The Giants revamped their pitching staff with short-term contracts, and while they did a lot of roster-shuffling heading into the 2021 season, they generally stood pat in the big picture to position themselves for the winter of 2021-22.
Major League Signings
- Kevin Gausman, SP: One year, $18.9MM (accepted qualifying offer)
- Tommy La Stella, IF: Three years, $18.75MM
- Anthony DeSclafani, SP: One year, $6MM
- Jake McGee, RP: Two years, $5MM (including $500K buyout of $4.5MM club option for 2023)
- Aaron Sanchez, SP: One year, $4MM
- Alex Wood, SP/RP: One year, $3MM
- Curt Casali, C: One year, $1.5MM
- Jose Alvarez, RP: One year, $1.15MM (including $100K buyout of $1.5MM club option for 2022)
- Matt Wisler, RP: One year, $1.15MM
- John Brebbia, RP: One year, $800K
- Chadwick Tromp, C: One year, $583K
- Jason Vosler, 3B: One year, MLB contract
- Total spend: $60.833MM
Trades & Claims
- Acquired OF LaMonte Wade Jr. from the Twins for SP/RP Shaun Anderson
- Acquired P Carson Ragsdale from the Phillies for RP Sam Coonrod
- Claimed SP/RP Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Orioles
- Selected SP Dedniel Nunez from the Mets in the Rule 5 Draft
Notable Minor League Signings
- Nick Tropeano, Scott Kazmir, Dominic Leone, Justin Bour, Silvino Bracho, Anthony Banda, Arismendy Alcantara, Zack Littell, Shun Yamaguchi, James Sherfy, Jay Jackson, Rico Garcia, Jeremy Walker, Phil Pfeifer
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Drew Smyly, Tony Watson, Tyler Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Andrew Suarez, Aramis Garcia, Daniel Robertson, Chris Shaw, Tyler Heineman, Chris Herrmann, Jeff Samardzija (still unsigned)
San Francisco was one of baseball’s busiest teams this offseason, both in terms of sheer volume of signings, and even in total dollars considering the relative lack of league-wide free agent spending. Yet once the 2021 season ends, it’s possible that Tommy La Stella and Jake McGee will be the only players remaining from this (modest) spending spree, as the Giants stuck primarily to one-year commitments.
A few of these deals carry some extra term, like Jose Alvarez’s club option or at least one year of additional arbitration control over Matt Wisler, Curt Casali, and John Brebbia. For the most part, however, the Giants left themselves with the “flexibility” that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi looks for when considering player additions and team payroll.
As it turned out, the Giants’ biggest expenditure of the offseason was one of their very first moves, as Kevin Gausman decided to accept the club’s one-year, $18.9MM qualifying offer and remain in the Bay Area. Gausman received some multi-year offers from the Blue Jays and other teams during his QO consideration period, and also discussed a multi-year arrangement with the Giants before ultimately just accepting the qualifying offer. If these talks provided any sort of foundation, it wouldn’t be a shock if Gausman and the Giants found common ground on an extension over the next few days or weeks.
After struggling in 2019, Gausman rebounded nicely with a strong 3.62 ERA/3.24 SIERA over 59 2/3 innings and an outstanding 32.2% strikeout rate and 25.7 K-BB%. Albeit in a shortened season, these were easily career highs for Gausman, giving him an interesting decision in regards to the qualifying offer. Toronto reportedly had a three-year, $40MM offer on the table, and only seven free agents (and only one pitcher in Trevor Bauer) landed more than $40MM in guaranteed money all winter. However, Gausman chose to bet on himself by locking in that $18.9MM single-season payday and giving himself the opportunity for a richer multi-year deal next winter, when more teams might be more open to spending.
The rotation was a clear priority for a Giants team that had several arms slated for free agency. Of the seven pitchers who made multiple starts for San Francisco in 2020, only three will return — Gausman, veteran Johnny Cueto, and 24-year-old Logan Webb. Filling the next two spots will be some combination of Anthony DeSclafani, Aaron Sanchez, and Alex Wood, though Wood’s status is uncertain for Opening Day following an ablation procedure on his spine.
As ominous as this injury sounds, Wood may not end up missing much (if any) time, giving the Giants some depth in figuring out their rotation. Aside from Gausman, none of the other starters pitched particularly well in 2020, and Sanchez didn’t pitch at all following shoulder surgery after the 2019 campaign. Having Webb step forward as a big league regular would be a nice building block for the Giants’ future plans, and Cueto rediscovering any of his old form would be a good way to salvage from value from the last guaranteed season of his six-year, $130MM contract. As for the others, the Giants are simply hoping that they’ve found at least one “next Gausman” among the group.
The bullpen remains a fallback option for any of the pitchers, and Wood pitched well enough as a reliever for the Dodgers last season that the relief corps could be his ultimate landing spot if he can’t stay healthy enough to stick as a starter. There isn’t a ton of starting depth down on the farm, but Ashton Goudeau, Conner Menez, Anthony Banda, and Shun Yamaguchi all have at least a bit of MLB experience. Veteran Scott Kazmir is also on hand after signing a minor league deal, though it remains to be seen if Kazmir will continue his comeback attempt in the wake of a rough Spring Training.
Nick Tropeano has made only one start in the last two seasons, but the righty might also factor into the rotation in a swingman capacity. Tropeano’s minor league deal stands a good chance of being selected for the Opening Day roster, putting him in line to join a few other new faces in the San Francisco bullpen.
After an overall shaky four-year stint with the Rockies, McGee revived his career and picked up a World Series ring by posting a 2.66 ERA over 20 1/3 innings for the Dodgers last season. McGee allowed a lot of hard contact, but countered that problem by missing a lot of bats, recording an eye-popping 33 strikeouts against just three walks. The southpaw now moves to the other side of the Los Angeles/San Francisco rivalry and looks to be the favorite for the closer’s job, though manager Gabe Kapler has indicated that several pitchers could get save chances based on specific in-game situations.
Tyler Rogers, Reyes Moronta (back after missing all of 2020 due to shoulder surgery), or new arrivals Wisler or Alvarez could all be in the mix for those save opportunities. Wisler’s slider-heavy arsenal netted him 35 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings for Minnesota last season, though the Twins still chose to non-tender the right-hander, perhaps due to Wisler’s lack of much real Major League success in five seasons prior to 2020. Alvarez is something of the opposite, having posted solid numbers as a bullpen workhorse for the Angels and Phillies from 2015-19 before a groin injury sidelined him for much of 2020.
For the combined price of $2.3MM, there’s plenty of bargain potential with either Wisler or Alvarez. Brebbia is more of a long-term play, since he is controlled through the 2023 season and might not pitch at all in 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June.
While San Francisco didn’t break the bank on any of their winter moves, they did at least check in some bigger names. On the pitching side, Jake Odorizzi and Tomoyuki Sugano were on the Giants’ radar, and they even did some due diligence on signing Bauer. For position players, such names as Jackie Bradley Jr., Eddie Rosario, Joc Pederson, and Marcell Ozuna all received consideration.
Amidst all those outfield targets, however, the Giants’ top free agent splurge added to a seemingly crowded infield. Tommy La Stella’s three-year, $18.75MM deal was a nice signing of a player who has been a solidly above-average hitter (albeit rarely in an everyday capacity) for much of his career, and his addition only further strengths the team’s depth.
Ideally, Brandon Belt will be the starting first baseman and Evan Longoria will get most of the playing time at third base. However, Longoria is still bothered by plantar fasciitis, while Belt is recovering from a miserable offseason that included heel surgery, a case of COVID-19, and then a bout of mononucleosis. While Belt got onto the field for the final week of Cactus League games and might yet be available for Opening Day, it’s understandable why the Giants looked to add corner infield help.
La Stella has played extensively at second base and third base throughout his career, Donovan Solano can handle the same two positions and also back up Brandon Crawford at shortstop, while lefty-masher Wilmer Flores can step in at first, second, or third base whenever a southpaw is on the mound. Moreover, La Stella, Longoria, and (via a club option) Flores are the only infielders controlled beyond the 2021 season, so La Stella’s deal is part of a longer-term infield plan for San Francisco.
The long-term answer at catcher could end up being top prospect Joey Bart, but since Bart struggled in his first 111 MLB plate appearances, San Francisco needed a reliable veteran backstop for Buster Posey. Curt Casali will fill that role in both 2021 and potentially 2022 (given his extra year of arbitration control) once the Giants have a better idea of their next step at catcher. After undergoing hip surgery in 2018, Posey didn’t play well in 2019 and then opted out of the 2020 season, so it’s hard to know what to expect from him this year. The Giants’ $22MM club option on Posey for 2022 doesn’t seem like it will be exercised, so barring another contractual arrangement, Posey could be another of the longtime Giants fixtures hitting the open market.
That upcoming Giants free agent class undoubtedly looms larger in Zaidi’s thinking. Only three players are officially on the team’s books for 2022, totaling roughly $30.8MM in payroll expenditures, which hints at some potentially major spending in the future. Much of that heavy lifting could come in next offseason’s free agent market, though it wouldn’t be a surprise if Zaidi and GM Scott Harris picked up a controllable contract at this year’s trade deadline regardless of whether or not the Giants are in the playoff race.
By holding off on spending now, the argument can be made that the Giants are playing for the second National League wild card spot at best, given how loaded the Dodgers and Padres look in the NL West alone. While the Giants contended for a slot in the expanded playoff field last season, however, they were also still a sub-.500 team (29-31), and Zaidi/Harris may want more time to evaluate what they have in some players after the wholly unusual circumstances of the 2020 campaign.
In the outfield, for instance, Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson have been revelations since joining the Giants in 2019, but one more full season would likely cement them as building blocks even though both players turn 31 this season. Mauricio Dubon might now be the Giants’ center fielder of the future rather than a middle infielder of the future, but with star prospect Heliot Ramos looming, Dubon’s position isn’t yet settled. Signing a Marcell Ozuna or a Jackie Bradley might have solved a question that the Giants could already have an internal answer for, so the team chose to mostly stand pat in the outfield (aside from acquiring LaMonte Wade Jr. from the Twins) and stick with Austin Slater and Darin Ruf as depth options.
San Francisco fans may have been hoping for a bigger spending spree that would fully herald a return to contention, but the Giants have opted to keep building slowly. The tough division may limit the Giants as a surprise team for 2021, yet finding a few more pieces of their next foundation would count as a win, particularly if construction will begin on that foundation in the relatively near future.
How would you grade the Giants’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)
The offense is definitely underrated, and if the rotation can hold up, they might be close to .500.
They can’t pitch or play defense. They’ll be near league worst in walks per nine, starter innings per nine, and errors.
Sadler:
Every team in MLB is going to have low numbers in starter innings per 9. 200 innings ain’t happening for pitchers this season. It’s too risky after the short season. You think the Dodgers want Kershaw throwing a lot of innings after just 58 1/3 last season? Or Buehler, after throwing only 36 2/3? That’s too big a jump. Bullpens will be key in 2021.
@tad2b13
I agree that all teams will have fewer innings out of their starters but bullpen guys are just as fragile and they can’t sustain 4-5 innings every night over the course of a season. The Giants starting staff has serious command issues and their bullpen, which isn’t exactly dominant to begin with, will be taxed early and often.
Sadler:
You’re right, bullpens can’t sustain 4-5 innings a night. But we aren’t going to see traditional bullpens. Guys with options will be going back and forth between SF and Sac on a regular basis. There’s a reason why Zaidi signed, acquired, or claimed 23 pitchers, and let go only about half that number from the 2o20 roster.
This aged well
The Giants. Lol
They might be the worst team in the NL West if it weren’t for the Rockies. They’re terrible.
PECOTA predicts the Giants and the D’backs as virtual toss-ups for 3rd/4th place. FWIW….
Are you saying the Dbacks are better?
You talkin’ to me?
I’m saying they are about the same.
@Tony….you don’t go away huh? You keep on thinking your 5 year old comments shed insight. Did you not read my last comment to you? Padres have only 9 seasons above .500 since 1990!! Hahaha, Giants have 17 winning seasons above .500 since 1990. What does that tell you? Giants tower over your Padres. Basement for you again! Now get.
@Balk
I rarely get a kick out of any kind of trash talk.
This made me laugh.
You’re a trollidiot
How you doing buddy? It’s gonna be OK, Tatis should be just fine.
It seems like the Giants are treading water. They seem stubbornly opposed to the trend of draft and develop. They are firmly committed to veterans cost be damned. I’ll give the offseason a C because at least they avoided long term commitments to over the hill names.
They’ve been treading water until the onerous contracts of Posey, Belt, Crawford, Cueto, etc are all up at the end of the year.
Crawford and Belt both rated in the top ten in their positions last year. Will need to duplicate to be competitive.
What, you warming to Belt? Love his OBP?
Posey had the best contract. His was a win for both him and the Giants.
“They are firmly committed to veterans cost be damned.”
Well, all their high-cost veterans have no trade clauses so they don’t have much of a choice. But, $80-$100M is coming off the books after this season, so its not like this is a long-term problem.
I think they are rebuilding in a smart way. They’re gonna prove that you don’t have to tank to do it.
The magic ingredient of rebuilding without tanking is called money. Smart or otherwise, some teams can afford to rebuild that way, but a lot of them can’t.
They currently have a top ten farm system. It was around 25th just 2-3 years ago. Developing takes times. Traded for an additional first round pick in Will Wilson as well.
still wiating on them to decide their direction.
To me it’s honestly obvious what their direction is. They are trying to be as competitive as possible while still rebuilding at the same time. Unconventional yes but it has been pretty damn effective
Keeps the stadium packed I guess
To bad they don’t play the conventional game. SF w a few more top draft picks and max payroll to commit would be pretty dangerous come 2023.
I think they’ll be pretty dangerous come 2023. The tide is turning, you’ll see.
Competitive? The Giants haven’t logged a season above .500 since 2016. They’re not very good and haven’t been very good for a long time.
I agree, since they were only a number 6 offense in the MLB last year in a league with the Yanks, Dodgers, Padres, Braves, Mets(arguable), Nats, Brewers(arguable), Cardinals, A’s, Twins, and White Sox
As a fan you have to prefer your team to take this course over tanking, if they can afford it, which the Giants certainly can. They can also afford to flip some of their recent signings at the deadline to speed up the rebuild process.
@SFGbreezy How has it been “pretty damn effective?” They have been a sub-.500 team 4 years in a row.
A sub-.500 team 4 years in a row, is not that bad for a rebuilding/retooling club.. The Padres after the 2007 season had 9 straight sub-.500 teams. The Cubs leading up to the year before they won the title had 5 straight sub-.500 teams The White Sox, up until last season had 7 sub-.500 teams. The Astros had 8 sub-.500 seasons, and 3 of those were sub-.400 seasons.
W/L% is a silly yardstick anyway. It’s all about winning WS titles. All those teams, except the Padres, have won it in within the last 20 years.
@tad2b13 A sub-.500 team 4 years in a row is REALLY bad for a team that is “trying to be as competitive as possible” like SFGbreezy says the Giants are. And certainly doesn’t qualify as “pretty damn effective.”
Frankly the Giants should have had a ’98 Marlins-esque fire sale after the 2016 season. If they did that, they would have the same number of playoff appearances in the last 4 years as they do in our timeline, their farm system would be stronger and they would have more money to spend.
Now winning games is silly. So what’s the purpose of this baseball thing? I forget.
jimthegoat:
Exaggerate much? No a sub-.500 season is not “REALLY” bad, if that team is rebuilding, and when they are competitive. If they have a shot at the the PS late in the season they’re competitive.. It’s a much better measure for competitiveness than W/L%..
The Giants were in contention in 2019. They were in 2nd place in the division on August 25th. And they had a shot at the PS on the last day of the 2020 season. If you don’t think that’s being competitive, I’d say you’re ignoring reality and perversely using W/L% in a pejorative way to suit your argument.
BlueSkies_LA:
Now you disappoint me. I think highly of your posts in general given your objectivity.
I never said winning was silly. What I said was establishing a .500% W/L record as some sort of determining factor in how competitive a team is, is silly. As a Dodger fan, I think you would see the 2020 Giants team as competitive, seeing as how your WS Champs were only 6 and 4 against them on the season.
Well, be fair, your comment could be read more than one way, including the way I read it. All of these debates about “competitiveness” are based on pretty arbitrary terms but you’re sure not going to get any milage out of citing ten games as a definition, unless you are just trying to be even more arbitrary than the way you are critiquing.
@BlueSkies_LA no, winning games is not silly. That’s why the Giants should have had a ’98 Marlins-esque fire sale after 2016. So that they could win more games down the road.
@tad2b13 if you are actively trying to contend like our mutual friend SFGbreezy claims the Giants were then yeah. Being below .500 is REALLY bad. The only reason they were even within pissing distance of the postseason in 2020 was because of the ridiculous expanded playoff field that allowed more than half the teams in baseball to play in the postseason.
But seeing how I don’t like the San Francisco Giants, I’m glad that they are pot-committed to half-assing their rebuild. The longer that team goes without making the playoffs, the better. So PLEASE Farhan. PLEASE keep shooting yourself in the foot. I appreciate it more than you know.
My point is the Giants can afford to do both, if they choose to spend the money. The plan could be not unlike the one the new Dodgers ownership followed, spending a bunch on free agents while rebuilding the farm organization. No tanking, no fire sale. Not sure if that’s the plan in San Francisco, but I wouldn’t say it isn’t.
BlueSkies_LA:
It wasn’t just 10 games, like a 10 game stretch, mid-season or so, when a team got hot. Yes that would be absurd, an indication of nothing . But 10 games head-to-head against the eventual champs, is entirely different. In a normal season that 17 games against a division rival is significant, 10 games compared to 17 isn’t that wildly different that you can simply dismiss them, they’re more illustrative than you make them out to be.
jimthegoat:
Your contention that they’re shooting themselves in the foot is REALLY wrong. How is that good draft position working for the Orioles and Pirates? If Farhan is shooting himself in the foot, how did he improve the farm ranking so significantly in 3 years? Their ranking has improved by 15+ spots.
The idea that they’re costing themselves draft position by putting an entertaining team on the field is absurd. You think it’s good to go with a tanking team keeping the fans away in droves? I can’t imagine how bad it must be to be an Orioles fan. Last season I watched every game and there was hope season long. Some frustrating losses for sure, due to lack of enough talent. But they’ve been better than a lot of people predicted. I saw 100 losses in 2019 predicted. I saw less than 20 wins predicted in 2020.
And yes, they weren’t a playoff team. And even if they had been they weren’t winning it all. But that is still far preferable to having no hope. That the only thing assured is getting a high draft position. Which is far from guaranteed to build a winner. You’re dismissing the Giants as a future winner. Time will prove you wrong.
BlueSkies_LA, jimthegoat:
I would ask, do you consider the Astros to have been competitive in 2020? They were a WC, beat the Twins in the ALWC, beat the A’s in the ALDS, then lost the chance in the ALCS to go to the WS, losing in 7 to the Rays.
The Giants and the Astros had the exact same W/L%. Hence my contention that it isn’t a good indication of who’s competitive
@tad2b13 a good draft position is working REALLY freaking well for the Orioles and Pirates. Just like it did for the Astros and Cubs in the early part of the 2010’s decade. Farhan is shooting himself in the foot because the farm ranking would have improved MORE if he had drafted higher.
Who cares about an entertaining team? Who cares what the casual fan thinks. Smart GM’s sure don’t. If you don’t make the playoffs who cares if you go 0-162? The goal is to win a championship. The Giants would have won the same # of championships in the last 4 years if they had a fire sale after 2016 as they did in OTL and their farm would be even stronger meaning they’d be more likely to win more championships in the future.
Hope? You mean false hope! Better to just know your team isn’t going to win this year than to get your hopes up only to have them crushed at the last second.
No, a high draft position isn’t guaranteed to build a winner. Nothing is. But you’re high if you don’t think it makes it more likely.
No, I don’t consider the Astros to have been competitive in 2020. They only made the playoffs because of the ridiculous expanded playoff field that never should have happened.
I hope I made it clear that I’m not interested in getting into any debates that involve trying to nail jello to the wall. My only point in any of this is to say that winning more games than the competition is still the objective of baseball and the surest way to succeed in both the regular and postseason.
@BlueSkies_LA exactly! And by drafting higher, they will be able to win more games than the competition a few years down the road.
The “try to stay competitive while rebuilding” thing never works. Never has, never will.
Well, the Dodgers did it. All it takes is bucks. A lot of them.
When?
You’re gonna be waiting a while then fam.
Already decided “fam”
I’m happy we aren’t just tanking during the down years. Ramos is looking way beyond his years this spring and Bart had some solid pop too. If those two can make an impact this year at some point and pitching holds up we can make a few FA splashes next year.
jearbear:
Bart is not making any kind of impact this season. He’s slated for a full season at AAA, as he should be. He clearly was rushed, and is not ready. Catchers need more time in the minors than other positions, and he’s played zero games at AAA so far.
Posey is starting and they signed Casali to back up, not for minor league depth. Plus they want Bart playing everyday in Sacramento, not sitting on the bench in SF, which is what he’d being doing as Posey’s back up.
I think the Giants figured that since Posey was ready so fast Bart could do the same
PutPeteRoseInTheHall:
Well Posey did spend less time in the minors than most catchers, but still played a lot more than Bart has to this point. Posey played 172 games in the minors and Bart has 130, but those totals are a little misleading.
Posey had 80 games at A+, skipped AA, and played 82 games at AAA. Bart played played only 57 games at A+, 22 at AA, and zero games at AAA. So his development time is way behind Posey at this point.
I don’t think the Giants thought Bart could duplicate Posey. They just found themselves without a decent backstop, and decided, given the odd, short season, to throw Bart out there to see how he did.
So you’re happy that they’re ruining their draft position and giving the fans false hope during the down years?
C
2021 Posey -> 2022 Bart (Bailey)
1B
2021 Belt -> 2022 FA/Flores/Ruf/Slater
SS
2021 Crawford – > 2022 Dubon/FA (Luciano)
3B
2021 Longoria -> 2022 Longoria/LaStella/Flores (Toribio,Vosler)
OF
2021 Yastremski -> 2022 Yastremski
2021 Dickerson -> 2022 FA/Dickerson (Ramos, Davis)
2021 Dubon -> 2022 Dubon (Duggar)
IF they work something out with Posey (heart/soul) he might be the 1B option (but a very terrible one) – they let Bum Walk but Declining on Posey is a little tougher area.
Best if they get a FA power bat at First Base
And 3 new starters on free agency? Best arm be syndergaard and he has to prove he’s healthy.
Pretty reasonable projection overall; though I disagree on catcher and shortstop. I see Posey coming back on a 2 year deal, Bart either traded or stuck in the minors, and Bailey the starting catcher in 2023 or ’24.
If Dubon is a good enough center fielder that’s where he’ll stay most of the time; he’s a backup-at-best level shortstop and Luciano won’t get a sniff before 2023; 2024 more likely. The guy is only 19, hasn’t played above low-A ball, and is coming off a cancelled season.
Davis and Duggar will never be anything more than injury replacements at best. Neither of them can hit major league pitching.
Duggar will not be playing for the giants in 2022
I liked what the Giants had done this past offseason, it is couple steps closer to being a contender in NL West. I would say give them next two-three seasons on contending for the NL West title.
I know I’m late, but I’m going to go ahead and rate this an A+