Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi met with the media yesterday and addressed a wide array of topics. In addition to downplaying the club’s need for catching help, he touched on a few of the team’s free agent decisions.
Nothing has loomed larger for the organization over the past few weeks than the deal with Carlos Correa that fell through. Correa’s camp quickly pivoted to the Mets after the Giants expressed concerns about the star shortstop’s physical and backed out of their $350MM agreement. Of course, New York’s doctors expressed similar concerns and Correa’s $315MM deal with the Mets also fell apart.
Zaidi indicated that San Francisco briefly touched base with Correa’s camp after his physical with the Mets was flagged (link via Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). The Giants’ baseball ops leader indicated Correa wasn’t much interested in reopening discussions with San Francisco at the time, saying that Correa’s group “had other things they were more focused on.” Zaidi had expressed something similar a couple weeks back, indicating the team was unlikely to get deeply involved again with the Boras Corporation then focused on hammering out a deal with the Mets. That never came to fruition and Correa eventually returned to the Twins on a six-year, $200MM guarantee.
While the Giants’ offseason is in large part defined by near-misses on Aaron Judge and Correa, San Francisco certainly wasn’t inactive. They came up short on the star player they’d been seeking but brought in a number of quality regulars and role players. That was especially true in the outfield, where Joc Pederson returned via the qualifying offer and Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto signed multi-year free agent deals.
That solidified the outfield, with Haniger and Conforto expected to flank Mike Yastrzemski or Austin Slater on most days. Pederson will be the primary designated hitter if everyone’s healthy. LaMonte Wade Jr. has gotten a decent amount of corner outfield run over the past couple seasons but now looks set to man first base, at least as the strong side of a platoon arrangement.
Wade, a left-handed hitter, owns a .235/.318/.434 line over 632 plate appearances since the Giants acquired him from the Twins over the 2020-21 offseason. He’s been dreadful in 75 looks against left-handed pitching (.119/.178/.149) but has a quality .251/.336/.473 line with 26 home runs and 22 doubles in 557 trips while holding the platoon advantage. That makes him a logical partner for right-handed hitters like Wilmer Flores, J.D. Davis and David Villar, each of whom could rotate through the corner infield.
A desire to lean on Wade at first base played into San Francisco’s decision to watch Brandon Belt join the Blue Jays in free agency, Zaidi indicted (Pavlovic link). Zaidi suggested the team stayed in touch with Belt but didn’t specify whether the club made an official offer. After parts of 12 seasons in San Francisco, the veteran first baseman joined the Jays on a $9.3MM deal earlier this week.
One free agent whom San Francisco did sign is reliever Luke Jackson. The longtime Braves righty didn’t pitch in 2022 thanks to an April Tommy John surgery. It marked a rough platform year but San Francisco still added him on a two-year, $11.5MM guarantee. With the typical Tommy John rehab taking roughly 14 months, Jackson isn’t expected to be ready for the start of next season. Zaidi acknowledged he might open the year on the 60-day injured list, which would keep him out of action until at least late May (link via Evan Webeck of the San Jose Mercury News). That’s not suggestive of any kind of setback, as Zaidi said Jackson is “doing great in his rehab.”
Not thrilled about the Giants this year it’s been a rough stretch as a fan. Letting Belt walk to bank on Wade is once again a move I highly disagree with. I’m no expert but come on man.
Resigning Belt would have been a major mistake for the Giants, and the Jays paying him $9.3M is an absurd overpay. I wish Belt well, but I’m glad to see him gone from SF.
@Pete, I agree 100%. I’d have been very bummed to have Z re-sign Belt (even tho I’ve been a moderate fan over the years). But Wade as our primary 1B? I’d have been stoked on a Josh Bell or Trey Mancini signing. Regardless of our attempts to get Judge and Correa. not a single BOLD move was made this year. Sighhhhhh.
Seeing Bell or Mancini, as superior to what the Giants have is just simply the grass looking greener elsewhere. Bell is the definition of the defensive liability.
Mancini is decent at 1B, but, unlike Wade, he offers no defensive flexibility. The fact that Mancini hasn’t been signed, and his market remains lukewarm ought to tell you something.
And as far as the lack of a bold move goes, what could FZ have done? He can’t force Judge to sign, and he tried with Correa. There was an article on Fangraphs about what the Mets and Giants do after missing out on Correa. They basically said FZ did the best he could, spreading the money around, and signing 6 of the top 50 FAs.
#tad – Farhan could have done better. Making at least SOME kind of effort to keep Rodon would have been a good start. If not him, then maybe Sherzer or Thor. Short term deals, like Farhan likes. Not giving Judge the opportunity to let NY match their final offer would have been good. Especially after public statements about how they wouldn’t be outbid for him.
Mishandling the Correa situation embarrassingly, while disrespecting the greatest SS in franchise history, wasn’t great either.
Personally I was hoping for maybe Bell or Profar. Also Tre Turner, to play a year at 2B, then replace Crawford. You know, an infielder who can steal bases can be nice. But Correa and Judge were their biggest priorities.
#FF, Your characterizing what happened with Correa as being mishandled is just your bias, as is disrespecting Crawford. Neither of those things are anywhere close to reality.
It’s interesting that critics of FZ will cite not re-signing Gausman or Rodon as mistakes, when nobody that can’t see into the future knows whether they were mistakes or not. Certainly, it would be embarrassing for the Giants if they fired him for not re-signing those guys, only to see those deals turn bad later on. A real possibility.
I think your list of signings not made is illustrative, Are you sure you want to fire Zaidi because he didn’t sign Scherzer or Syndegaard? Do you really want the definitive defensive liability Bell at 1B? Maybe ask yourself why no team is that hot to sign Profar. Trea Turner would have been a good signing, but any west coast team would have needed a vast overpay to keep him from going back to the east coast.
#tadb – ‘My bias’? I’m not who prematurely announced a press conference date and waited until everyone was in town for it, a week later, to cancel a couple hours before. The disrespect to Crawford is seen by everyone in the league, who isn’t biased. The Mets were going to move Correa to 3rd, out of respect for their SS. The Giants said if they signed Turner or Swanson, they’d move them to 2nd or 3rd for a year, out of respect for Crawford. But they prioritized Correa, then TOLD Crawford, (didn’t ask), that he was moving. That’s the reality.
It’s not just about Gausman/ Rodon, but the Jays seem pretty happy with Gausman so far. I’m glad he finally reached his potential.
I’m tired of him never signing ANY star players, even when he promises it.
Bell would be a better DH than Joc imo, but I also don’t think he’s so bad defensively, that
he’s a huge drop from Flores, Wade or Davis at 1b either.
#FF, Will you please stop with the “disrespecting Crawford” thing? That did not happen. If they had signed Correa, it would have made the team better, and Crawford would have approved. He wants to win. I never saw anything definitive as to who was going to play SS, or 3B. It was pure conjecture. I’ll be happy to concede this point if you provide a link quoting the Giants on this.
What happened with Correa is how every team operates. They agree to a deal pending a physical. It isn’t the first time that happened. Seems to me the Mets handled it worse than the Giants.
A perfect example of your bias is when you say that “Farhan could have done better. Making at least SOME kind of effort to keep Rodon…” How do you know he didn’t? But whether he did or didn’t is irrelevant. What is relevant is it would have taken a 6 year, $162M deal, or bigger, to re-sign him. Anything short of that is a waste of time. As much as I would have like to see Rodon back with the Giants, I’m glad FZ did not make that deal.
Bell provides zero defensive flexibility. He can’t even play 1B. He is a DH only. You need to look at some stats. Bell at 1B has -28 DRS, and -18 OAA. Flores has 3 DRS and 5 OAA. Wade has 0 DRS and 2 OAA. Davis has -2 DRS and 1 OAA.. So yes, Bell is a big drop off from those guys
For their careers Bell has an .810 OPS, while Joc has an .804. Joc has more power than Bell. He has a .233 ISO, while Bell has a .197. So they’re similar, but when the inevitable injuries happen Pederson can at least fill in, Bell is just brutal with the glove. I’d actually wonder whether FZ should be fired if he had signed Bell over Joc.
I’d say the Jays are relatively happy with Gausman. But they didn’t get the 147 ERA+ season that the Giants got from him. Sure, the 116 ERA+ was okay, but they still owe him $89M, and won’t be happy if he can’t maintain that level for 4 more years. Maybe he will, but the point is the jury is still out on whether that deal will be underwater at some point. It probably will be, but how soon will determine how happy the Jays will be. But, no one knows now.
#tadb – here’s a link for you. yahoo.com/lifestyle/brandon-crawford-preparing-pos…
I spoke of Bell mostly as a DH.
The OPS you listed actually shows Bell to have more power than Joc. Plus he’s a switch hitter. Joc is terrible defensively and has zero defensive flexibility that you speak of. At least Bell can field a position.
On Rodon, I was thinking 4-5 years max. He didn’t get the 7 he was asking for.
So far the Gausman deal is working out fine’for the Jays
Great post & I agree on just about everything. I think what Fire Farhan is trying to say is: SF brass talks about competing with the big boys, after last season Baer wrote a letter to the season ticket holders claiming they’re going to be very active, they have a lot of money to spend, blah blah blah. I’m sick of the talk to. Whether he did or didn’t try & sign Rodon, as you say, we don’t know, however, I’m sick of this “well we tried” narrative. Stanton, “we tried,” Harper, “we tried,” Judge, “we tried.” We’ll try harder then. I can’t tell my boss “I tried.” It’s just getting old with SF. Some people have said FZ can’t make Judge sign here. What he can do is offer him a contract he can’t refuse, one the players union wouldn’t allow him to decline. Would FZ overpay? Absolutely. But if you want to play with the big boys, this is the kind of sacrifice you have to make. SF needs a star! Offer him something crazy! But “I tried,” is just stale. Or at least tell the fans the truth, that were going to act like small market teams, but the FO talks the talk, but the facts are rather contrary. FZ multiple year free agent signings: LaStella, Wilmer, Descalfani, a few other average players. Meanwhile, he let Gausman walk (we know this because KG came out & said SF made no offer), Rodon is gone but I’m sure FZ tried, so there’s 2 top tier pitchers that enjoyed playing here, & gone. Then he replaced them with Mannea & other dude I forgot. SF isn’t going to compete until they have a middle of the order thumper. A guy you can pencil in for 30+ bombs & 100+ bi. I just am tired of this we tried BS. Like try harder. The reason I know they didn’t try harder is no relevant FA is here. Other than that, great post
#FF, Okay, you’re correct that it was more than just conjecture, so I was wrong about that. OTOH, it does not appear that Crawford felt disrespected at all. Any disrespect is in your view. Like I said earlier, he’s a team guy that wants to win, and guys like that gladly do what’s necessary to help the team.
The fact that Bell is a DH only is the biggest problem. Teams don’t value guys that are locked into one position, and the worst extreme is if that position is DH.
You’re apparently unaware of how OPS is factored. and that ISO is a good stat for determining power. Half of OPS is OBP, and Bell has a .351 OBP to Joc’s .335. SLG, the power half of OPS has Joc at .470, and Bell at .459, so no, OPS does not show Bell with more power.
ISO measures isolated raw power. Joc has an ISO pf .233, Bell, .197. It’s not debatable Joc has better power numbers.
How can you say Bell can field a position? Did you not read my post showing his absolutely horrendous numbers at 1B? I admit, Joc is not a good defender, but the numbers say he’s far better than Bell. Joc has a terrible -4.8 dWAR, but that pales next to Bell’s -8.1 dWAR. Pederson has more flexibility than Bell, because Bell has none. Joc’s DRS and OAA numbers for LF and RF aren’t good, but they’re passable in an emergency. No on can say that about Bell.
Rodon didn’t get 7, but he got 6 years, so offering him 4-5 was a waste of time, doomed to fail. And after only one year, judging by so far is really not a good way to assess a 5 year deal. The Yankees will probably be happy after one year and so far of Rodon as well.
Just look at last year to know that banking on Belt isn’t really a winning idea either
Out of all these moves this offseason, there seems to be a lack of focus on quality defense. Defense up the middle for this team will be very import, as it always is. Last year there defense was sub-par and it showed in there pitching results. Now banking on Wade at first as the primary guy? Really? I don’t recall him having a great glove over there, but maybe I’m not aware. CF manned by Yaz and Slater – neither is much to get excited about defensively. It seems like defense is going to be a crapshoot for the Giants in ’23
How do you figure? Belt over the past 5 or so years is about a 2 WAR player. Last year he was injured and produced 0.3 WAR. If you figure a WIN ABOVE REPLACEMENT is worth between $7M-$8M. Then if Belt plays to just 1.5 WAR, he’s worth the $9M contract.
allforfunnplay, The dollar value of a point of WAR is debatable. I did a search recently and found anywhere from $5.4M to $8M. Plus, it varies season to season. The question though is can Belt be counted on to play enough to produce 1.5WAR?
Belt and Longo represented half of the Giants’ stating IF last season, and neither could be counted on to be available. I’ve been a Belt fan, and believe he’s one of the most underrated guys in MLB, but the Giants, needed to get younger and more athletic. I have no problem with Belt getting $9.3M, but feel like the Giants shouldn’t have been the team to give him that.
Belt is a liability. He can’t stay healthy. And he’s only getting older. Wade will be gone soon so don’t worry.
No proven catcher. Rule 5 backup. No proven 1B. No proven 3B. Anything else I am missing
A life.
We have a proven starting catcher. Bart is the starting catcher. That’s easily proven
No proven catcher. Rule 5 backup. No proven 3B. 35 year old SS. No proven 1B. Anything I am missing?
Saying it all a 3rd time.
Technically aside from the loss of Rodon the Giants should be better than the .500 team that took the field last year. They also have a couple prospects that could make a positive impact on the team. Realistically they should be better than last year, but not outstanding.
Maybe with the new schedule but I doubt it. If they had to play more games in the division they’d definitely be worse than last year because I think LA, SD, and AZ may all be better.
Farhan Zaidi….Geez. Has there been a worse hire than this guy recently?
Guy lets Rodon walk, misses on Judge and Correa than promptly spends close to 200 million on a bunch of flawed broken toys. Wow
The Giants hired him in 2018 thinking he’d make them the new Dodgers. Instead it’s 2023 and he’s made them the Oakland A’s
Zaidi’s future depends on how well the prospects do this season. The moves he made are all good ones. Blaming him for missing out on Judge and Correa is simply not dealing with the realities in those two players.
Pete – Personally I’m glad Correa ended up with a lot less money playing for the Twinkies.
His “camp” pulled some major attitude not once but twice.
First by quickly running to Uncle Steve just because the Giants had (justifiable) injury concerns, instead of trying to re-work a deal with the Giants.
Then turning a cold shoulder by saying they “had other things more focused on” when the Giants wanted to re-open negotiations after the Mets deal was put on hold.
Correa got what he deserved, that right there is karma baby. I can’t wait for the inevitable “This is where I always wanted to be” BS from him as he puts on a Twinkies uni again … or did I miss that already?
#Pete – I think if the team continues to backslide further this year, then Pete Putila will probably become POBO
I don’t think he, “missed”, on Correa. Obviously the injury was enough of a concern for the mets, too.
Right. And let’s face it, Judge was never leaving NY.
Rodon has an injury history that makes a 6 year deal very risky. Judge was only using the Giants to get a better offer from the Yankees. They won the bidding on Correa but they found an issue with this ankle that even big spending Steve Cohen couldn’t work past.
They made the moves they could after losing out on those guys to improve the bullpen and the outfield defense that struggled last year. They’re a year removed from everything working out perfectly and winning 107 games in the middle of a rebuild and they’ve gotten out of some terrible contracts given out by the last regime.
They’re a few years away from competing with the Dodgers and Padres but they’ll be in the wild card race all year. They’ve improved on the weaknesses of last year’s team without a long term contract that’ll age poorly. Claiming they’re somehow the A’s and their $50 million payroll is just disingenuous.
Why does everyone give FZ a pass saying he can’t make people come here. I’m sick of SF saying “we tried.” We tried to get Stanton, Harper, Judge, etc. We’ll try harder. Give them an offer they can’t refuse. One the players union wouldn’t allow them to pass. Would you over pay! Absolutely, but if you want to compete with the big boys, you need to act like the big market team you are. Instead, FZ signs LaStella, Descalfani, Mannea,Flores, Wood, etc. & let’s guys like Gausman & Rodon walk. And with Gausman they didn’t even try. They are a big market team acting like the Oakland A’s. Sabean brought in stars like Bonds, Zito, Longoria, Cueto, McCutchen, etc. Did he miss on some of those! Absolutely. But at least the parks were full & we had star power. With all due respect to the Wilmer Flores, Descalfani, Hanniger, LaStella, Conforto, etc. it’s hard for me to get excited over guys trying to rebuild their careers. I live in Utah, & used to go watch SF play 2 or 3 times a year because they had stars. My boys loved Posey, Bum, Pence, etc. but we haven’t done it in 2 years because SF doesn’t seem to be committed to fielding an elite team. They’re the 4th biggest market in baseball, yet they act like the Oakland A’s. Until the FO shows me (not tells me) they’re ready to play with the big boys, I’m not spending a dollar on them. They talked all this game on how they have all this money to spend & we end up with Mitch Hanniger & Sean Mannea? Are you serious!
Good luck with your long term contracts. I fear you’ll find your own flawed broken toys in them before they end.
Unfortunately Zaidi is the best GM in the league. He’s been handcuffed by terrible contracts for years and kept his team afloat without dealing prospects. His inability to land the top free agents this winter have been a result of circumstance. Judge had no intention of signing in SF and just used the giants as leverage. Swanson wanted to play where his wife plays and Correa has a peg leg.
It would’ve been great if Crawford and Belt had announced that this would be their final year and they could retire as Giants. At least something we could’ve fallen back on for entertainment if they don’t make the playoffs.
Serious: would you retire if you had a chance to sign a $9MM+ guaranteed contract?
He’s made over 100 million, that’s like the average American passing on retirement for a 90k salary. It’s not chump change but you don’t keep working for it, Belt took the contract because he wants to keep playing not because of the money.
I 100% agree that Belt wants to keep playing and maybe even Crawford. I’m completely fine if they want to keep playing especially if they can still find teams willing to pay them. But as a lifelong fan I wanted to see them retire as Giants. It also would’ve bought another year for the farm to develop. Win win situation for entertainment for me but I know this is their job and affects their family.
I really think Zaidi’s moves are not 100% his decisions. He’s smarter than that. And I don’t think he wants to come back even if they offer him a new contract.
There are only so many teams with GM jobs available, much less POBO. I have no idea whether he’s happy or not, but unless he had another offer, he’s taking f what the Giants give him. James Click won a WS and he’s still looking.
We can hope that if the team continues to backslide further this year, then they don’t offer him a new contract.
I think Pete Putila is in position to take over as POBO, and I think he might be good at it. Just my feeling.
Better than last year? They’ve gotten worse or are barely treading water in every area of the team. The only ‘improvements’ are 2 corner outfielders that are coming off significant injuries with no guarantee they will play all year. In the words of Kruk and Kuip, “Giants baseball, torture”. It won’t be endearing though this year.
The bullpen should be significantly better than last year. It was the defense and bullpen that was the team’s downfall last year. Offense should be improved and defense slightly improved.
Dennis Boyd, Clearly you’re a glass half empty. guy. The rotation is deeper. Not only was Manaea, and Stripling added, but Disco is back. The relief corps, a major negative last season, is much improved. And as much as I liked both Belt and Longo, the team is better off not counting on guys that weren’t available half the time.
And those 2 corner OFs that you seemingly dismiss, both have a lot of upside, as well as being among the top OFs available. Both were in the top 5o FAs. Speaking of which, the Giants signed 6 of the top 50 FAs. They will be better in 2023 than last season.
So much doom and gloom from so called fans. I can expect it from rivals talking smack but geez folks how about we let the season start before you give up. I’m happy to see we are trying some youth at the corners and hope the best for our two new outfielders. There is potential for a decent team here. More than I thought from 2021 and look how that turned out. Go SFG !
@gfan as an outsider looking in i see sf like the cubs a 79 to 87 and possibly sneaking into a wc. both teams seem pretty solid but need some things break there way and a little luck (but heck that’s any mlb team). also seems like both teams seem like they have a plan, re-build the farm, see what you have in “mlb ready” kids and build around them, unfortunately for sf they missed out on some of the big fa’s but you can’t fault zaidi for that.
Missing out may be a blessing in disguise too. Won’t find out for awhile but it’s good not to have any long term bad contracts. They just got past those years and now we can try some younger players out this year.
Giants will work hard off the field and be focussing on leaving nothing to chance in terms of preparation. They will be playing for each other and competing at 100% on it. Looking forward to seeing some fresh faces perform in that environment. I’m hopeful it will be closer to ‘21 than ‘22.
I see improvements to the OF and RP, but that’s about it.
Patchwork at 1B, 3B…2B, as well, really. Lost an ace and replaced him with quantity. Lots of holes in Bart’s game at catcher, a position that is also being ignored. No notable graduations from the minors and few in sight except perhaps Kyle Harrison.
Screams mediocre .500 team to me. Probably not a cellar-dweller, but who knows?
All the money in the world and yet…near zero chance of competing with Dodgers or Padres.
At a minimum, I’ve got Estrada at 2B as better than patchwork. If that’s the term in play, Davis and Flores are pretty good patches.
Good with the pitching. The track record speaks for itself. Solid at worst. Harrison could be great fun.
Bart’s had a fair bit to deal with. Buster has left him posted a couple of times. Got to be better for the experience. Excited by the effort they went to for Sabol. They obviously rate him.
Across the board defence is still a bit of a worry.
There’s always a chance. Especially in January. You can get past superior talent. Work harder and be smarter is the way. They will be giving it a decent shot.
Luke Jackson signing and going on the 60 day IL. Yes, that’s the plan. It’s funny how no one else mentions this. Classic Farhan 40 man roster manipulation as 60 day players don’t count against it. And then he’ll be able to churn through another group of tryout players while Jackson is out. Did it with Brebia, Boyd, etc… Cool move.