Giants starter Matthew Boyd suffered a flexor strain while rehabbing from surgery, and he’ll now be shut down for at least four weeks, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter). Boyd is a free agent at the end of this season, and at this stage, one has to wonder what, if anything, Boyd will be able to offer the Giants this season. San Francisco signed Boyd as a free agent after he was released by the Tigers.
- LaMonte Wade Jr.’s return, however, does appear imminent as the outfielder/first baseman has begun a rehab assignment. Wade Jr. is coming off a breakout season in 2021 in which he slashed .253/.326/.482 with 18 home runs over 381 plate appearances. It will be interesting to see where Wade Jr. fits in upon his return. The Giants mix and match with the best of them, but on the surface level, the lefty-swinging trio of Mike Yastrzemski, Joc Pederson, and Luis Gonzalez would seem to have the outfield covered for the time being. For that matter, veterans Brandon Belt and Tommy La Stella, also left-handers, have been taking at-bats at first base and designated hitter, respectively. Still, it’s a long season, and the Giants will no doubt find a way to return Wade Jr. to the mix when he’s ready.
- Alex Cobb is set to make his return to the rotation on Sunday. A roster move will likely come sometime after tonight’s game. The Giants have thrived at regenerating former starters in low-power mode, but Cobb struggled through his first eight starts, serving up a 5.73 ERA, though a 2.63 FIP suggests he may have had some bad luck. He did, after all, post a strong 47-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 37 2/3 innings.
That LaStella contract. Ugh.
The Giants.LOL
Tony, which team won 107 games year, and which one finished with a losing record?
Pretty sure 3yr/18m isn’t breaking the bank for the Giants.
Was Avila the worst GM of all-time?
He will be until he gets canned. Too bad the owner doesn’t care.
Avila doesn’t win any awards from me, but he apparently knew enough not to let Boyd take him for $6.5 mill.+ in arbitration!
I wouldn’t blame the GM in the Tigers case, Ilitch Sr’s absurdly stupid preoccupation with tall hard throwing SPs put Boyd on the untrade-able list, plus the Tigers always bent the knee for Miggy and told him they would never rebuild. They also tried to move Tork to 3B to placate Miggy, who has been a defensively awful 1B for over 5 years now. Tork is a 1B through and through. What a stupid waste of time, bending your knee for a washed superstar who should have been DHing strictly the last 5 years, but because he can’t even see it himself due to washed superstar delusion, he was playing in the field still.
The Tigers relentlessly drafted “hard throwing” tall pitchers for like 20 years straight…and almost all had to have TJ since. This was because of the senior citizen team owner believed he knew baseball, with no one ever agreeing with that sentiment. Boyd just another example.
Miggy wasn’t blocking Tork at 1B. A 3B is more valuable than a 1B and they were going to keep him at 3B for as long as possible. Plus Miggy has played 1B like 500 innings or so since 2019? He isn’t their everyday 1B and hasn’t been since before Tork was drafted.
Yes he was, they moved Tork to 3B, where he stunk, and then moved him back when he proved he was really good at 1B.
“Since 2019” are you serious? You literally including 2020 as if its “normal?” Bad faith arguments go nowhere.
I beg of you, stop defending MLB team owners, they are 100% ALWAYS to blame for every single dumb thing that happens. Miggy wasnt the problem here, the owners moving Tork to 3B is the problem. He should have been at his most comfortable position as a #1 pick, but couldnt because Miggy lowkey runs that team,
In 2019, Cabrera played 107 games at DH and 26 at 1B. Even if we don’t count 2020, he still played 83 games at DH and 44 at 1B. He wasn’t playing 1B regularly in 2019, nor 2020, and didn’t in 2021 either. He hasn’t played a single inning at 1B this year. I don’t see how that’s defending the owners, nor is that a bad faith argument. Ok, Torkelson is a better 1B than 3B. That doesn’t take away from the fact that a good hitting 3B is more valuable than a good hitting 1B.
Matthew Boyd came to the Tigers in a trade that got Dave Dombrowski fired.
Mike Illich interfered a bit too much with GM Randy Smith, changing the direction and look of the team every year. The Juan Gonzalez fiasco was all Illich. Equally bad, he interfered too much with selecting Managers. Firing Buddy Bell was a bad play. Alan Trammell may be the worst manager all time. Jim Leyland stayed wayyyy too long and Brad Ausmus should have never been in charge.
Nah, the David Price for Boyd/Norris was a great trade for Dombroski and the Tigers. What got him fired is he was caught talking to the Red Sox about working there after his contract ended at the end of that year. Illitch heard that and fired him mid season.
Obviously they should have had Leyland stay longer, still a ton of talent on the team that Ausmus got swept by Baltimore in the first round. Jim is boarder line HOF, look what he did after, gold medal for USA in the WBC when US never played well before. Lots of people on that team credit Leyland for being the difference.
Trammell was a okay manager, look at the the talent on those teams, nothing. Minor league team playing and washed out veterans.
Jim Leyland was an amazing manager and one of the best characters in MLB history.
Randy Smith says hold my beer.
I’m seeing lefty outfielder traded soon. Dugger, or Wade most likely.
Overloaded at the position and many teams looking for Center Fielders. Gonzales should be a keeper.
Duggar is on the 60 day IL. Gonzales, good as he’s been, just doesn’t have Wade’s track record of a full season. Gonzales probably goes down when Wade comes up, but Wade will have a pretty short leash to produce.
Dugger due off by months end.
Still like Gonzo’s all around game better than Wade or Dugger even though small sample at this point. They are both decent trade pieces though.
gfan— I think we’ve seen the last of Duggar. Giants don’t need a LH outfielder (even a CF) who strikes out over 30% of the time. But his glove will be valued elsewhere.
The odd man out SHOULD be LaStella, but because he can also play 2b & 3b, and because he’s contracted for another year, he probably won’t be. Unless they can deal him and aren’t worried about not having a LH infielder beyond Vosler.
My guess: Pederson to DH, LaMonte, Yaz & Gonzalez are the LH outfield. NO way should Gonzalez be sent down—options or no options.
I agree with this. I don’t think La Stella is a good defender at 2b and they have Walton (left-hander ) down at AAA. They might have to put him back on the Il.
The Giants never make sense to me, their lineup is always, at best, mid as hell, yet they win all the time? They have never had a true superstar since 2010, outside of Posey, who was elite, but never the most productive player in the game, like Trout. You’d think if Trout was on SFG they’d never lose a game….
As an A’s fan, when we are in an “our owner doesn’t mind us winning games” period (which is criminally terrible thing for an owner to do to the team, the fans and MLB in general), our players are almost always appearing in MVP and Cy Young races, but at the same time, the Giants are always over .500 and contending with washed up stars who are now extremely mid (Longo), or guys playing way over their heads for like, a month (endless examples, Joc+LGonzalez the current ones). No team that plays WILMER FLORES every day should be contending, period.
Why do the Giants always get ALL the luck???
Because they acquire players with team first attitudes that work hard to get better with the resources provided them by the club, therefore making their own luck. It’s no big secret.
But, like 95% of players have team-first attitudes, so this isn’t a good answer. The A’s also have had many team-first guys who play to win (Chapman, Olson, Semien). You cant simply turn middling non-stars into superstars by “using resources provided to them by the club” (also btw that sounds like cheating). It’s just luck, I’m convinced and you didn’t convince me otherwise. Feel free to have another crack though, Im legit interested if there’s anything real other than pure luck.
The Giants eliminate the 5% that don’t from their culture and their resources are at, or very near, top of the class.
Feel free to remain unconvinced. Just answering your question.
It’s not just about “I play to win,” it’s more of a “I buy into management’s ultra-flexible system of rotations” that keeps players fresh and avoids them getting rusty.
The Giants will pinch hit at the cleanup spot in the 6th inning, and even team players need to buy into that kind of philosophy. If you’re on an off day, you’re likely to get some action as a pinch hitter, defensive replacement, or some combo of the two for three-plus innings. That requires guys in the middle of the order to be okay with getting pulled, as well as all 26 players being ready to jump into high-leverage situations at any moment.
I think that system, once accepted by players, keeps them very fresh whether they start (many don’t play a full 9 innings) or they’re on the bench (they’re almost certain to appear and avoid getting rusty). And buying into that system inherently requires all players willing to sacrifice at bats for certain matchups/situations and to keep their teammates on the bench engaged.
Because the Giants have the best 10th-40th players in the game. No they don’t have the superstars at the top, but their depth is enviable. If someone like Wilmer Flores goes down, there’s 3 other platoon guys who can fill the roll without a drastic dip. Zaidi understands that in the modern game it takes 40 good players to be a winning team.
Bad example cause they’re still winning a lot of games (more than the Giants so far this year), but look at how poor the production of Padres shortstops has been without Tatis. Most teams need their stars to be successful. The Giants just sub in another guy who’s 90% as good as the hurt guy and keep on churning.
107 wins has a bit of luck baked into it, for sure. But the Giants are clearly a good team. Fans who are burying their heads in the sand and screaming “Luck!” are really missing out on what’s happening in San Francisco.
There’s was some luck involved in last years 107-win team, definitely. But what fans of other teams might not really grasp is Farhan Zaidi’s wizardry in using analytics to create a team with tons of versatility and meshing parts.
It’s not an accident that the Giants keep pumping out success from relative no-namers who were given short shrift in the minors by other teams, such as Yaz, Wade, and now, Gonzales. It’s also no accident that they have an eye (and talent) for rehabbing pitchers with promise who can come to Oracle and thrive. Rest assured that they are not competing by virtue of the corpse of Longoria or because Wilmer Flores turned out to be a below-the-radar superstar. But there’s a lot of heart and soul in the core of older guys like Crawford and Belt (who have World Series pedigree from when they were young and not even yet at peak).
Yet all the magic fairy dust in the world is not likely to get them past the Dodgers (or Padres, perhaps). It will be interesting to see what happens at the deadline. I’ll say this, though: They’ve been a really intriguing team and one that has been fun to watch, even through this retool/compete phase.
I agree with your take. Farhan has a ton of money to spend if he wishes, so it should be very interesting to see what moves he makes.
Wilmer is a solid, consistent, versatile player. Last year he had 1.7 WAR, which is just below starter, and you can plug him in all over the field. He also makes 3MM, which is good value/WAR.
There’s a lot to be said for the recent success of the tactic to have a couple highly paid elite position players and fill out the roster with players that are streaky and strike out, walk and hit home runs.
However, the Giants seem to also put together rosters that are solid, consistent, versatile and very coachable. They also have great team chemistry.
Also, people underestimate them consistently – no flashy superstars so how could they possibly win? They get some strategic edge from that too.
Lastly, I think they have a fantastic coaching staff – many teams lured away Giants coaches last offseason for a good reason. I have some reservations about the in-game decisions of the manager, especially with bullpen decisions.
Maybe my thoughts here are not the reason (or there are other reasons), but it is pretty ridiculous to look at all the success and consistency and reduce it to luck. That’s a tired narrative.
Lastly, the A’s seem to be going against their recent success of winning with prospects because they are hoarding their actually good prospects to maintain team control for longer and promoting and fielding a lower tier this year. Or are they just …unlucky?
A’sfaninUK:
You don’t understand how the Giants continue to win because your suppositions regarding the players is incorrect. For example you write
“:the Giants are always over .500 and contending with washed up stars who are now extremely mid (Longo), or guys playing way over their heads for like, a month …Joc+LGonzalez…”
That suggests Longo is typical of the team when he’s not at all. He’s the oldest guy on the team, is a former star, and over this season and last, hasn’t even played in half the games. Typical Giants players, like Yastrzemski, Gonzalez. Estrada, Ruf, Wade, etc. aren’t former, washed up stars.
The Giants put Pederson in situations where he succeeds, in other words, platooned He has always hit RHPs. His career OPS against them is .839. So the fact that he’s hitting well for the Giants, mostly against RHPs, should not be a surprise.
And how can you suggest that Gonzalez is playing over his head? The guy is a rookie, without any kind of track record. He had an .821 OPS over 2 seasons at AAA. And at age 26 is just entering his prime. He might be this good, but it’s too early to know either way.
Clearly, since you don’t appreciate Wilmer Flores, you can’t understand the Giants. First, the only reason he plays everyday is because of the injuries to LaStella and Longo. But, since 2019 he’s had a 111 OPS+. So basically he’s been 11% better than league average.
The Giants take guys like Flores, who aren’t stars, but who are solid, above average players, and put them in situations to get the most out of them. Longo isn’t the typical Giants player. Guys like Flores, Gonzalez, Yastrzemski, Estrada, and Casali are.
As a team, they aren’t hitting as well as last season, but still have a 102 OPS+. The A’s by comparison have a 79 OPS+. That’s one of the reasons why the Giants are an above average team, and the A’s aren’t.
And that’s not addressing the pitching, which was a big reason for the 107 wins in 2021.
Hope the Gs can move La Stella and his toxic contract. With the DH they could potentially have Belt. La monte, Gonzales Yaz and Pederson in the heart of their batting order against right handed starters.
LaStella’s contract sucks, yeah, but it’s only for one more year. Giants have all the money in the world; I don’t think they’ll feel compelled to move his contract.
I think a part of La Stella’s acquisition was “look guys, this is what we want your at bats to be like”. Bit of be like Tommy. Maybe hasn’t sucked as much as what it appears on the surface.
I think the roster space is much more important than the contract, but that’s easy for me to say about $8M. I’ll bet the Giants could eat part of that and peddle him somewhere.
“Toxic contract” 3 yr – 18m
Mlb1225 is correct, Tigers announced Tork as a 3B for value, never has a first basemen been drafted #1 overall. Miggy hasn’t been a regular 1B in five years. Miggy being on the roster had nothing to do with how Tork was developed in the system. The Tigers signed CJ Cron to play first in 2020 before he got hurt. 2018 Tigers had Brandon Dixon and Jim Adduci playing first. If Tork would have played third base and done well, it would have been a good move, nothing wrong with trying.
Luis Gonzalez is a stud in the making, I don’t see Farhan sending him down. Great find!
If I remember correctly, he was just sent down a couple weeks ago.
I was looking forward to watching Boyd pitch, man that sucks.
Too bad the Tigers can’t count him for their IL Starting pitcher list.