The Giants are looking to add outfield help, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Eddie Rosario and Jackie Bradley Jr. are two of the names under consideration. Both players are also left-handed hitters, “which ticks off another box on the Giants’ wish list,” Slusser writes.
Considering that Bradley and Rosario have very different skillsets, the Giants are clearly keeping their options open as they explore how to best construct their outfield. The current mix consists of Mike Yastrzemski as the only true everyday option in right field, Mauricio Dubon getting the bulk of center field playing time, and Alex Dickerson and Darin Ruf platooning in left field. Austin Slater, Steven Duggar, Luis Alexander Basabe, and Jaylin Davis provide further depth on the bench and in the upper minors.
Signing Bradley would bring one of the game’s top defensive players to the spacious Oracle Park outfield, and he would immediately slide into the everyday center field job. Dubon would still get some playing time in center field when a left-handed starter was on the mound, but the Giants could perhaps bounce Dubon around the diamond to second base, shortstop, or possibly other positions in a super-utility role. Signing Rosario to take over in left field would perhaps make Dickerson a little superfluous, though since Yastrzemski has looked okay in limited center field action, the Giants could opt for an all left-handed array of Rosario/Yastrzemski/Dickerson in the outfield against some right-handed pitching.
Bradley offers excellent glovework and something of an inconsistent bat, though he is coming off a season that saw him hit .283/.364/.450 with seven home runs over 217 plate appearances for the Red Sox. He also posted some strong numbers in 2015-16, but a slash line of only .234/.318/.409 in 1643 PA during the 2017-19 seasons seemingly lowered Bradley’s potential ceiling as a hitter. Bradley turns 31 in April, but a change of scenery could revive his bat after eight seasons in Boston.
As something of the opposite of Bradley, Rosario is a bat-first player who is perhaps a little underrated on defense, considering that Rosario has been above-average (+9 Defensive Runs Saved, +2.9 UZR/150) over 4848 career innings as a left fielder. Rosario also delivered plenty of pop during his six years with the Twins, hitting .277/.310/.478 with 119 homers in 2830 PA.
In December, however, Rosario wasn’t tendered a contract. Minnesota opted to let Rosario go due to his escalating arbitration price tag (projected to land between $8.6MM and $12.9MM) and because top prospects Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach are both waiting in the wings for regular Major League duty. The 29-year-old Rosario also posts a lot of strikeouts and doesn’t reach base often, which limits his offensive production.
Bradley has drawn more public interest than Rosario this winter, as Rosario has been linked to only the Marlins and Red Sox on the rumor mill. Boston has also been known to have interest in a reunion with Bradley, and at least five other teams have also been connected to Bradley’s market. Of course, that list has likely seen some alterations as the offseason has rolled on — the Blue Jays, for instance, are almost certainly out on Bradley after signing George Springer.
I’d say Slater is more than depth, especially when the article seems to put Darin Ruf above him on the depth chart. Slater was great last year when healthy, I think he’s the platoon with Dickerson, and I think Jackie Bradley Jr is the move here for the giants, they need a true CF more than anything since Dubon is a natural infielder.
I came here to write the same thing, but since I see you already have, I’ll second this. Slater is not depth. He won a starting role for them before he got injured. As you say, at this point he’ll probably platoon with Dickerson.
JBJ is a good option if they can convince him to platoon with Dubon, which seems to me like a big if.
As for Dubon not being a true centerfielder, I have to disagree with you. He may not have much experience there, but he’s already proven himself to be an elite defensive centerfielder (minus the occasional mental mistake), as seen with his 4 OOA that ranked above other great defensive centerfielders like Robles, Buxton, and Springer.
I agree with both of you regarding Slater. Unfortunately, he’ll likely start in aaa if they sign another outfielder and everyone is healthy on opening day. The minor league option curse.
Agree with all of this, on Slater, on Dubi’s defense in CF….but if they sign JBJ, I’m pretty sure they use him as an everyday CF. don’t know if it’s the case for his career, but he actually hit LHP better last year. You’d still give Dubi the occasional start out there, but I can’t see a strict platoon. If everyone’s healthy, there aren’t enough spots to go around (how often is everyone healthy?) And options be damned, you drop Ruf before you send Slater to AAA again.
I’m not so sure about them starting JBJ and benching Dubon, but I think you’re right that they DFA or trade Ruf before they demote Slater.
Yeah, not so much benching, but spot starts at 2b, Ss, and center and right (yes, even Yaz can use a break occasionally!) still an overload of RH bats, for backing up 1B and 2b, but maybe the DH returns, and Wilmer can rake away there.
Okay, so another agreeing comment, EXCEPT I think Bradley’s bat is so suspect (as well as his OBP) that I think he’s a mistake. This is a team with an awful starting rotation, and we’ll need to score as many runs as possible. I think we can expect some regression from the offense—including Belt and Craw, unfortunately. I’ve liked Slater since he’s come up and though he lacks HR pop, his gap power is fine and he can platoon with Belt (as can Dickerson). So if I was picking up an OF, it would be Rosario. Yaz and Dubon are fine in CF. My first choice would be to add a left-handed power bat at 3B (LaStella?) because Longo is pretty meh—especially against righties.
Why would JBJ take a platoon job when he’ll likely be offered 75% or more playing time from another club?
And that’s why I don’t think he’ll end up signing with SF.
But isn’t that just the strong side of a platoon? Not saying he’d be platooned, but isn’t the LHP % somewhere around a quarter?
Might very well be but platoons aren’t just who starts and I don’t see HBJ being pulled once he’s in the game. Sox fans for years picked on his streaky but sometimes sleeping bat. Now that he may leave, I for one appreciate his glove, arm and most importantly the type of person he seems to be. Boston will be making a huge mistake if he signs elsewhere.
JBJ wouldn’t platoon; he’d slot into center, with Yaz moving over. He’d be coming in on account of his defensive assets. Rosario, on the other hand, who is limited at defense, is the guy who makes more sense as a platoon.
I thought Boston could trade Benny and sign Rosario.
ive always considered Eddie Rosario an above average outfielder. why doesnt he get more attention?
Agree. Slater is a pretty good option. JBJ will fit well for the Gigantes.
Watching Dickerson in the outfield was unpleasant. He looked lost out there. Managed -0.8 bwar in the short season erasing half his value with the bat.
Slater is another Mac Williamson, has flashes of greatness but will never put it together. Imo Slater is a AAAA player.
Each to their own and all, but I think you’re under-appreciating the strides he made last year. I’m actually bummed he’s only slotted for the weak side of a platoon.
Mac never had a 152 OPS+ over 100 plate appearances at the major league level.
Jeez cripes, if you’re interested, then sign them already
My fantasy team needs Rosario to sign with a better offensive team than the Giants lol.
Check out what the Giants offense did last year. The park played much smaller than it did previously and their offense was 6th in baseball in OPS.
I am hoping for the Braves, Dodgers, or Jays. I’ll take the Giants as the 4th place. Definitely surprised by those numbers though.
Sure, but that was also the case in the first half of 2019( or was it 18?). Then they followed it up by being the absolute worst offensive team for the second half of the season.
The question is can the Giants mish-mash roster maintain production for 162 games
I think it might be sustainable. Remember, the Giants have replaced their worst offensive position (catcher), with Buster Posey and Curt Casali. Even if there’s some regression from the other position players, that upgrade should help neutralize. Also, since the Giants offense is more about depth (rather than a few heavy hitters), they seem more slump proof than others.
Good post Andy. I’m a dodger fan but live in SF so I end up watching every Giants game. I have a very weird love-hate relationship with them haha
But what a lot of people tend to overlook is, sure, Friendman gets a lot of the credit, but Zaidi had a huge hand in building this dodgers team. He brought Muncy out of the trash heap, turned Kike into an every day player, same with Taylor, as well as being responsible for drafting tons of the kids.
I give Giants fans a lot of crap for having their mishmash roster but truthbetold it makes me nervous as hell seeing as how it’s EXACTLY what Zaidi does: builds relevance out of the little pieces
Agreed. And congrats on that World Series win!
@semut What are you talking about? Enrique Hernandez and Chris Taylor were never everyday players in LA
Also, Zaidi’s terrific . But People overestimate Farhan Zaidi’s role in LA. That’s Friedman’s team. He’s the boss. Friedman and LA didn’t even replace Zaidi w/ another GM.
So, clearly Zaidi’s departure didn’t create leave a substantial gap in LA’s baseball OP’s dept
Mine does too. Although with Rosarios crappy obp I prob won’t keep him. We use obp instead of avg.
Dubon needs to be the starting second baseman for his defense and range. Flores and Solano are good hitters, but they are a liability at second.
Solano may have hit well but his errors are through the roof. I’d love to see them capitalize on that BA and trade him off for a prospect and put Dubon at 2ND. I like Flores and/or Belt at first.
I’d take Eddie over JBJ, especially since his price will be lower. Eddie has more consistency
Wow the Giants are awful. I think JBJ would be the better choice between the two. Obviously SF is trying to find a guy with some value, and get an asset at the deadline. Showing off JBJ’s defensive skill set in Oracle Park would boost his value. Rosario’s offensive number would go down and have less value for other teams… sign JBJ
I can see the Giants signing JBJ but Rosario I don’t see unless Dickson is gonna be a 4th OF type
Braves need to be in on Rosario he is the typical AA signing only thing he can get him for 2 years instead of 1.
This offseason has been horrible
Agreed that Rosario makes little sense on the surface, but if the DH returns for 2021 that would make him a pretty good fit. And you gotta figure that’s a 50-50 proposition, or better?
steelerbravenation:
I love Dickerson’s bat, but he has a history of not being able to stay healthy. Rosario would be insurance against another season where Dickerson isn’t always available.
signing Bradley or Rosario is a commitment to mediocrity…
Typical Zaidi move. Bradley can cover CF but provides little left handed offensive help. Rosario offers offensive help that is needed from the left side of the plate. Neither player is a significant upgrade or impact bat the Giants need.
Giants offense is fine. I think the JBJ defense would be a big boost and allow Dubon to spell Bradley or Crawford against lefties
Incremental improvement is a Zaidi calling card. Either player can be useful, but Bradley would be my preference if I was a Giants fan. I’m a believer in building with up-the-middle defense. Even though Bradley is older than a true building block, his defense would provide immediate help to the pitching staff. His presence would also improve the overall OF defense because current CF options can move to the corners. A potential good signing, just don’t go crazy on the AAV or number of years. Two years max. The Giants can then make a more impactful up-the-middle addition next winter by signing one of the free-agent shortstops.
Crawford, Belt, Yaz, and Dickerson all hit left handed. That’s half of the starting 8 position players. What they need to be concerned about is the fact that they only have one left handed starting pitcher.
@tedtheodorelogan
I’m not very concerned about having only one left-handed SP. My concern for the rotation is how consistent they will be. Cueto needs to turn around, Logan Webb needs help, Gausman needs to stay how he was last year, DeSclafani and Wood need to prove to be smart signings, and everybody needs to eat innings, and not just any kind of inning, everybody needs to have QUALITY innings.
And that’s where the problem with the starting rotation begins: this is an awful rotation, likely to regress in Gausman’s case, and not signing Quintana for at least a two (maybe three) years was the first major mistake (in my opinion) of Farhan’s regime.
These guys make some sense if one of them signs for the right price.
Rosario has tons of pop and can be platooned if his defense is an issue. He’d make a good DH if the NL decides to utilize one.
I’ve seen JBJ’s name in the rumor mill for SFG for years now. It kind of reminds me of Billy Hamilton, who was also rumored for years to be someone the Giants had their eyes on. He never really got much of a shot, but was instead flipped for a prospect IIRC.
Dickerson and Slater are good baseball players, but are never going to put together a full season, so it seems. It’d be good to have another fielder that poses a power threat or an strong glove.
Giants should take Randal Gritchuk from the jays for a ptbnl and let the jays sign either left handed bat…..please.
That makes a lot of sense. Grichuk solves the CF problem, whereas JBJ and Rosario only kinda solve it.
The Giants already have a RHH centerfielder in Dubon. And by OOA, Dubon was great in center while Grichuk was not.
The Giants do not have a true centerfielder other than Duggar, so JBJ would be a welcome addition. Rosario would be superfluous. The Giants already have outfield depth with Yaz, Dickerson, Slater and Ruf who all had outstanding years last year not to mention Dubon who can play anywhere. They also have several DH options starting with Wilmer Flores. Marisnick and Almora would also potentially be worth a look as low cost options to JBJ. Other than centerfield the Giants primary needs are a left hand infield bat who can play 2nd or 3rd, at least one more starting pitcher and a lot more relief pitching options (including potential closers).
On Inside Pitch Friday Jim Bowden gave “grades” for all 30 teams. To find out the Giants grade it’s in his article in The Athletic.
Don’t have to go to The Athletic for the Giants grade. Yes Zaidi has made a number of minor transactions. Non of which are impactful. More trying to catch “lightning in a bottle.”
At best Zaidi’s grade is a “D.”
Not really a fair grade due to the current payroll. The impact will come next winter when Crawford, Belt, Cueto, Posey, and Gausman are off the books and Zaidi can aggressively pursue a free-agent shortstop and other top players. The Giants can otherwise be competitive in 2021 and perhaps make the post-season if there is another season of expanded playoffs. However, not landing one of those shortstops next winter would be a massive fail.
Hopefully Luciano will be ready and they won’t need to spend big on a long term deal for a shortstop. Outside of Webb and Beede who aren’t good, they are going to have to purchase a whole new starting rotation next off season.
I think we’ll finally see what Zaidi is truly capable of once those contracts are off the books. He literally won’t have any of Bobby Evans’ legacy as a drag on future roster building.
Zaidi inherited an old team and so far he’s done fine. He’s not throwing good money after bad and he’s been able to put a decent team on the field despite how old that team is.
But from the sound of it, you sound bitter. Like your team hasn’t won a championship in a long time or ever. Giants fans have 3 WS wins in very recent memory. So we can weather this storm. These things don’t happen overnight, they take time.
Bowden gave SF a “C” but would have graded higher except for the qualifying offer they gave Gausman. But as he noted, it’s only 1 year and they have the money. Gausman makes for a very intriguing trade piece of the Giants are not contending. And Giants received kudos for their other signings, like Wood and DeScalfini.
Offseason isn’t over yet and Giants conservative approach might pay dividends with one or two more pitching additions.
Why would the Giants be interested in Jackie Bradley Jr. ? JBJ Can’t Hit. The Giant’s offense is already projected to be Weak ( Fangraphs ZIPS ) Why add another mediocre hitter??
I laughed when I read that the change of scenery may help JBJs offense! Right! Everyone knows how much Fenway is a pitchers dream! Imagine what Ted Williams batting average would have been if he had played anywhere else!
JBJ is about a league-average hitter. He’s obviously a glove-first CF, but I have to laugh at people that think he can’t hit.
League average? A career .239 hitter with a .321 OBP? Last year was an aberration with a short sample. The guy can’t hit and is a waste of SF money, especially as they have Dubon and Yaz is fine in CF.
It’s such a strange offseason. JBJ has a bigger market than JTR.
The contenders are pretty much satisfied with their catching situations. Realmuto is most-valuable to the Phillies. The problem here is that the team has other needs to address if they want to contend in 2021. Signing a SS in addition to Realmuto is a must along with a center fielder. The question for the Phillies is how much to emphasize the 2021 season. More than any team, they would be positively impacted by an expanded playoff field. With Nola and Wheeler as their 1-2, they can be a royal pain as a possible 6-seed and might even make a deep run. But in a five-team format, they may not make the field. MLB needs to make up its mind.
Cey Hey:
I agree that JTR would be valuable for the Phillies, but don’t agree it’s more so, than some other teams. He could be just as valuable to the Nat’s, or the Blue Jays. If it was just one team that needed him more than others I think he’d be signed by now..
Maybe, maybe not. Is Knapp a better starting catcher option than what the Jays and Nats currently have? Unlike the Phillies, those other teams don’t have to approach Realmuto as their Plan A. If the Phillies don’t sign Realmuto, they are deducting a top player from a roster that missed the post-season in both of his seasons. That would make the original trade a colossal failure. I don’t have to mention who they gave up to acquire him.
If the Phillies lose out on Realmuto, what do they do moving forward? The Braves and Mets would clearly be better. So would the Nats, especially if they sign Realmuto themselves. Even the Marlins would have a better overall roster and future. The Phillies have a weak farm system with virtually no help in the near future. If they don’t sign Realmuto and make those other moves, it would be difficult for them to contend any time soon. This would eat into the prime of Harper, who they signed for a ridiculous amount of money. So yes, Realmuto is more valuable to them than other teams, even though he is nowhere near a Hall of Fame talent.
Btw, I live not far from Philadelphia in Montgomery County and want to see the team do well so I can attend some playoff games. They have a more than fair offer to Realmuto. It’s curious that he hasn’t accepted it since it’s doubtful anyone will top the five years. His decision will affect all other moves the team makes between now and the start of the season.
Cey Hey:
And I thought you were a Dodger fan, with a Ron Cey reference.
You make some good points. I would make the point though that what a catcher does at the position is far more valuable that what they do with the bat. Given the choice, if I were a GM, I would always opt for the good catcher/bad hitter over the bad catcher/good hitter. But not knowing how good Knapp is behind the plate I’d say losing JTR is not that bad a loss if he’s really good, but a huge loss if he isn’t.
@tad2b13 Knapp is a great backup catcher. Arguably one of the better backups in the game, but he’s never been a starter. So if the Phils lose out on JTR (which is very possible), then they would need to sign another FA. Perhaps Wilson Ramos or Molina.
@ Von
Kinda like saying a Chevy has a bigger market than a Rolls Royce! Of course! Chevys are more affordable.
@stymeedone That’s true, but I will say, in a non-pandemic world JTR is signed already.
“Interested in Player-A (signs with Team1). Interested in Player-B (signs with Team2). Etc etc
Farhan always the bridesmaid never the bride
haven’t the Giants been one of the more active teams this offseason? Not sure what you’re talking about
He means they have been in on guys like Harper, Cole, and wanted to trade for Stanton, but end up with guys like DiScalfani, Wood, and Curt Casali.
Huh? He had a major role in building the best team in the sport, then inherited a mess in San Francisco with all the bad contracts and crappy farm system. Giants fans need to be patient. No one in MLB builds a winner overnight.
Zaidi is in year 3 and hasn’t built a competitive team over 162 games. 2020 was 100 less games and expanded playoff teams.
semut:
Not too biased are you? Zaidi locked down the #2 FA pitcher in Gausman, added Alex Wood, and DeSclafani. And he signed a very good back-up catcher in Curt Casali.
The Dodgers are supposedly interested in Bauer, Semien, and Hand. It was rumored that they were interested in LeMahieu. And what have they done, other than re-sign Treinen, and lose Hernanadez, Pederson, and so far, Turner? They don’t seem to be even a member of the wedding party, let alone a bridesmaid. They just may be looking up at the Padres at the end of next season.
tad – I’m just talking a bit of crap 🙂 I actually just made a post above at how much respect I have for Zaidi and how he builds, as well as giving him a TON of credit for the current Dodgers team. Zaidi is a master at turning unassuming players into superstars
semut:
Yeah, I was surprised to see your post above, and actually gave you thumbs up, before seeing this response.
Haussmann, DeScalfani, Wood. #5 starters for Dodgers and Padres.
For defense alone i would take JBJ. Offensively i think a change of scenery could do him good. Pillar had a solid offensive season after joining the Giants early in 2019 so i think Bradley could do well in San Francisco also.
JBJ should be a no-brainer for the Giants in Oracle Park as well as the other stadiums in the NL West.
Rosario could be a upgrade over Gardy. How much do either one want?
The Twins non-tendered Eddie Rosario by the December 2nd deadline after placing him on outright waivers just prior to that date. He went unclaimed before the non-tender. Rosario was projected to receive $8.6MM to $12.9MM in arbitration so he would be looking in that range for an AAV as a free agent. He would also be seeking a contract of more than one year.
There is little doubt that 37-year old Brett Gardner will receive a one year deal this offseason. The Yankees elected to buyout his $10MM 2021 team option for $2.5MM but expressed an interest in having him return after doing so. Clearly the Yankees will offer Gardner a number well south of $7.5MM since that amount and the $2.5MM they already bought him out at would equal the $10MM they refused to pay him to begin with. NY is also trying to stay under the Luxury Tax threshold which prompted them to trade for Jameson Taillon rather than pursue another more expensive free agent SP option after already agreeing to sign Corey Kluber to an $11MM dollar deal last week.
Gardner’s suitors seem to be limited this offseason so I’m guessing he will return to the Yankees with a 2021 contract in the vicinity of $5MM dollars which should be significantly less than what Rosario will ultimately wind up with.
At this point in his career its probably Yankees or bust for Gardner
Gardner has pretty much made it clear he wants to return to the Yankees and will probably even take a lower deal than from another team to finish his career in NY. He’s waiting for the Yankees to clear some payroll space, but there may come a point when his agent will let the market know that he’s ready to consider other teams’ offers seriously.
He’s really best suited as a 4th OFer at this stage. Someone who is still productive against righties, and can play a plus defense in LF and also still be at least average if not a tick above in CF. Not sure what other teams are looking for that exact skillset.
Eddie to the Bay would be great! He’s young, and he’s got pop.
Braves need to be in on Rosario
Remember when Espn was acting like Jackie Bradley was the next Babe Ruth and giving his stats every game his kind of rookie year (kind of because he sucks and got sent dow )
Baffled why Min. loves Kepler and set Rosario loose?
Smaller in size, Rosario outhits Kepler both Avg. and OPS?
Someone explain Min. decision?
Twins extended Kepler.
I’m sure those two players will let them compete with the Dodgers and Padres……
So when Minnesota did not tender Rosario a contract did that make him an unrestricted free agent? So a team can sign him well below his projected arb amount?
Moneyballer:
Yes, but why would Rosario accept a deal well below his projected arb amount? If he has, as it appears, multiple teams interested, then it’s going to take more than a well below arb amount to outbid other teams. He may take a deal with an AAV that’s below his arb projection, if it’s for enough years to make it worth it to him.
A good defense is better than a good offense Bradley would answer the call as his defense will save more games….
Rosario may not be a great defensive OFer, but he can cover it if need be. I still think the Universal DH will be in play again next year, so a smart team might want to get ahead of that and sign a player who will make a strong DH, but also can play the OF just in case it’s delayed one more year.
With the outfield candidates on the Giants I don’t see a fit for the addition of Rosario.
Since Dugger has flopped so far, Bradley DOES fit.
LF = Dickerson & Slater or Ruf
CF = Bradley & Dubon
RF = Yazstremski & Slater or Davis
1B = Belt & Ruf or Flores
2B = Solano & Flores or Dubon
SS = Crawford & Dubon or Solano
3B = Longoria & Flores or Solano
DH = Ruf & Dickerson & Slater & Flores
Unless there are trades, releases, injuries or options to the minors
I think the thing that you do need to factor is that Dickinson.will probably be injured at some point
Revive JBJ’s bat? He has a career OPS+ of 94 and for 2017-2019 his OPS+ was 90. He has been a very streaky hitter throughout his career and it took an OPS+ of 118 in 217 PA to raise his 2017-2020 average up to 94. Did he suddenly learn how to hit at age 30 or was it the shortened season with a pandemic going on that was reflected?