Nov. 21: Both the Dodgers and Angels have also expressed interest in Haniger, tweets MLB.com’s Jon Morosi. For the Dodgers, who non-tendered Cody Bellinger and played utilityman Chris Taylor as their most frequent left fielder in 2022, Haniger could split time between left field and designated hitter (likely pushing Taylor to the infield, where Trea Turner could potentially depart).
Over in Anaheim, Haniger would likely supplant former top prospect Jo Adell, who’s yet to establish himself as a big league regular in parts of three seasons (161 games, 557 plate appearances).
Nov. 20: Though a high ankle sprain and a two-week stint on the COVID-related injured list limited Mitch Haniger to only 58 games last season, the outfielder is drawing a lot of attention on the free agent market. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Giants and Rangers are two of the clubs looking at the former All-Star.
Haniger hit .246/.308/.429 with 11 homers over 247 plate appearances in 2022, which translated to a solid 113 wRC+. He hit for a lot (47.2%) of hard contact, and considering how teams increasingly used the shift to limit Haniger’s numbers over the last two seasons, the changing shift rules for 2023 might lead to Haniger better translating those hard-hit balls into base hits.
Due to a ruptured testicle and a torn adductor muscle, Haniger played in just 63 games in 2019 and he missed the 2020 season entirely. Returning for a full season in 2021, Haniger hit .253/.318/.485 with 39 homers in 691 PA — pretty close to the production the outfielder delivered in his first two seasons with the Mariners in 2017-18.
Between this health history, his lack of a real platform season, and his age (32 in December), Haniger faces an interesting trip in free agency. Despite all the drawbacks, MLBTR still projected him for a three-year, $39MM deal based on how well Haniger has performed when healthy. It is possible Haniger might pursue a deal with an opt-out clause after the first season, or perhaps just a straight one-year deal entirely so he can re-enter the market next winter on the heels of what he hopes will be a healthier and more productive 2023 season. Or, it wouldn’t at all be surprising if Haniger wanted to lock in a multi-year commitment now, given how injuries have already sidetracked his career on multiple occasions.
Beyond just his ability at the plate, Haniger has also generally displayed above-average glovework in right field. That would make him a particularly good fit with a defensively-conscious team like the Giants, and his right-handed bat would balance out a lefty-heavy outfield mix of Joc Pederson, LaMonte Wade Jr., Mike Yastrzemski, and Luis Gonzalez. If San Francisco did sign Haniger, the Giants might then dangle one of their other outfielders in trade talks, or perhaps just use Wade more frequently at first base.
The Rangers, of course, are very familiar with Haniger after seeing him as an opponent for so many years in the AL West. Texas also has a need in the outfield, with Adolis Garcia the only real lock for everyday playing time and Leody Taveras perhaps also favored for regular work in center field. Haniger could slide into the right field mix and put Garcia in left field, and Haniger could also get some DH at-bats when Brad Miller takes a seat against left-handed pitching.
The Giants and Rangers are expected to be two of the offseason’s most aggressive teams, with San Francisco looking to bounce back after a disappointing 81-81 season and Texas trying to get back to winning baseball after six straight years under the .500 mark. Both clubs have money to spend, and it’s probably worth noting that Haniger might be a backup plan to Aaron Judge in San Francisco, given how the Giants have been so frequently tied to the Bay Area native on the rumor mill. If Judge’s asking price gets too high for the Giants’ liking, they could perhaps pursue an alternate route of signing Haniger for right field and then splurging on another top free agent (like one of the major shortstops, or an ace pitcher). The Rangers are expected to be focusing much of their winter efforts on rotation upgrades, but bolstering the lineup is also on the to-do list.
The way this dude pronounces his last name is deeply uncomfortable.
Lsme
Is “lsme” a word?
Idiot.
Where the emphasis is placed doesn’t even make it sound like the slur.
Han-i-gur
Easy, Neon Cop, he is just trying to give his name the correct German pronounciation.
With his injury plagued past, I’d want mutual options with Haniger and not just give him opt outs.
Voice, I suppose Mitch Haniger will end up somewhere, but I don’t want the Mariners to keep him.
However, as I have said before, Mitch had a good ride. Baseball is a cruel hard business, and he went further than most players dare even dream of.
You are correct. He will end up somewhere.
I’m guessing he goes to a team that ends with the letter “S”.
1 year prove it deal sounds right here for both parties. Health not performance reasons.
If a FA is breathing and one had some good years in the past, the Rangers and Giants will be in on him this off-season……and they’ll happily overpay.
Said it before – players agents are circling Dallas and SF this off-season like buzzards. The most desperate FO/ownership in MLB this year, although a few others will panic after the first of the year.
P.S. About all these “holes” I’ve been reading about – do teams ever call up players from their minor leagues to fill them? Is that old fashioned or gone the way of landline phones or something?
Fiction.
Zaidi is anything but desperate. He knows his payroll and what he’s aiming for as well as any prez in the game. He’s one season removed from winning 107 games and beating the freaking L.A. Dodgers in the West. The Giants will be fine. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them sign Judge and Nimmo, both.
Zaidi is entering his 5th season in San Francisco and has only fielded a team that finished with a winning record over .500 Once.
That’s utter failure in professional sports Management
27 – Try telling that to the Sox fans that still think bloom is a genius…
Yes, that would mean he’s been with SF for 4 seasons, and inherited a team coming off 64 and 73 wins, but you want to pretend that wasn’t the context, apparently.
He’s been 42 games over .500 in these 4 seasons after inheriting one of the worst teams in baseball, but yeah, wotta loser.
They won a World Series in 2010,2012 and 2014. He sure inherited a mess.
42 games over .500 from one fluke season where Posey, Crawford and Belt turned back the clock lol.
2022: 81-81
2021: 107-55
2020: 29-31
2019: 77-85
one fluke season where Posey, Crawford and Belt turned back the clock lol.
======================
The 2021 team had the oldest offense in all of baseball, and the pitching was the 25th oldest. Aging remains undefeated for all of mankind’s 6,000 years on Earth.
@joeBrady. Just 6 thousand years, eh? I wonder why God created the universe with the appearance of age then. Just to trick is all?
JackStrawb;
The Giants were supposed to be brining up the next wave of stars to anchor their next championship runs. The only player brought up thus far has been Joey Bart. This past season a number of their top prospects regressed in the minor leagues.
Their fans are impatient, and may have pushed the ownership – although they may be impatient as well. You may have missed it, but a few weeks ago Mr. Zaidi made this statement to the media…
–““Our fans expect a winning team, which we didn’t deliver this year,” Zaidi said. “We have to go back to the drawing board and explore every channel to get better. I expect us to be really active this offseason. We do have the flexibility to be involved in every possible option on the table, but our goal is when we get to Spring Training and Opening Day hits in 2023, we feel like we’ve got a playoff-caliber team out on the field. That’s going to drive everything we do this offseason.” —
This is not the statement of a FO head that has his ML team on target.
@Samuel That’s public relations outreach.
Zaidi was tasked with getting a terrible team with a high payroll back on track after it paid the price in expensive contracts for older players to keep the roster together during the Giants World Series runs, plural. The season before he arrived the Giants won 73 games for 200 million dollars, according to Cot’s. 73 wins for $200m. That was his inheritance. After two seasons of rebuilding, he put together a 107 win team *during a rebuilding year* when payroll was mandated at around $150m.
Also, his first year, 2019, he was stuck with SIX regulars 30 and older, and three of his inherited rotation regulars had ERAs above 5.00. In short, he inherited an expensive team without a single player coming off as much as a 3 win season.
Even so he went 42 games over .500 since then, cleared out the dead wood, won 107 games in 2021, waited out the bad contracts he couldn’t get rid of, and now the Giants can go for it, But yeah, sure, he suxxxx. Have it your way.
Jack;
No. it’s not just public relations outreach.
I defend Perry Minasian of the Angels because I’ve seen him do more than just clean out the deadwood – he gotten coaches in place, drafted pitchers galore, and is having them worked with in the minors. He’s slowly pulled the ML team together – their pitching staff developed quite well in 2022, and position players he’s bringing in can play D, hit decently, and be ballplayers. He came from the Braves. I see the same sort of operation being built.
Mr. Zaidi came into the situation you described. But I was led to believe that he’d be setting up a strong farm system so that as the Giants championship players retired over 3-4 years, there would be youngsters coming up as the core of the next wave of Giants contenders. That was what the organization stated. I look at the roster and don’t see any of that.
The Giants roster looks a lot like the Rays – and I like the Rays….they’re one of the 7-8 core teams I follow. If he wants to move in that direction, fine. Rehab some guys into playing well for a few years, when the clock’s about to strike midnight on them let them go and rehab others.
So maybe it’s my mistake believing what the Giants said they’d do about youngsters from the minors coming up. Maybe they have a different plan. But make no mistake, that PR statement was strongly worded and reeks of desperation…..possibly because he couldn’t say what you believe to Giants fans:
“We’ve had some bumps in the road but we’re on course and we think you’ll see a contending team in 2023”.
do teams ever call up players from their minor leagues to fill them? Is that old fashioned
===========================
You need more context for a question like that. When BA picked up Mateo, I said it was a good move. Either he was going to be able to play. and they’d get something for nothing. Or he won’t be able to play, in which case they gt a better draft pick.
OTOH, Mateo wouldn’t be a good pickup for a contender for fear he will sink them.
For a guy like Duran, he’d be a much better player for a team like the Reds, than for the RS.
The Rangers are pretty much handing 3B over to Josh Jung next year and don’t seem to be in play for anyone to man 3B. They have a solid core of players at the mlb level and a lot of prospects about 1-3 years away. That solid core also consist of players that will probably be traded in 2025-2026 to restock the farm and be replaced by the current prospects.
The Rangers have spent 4 years rebuilding the club and a lot of time and money on the new ballpark and Texas live. Now it’s time to bring it all together. They want to build a winning club and bring prospects into a winning culture. They want a payroll that’s in line with their market. It’s a good thing they’re spending money. They won’t spend too much just the right amount. They’re going after high caliber players bc they have good prospects. They could just sign T Walker, Taillon, Benintendi, Abreu and a couple of relievers and be pretty darn good next year but they’re going to try the big guys first and see if they’re a good fit.
Disagree. I think that roster is still a LONG way from competitiveness. They’ve got two respectable starters, a couple usable bullpen pieces, and some young guys trying to get established at various positions. And Seager and Semien of course. There’s promise, but they’re not in the Astros or Mariners league for a while yet. I like the Angels better too.
Disagree. They lost more 1 run games than I’ve ever seen. They ran out Spencer Howard and Kole Calhoun and the likes.. CY will not run garbage out there this year. It will be a very competitive team. Let’s wait till mid Feb and see what their roster looks like.
I’m so sick of the Astros, Mariners and Dodgers thinking their crap doesn’t stink. Every team deserves a chance to improve each off season. Instead, all we hear is how great they are and no one will ever catch them. Why don’t y’all form your own three team league?
What do you mean by competitive? I think they have a shot to be around 80 wins (this is assuming they spend $ on some pitching, which I think they will). Since MLB has decided to dilute the playoffs as much as they have, I suppose that’s somewhat close to squeaking in the last WC spot if everything breaks right for them.
Who said other teams can’t improve? There is a difference between improving and catching one of those teams (I wouldn’t include the mariners in that tier though).
I didn’t get any of that rant. Everyone tries, but not everyone is on the identical development curve. And like you said, the Mariners had the 9th best record in baseball. I doubt even Mariner fans are claiming that no one can catch them.
((IF)) the Rangers are serious about adding two top tier arms whether via FA (deGrom and Rodon) or via trade (Woodruff and Lopez) and adding at least one of the available corner OF (Beninentendi, Brantley, Myers, etc; or may be even Bellinger for CF) they could contend next year. Now that’s a huge IF but we will see how serious they are about contending.
Bochy does not come out of retirement, when he could get pretty much any job he wanted, and come to the Rangers if they are not serious about adding arms though.
Oh goddamnit!
SF don’t need this guy.
Angels in LF?
Giants – Instead of Judge. Blah. If his defense is ok, I don’t mind having this guy as a piece. But another Farhan move. Get a cheaper injury history guy, and try to Fool the System. Getting alittle tired of that being the case. But 107 Wins. Still a lot of Leeway in my opinion. But how long can the rebuild Last?
2021 was just a miracle in every way, and had nothing to do with any rebuild, which hasn’t started yet. The Giants are on their way down, not up. They should use their money this off-season to sign as many decent players as they can, not one or two stars. That won’t get them anywhere.
agreed.
Abysmal performance in 2022 absolutely affirms how 2021 was just a fluke
Abysmal? Sure they didn’t win 100 games but they didn’t have a losing season and played in a division with two powerhouse teams that blew out their budgets. I think shedding a few bad contracts and grabbing a couple solid bats/gloves will work wonders.
jekporkins, Don’t engage the troll. This is just the renamed tonygynnnSD19. Who was also the former rightyspecialist, and before that, 27ringsbitches. Same troll with a new user name. Maybe his previous account got banned.
They’re pretty far behind those other 2 teams, and you’re already starting out the offseason having to replace Rodon’s production just to get back to that level. I know that you can’t use the 2022 outcome as a baseline for 2023, I’m using that more figuratively.
They’re going to need to see their farm system supplement that roster if they want to compete for the top of the division…or just hope for a bunch of luck.
Sure they didn’t win 100 games but they didn’t have a losing season and played in a division with two powerhouse teams
==================================
That sounds a lot like Red Sox fans. A .481 team with a ton of injuries, in a great division, and a lot of RS fans think we qualify for the #1 draft pick.
Wrong. They have plenty of decent. They desperately need a star or two.
Judge is an injury history guy too… missed 1/3 of the season half his years. Of course he’s elite when healthy but will prob cost close to $40m and it won’t age well
Look at Stanton and see where Judge will be in three years. All or nothing DH who can’t stay healthy because his body is too big.
Reading “ruptured testicle” physically causes me pain.
indeed
Haniger had emergency surgery on the testicle right after it happened….Then had to endure another follow up surgery on the same Nut
if he ends up in Frisco , Maybe his walk up music should be ‘The Nutcracker’ by Tchaikovsky
Aint that a kick in the balls.
Somewhere, Giants and Texas medical staff members are poring over scans of Mitch’s testicle to make sure it’s healed fully,
Saw one of those in college….grapefruit….still makes the hair on my neck go up…
The Judge rumors ploy is all smoke and mirrors and this is Farhan’s true prize…
Haniger just another Zaidi role player who won’t make a difference for Giants. Doubtful Haniger would ever be anymore than Yaz, Wade & Gonzalez. The real impact player is Judge.
When healthy haniger is better for sure… when healthy
My number one choice for an outfield signing for the Giants would be Nimmo, then Haniger.
No knock on Judge, but it’s going to take a big overpay to get him out of New York and he ran out of gas big time at the end of the season and actually kinda stunk in the postseason. I’d take Judge at 4/180 but I’m pretty sure he’ll be looking at this as his last contract and be looking for 8 years and probably get it. If I were Farhan I’d let the Dodgers and Yankees duke it out for Judge and take that 325mil and spread it out over the rest of the team. I’m not sold on any of the Giants starters beyond Webb. But I like guys like Ross Stripling or Eovaldi. DeGrom and Verlander are really only good for 20 starts per season if you want them to have anything left in the tank for the postseason.
No offense but you apparently want to finish third or worse in the division. You’re not going to compete against a team full of MVPs with a team full of platoon players.
No offense but you’re dreaming if you think signing Judge is going to make that big a difference. Also, the Giants won 107 games against a team full of MVPS with a team full of platoon players.
Giants need two impact bats, but they can get two for the price of one Judge.
They won 107 games against a team full of MVPs? That’s news to me.
I agree with you that Judge isn’t making them better than the Dodgers/Padres on his own though. Judge will likely never come close to replicating last season.
They had a better record than the Dodgers and Padres. The Dodgers had a team full of MVPs Don’t get how you can’t see that since I’m replying to the direct quote in context.
“Don’t get how you can’t see”
Because it isn’t a “team full of MVPs”. He’s taking exception to your exaggeration to the what an MVP is.
They also didn’t win 107 games against the Dodgers…I don’t see how you don’t see that.
Just get into the dance, then anything can happen.
I’d agree that Nimmo is my first choice for the Giants outfield, but I’m all for getting as many bats (without clank gloves) onto the roster. But to hell with these opt outs! It’s exhausting for the fans and probably worse for the front office.
Years ago, my wife and my daughter turned away from baseball because the players they’d grown attached to disappeared over night. They got sick of it. And getting pretty tired of it too.
I had my testicles racked for play once. What a horrible intense feeling!
Sure on a 1 year with an option, at least he’s right handed! Think about it Joc,Yaz,Gonzalez,Wade Jr, all swing lefty. This was why them getting Joc at the end of the off season was so perplexing, granted he did better against lefties this season our lineup especially after losing Longoria needs stronger at bats from the right side. At this point it’s Flores,Estrada,Bart,Slater,Davis that swing right.
Love Haniger, but he’s a couple years removed from average RF defense. The range is gone. Given that, and the fact that health is a skill…. He seems like a classic Rangers overpay
Would he be a candidate for DH / 4th outfielder for some team?
@Bill M it would have to be on a team that can pay starting position player prices for the DH / 4th OFer slot. I suppose that’s a fair number of clubs.
Personally I don’t see Mitch leaving to play against his old team. I also don’t see him moving to a team that at this moment is the 4th best team in the AL West. If he chooses not to sign with Seattle I think he’ll sign with a team that has a better shot at the Playoffs
Actually he was above-average this year in limited time with 2 defensive runs prevented and an OAA of 2, which based on only playing in 57 games with only 47 of those in the field, he actually was on pace for 6 RS & 6 OAA. UZR is less bullish on them, but I’ve always disliked the metric. It rates his arm as the culprit, but he has one of the strongest and most accurate arms in the game.
During the 2022 season, he ranked 47th among outfielders with at least 100 competitive throws in terms of max velo at 96.2 mph, while ranking 63rd in terms of average velocity at 89.3 mph.
It’s worth noting that in seasons where he had less time in the field, his time on the grass was far more productive. It would make sense that the team he signs with has room to give him days off at DH regularly.
I think that outfield in SF is too spacious for Haniger. Always considered Red Sox as prime fit for him.
It would be a horrible fit because he’s a RF and they have one of the deepest RF areas to cover in the game, the foul pole not withstanding. His best bet would be somewhere like Yankee stadium or maybe Minnesota defensively.
However, I would say that for all the focus Jerry Dipoto and Justin Hollander put on team chemistry and the clubhouse dynamic that it effects, J.P. Crawford was far too inconsistent to deserve the type of commitment they gave him. While he may be a leader in the clubhouse and a great guy, it doesn’t mean crap if you can’t play the game on the field.
Crawford was hitting around a .600 OPS for the last 3/4 of the season and the Mariners would be wise to move on from him, now. The same is true of Ty France and his penchant for getting hit by pitches, both of the last two seasons were greatly effected by that and I don’t see it changing much with the tension in the AL West and the focus being on getting past the Astros & Mariners in 2023.
If the Mariners are smart and trade Crawford and/or France or if they are dumb and wait for them to struggle and lose the clubhouse, it will have a large effect on the team dynamic. My belief is that Julio’s determination, Geno’s care free positive attitude, and Haniger’s work ethic are the most important parts of the clubhouse culture and those three together can weather any storm without France and Crawford. They are also talented enough that new guys will listen.
Without Mitch Haniger in Seattle, the first sign of trouble could cause things to go very wrong. I think Mitch comes back to Seattle on an incentive based deal. Something like $30M/3 years, but pay escalators of $500K at 400, 500, and 600 PAs, as well as All-Star appearances ($1M), MVP votes ($750K), and Silver Sluggers ($750K). With the incentives equaling up to $4M/season and including a $13M vesting option at say 1500 PAs over all three seasons combined that could make the deal worth as much as $55M over 4 years or $13.75M/season.
Haniger has played all 3 OF positions. There’s nothing locking him into rightfield. In Boston, Verdugo would shift to right and Haniger would play left. Red Sox are in need of a right-handed hitting OFer.
And, with no QO attached, he would be an ideal fit.
I love Haniger for the RS. He’s my favorite of all the FAs. We have clear openings in LF (and Verdugo could still be shifted back to LF if needed) and DH.
Having more room to work with wouldn’t be a bad thing. He’s a pretty decent fielder. I think he absolutely fits Boston.
Then there’s the Green Monster..
Giants need a center fielder.
Center Fielder ? The need an entire Team.
They are absolutely weak at EVERY position. Try to Name one position player that starts on a legit contender
At best, Webb & Doval
Probably Joc, at least against RHP
Estrada would probably start on a number of contenders.
True, but you aren’t going to find one on the FA market. The Giants should be targeting Myles Straw as a bounce back candidate who has the speed to cover that massive CF area. Something like C Joey Bart and LHSP Reggie Crawford for CF Myles Straw and RHRP Cody Morris. This would allow the Giants to use their connection with Willson Contreras to bring him in as a C/DH, while still leaving them room to find a more suitable long-term replacement at the backstop position, maybe even buying time for internal option Patrick Bailey.
The deal as presented is pretty close to what the Guardians are looking for w/r to filling their most urgent needs for the 2023 season. Joe Bart would be a fine accompaniment to project starting catcher Bo Naylor if he didn’t have the reverse splits that he does… A RHH catcher that can hit LHP’s is the target. W/R to Crawford.. his hitting days should be over. He is a LHP that can/should dominate the back or a bullpen..
BTW.. Myles Straw.. is a better hitter than he showed in 2022.. but, the numbers don’t lie
Although I’m hoping to see him ultimately stay in Dodger Blue and would hate nothing more than seeing him in a giants jersey… I could definitely see Zaidi making a push for Bellinger. They already have an established relationship and know each other really well bc of their time together in LA. As is the case virtually every season with players/teams around MLB, familiarity/prior relationships can play a major role in FA decision making. Dodgers Fans found out last offseason with Seager, just how much of an influence former Dodgers coaches/staff have proven they can be. Although it was a much different situation than with Seager, Zaidi successfully lured Pederson into wearing those hideous colors and he proved to be a significant FA addition, especially when considering value.
It pains me to even bring it up but Bellinger would be a perfect fit defensively for that ginormous centerfield up north. And he would almost certainly come with a relatively “low risk, but potentially high reward” contract! I really don’t want it to happen but I think it’s a no-brainer for frisco.
Although it pains me to even write this, going hard after Bellinger “ obviously within reason financially speaking” is a no-brainer for frisco! He would be a perfect fit defensively for that ginormous centerfield. I think it’s safe to say that from a financial standpoint he’s at the lowest point of his young career and could actually be signed for a reasonably modest contract, especially considering his relatively recent achievements/accolades. The potential upside offensively to a level even around league average, combined with his extremely high value defensively, should make it well worth the financial risk. The fact that Belli and Zaidi have a prior relationship from their time together with the Dodgers should make the decision for the brown & orange to pursue him an even easier one.
An $18mil season for Belli has been off the table for quite a while now, so at this point whatever he ultimately commands in terms of “the guaranteed investment”, should be worth the risk for virtually every team in MLB!
Aside from resigning Trea Turner and signing a player like Judge or even a tier or so lesser, IMO… losing Belli will leave a much larger hole in the roster than most think, especially defensively. Not many players in baseball can play gold glove caliber Def at 2 premier positions like CF and 1B.
Freeman has obviously been an “Iron Man” throughout his long and successful career and aside from a recent freak injury to his ribs, Betts isn’t far behind from a durability standpoint. But, what if for some unfortunate reason either of them had to miss a significant amount of time in 2023? There’s no question that the Dodgers have a lot of players at the ML Level & in the Minors that are more than capable of playing different position(s) and filling any holes on a short term basis. My fear is that losing a key starter for any significant amount of time could be a potentially major issue for the team without a player like Belli on the roster. We would really be screwed defensively. Hopefully Dodgers fans won’t have to endure a situation like that in order to appreciate how much of a luxury he’s truly been for the team and not simply the scapegoat for our playoff failures
Oh course the Rangers want a guy who hits home runs, a low batting average and doesn’t get on base. If only he was a mediocre pitcher as well
It is kind of baffling. To your point, the Rangers team batting average was .239 last year.
Yeah, that’s his point, he fits their mold. As a middle-of-the-order hitter (#2-4), he leaves a little to be desired, but I see Haniger as a guy who is less of a table setter and more of a run producer, which he could do very well as the 5th or 6th hitter, a role he should be given the chance to fill wherever he lands and it would allow for a deeper lineup on his team.
Haniger’s not the 6 win player he was in 2018, but he’s still a rate guy, about 3 WAR per 650 PA since then. As your occasional 4th OFer and primary DH you might keep him healthy enough to put up a 3 win season. The Mets can definitely use him, but if they don’t sign Nimmo they’re going to be sorely tempted to play Haniger too often in an OF corner while they fake CF with some combination of Marte, McNeil, Canha, and a glove guy in FA, maybe Kiermeier, who was also—somehow—worth 3 WAR per 650 PA in 2022.
No–Kiermeier will be too expensive for a backup, even on the Mets. Is Jackie Bradley’s price down to 1m, in the 2021 tier of Juan Lagares Keon Buxton in CF?
The off-season is just beginning, but it already smells like 2022….. and no power hitter (Judge) wants to play at Oracle.
This is gonna be another Hot Stove season of the Giants “expected” to be one of the more aggressive teams of free agent pursuit and not doing s**t.
Zaidi knows baseball but cheap ass management ties his hands.
VirginiaGiant;
I’m not tuned in closely, but it could be the ownership cutting payroll.
If one takes a step and can looks at that roster it’s pretty bad. How can they expect to compete with the Dodgers and Padres in that division? Then there’s this on MLB.COM regarding their farm system at mid-year 2022:
— 18. San Francisco Giants
2022 preseason rank: 11
2021 midseason rank: 8
2021 preseason rank: 11
2020 midseason rank: 13
Top 100 Prospects: Marco Luciano, SS (No. 17); Kyle Harrison, LHP (No. 22)Though their system has dipped a bit in 2022 with some of the better prospects regressing, the Giants still have a pair of high-end talents in Luciano and Harrison. —
I posted on here a few months ago that Luciano should be up soon to play SS. A few posters told me he wasn’t going to…maybe play 2B or 3B instead. And the Giants are after one of the 4 FA SS’s.
Ok. So the “money is not a problem” messaging Zaidi has given the fans is done without ownership approval ?
That seems odd. No point raising the expectations of an already restless fan base when you know you won’t be delivering. You would think they would have told Zaidi to shut up after the first time he indicated as much.
Another option is that ownership and Zaidi are just being up front and honest. Telling fans that if they don’t have a successful free agency, it won’t be because of money.
Entirely possible of course, and if that unfortunate situation comes to fruition, then they really do have a problem.
Time will tell, but I will stunned if they aren’t the best offer on a few high profile free agents.
Anyone who pays this dude will deeply regret it because he can not stay healthy,
Why do I feel that the big signings won’t come until after the new year?
Last year was great, they should do something to encourage earlier contract signings, like having a window where players can’t sign from like Thanksgiving until a week after New Year’s Day, but teams and players can still negotiate during that time, but deals can’t be announced or consummated during the window. It would make players rush to get signed, so they could settle into their new homes over the holidays and the reduced workload for front offices would allow all the team staff and front offices to enjoy the holidays, cutting back to just trades during that time period.
Here’s my take on Judge (I could be completely wrong here, but…) – only way he signs with anyone other than the Yankees is if some team goes crazy and offers him something like 10 years, 450. Otherwise, why would he leave?
I think there is a very real possibility he signs with the Dodgers… first, it’s the one place where the pressure of he contract wouldn’t effect him. The team is plenty deep that Judge would have to carry the team. Second, who wouldn’t want to play with Betts and Freeman?
Honestly, if your Judge do you want to go through the same run of having Rizzo or Stanton “protecting” you or do know teams have to pitch to you because Freeman is coming up next and you have Betts, who is just amazing across the board, on base ahead of you?
Well see. should be interesting. My take is simply that if the offers are close he’s going to stay in NY. We can talk about location preferences til we are blue but in the end, follow the money.
I don’t think it’s location preference at all… I see it being very difficult for the Yankees, who are just 8 million under the luxury tax, to sign Judge to a massive deal the way the Dodgers can. The Dodgers can sign Judge and still be under the luxury tax this year and have a good chunk of money coming off the books next season.
The Yankees gave Rizzo a 20 million Aav for two years, have Cole and Stanton for what? At least five more years? It’s going to be hard for them to fill needs and manage payroll for the front end of Judges contract. How many years in a row have the Yankees gone over? I believe two but could be mistaken… that increases the penalty more and more.
Friedman has been pretty masterful with the Dodgers payroll honestly. Given ownerships willingness to go over for a couple years, he manages to go over and fall under before the penalties get too sever while keeping him in the hunt for top tier free agents and keeping a large portion of his team intact.
LAD already has about $168m committed in 2023 for luxury tax purposes.
— fangraphs.com/roster-resource/payroll/dodgers
Judge and filling other needs, even modestly, puts them over the threshold.
Still, it’s amazing that they are where they are an still have options. Great work by Friedman.
I think Judge has no interest in New York at all and wants to get back to the West Coast. He is purely engaging with the Yankees to drive up his price with the Giants and Dodgers. New York is incredibly expensive and having to pay that much money and live across the country from your family and friends seems unnecessary. He got to experience playing for the Yankees and living in New York, plus he can visit the town whenever he plays the Mets or Yankees.
However, Yankees fans need to take a long look in the mirror and see that the culture in the Bronx doesn’t sit well with this new softer group of 20-something-year-olds that are hypersensitive to adversity and criticism. Same problem that occurs in some of the most hostile places in baseball like Philadelphia and Boston. Harper is old school, so he went looking for it, but Mookie as well as probably Bogaerts and Devers are going to look elsewhere in free agency would be my guess.
If Judge signs for a 35 million aav, that put the Dodgers at 203 million. Do you honestly believe they cannot round out the roster with “other needs” for 30 million dollars?
Because he has been there and done the Yankee thing. If he wants to experience a different work environment in his career, it’s either do it now or stay with the Yankees and factor in some opt outs. We can only guess how he views such things.
@foppert I doubt the Yankees are going to be willing to offer something like 8/$300m PLUS opt-outs. If anything they’ll have to concede a no trade clause.
I hope so, Jack. Our little bald guy having more flexibility than their little bald guy would be a great start. It would also be a validation of sorts. Flexibility is what Zaidi has been building.
The only thing Zaidi has been building is a fire in a dumpster.
The only reason he still has a job is because a bunch of 30-somethings had career years outside the normal skill progression of major leaguers. If you take the standard major leaguer, they maximize their skillset around 24-26 and it carries through age 30-32 depending on numerous factors like position, flexibility, athleticism, speed, contact skills, strike zone judgement/pitching control and command, as well as other things.
For the Brandons (Belt and Crawford), as well as Posey to all have career years at 33+ is crazy. Let alone the fact the other 30-somethings like Longoria, Yastrzemski, Solano, Dickerson, and Ruf. I mean they have so many old ballplayers on their team, they should have had a wheelchair raffle at every home game, as well as adult diaper giveaways.
It’s one take. Another is that they have been building a process, a culture and payroll flexibility. Job completed. Now they inject talent into system.
77Gloria, are you a hooker? LOLOL
What happened to Heliot Ramos? I thought it was his time to shine in the outfield? Wasn’t he a can’t miss prospect at one point?
Funny thing about prospects …
You’re right, they’re no guarantees among prospects, as most will never make it. However, I thought the Giants were still high on Ramos.
Good “high” joke considering the number of cannabis stores in San Francisco and California in general.
The Giants can not develop outfield talent to save their lives. Can’t remember the last time they developed even an average major league starter at any outfield position.
Not a fan of Bryce Johnson, apparently. Heliot Ramos might turn into an MLBer. Hasn’t been good since high A but he’s 22. He has a little time.
They won 3 WS titles in 5 years because they developed a core of SPs, hit gold with Posey, and supplemented the OF through trades and free-agency. But go ahead and complain that none of the OF were developed by the Giants.
They chose to prioritize pitching, then catching and IF, leaving the OF last, since it’s the easiest to find through trades or free-agency. It worked. If they had had a #1 overall pick, and someone like Bryce Harper was available, that’s different, but that hasn’t happened.
Putting your resources towards finding and developing OFs is a sure way to build yourself a loser. Especially since guys like Trout, and Soto, were not universally regarded as sure things.
The last #1 overall OF picks were Mickey Moniak in 2016, Harper in 2010, and Delmon Young in 2003. And we know how those worked out. You’d have to kiss a lot frogs before you find an AS OF. And that alone isn’t winning you anything.
Haniger is a really good player and is from the Bay Area. My guess is that he will be another Giants reclamation project.
Nothing to fix with Haniger, just need to keep him healthy and the best way to do that is to keep him away from himself so-to-speak. He’s the hardest worker most people have seen in the game, but if you don’t know how to rest when your body is healing, you will continue to prolong injuries and keep finding ways to hurt yourself, which is what Mitch is doing.
Every injury he tried to rush back to play and only got himself more injured. Same thing happened with Kyle Lewis. Injuries heal, the fallacy that there are injury prone guys ignores the fact that most of these people don’t let their body heal and recover properly. It’s why some guys who got hurt as young players become very consistent and dependable players later in their career. They simply elevate their level of chill.
I’d rather have Haniger and Correa than Judge by himself. Haniger is good when healthy, he’s plenty fine defensively in LF or RF, and he hits for power. He may be injury prone but so is Judge and Haniger will come at 1/3 of the cost, if not even more heavily discounted.
Giants need outfielders. They don’t have any prospects that are close (Ramos was a bust this year, Matos has struggled in Single-A, Vaun Brown and Grant McCray are the only outfielders that looked decent in the minors this season). I’d rather the Giants spread the money around and get solid bats at several positions instead of one very giant bat (pun intended).
We’ll see what Zaidi and Putila do.
He will probably get a 2 year deal and play less games than Anthony Rendon in those two years. Biggest problem the Angels have, is keeping players healthy. And they are looking at a player who hasn’t been healthy since 2019. So the Angels will probably give him 30 million over 2 years.
There are obvious reasons to be hesitant here with his injury history but when the guy is playing, he’s been above average. I wouldn’t mind Texas taking a flyer on him at all. If you can keep him healthy, he gives you a lot of pop in the lineup.
Perfect Angels pickup. Will start off hot and get our hopes up but then get injured and we’ll have Adell and Moniak out there.
Don’t forget, he will miss over 100 games do to injury
I don’t care if may miss half the year. Two options in LF is better than one.
I’d much rather have Adell as plan B knowing something might happen, than pencilled into start.
It’s nice to know Urslela is plan B.
I always thought Adell was overrated, but I think you are pot-committed to him. He’s dropped too far to get a fair return for him, and doing the crazy schitt they’ve been doing with him is counter-productive.
I’d publicly commit to playing him every day in LF and batting 7th until at least the AS break, It’s not hard to imagine 25 HRs, a .230, and some modest defense, all for minimum wage.
Last year at this time, most Angels fans wanted Ward gone. Adell has been hitting better than Ward was at the same age. Cron was striking out at a higher rate, than Adell when he was with the Angels. Yet Angels fans still wanted to keep him. Cron still striking out at a extremely high rate. Adell showed improvement defensively.
Didn’t Betts recently volunteer to move to 2B? Why would Taylor move to IF? Anyways, Haniger signing with Dodgers makes too much sense.
Love to see the Reds sign two of Bellinger, Duvall, and Haniger to go with Fraley.
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we would all have a Merry Xmas.
The Reds would have to actually pay him a salary, so I am not optimistic.
I hope Seattle brings Haniger back on a deal with good incentives for number of games played. I think he can give the Mariners another couple of good years. I’d rather see him playing in Seattle or in the NL than for some other AL team… otherwise I think he would just haunt the M’s by being a Mariner-killer.
The Reds are interested if he is willing to play on a voluntary basis.
☘️