that he will never be comfortable making the big deals it takes to win a WS.”
Again, you contradict yourself. I mean, it is clear why. You’re doing it to make it sound as though the only reason the Dodgers were successful is Friedman, but then say the only reason they didn’t win the World Series is because FZ didn’t make the right moves. Pretty convenient scapegoating.
Anyways, he took a 91 win team in ’16 to a 104 win ’17. Both teams were WS caliber. In ’16, their ace Kershaw lost a decisive game, ending their playoff run. If he had pitched like an ace, who knows what could have happened. What, should FZ have seen that coming, and traded for another ace when he had the chance?? What could he have done? In ’17, it’s fair to speculate how the WS would have went had the Astros not cheated.
Those playoff losses have nothing to do with FZ. He fielded a competitive team year after year, finding some gems while dumpster diving.
giant4life – There are 30 teams (well, maybe 29) trying to be viable. Each franchise has different issues, especially if their fan base and TV rights don’t support a massive payroll. It’s competitive and only a few teams reach the playoffs (at least until Manfred f@ck’s up the thing by making half the teams contenders). So, in this environment teams need to be strategic.
Are you a seasoned MLB executive who knows everything about the workings, trade possibilities, finances, etc about EVERY other major league team? What do even you really know about the Giants needs and strategies and offers they’ve made and offers that have been made to them?
My guess is you don’t know. The rest of us Giants fans see that the team is improving. It’s more fun to watch. We see the right trajectory. Maybe you should root for the Pirates or Dodgers.
giant4life:
“Why hasn’t Friedman hired anyone to replace FZ since he left if he was so valuable?”
Has it not occurred to you that the Dodgers are in far better shape now than they were in 2014? They have a solid core, good prospects, and the probability of competing for the title over the next several seasons to come. You don’t need a major retooling effort, like they did in 2014, when you’re in the position they are now.
Last year I would have been happy with either going for it OR trading for the future. Neither happened which was my point you clearly didn’t understand, they had a chance to trade for upgrades or trade Gausman/Smyly and did neither. They could have also stuck with Melancon the year before but chose to lower payroll and never replaced him which led to how many blown saves last year? They missed the playoffs by one game and FZ was sitting on his hands at the trade deadline, the offseason before, and the offseason before that. Now you have a roster with 2 position players signed past this year and no starting rotation. What really has Farhan accomplished other than lower payroll and wait for Bobby Evans’s prospects to ripen?
WereAllJustGuestsHere:
“Never, ever trust the Billy Beane executive tree.”
So, you just assume every guy that worked for the A’s under Beane, is bad in any kind of role in a team’s FO, regardless of the myriad differences in those teams? And, every guy that worked under Beane can’t think for themselves, and can only mimic how Beane operates?
Wow.
@giant4life. look at the 2021 ranking of the Dodgers and of the Giants. The Dodgers spent up most of their farm by promoting them to the majors or trading for assets.
giant4life – You have no idea what Farhan was offered for any of these players. You have no idea if he hoped to sign Gausman to a multi-year (I’m glad he didn’t b/c I don’t know if Gausman is for real; I’ll bet a lot of GMs don’t know either, which may be why he isn’t in such high demand.) His deal for Melancon was terrific. His other deals—like getting Dubon—was excellent. Frahan is digging out of a mess he did not create.
My point is, you speak as if you know all the inner workings of the front office. From what I can see—from the outside—this team is making strides. Obviously our starting rotation sucks. Obviously the Dodgers and Padres are much deeper in talent. But that’s the ebb and flow of MLB.
You’re in a hurry, but life isn’t always at the snap of our fingers.
giant4life:
You make huge assumptions about things that none of us know about. Do you seriously think that Zaidi passed up on a good return for a player in trade, for the purpose of contending, and then later on does nothing to aid in that contention? It makes no sense. Like the insistence that he could have gotten a haul in return for Bum, and Smith, when he did trade other players at the deadline.
Logically, it’s clear that the return for Melancon, Pomeranz and Dyson were worth the return, and it wasn’t for Bum and Smith. It makes zero sense otherwise. Plus Zaidi has a boss, Larry Baer. I can guarantee you, that had Zaidi passed up good returns in trades, only to fritter away an opportunity to get to the PS, as you’ve portrayed it, he’s out of a job. Unlike all of us, Baer knows what the offers and the opportunities were.
@giant4life – No matter what the Giants do, you will be unhappy. Please root for another team. They were a .500 ball club.
– If they sold, they probably would’ve gotten nothing back. It was a shortened season, players were not worth as much in trades. Smyly, for example, for instance, was fun to watch… when he pitched. Whatever we got from him would’ve likely not amounted to anything. Gausman was also fun to watch, but one year removed from being awful. If they traded one/both of those pitchers, among others, you would’ve complained about the players they got in exchange.
– If they “went for it”, they probably wouldn’t have won. They were more than a few very good players away, and that would cost a major amount in prospect capital. So you would’ve complained that they didn’t win, that acquiring ____ was a waste, and that they weakened their farm.
– They stood pat, likely for the two reasons listed above. And they still almost made the playoffs. It is likely that represented the best case scenario at the trade deadline – to stand pat and hope for the best. As a Giants fan, while I was disappointed in the end result, I can’t forget that last week feeling like a must-win playoff series. A team that’s opening day lineup included McCarthy and Heineman as STARTERS, almost made the playoffs. That’s pretty cool. But you apparently didn’t feel that same way.
Tad – your response as a whole is an assumption. I assume you know baseball, but that too is an assumption so I’ll get to the point.
JP Ricciardi, Paul DePodesta, can you point to their success? I can see the similarities between Zaidi and Ricciardi already. It didn’t end well for JP.
Also, how many World Series wins does Beane have? How many times has Beane’s squads reached the World Series.
Your fake outrage is noted, and so is the lack of success from certain execs coming from the Beane tree. You can ignore it, I will not.
dude be patient, next FA class has a good chance of your bitching being addressed
WereAllJustGuestsHere:
Fake outrage? Was I writing in all caps, without knowing it? Huge assumption that I’m outraged in the slightest. Don’t think I don’t recognize that tactic for what it is.
And how is my response an assumption? The whole point was, anyone from the Beane tree is an individual, and every team is a different situation. Is that not true? Pointing out, that assuming anyone that worked for Beane will be just like him, is not vey logical, and is not an assumption. It’s just a fact.
Zaidi is not JP Riccardi, nor Paul DePodesta. You’re basing an argument on a false equivalency. Zaidi will succeed or fail on his own, and we won’t know which until he’s had the time to make the roster his own, which it still isn’t as yet. I think he will succeed, and I’m only advocating for how he’s getting there.
There’s a huge difference between the A’s and Giant’s franchises. The A’s aren’t willing to spend money, and what there is of it, is significantly less than what the Giants have.
The only reason the Giants haven’t spent a lot of money is because it makes no sense yet. That they haven’t doesn’t mean they won’t. In fact, their willingness to take on Stanton’s contract, as well as the offer to Harper, indicates spending in the future is assured. My guess is those complaining about Zaidi will eventually eat their words.
@Tad2b13 Farhan is a talented executive but you and Giants fans / Media our WAY too much on influence while working in LA
The Dodgers are Friedman’s baby not Farhan Zaidi’s
Farhan was expendable. Proof of that is in the fact that Friedman never replaced him . They still haven’t hired a GM . They have some AGM’s but no GM. When Zaidi left Friedman wished him well and told fans that the team wouldn’t miss a beat without him. That has been the case here in LA post Zaidi. He wasn’t that important
2020WorldChampions – You must be an insider in the LA front office—so knowledgeable. Come out of the shadows and share everything you know.
@Pete’s view This isn’t insider information. Friedman’s comments on Zaidi and his departure are well documented in the LA Times and interviews with Friedman
The bottom line is that Giants media and fans put way too much on Zaidi and his influence in Los Angeles. If his influence in LA was so important then it stands to reason that baseball OPs in LA would have had a massive executive hole. One that needed to be filled . Yet, Friedman never even bothered to replace Zaidi. Haha
Would love for you to share those Friedman comments that you reference.
It’s nice to know so many die hard Giants fans are out there. I love seeing all the knowledge being thrown out by Giants fans in defense of FZ!
@giants4life – you’re takes are infuriating, but I’m gonna try to be nice and just say that I disagree and think you should have patience
Of course no one likes losing, but there’s the old way of trying to glue a winner together year after year, or the new way of building a perennially winning organization from the ground up. And though I hate to say it, the dodgers have proven the effectiveness of the latter model.
Everything FZ has done up to this point has been focused on the next offseason, I can’t believe you think there won’t be some major changes and large purchases coming…
Haven’t you seen the articles on ESPN and elsewhere talking about what a great position the Giants are in going forward? National writers are praising FZ for his methodical and focused approach to rebuilding while staying competitive…along with most fans
This year they’re gonna get to take a look at a bunch of their near MLB guys and in the offseason they’ll spring on at least a couple of the big young free agents-the Giants are rolling in dough now and will spend when it’s smart to do so, not just spending for the sake of spending.
But honestly, with the gems FZ’s found in the dumpster to this point, I’d be fine with him continuing to add minor pieces to and around a young core without getting into a bunch of big bad long term contracts again.
You’ll be happy in a season or two when the results start to show and Padres fans are all talking about the great team they almost had there for a minute and the top of the league is all Giants/dodgers again
You haven’t named an exec from the A’s who’s been successful, and if Zaidi walking into LA counts as success well, then maybe there is a point there? But to say Zaidi isn’t Ricciardi or DePodesta is quite a statement.
Do you know where Zaidi comes from? I do. He comes from a town where Baseball hasn’t even been invented yet….well, just kidding if you can take a joke. He is from Sudbury, Ontario, where there baseball is almost non-existent. Does that matter? Well, he apparently read Moneyball in University and suddenly went after a position with the Oakland A’s.
What is the point? He is not a true baseball man. Did not grow up loving the game or has the abilities to read the intangibles needed in this game. He’s an extremely advanced sabermetrics guy. It will only take him so far. A stat guy with no real baseball background or feel for the game is not a resume any Giants fan should feel comfortable with moving forward.
Finally, he has received way more credit by you and others than warranted. Should he be ridiculed? No. The real test happens next offseason in my opinion. But track record matters and so does one’s pathway to the very top. It is nice that he is book smart and has some savvy creativity. That won’t be enough to get the Giants back to the mountaintop.
You’re take on his background is absolutely ridiculous and even if true would have no bearing on his ability. The proof is the very basic fact that so many franchises have decided to pay him to make decisions for their teams…
He’s a literal genius that could have done any of a thousand things, but made his passion his career…I’d love to know what kind of person you think would be enough or right to “get the Giants back to the mountaintop”?
Give me a break
Billy Beane executive tree doesn’t give enough credit to the Alderson that he branched from. The one that built some Oakland championship teams.
Would be nice to see Beane run a franchise that spends more.
Baseball hasn’t been invented where I come from either.
Surprisingly, I grew up loving the game.
And through the joys of television, internet, radio, live coaching and the library, I thought I had managed to acquire some knowledge that gives me the ability to read and even utilize some of these magical baseball intangibles.
What if I lived in California long enough? Would some of these intangibles be gained if I was around baseball enough?
WereAllJustGuestsHere:
So tell me why me saying Zaidi isn’t Riccardi, or DePodesta, is more ridiculous than you saying, because those two haven’t been successful, then Zaidi won’t either. That’s like saying that because a couple of athletes, that went to a particular school, didn’t do well as pros, and because of that the next guy from that school won’t do well either. Ridiculous.
You’re twisting your logic into a pretzel trying to justify your shaky premise. And as ABStract has pointed out, even more ridiculous is your putting any kind of predictive aspect on how successful Zaidi will be, based on where he comes from.
I would add that Friedman is also a “super sabermetrics” guy, which is why LA hired him, and why, he in turn, hired Zaidi.
2020WorldChampions:
You place way too much importance on Friedman not replacing Zaidi. It’s a different situation now then when they took over.
The makeup of the Dodgers roster is completely different from when Friedman made Zaidi his first hire. In 2o14, the Dodgers were in need of a roster reconstruction. If I’m not mistaken only 2 guys are left over from 2014, Turner and Kershaw.. When Zaidi left, the Dodgers were a different team, and are pretty much the same as they are today.
Today’s Dodger’s roster does not need reconstruction. All it needs is maintaining. The heavy lifting is why Zaidi was hired to assist Friedman. But now the heavy lifting is done.
Acting as tho it’s easy to acquire ‘superstars’
Last time I checked Giants are too high on Luciano to deal him for someone like story ect.
Giants don’t have to trade a prospect for Story (and shouldn’t—not of Luciano’s quality). But Story is a free agent in 2021 off season. That’s one of the places they can spend money.
It happens all the time. Jays did it when they got Joey Bats and Edwins Parrot. Red sox with big papi. Its a highly common thing
dumpster diving for old has-beens and never-weres is lost opportunity for developing good young talent. there is finite band width for roster spots, spring training invites, coaching, etc. This guy’s numbers were atrocious last year for the Jays. Its hard to imagine what the Giants see here…
It’s official, the Giants hate left handed pitchers.
Their bullpen is mostly left handed pitchers
Shunned in Toronto, welcomed in SF..
Why not??
“Yamaguchi put up a 2.91 ERA and 188/60 K/BB ratio over 170 innings in 2019 for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan. “
@heiie Manush The Nippon Professional baseball league isn’t MLB. Those numbers don’t mean squat. His numbers vs MLB hitters ( +8.00 ERA ) is all that matter.
He’s terrible
Coming from Japan to USA is a big adjustment. It’s still possible that he fell on his face but may have something to offer. Too soon to write him off entirely.
Right. Let’s look at a 25 inning sample size and completely write a player off (especially on a low risk contract that costs nothing). In fact, the Cardinals releasing Jack Flaherty and his 4.91 ERA last year in 40+IP is way overdue because he is DONE, right??
Good numbers in Japan but can he do it for the Giants?
Fire Atkins!
It’s spring training. They need extra pitchers for batting practice, et al.
Sometimes you find corn kernels in the strangest places.
Expensive FA hitters won’t sign in SF due to ballpark issues. Team looks weak so expensive FA pitchers go elsewhere. Vicious cycle leaves Faidi little choice, working with what he’s got until the kids are ready. More options next year if kids show promise, theoretically ZERO SP signed for 2022.
That’s old news; the ballpark dimensions changed last year. Giants’ offense was a top ten in MLB.
Yes it was and it was why they barely missed out despite a shaky rotation and a bottom feeder bullpen that may have been the worst if not the Phillies, who somehow only missed by one game despite having a 7.06 bullpen ERA and just about not starting pitchers above the league average other than Nola, Wheeler and Eflin. Again, it’s for the same reason that the Giants barely missed out despite a weak pitching staff, top 10 offense, certainly can’t say that about Colorado because they had the worst pitching staff in baseball.
Ah the same old dreck from h.manush
He says the earth’s flat too
I wonder if anyone knows whether he would have to forfeit his 3MM if he had signed a contract with a team in the NPB.
I don’t see why it would, but that is a good question.
It was reported that Yamaguchi struggled with the ball used. Now that there have been reported adjustments made to the baseball I wonder if that will help Yamaguchi.
Jays could have carried Yamaguchi and opted not to sign Phelps and be the 13th man. Signing him to two years I think they owed him a chance to fail/succeed in spring and the first few weeks of the season before dropping him. Afterall, the Jays went through the trouble of signing him in the first place.
Imagine if you played the same guitar for most of your life and then someone handed you a guitar where the frets were a different height, the strings were a different tension, the neck was a different length, the strings were a different height from the neck, the strings were a different size, and you had to play the thing in concert that night. Might not go well. But with enough time you would figure the thing out and eventually even enjoy playing it. It just takes time to adjust.
If its the ball that has fouled him up I’m sure he can slowly adjust. And before you criticize my analogy, bear in mind that a lot of things about the ball can be different, the tactile touch can need to be adjusted on quite a few levels. Some adjust quickly, others need more time.
Not going to slam the analogy. I’ll give you an upvote.
The new ball might be a benefit for Yamaguchi. It might not. The Jays giving up on him just for Phelps is strange given Phelps’ run with Philly. Jays think enough of Roark to let him compete for a starting role yet not enough in Yamaguchi? Somewhat puzzling.
I meant a more generic “you”, but it wasn’t clear, so I am sorry for the misunderstanding and appreciate the upvote. It seems like so much nasty negative Nancy’s nattering nonsense here that I just included the whole lot of those types in my “you”. And unfortunately, I can be quite the Nancy myself.
All good. I figured it was a generic as anyone can jump in with a response.
At alliterative Nancy at that
I upvoted you both; yours is the kind of dialogue I wish I saw more of here.
Ditto. How do you upvote by the way?
Tomorrow, the Giants will sign Kei Igawa and Tomo Ohka.
Keep going! Amaze us with your knowledge of Japanese pitchers who unsuccessfully transition to MLB
The Giants have a tendency to dumpster dive for unsuccessful Japanese players. I think they even took Tsuyoshi Shinjo off the Mets’ hands at one time.
Frank Diehl:
A bit of an exaggeration saying they have a tendency for unsuccessful Japanese players. Considering that 61 players have played in MLB, and the Giants have had only 6, including Yamaguchi, doesn’t sound like a tendency at all. Plus those 6 go all the way back to the first Japanese player in MLB, Murakami, in 1964, predating the next guy Nomo, by 30 years.
The Mariners have had more Japanese players overall, and even omitting their better players still had more unsuccessful ones.
And speaking of Shinjo, the Mets, who had him first, had more Japanese players than the Giants, none of which stand out as successful. The Dodgers had 8, but 3, Darvish, Nomo, and Maeda, can’t be considered unsuccessful, but still, that’s just one less than SF.
So “there exists one example of…” now means “they have a tendency to…”
Ok.
let’s not forget tad that Murakami was the very first MLB Japanese player
Oops, tad, you said that. Apologies
And my example is 20 yes old…
Yamaguchi will do better with a change if scenery (couldn’t really do any worse). There is little to no risk here, I’m not sure why anybody would get so fired up over this one way or another.
Totally agree!
Aren’t low risk/high reward situations exactly what a rebuilding team should be looking for?
No risk pickup for Giants, meanwhile Joel Payamps equates to a $3 million waiver claim for the Jays.
“I’m not sure why anybody would get so fired up over this one way or another.”
I was baffled too until I looked up his NPB numbers for 2019.
Again, why not?
“
Wha…?
I wouldn’t blame yamaguchi entirely. He was mostly a starter in Japan. He never got a chance to start for Toronto. Pitching out of the pen can be tough if you haven’t done it before
Plus he came in in the weirdest season ever, give him at least a year to adjust to he MLB, right?
Unshunned
Why is the next article closed? I was going to talk about how Degrom knows wassup to stay a Met.
Probably because they’ve grown tired of your offbeat shenanigans.
Yeah wtf. I just joined and they play games like Yahoo.com????
Personally, I Love it when the Giants make these cheapass dumpster pitcher moves.
Dodge hitters will feast on these hacks
You’re the worst kind of fan.
It took the Dodgers only 60 games to be champions
Humm Baby. Go Giants
“Best team with best offense in league hits well against rebuilding team with lower end pitching.” Ummm… congrats???
Like last year? Dodgers hitters lowest team HR rate against opponent pitching in 2020 was against Giants (and Padres). Dodgers hit 1.5 Homer’s per game against Giants (and padres) pitching. These rates against other teams were much higher.
Also, Dodgers lowest win percentage vs an opponent was .600 vs SF and SD. So those 2 teams had better win percentages than any other team.
Enjoy it while it lasts dodgers fan, won’t be long now
I like how Yamaguchi a week after getting released finds a job but Puig can’t get one.
He puts to many runners on base….
Dear TC,
Open the comments on the Degrom article. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Rangers29
I know you think you own this site, but seriously, they aren’t opening the comments because you want them to.
of course they should open that article. Why talk about SF when they are irrelevant. Talk about the most exciting story in MLB
It would be coherent if they reported one article daily about the virus, kept the comments closed, updated as necessary, and only had virus-related news on the article. That way good comment fuel articles could have their comments sections open.
This dumpster dive lineup does not include the Zaidi inherited big contracts of Belt, Crawford, Longoria, Posey and Cueto.
Catcher: Casali
1st base: Ruf
2nd: Flores
SS: Solano
3rd: Lastella
Left: Dickerson
Center: Dubon
Right: Yaz
Starters: Gausman, Wood, Sanchez, Desclafani.
Majority of bullpen
Now, the D is not solid but remember it’s missing 4 gold gloves. Zaidi has put this together while staying under tax line. With future potentially high end youngsters ready to fill in. Do some of you knuckleheads really think that Zaidi will mimic Beane who works for a non-making team like Oakland? Not only will he spend big money next year, he’ll probably not care about a first year tax penalty. AND. still put a very competitive team on the field.
The lineup I started with at the top of this post ALL had career years last year with SF, AFTER they were “dumpster” players. (Casali and Lastella excluded). And this bench consists of All star gold gloves.
Yep, I’m really thinking Zaidi has no clue and the Giants are destined for continued mediocrity.
Seldom does a new GM take a losing team with bloated contracts to a title overnight and that’s why GMs get multi-year contracts. This doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, the scenario usually begins with 100 loss seasons AFTER a new GM takes over. (Astros are one of several organizations to suffer 100 loss seasons under new management before success kicked in). And Zaidi can someday say I turned this team around while we still were competitive.
PS, many pickups benifit the big club or the minor league clubs. In 2018 the farm teams were not good. AAA Sacramento came in last. In 2019, Sacramento won the AAA national title. Yep, it doesn’t mean the Giants will do the same…obviously. But everyone gets so worked up over these bargain pickups and they forget that Zaidis job is to develop an entire organization. So many posters mocked Zaidi for the Yaz signing. Howd that turnout?
Don’t hold your breath that Zaidi will spend money after 2021 season. He’s content with dumpster diving.
@redwolves: and you know that how?
Take a second and actually think about what he’s been doing and you’ll see why that’s such a ridiculous statement
He’s trying to build a winner!
It’s amazing that you’d rather have an expensive losing team with no future than an inexpensive .500 team with a great future
But if it’s just all about spending money for you…hope you really love losing
honestly before we say zaidi a perineal dumpster diver let’s see how he builds a team at all levels. seems like a lot of people forget that sf wasn’t in the greatest shape when he took over. so far i think zaidi has done a good job making sf watchable while also rebuilding a depleted farm isn’t easy. i say lets give him at least 3 years after the mess he took over is clear out and right now is the time to be more focusing on how your farm team is doing especially the guys in the later rounds. i would watch them guys see how they develop see if sf scouts under him can find them hidden gems. all gm’s are going to do things we don’t like but sf for the most part is a well ran org. until they prove otherwise gotta put some trust and faith in them.
I like Guchi as a reliever. Take away his 6 run inning last year and his numbers are okay.
He was never going to be a starter and we knew that when the Jays signed him. The Jays brass didn’t know that though. Watching the Jays brass move players around is like watching a TV warehouse fire with fireman running in and out trying to douse the flames.
Guchi needs more time in the Bigs to get acclimatized to MLB .Covid didn’t help either. If the Giants give Guchi time to find himself, he’ll be okay. Farhan did good on this dumpster dive.
Why a TV warehouse? Was that a typo?
I have never seen a real warehouse fire, have you?
obviously no I haven’t, I wasn’t criticizing your use of “TV warehouse” , I just thought it was odd, but at least I laughed at your analogy.
Look as a Jays fan, I’ll start by saying this guy was complete a** for us…complete a**…. However, I do feel bad for Shun to an extent. His first outing he was put in to a fire by Charlie Montoyo…and he crapped the bed…it was all downhill from there. Also, I don’t understand why so many folks here complain about “dumpster diving”. It’s called good business decisions. Making low risk decisions can never be a bad thing. If it doesn’t work, who cares… if it does, well you’ve just made a brilliant decision and it cost you next to nothing…These “dumpster diving” moves are just smart, judicious business decisions. Good luck to Shun and the Giants. Hope it works out for both.
Plus why should the Giants make any high risk decisions this year? Their payroll looks extremely good for next year onward to have the flexibility to retool and really make high impact additions for 2022. One of the best free agent classes in recent memory with infielders and starting pitching. Now is the best time for them to bring in low risk/potentially high reward kind of players and experiment.
Thanks for the thoughtful response and good take on the drama around “dumpster diving”
I understand theres a lot of trolls in the comments. With that said, for the people who for no reason are bashing Zaidi, it seems like you aren’t knowledgable about baseball.
Within a couple of years, FZ has nearly cleared all payroll we were suffering from. Additionally, (posey, crawford, belt, possibly longo) will be gone after this year. This opens our window to contend as we can sign the players we want and. build the team which complements our young talent.
Speaking of young talent, our farm system has developed into one of the better farm systems in the league. While dumping contracts and through trades, he’s acquired valuable prospects which will be part of the future or help us acquire bigger players via trades.
Also, the coaching staff and training staff propelled our offensive roster to one of the best hitting baseball teams in the league last season. Did anyone see that coming?
If the Giants are still sub .500 and are bad within the next couple of years, then its time to complain. But Farhan has done a great job so far for what he was given.
A disastrous payroll, no chances to compete, and a full re build on his hands. Hes kept us close to playoffs, built the farm up more than what it was, and is keeping an uncommitted payroll. We will begin to contend after this season, everything until then its just frosting on the cake.
excellent Steven
I also forgot the purging of melancons contract. And btw, all the people who wanted to trade Baumgartner and Will Smith it was often said that maybe the offers were weak. The horrible years those 2 had last year might just mean that other GMs didn’t value their future as much as fans did and for good obvious reasons. So FZ figures we still have post season hopes plus we can offer QAs and still get draft picks.
Turns out, Zaidi made the right decisions yet STILL gets criticized for not trading them by people who have no idea what the trade offers were
if your gonna trade bum and smith you better get something a little better than what you can with a qo pick or what’s the point especially if there fan favorites.
I predict that Shun is healthier and more productive than Sanchez.
It’s a no-risk move for the Giants; don’t see any downfall here.
I was surprised to see the Jays dump him in the first place — yeah, he was bad in ’20, but there was one outing where he gave up 7 runs in 1.1 innings, and he threw just 25.2 innings anyway.
Better off signing Kristi tbh. He’s trash.
blah, blah, blah
FZ is a good Exec. and SF will be better than they have been after bloated contracts are gone and he has more latitude in the budget
Dodgers are a great team with several years of top level expectations to come. FO is better than any in baseball (including Tampa) and SF ain’t catching up for years
Got lit up in a couple of outings but down the stretch of the season seemed to get better.San Fran has the lowest hr rate in mlb which could help as well