Skip to main content

Giants Offseason Review

Pitchers and Posey report in 2 weeks. Spring Training is getting close. And with it, the offseason is coming to a close. Sure, there will likely be minor deals made up until first pitch at the end of March. Sabean will no doubt be active in trade talks for guys that are on the fringe of making the team and trying to dump at least some of Rowand's contract on somebody. But the major moves are over. There will be no surprise trades and no more major additions. The roster in and of itself is set, save for some 24th and 25th man competitions.

So how was it?

Well, Sabean liked the status quo, apparently. And why not? The team he is displaying in 2011 is almost identical to the 2010 version that hoisted the World Championship trophy. Sabean caught a lot of flak the past several years and most Giants fans wanted him fired. Well, now he has carte blanche.

If you look at the Giants roster, there's only one major difference. Juan Uribe will be in Dodger blue and Miguel Tejada has returned to the bay to take his place. That's it. That is the only difference. The bullpen on Opening Day, barring a surprise, will comprise of the same guys that got it done for the Giants in 2010. And the line-up will remain largely unchanged. And of course, the rotation is locked down. The only real difference will be the bench and even that isn't too different.

So let's examine Sabean's moves and the Giants offseason, in depth, shall we?

Initially, I didn't see how the Giants could keep this team all together. They had several free agents and a good amount of arbitration eligible players. I figured they'd find a way to keep Cody Ross and Javier Lopez. The other guys? I wasn't sure.

Well, Sabean examined the free agent and trade market and decided he rather have all his guys back. And by all, I mean 90% of them.

Sabean tendered contracts and avoided arbitration with Mike Fontenot, Ramon Ramirez, Javier Lopez, Andres Torres, Cody Ross, Jonathan Sanchez, and Santiago Casilla. That, boys and girls, means they're all going to be back and on the major league roster.

He also doled out a big league contract to adopted son Aubrey Huff. The Huffinator's resigning wasn't a surprise, but the Giants did have some big league competition from the Cubs and, of course, Ned Colletti. Hence the 22 million dollar two year commitment. After Huff's 2010 where he was essentially the heart and soul and face of the Giants offense (even moreso than Mr. Posey) you won't hear Giants fans griping about the contract, even if it was a slight overpay.

The surprise re-signing of the offseason was Pat Burrell. Although Burrell and Huff helped police the clubhouse, it was hard to see how Sabean would fit Burrell on the team in 2011. With Mark DeRosa coming back and uber prospect Brandon Belt ready for a shot, Burrell looked like a luxury. In addition, after Burrell's renaissance season, it was hard to see him accepting a contract that would pay him much less than the 9 million he pulled down in 2010. But Burrell showed that sometimes playing somewhere that you're happy and comfortable does mean you'll take a hometown discount. And in Burrell's case, he took a huge discount. He signed for one million with no incentives. To put that in perspective, every arbitration player Sabean signed (the likes of Mike Fontenot, a utility infielder) will make more than Burrell, who swatted 18 homers for the Giants and was a key reason they made the postseason. That gave me a whole new appreciation for Pat the Bat.

Sabean wasn't finished bringing back his guys though. He offered Guillermo Mota a minor league deal which Mota accepted.

The only losses the World Series champion Giants sustained were Edgar Renteria (Reds), Juan Uribe (Dodgers), Eugenio Velez (Dodgers), and Chris Ray (Mariners). Seeing Uribe not only leave but sign with the Dodgers hurt. He was a great clubhouse guy, a fantastic Giant, and he'll be missed. Other than that, the losses were minimal. While it would have been nice to have Renteria as an insurance policy at shortstop, most Giants fans expected him to retire after a magical end to the season. Instead, he staged a mini hissy fit at the Giants "disrespectful" offer to re-sign and erased SOME goodwill amongst Giants fans. However, he will undoubtedly be cheered when he shows up at AT&T Park next season and deservedly so. He was an albatross in 2009 and was hurt most of 2010. But without him, the Giants may not have won the World Series. And fans will never forget him home run in Game 5. Ever. It was time for Edgar to move on. Even though the Giants don't have a true shortstop on the team (calling Tejada a true shortstop now would be like calling David Ortiz a true first baseman) Renteria's departure will not haunt them. Nor will the departures of Eugenio Velez and Chris Ray. Ray was effective as a Giant and I would have liked to see the Giants keep him but the bullpen is set and it'll be hard enough for Mota and Runzler to make the team so Ray was expendable. Velez was never truly valuable. He had some pop but no plate discipline or contact skills. He had speed but was a terrible baserunner and basestealer. His defense was poor. He could put it together and terrorize the Giants for years as a Dodger. Or he could just continue being a poor MLB player. Not a loss.

With most of his team returning, Sabean looked to address the one hole. Shortstop. There were all the rumors about Barlett, murmurs of JJ Hardy, speculation about Scutaro. In the end, Sabean went to his go-to. He signed an old guy. The good news is that the Tejada signing is only one year. The 6.5 million doesn't crimp the budget. And Tejada, by all accounts, is also a great clubhouse guy and should help ease the pain of losing Uribe. He should hit for a better average that Uribe and get on base at a better clip. He won't have the pop Uribe displayed but he might use the gaps more to drive in runners. The only thing that is worrisome is his defense. He was fine at shortstop for the Padres but he only played half the season. He's going to be expected to play shortstop almost every single day for the Giants (because of that whole not having a shortstop thing I mentioned earlier). That's risky. Opposing hitters will look at Sandoval and Tejada manning the left side of the infield and will aim for it. But the options at shortstop were not great and in the end, Tejada's offense (unless he goes in the tank) should offset any defensive woes.

By most accounts, Sabean tried to rid himself of Rowand's contract during the winter and if a team gets desperate for an outfielder during Spring Training, Rowand still could be moved (hey, the Angels took Vernon Wells, so anything can happen!). But aside from minor tweaks, the Giants roster is largely set. Many thought the Giants would make a splash after winning the World Series. But the truth is, the Giants need to save their money for their own guys. Lincecum and Cain need to be extended or re-signed in the near future (if it's even possible to re-sign both guys). So does Brian Wilson. It wouldn't surprise me if the Giants started discussing a multi-year deal for Buster Posey this spring or next.

You have to give it up for Bowtie Bill Neukom for expanding the budget and allowing Sabean to keep the team together. The Giants payroll will likely be around 115 million when it's all said and done. It's the first time the Giants have had a payroll over 100 million in franchise history. So Neukom deserves props for opening the purse strings even though it doesn't feel like the Giants made any splash signings. Notice all the one year and two year deals? It's definitely the Giants gearing up to re-sign the core of the team. Wilson, Lincecum, Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez all will be due big money in the very near future. It's not coincidence the team has refused to sign big money long term contracts the last couple of offseasons.

And for this offseason, the Giants for the most part kept the champions together, expanded the budget, and seem primed to battle for the NL West title yet again. It was a solid if unspectacular offseason for Sabean and Company. As a former Sabean hater, I stand and applaud the effort.

Comments

  1. Glad we kept the squad together. The Uribe, non tender was the best non move of the off-season

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The MLB Deadline 2023: What will the Giants do?

The MLB Trade Deadline is a week away. The Giants started off the 2nd half hot, going 5-0 sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates and then taking the first two games against a sneaky good Reds team in Cincinnati. Since then? A complete dumpster fire. The Giants have lost 6 in a row, finishing a 11-game road trip against mostly sub .500 teams at 5-6. Although the road trip was long and somewhat grueling, the opponents represented a soft spot in the schedule for SF, a chance to make up ground on the Los Angeles Dodgers who had a brutal portion of their schedule on the road against contenders like the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers. The Dodgers went 6-3 to instead put distance between themselves and the Giants and Dbacks. The Giants are broken. They have been one of the most injured teams in baseball which has led to extensive playing time for rookies who are showing they're not quite ready for a pennant race. After a scorching 18-8 June, the Giants are currently 8-11 in July. They are s

What is the plan for the San Francisco Giants?

Ohtani is gone. Yamamoto is gone. Worse, they're both Dodgers for the next decade. If you missed my tongue in cheek Christmas poem about it, you can take a minute to read it here . The thing that sucks most about the two best free agents joining the Dodgers is that they chose the easy path, both joining a juggernaut that didn't necessarily need them. Instead of making baseball interesting, had even one just signed with LA and the other signing with someone else, it would have built up some fun storylines. Yamamoto and Juan Soto on the Yankees? Ohtani on the Dodgers? Potentially great theater in a World Series, much like watching Ohtani the pitcher face Trout in the WBC this past year. Or Ohtani the Dodgers hitter facing Yamamoto the Giants pitcher in one of baseball's best rivalries? It could have been a great addition to the rivalry for the foreseeable future. Instead? Yamamoto and Ohtani will team up to make baseball's best team for the past decade even better. Bah hu

'Twas The Nightmare Before Christmas: A Giants Tale of the 2023 Winter

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through Oracle Park Not a superstar was stirring, not even a spark! The banners were hanging, by the arcade with care In hopes that St. Ohtani, would soon be theirs  The fans were nestled all snug in their beds While visions of power hitting ace pitchers danced in their heads  And Farhan in his chef's hat, and you in your SF cap Had just settled down for a long winter's nap When out on Twitter, there arose such a clatter Baseball fans sprang to see what was the matter Away to the internet, we flew like a flash Tore open MLB Trade Rumors and the ESPN app The moon on the breast of the soft computer glow Gave the lustre of heartache, to the news below When what to my wondering eyes should appear But the Dodgers new superteam, instilling such fear  With a little old manager, so lively and quick I knew in the moment, it wasn't St. Nick.  More rapid than eagles his coursers they came And he whistled and shouted, and called them by na