TODAY: Crawford’s knee MRI revealed “nothing notable,” manager Gabe Kapler told reporters (including Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle), so there isn’t any beyond inflammation and bruising.
JULY 16: The Giants announced a series of roster moves today, with third baseman Evan Longoria and right-hander Jakob Junis returning from the 10-day and 15-day injured lists, respectively. Longoria and Junis will take the places of two other players, as Brandon Crawford has been placed on the 10-day IL due to knee inflammation, and right-hander Mauricio Llovera was placed on the 15-day IL because of a Grade 2 flexor strain.
Crawford only just returned a few days ago from another 10-day absence due to that knee soreness, and manager Gabe Kapler mentioned at the time that Crawford has been bothered by his knee for much of the season. Given the nagging nature of the injury and the fact that Crawford was so quickly sidelined again, it’s probably safe to guess that the shortstop will miss more than just 10 days this time around. With the All-Star break coming, those four off-days will absorb a good chunk of the IL time for both Crawford and Llovera.
A longer absence would seem to be in order for Llovera, and it is possible his 2022 season could be over, depending on how well he can recover from the more significant strain. The righty suffered the injury in last night’s game, after tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings in San Francisco’s 8-5 win over the Brewers.
Llovera has a 4.41 ERA over 16 1/3 frames, with one particularly rough outing (four runs in 1/3 of an inning) against the Mets on May 23 accounting for much of that ERA damage. Now in his third MLB season and first with the Giants, Llovera has been shuttled up and down from Triple-A multiple times this year.
Junis has missed five weeks due to a hamstring strain, and he’ll now take Llovera’s spot in the bullpen while getting built up for more rotation work. Junis had a 2.63 ERA over his first 48 innings (starting seven of nine games) before going on the 15-day IL, and the Giants will need similar quality in their rotation now that Anthony DeSclafani is gone for the season.
A left oblique strain sidelined Longoria for only the minimum 10 days, and the veteran third baseman will now hope to finally get a sustained run of healthy baseball for the rest of the season. Longoria already had to delay his 2022 debut until May 11 due to finger surgery, but he has hit solidly well while available, hitting .242/.331/.462 with eight homers over 151 plate appearances.
With Longoria back and Crawford out of action, the Giants will again shuffle around their versatile infield mix. Longoria will return to his customary third base spot, and Thairo Estrada figures to get most of the playing time at shortstop. David Villar also figures to toggle between second and third base, and Wilmer Flores will continue getting regular work as a designated hitter, second baseman, and part-time first baseman.
Realistic odds of the Giants landing Juan Soto?
All I know is, the fan base is ready for a young superstar to build around, especially a 23 year old one.
What’s the status of the Giants farm system? I haven’t followed the rankings that closely lately. It will require multiple high-end prospects.
Top 10 system right now
Right around #10 I believe
Central valley – I think if it was just straight up FA bidding war, Giants would be right there in the mix. But, with 2 years of control remaining, it will require “a lot” of equity to trade for him. I don’t know if the Giants are willing to gut their system for one player when they have so many holes to fill.
Don’t hold your breath. Zaidi will never try to actually go after Soto.
He will, but he’ll make sure to come in around $100mil lower than all other offers. That way they’re in no serious position to sign the guy, and farhan can once again play the “We tried to sign him” tune that he loves
Bingo. Also, if you were being offered 500 million dollars with the option to keep all of it that isn’t federally taxed or the option to give half of what’s left after federal taxes to California, the decision is easy.
I wonder if the the Nationals might use a Soto trade to unload a Corbin or Strasburg contract. Otherwise finding fair value in a Soto trade seems next to impossible. I could see maybe Soto + Corbin for 3 top prospects from the Giants system.
Giants certainly have the money. Don’t expect Zaidi to give up 3 top prospects, commit to a contract beyond 3 years, any any dollars above $100 million.
It’s hard to imagine any team trading for Soto. Even without the Nat’s getting full value, it’s going to cost a lot in prospect capital. And will any team be willing to trade away their top prospects knowing that it will be very difficult to extend Soto? Why would the Giants trade Luciano, Harrison and Matos, which probably still isn’t enough, and risk having Soto walk away when he’s he’s a FA in a couple years?
Because he would improve the team for the next 2-1/2 years.
2-1/2 years for one guy, even if he does improve the team, versus a potential 18 years from the top 3 prospects. That’s hardly a no-brainer, even if Soto is a generational talent.
Yeah, maybe, defying the odds, none of those 3 come close to living up to their potential. But I’ve seen guys spend the bulk of 2-1/2 on the IL. TJS, TOS surgery, torn ACL, or any other potential injury makes risking those years spent in development of the prospects, a huge risk.
I didn’t call it a no-brainer, but the odds that any of those three come close to the talent level of Soto are slim. As a position player, TJS and TOS surgery are highly unlikely.
And if a team behaves out of fear of injury, such risk-averse behavior is unlikely to result in big wins. The Cardinals have many above-average players, but another superstar certainly would help.
The team wouldn’t be acting out of fear of injury. But injury is a risk for every player, and that element needs to be weighed in the risk/reward assessment.
But the 3 guys we’re talking about are consensus top prospects. They’re the Giant’s best hope for the future. And the problem is those 3 probably aren’t enough for Soto.
Sure, it’s against the odds that any will equal Soto’s ability, and I don’t expect any will. But even if those 3 were enough, and one doesn’t live up to expectations, it’s a lot to trade for 2 seasons + 2 months.
But 2 guys that are above league average for 12 years is still more valuable than one guy that’s 55% above league average for 2 years + 2 months + PS. A team trading their future for one guy can doom them to wind up like the Angels.
I don’t hate this idea
What happened to Heliot Ramos?
Couldn’t hack it against big league pitchers also see Joey Bart luckily the giants drafted back to back catchers in the first round lol
Sucks to hear that, I was looking forward to Ramos contributing greatly this year.
He barely couldn’t hack against big league pitching as he’s gotten only about 14 ABs in the big leagues. However, he is struggling pretty badly in AAA. Weird to see a player do so well offensively in Richmond and struggle so much in Sacramento. Ramos is still young, though, so he’s got time to prove himself.
Agree. Way too early to know whether Ramos can hit ML pitching or not. It’s usually harder to hit in AA, than AAA, so it is odd. But, he may still live up to his potential.
That was a huge win last night. Snatching victory from the hands of defeat!!!
What a game! Amazing. Although that probably said more about Hader than the Giants.
It sounds kooky right now, but think the Giants make a serious run after the all star break. That win off Hader felt like 2021, & Bart looks way more competent at the plate lately.
I don’t see the magic happening again this year. Dodgers look even better (although they will probably choke again and miss out on yet another title), the Padres look better and Melvin has done more with much less (pick any A’s team he managed). I think they are still waiting on these contracts for their veterans to be off the books before really looking to sign premium talent. I hope you are right though. I’d love to see them heat a WC birth
@Buzz: Yeah, I’m not saying SF has a chance to hit 100 wins or anything, but I’d be surprised if they miss the playoffs. Too much grit & pride. Bart putting his gear back on after his homer was a great symbolic move. LA will start dropping games again soon. They were barely over 500 in June once they started playing halfway competent teams.
Bart was awesome and 25 years or not , he could be trailing closer in Posey’s steps. Bart was frustrated and not wanting anyone to give up. And in the 6th inning he fired the guys up. Put his money where his mouth was! Or rather. his bat!
Painfully accurate analysis of the dodgers postseason
There’s no way Soto is going to SF. They will have to give a lot of prospects to get him. Zaidi won’t do that. It’s better to get 2, 3, 4 good free agents next year and don’t give all the money to one guy. No superstars, just stars. Just my opinion.
What’s so different about Craw this year? We all knew last year would be an outlier but he’s not even hitting his career averages this year
It went from Fat Crawford back to beloved Giant and back to Fat Crawford in a 3 year span.
Crawford’s got the injury bug this year :\