The 2015 Giants are playing really well you guys. Like, really good. They're a half game back of the Dodgers and they're 7-2 against those Bums head to head. They are defending their title magnificently to date. They had one of their best May's ever. They probably do well in May due to Willie. Just sayin'...
So let's not talk about those 2015 Giants right now. Let's talk about the 2016 Giants!
Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans have done a phenomenal job at locking down the core of this team. Looking ahead to 2016, the Giants could have zero vacancies on the diamond positionally. The outfield is all under contract (assuming they pick up Aoki's inexpensive option). Blanco is under contract as the 4th outfielder. And unless he starts really sucking, I'm thinking Justin Maxwell might just stick around as well. Now the fun part. The infield. The infield as it currently stands is all homegrown. You've got Belt at 1B, Panik at 2B, B-Craw at SS, and the DuffMan at 3B. Oh, and some Posey dude doing the catching. That's pretty effing awesome that our entire infield once upon a time played at Double A Richmond. Unless the Giants want to trade for a more established third baseman (Beltre, anyone?) or Casey McGehee returns with a vengeance, third base could be handed to the 24 year old Duffy who's making less than 600K. Duffy has done nothing to show the Giants they need to go get a third sacker. Which is great because that means the Giants have another MLB starting player that is cheap (like Panik) and can allow them to spend money where they need to: on pitching. Yes, the Giants will need to re-stock their rotation soon. Here's my 2016 preview of the Giants rotation options.
Locks:
Madison Bumgarner
Matt Cain
Jake Peavy
Minor League Potentials:
Chris Heston (5-3. 3.82 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) *MLB
Kyle Crick (1-1, 2.10 ERA, 1.37 WHIP) *AA
Ty Blach (4-5, 3.82 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) *AAA
Clayton Blackburn (1-3, 4.32 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) *AAA
Chris Stratton (1-5, 4.14 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) *AA
Free agents:
Tim Lincecum
Wei-Yin Chen
Johnny Cueto
Doug Fister
Yovani Gallardo
Jaime Garcia
Zack Greinke
JA Happ
Aaron Harang
Dan Haren
Hisashi Iwakuma
Scott Kazmir
Ian Kennedy
Mike Leake
David Price
Jordan Zimmermann
So let's not talk about those 2015 Giants right now. Let's talk about the 2016 Giants!
Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans have done a phenomenal job at locking down the core of this team. Looking ahead to 2016, the Giants could have zero vacancies on the diamond positionally. The outfield is all under contract (assuming they pick up Aoki's inexpensive option). Blanco is under contract as the 4th outfielder. And unless he starts really sucking, I'm thinking Justin Maxwell might just stick around as well. Now the fun part. The infield. The infield as it currently stands is all homegrown. You've got Belt at 1B, Panik at 2B, B-Craw at SS, and the DuffMan at 3B. Oh, and some Posey dude doing the catching. That's pretty effing awesome that our entire infield once upon a time played at Double A Richmond. Unless the Giants want to trade for a more established third baseman (Beltre, anyone?) or Casey McGehee returns with a vengeance, third base could be handed to the 24 year old Duffy who's making less than 600K. Duffy has done nothing to show the Giants they need to go get a third sacker. Which is great because that means the Giants have another MLB starting player that is cheap (like Panik) and can allow them to spend money where they need to: on pitching. Yes, the Giants will need to re-stock their rotation soon. Here's my 2016 preview of the Giants rotation options.
Locks:
Madison Bumgarner
Matt Cain
Jake Peavy
Minor League Potentials:
Chris Heston (5-3. 3.82 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) *MLB
Kyle Crick (1-1, 2.10 ERA, 1.37 WHIP) *AA
Ty Blach (4-5, 3.82 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) *AAA
Clayton Blackburn (1-3, 4.32 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) *AAA
Chris Stratton (1-5, 4.14 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) *AA
Free agents:
Tim Lincecum
Wei-Yin Chen
Johnny Cueto
Doug Fister
Yovani Gallardo
Jaime Garcia
Zack Greinke
JA Happ
Aaron Harang
Dan Haren
Hisashi Iwakuma
Scott Kazmir
Ian Kennedy
Mike Leake
David Price
Jordan Zimmermann
My takes:
I STILL think the best option for this Giants team is to trade for Hamels. The Giants need another ace to pair with Bumgarner. Cain just simply can't be counted on to be that guy anymore. On the free agent list, you have some innings eaters and some decent arms. I could see the Giants, if they go the free agent route, staying away from the top tier (Price, Cueto, Greinke) but could see them make a play for Zimmermann, Kazmir, or Fister. An underrated guy on the list is Wei-Yin Chen. He screams Sabean (Evans) signing to me. That being said, I can't see the Giants throwing 150M-200M contracts around to pitchers on the free agent market. Cole Hamels is left handed, a proven commodity, and his value is locked in for 3-4 more seasons. Our pitching prospects that could be ready by 2016 are not showing all that much currently. Crick has been the best but he's still walking a bajillion guys in AA. You get Hamels, and you have Cain, Bum, and Cole all under lock and key for the next few seasons, allowing your backend of the rotation be filled in by cheap dudes (Heston and perhaps Beede in 2017 once Peavy is off the books). I think a package of Susac and Crick would get the conversation started in Philly.
I STILL think the best option for this Giants team is to trade for Hamels. The Giants need another ace to pair with Bumgarner. Cain just simply can't be counted on to be that guy anymore. On the free agent list, you have some innings eaters and some decent arms. I could see the Giants, if they go the free agent route, staying away from the top tier (Price, Cueto, Greinke) but could see them make a play for Zimmermann, Kazmir, or Fister. An underrated guy on the list is Wei-Yin Chen. He screams Sabean (Evans) signing to me. That being said, I can't see the Giants throwing 150M-200M contracts around to pitchers on the free agent market. Cole Hamels is left handed, a proven commodity, and his value is locked in for 3-4 more seasons. Our pitching prospects that could be ready by 2016 are not showing all that much currently. Crick has been the best but he's still walking a bajillion guys in AA. You get Hamels, and you have Cain, Bum, and Cole all under lock and key for the next few seasons, allowing your backend of the rotation be filled in by cheap dudes (Heston and perhaps Beede in 2017 once Peavy is off the books). I think a package of Susac and Crick would get the conversation started in Philly.
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