The Giants didn’t succeed in landing the marquee free agent they sought when the offseason began, but they have added to their roster in a different way. They’ve spread their money around and given eight-figure guarantees to six different players in Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Sean Manaea, Joc Pederson, Ross Stripling, Taylor Rogers and Luke Jackson. But they still have their sights set on further upgrades, with Héctor Gómez of Z101 Digital reporting they have shown interest in catcher Gary Sánchez.
The level of interest the club has is not known, but it makes plenty of logical sense. The Giants only have a pair of catchers on their 40-man roster at the moment, as Austin Wynns was designated for assignment last week. The two remaining backstops are Blake Sabol, a Rule 5 draftee with no major league experience, and Joey Bart.
The latter was a second overall pick in 2018 who has been ranked as one of the better prospects in the game, but he’s yet to fully cement himself in the big leagues. Through 408 plate appearances over the past three seasons, he’s hit 11 home runs but struck out at a 38% rate. His batting line currently sits at .222/.294/.351 for a wRC+ of 84. He was also considered a subpar defender and framer last year, according to Defensive Runs Saved and FanGraphs. Even if the Giants still believe in Bart as their long-term solution behind the plate, it makes sense that they would consider a veteran alternative as a safety net for the short-term.
Sánchez, 30, earned a reputation as a bat-first catcher when he hit 53 home runs over 2016 and 2017. His batting line over that two-year stretch was .284/.354/.568 for a wRC+ of 143. He’s since cooled off at the plate, posting a 96 wRC+ in the five seasons since, including an 89 in 2022. Despite that tepid platform year at the plate, his previous production should still lead to some interest. It’s also possible he could get a boost from the upcoming defensive restrictions since he was shifted in more than 70% of his appearances last year, despite being right-handed. Sánchez has long been considered to be weaker on the defensive side of his game, but he was actually ranked above average by both DRS and FanGraphs’ framing metric last year.
The Giants have been quite active on the waiver wire in recent years, grabbing various catchers and cycling them through the roster throughout the year. Signing Sánchez would be a change in strategy but an understandable one since he’s arguably the top catcher still available in free agency.
The club also has interest in reliever Evan Marshall, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Marshall bounced around the league for a few years but seemed to have a breakout with the White Sox in 2019 and 2020. Over those two seasons, the right-hander made 78 appearances with a 2.45 ERA. His 10.3% walk rate was certainly on the high side but he struck out 23.5% of batters faced and got ground balls at a strong clip of 52.3%.
Unfortunately, things went sideways in 2021, with his ERA jumping to 5.60. He went to the injured list in June with an elbow injury and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery in October. The Sox outrighted him off the roster at season’s end and he missed the entire 2022 campaign.
The club’s interest in Marshall, who turns 33 in April, would be somewhat akin to their signing of Luke Jackson. The latter pitcher underwent Tommy John in April of last year and isn’t likely to be ready for Opening Day. Marshall is also coming back from TJS but should be further along since he went under the knife about six months earlier than Jackson, though that’s speculative and each injury rehab is unique. Regardless of his current status, it seems the Giants have some interest in seeing if he can get back to that strong form he showed a few years ago.
Elsewhere in Giant news, Conforto provided a health update to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. The outfielder missed the entire 2022 season due to a shoulder injury but is now healthy enough that the Giants signed him to a two-year, $36MM guarantee. Conforto can opt out of the deal after the first season but only if he makes at least 350 plate appearances this year.
He tells Shea that he’s begun ramping up for 2023 and is already throwing from 200 feet. “It’s all going great, knock on wood,” Conforto says. “There haven’t been any setbacks. I got all my measurements today with the medical team, and they’re pleased with the way everything’s looking, strength-wise, swing-wise, running, everything.”
Wow, the Giants miss out on Arson Judge and Taint Correa, and now will get the Sanchise? The Giants are now the winners of free agency this winter.
And you are the winner of the oldest recycled unfunny jokes.
Farhan Zaidi is going into his 5th season and has only posted a winning record above .500 one time. Currently, he just spent nearly 200 Million on a bunch Broken toys. Clearly the Zaidi era in SF is riddled with failure.
Yet Giants fans are like “B,B….But his win loss record doesn’t really matter….we don’t want to talk about that”
Should we talk about the Cashman era? Exactly how much money has he spent and the results were? 2009 much?
Last 5 years? 100% winning seasons. 5 straight playoffs.
Crickets
Can’t wait for the broken toys to beat your boys opening day !
Then those broken toys go on to win 75 of the next 161 games?
Only in your crystal ball.
Not in mine. I don’t think they will win that many after the misfit toys start breaking.
The sports book I was in last night had that as the O/U.
Bet the over
idk man I’m from SF and not one person I know is happy with anything the Giants front office has done since they won in 2014.
Rogers and Manaea will likely have turnaround seasons pitching in SF, those moves aren’t the problem here, but on the offensive side this team lacks consistency, reliability and slugging still.
27chumpy – Not all of us Giants fans. Some of us have wised up
Gary Sanchez? Get back on the phone with Austin….
Just interchangeable backup catchers, relax
The Giants do need another Catcher and Sanchez can be loosely described as a Catcher
The Giants have simply GOT to extend Logan Webb this off-season. It will send a subtle (maybe not so subtle?) reminder to the fans that they are developing their OWN stars.
And, related, they’ve gotta bring up Schmitt AND Harrison no later than the All-Star break and give them a legit shot.
They don’t HAVE too. But they might
Giants overachieving a couple years ago is their doom. They don’t have the core to build a sustainable contender yet are bringing in enough talent to huver around 500 all year. Purgatory!
How do you spend $180 million payroll on a bunch platoon players and rehab projects?
Just ask Zaidi!
I guess it helps to have unfettered access to the broken toy box though
Please pardon me if my little faith in this version of “money ball” is showing, I have not been inspired, but that’s my problem to deal with
Zaidi has NEVER driven past a thrift store without stopping in
And with the numerous catching signings and trades during his tenure with the Giants, its seems odd to see them so short in catching depth.
The miss (so far) on the Bart selection is a glaring problem, though I don’t believe Zaidi was at the helm when he was picked. Bart’s got to show something this year
Bart’s gonna be an all star
These kind of signings are in Farhan’s wheelhouse.
Sanchez can actually hit if he gets his head in the right place, and might either contribute or be a trading chip. Or a bust, in which case, if you sign him cheaply enough, you cut him loose.
Geez , Farhan Zaidi centers his whole off-season around chasing Judge while all the other top FA’s were singing deals w/ other teams. And then after walking away from Correa goes on a near 200 MILLION Spending spree at the 99 Cent store.
Giants signed 6 of the top 44 free agents and lost 1. What other moves would you have them do? Judge clearly wasn’t leaving NY, Turner wanted Philly, and Correa is damaged goods. Bogaerts for 11/280m ? Swanson profile doesn’t age well and his wife plays soccer in Chicago. So who or what would you have done differently?
Farhan better make that run for Ohtani next season!
#Datashark – Farhan better not be the Giants POBO next offseason. There, fixed it for ya
For real, everyone is acting like the guys we’ve gotten are bad. They are all very talented players who DON”T need to be superstars. We missed out on big names, which sucks, but these are in the top 50 free agents who are capable of bolstering the team to make a playoff run.
Manaea – 4.96 ERA
Rogers – 4.76 ERA
Conforto – 0 games played. League average hitter with bad defense the last time he actually played.
Haniger – 57 games played.
Those are not quality players. They are broken down, over 30, rehab or reclamation projects.
Again what should they do? Why don’t you map out for us what the Giants offseason should have looked like?
I realize he didn’t play and you’re trying to push a narrative but Conforto has a career 124 wrc, and over the last few years was 106, 158, 127, 119 and 147. League average hitter is just ignorantly wrong
Perfectly said, Willy.
Unfortunately, the “don’t age well” argument for Swanson is kind of moot considering he will be 36 when his contract in Chicago ends.
You would have to give him 200m or more to play in SF and that’s hoping his wife’s willing to give up her career. Like with turner it’s not always about the money. Low walk and high k rate players rarely age well
#willie- the Giants have not signed 6 of the top 50, much less 6 of the top 44
Look it up. It’s easy.
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/11/mlb-trade-rumors-top-50-free-agents-predictions-2022-23.html
17 -manaea
20 Haniger
24- Taylor Rodgers
34- Peterson
38-Ross Stripling
44-Comforto.
#williemays – Pederson is not a new addition. Imo he should not be coming back. I’m not interested in paying money to watch him bunt with 2 strikes and runners in scoring position with 2 outs, ever again.
Almost 20 mil for a platoon DH, who doesn’t even have enough fire in his belly or competitive juices, to respond when an opponent literally b***h slaps him, while going literally months between homeruns, seems appropriate for Farhan and Kapler though.
Ps: The Giants current stadium is the house Bonds built.
Bond’s himself would support the name change. It was belt who bunted with two out and runners on. There are really no bad one year deals. He practically carried the team for large stretches last season. What would you have done this offseason? That’s really the question
#williemays – I was at the game against the dodgers in September, when Joc bunted with 2 strikes and runners in scoring position, with 2 outs. Don’t tell me it didn’t happen. And he literally went 2 months+ in between homeruns. It’s very easy to find reference to it on these here interwebs.
I recall Belt bunting but if you saw it. I agree don’t like the 19m contract for Joc.
What player would you have signed?
Judge-not leaving NY
Turner-wife’s from east coast/ wanted to play with Harper
Bogaerts-11/280m. Outbid the padres?
Correa-damaged goods though 6/200m would have been fine by me
Nimmo-8/162m. Outbid the Mets? Pass
So that kinda leaves them right where they ended up
Belt bunted quite a few times. Sometimes successfully.
Judge – darn near signed here, but Farhan told him he could go back to the Yankees and give them a chance to match it. Apparently he must have told him it was the final offer… After saying publicly they wouldn’t be outbid for him. If Judge wasn’t willing to leave NY, he wouldn’t have spent multiple days in SF for a visit. The ‘not leaving NY’ shtick is a hyperbolic excuse.
Turner could have been $wayed, imo. There was no real effort for Boagarts.
Correa situation botched horribly, on multiple fronts, including disrespect towards Brandon Crawford, the greatest SS in franchise history.
Nimmo? Meh, take him or leave him imo.
Rodon – WHY?! (I noticed you completely ignored Rodon. Why?)
To answer your question, sign Rodon, land Judge and/or Turner or Correa, and we’re a different ball team.
Honestly I’ve hoped they sign Profar, but they probably won’t.
I got no issues with belt bunting, or anyone else if that’s what the defense gives. Just not with two strikes, two outs, and runners on. It would take a successful bunt and then another hit to score.
Just because Judge came to visit doesn’t mean his heart wasn’t in NY. You want to give 40 year old 40m a season? I mentioned Rodon before. That’s a tough one. Before 2022 only once over 165 innings and you’re looking at 180-200m for a guy with a lot of arm injuries I think the mistake was the previous offseason amd not signing Guasman for 105m. who reported the Giants didn’t ever make him an offer and sounded like he wanted to stay. After the Zito, Cain , Cueto, and Samardzija contracts it appears the brass is adverse to 5 plus year contracts to pitchers.
Turner wanted to play on the east coast where his wife is from and with his buddy Brice. So I don’t see that happening.
Bogaerts for 11/300m? Not sure I want any part of that deal. All projections had him a 100m lower than Turner and Correa.
Correa injury thru them off. Correa 6/200m would have been a good deal and given them a fine offseason.
Profor is an interesting player. Inconsistent but has been decent 2 of the last 3 years. They choose Comforto and Haniger over him.
@williemaysfield: Done differently? Practically everything. They’ve signed 6 of the top 44 free agents and lost 1? Uh, the 1 they lost is pitcher Carlos Rodon, much higher rated than any of the 6 they’ve signed. Your comment about Swanson’s “profile” is ridiculous. Zaidi is so obsessed with analytics that he can’t make a move without consulting with his sabermetricians. And you’re insulting Willie Mays by including him in your username … something like ZaidiWorshipper is more appropriate.
Why insult me? Just simply having a conversation. My name is what the ballpark should be called.
You still didn’t give an outline of what they should have done. You mentioned Swanson You want him for 180-200m? He’s had two good seasons with the bat. Rodon for 175m?
You going to outbid the yanks for him?
You just want to complain.
The chances the Giants could pull Judge away from the Yankees was always very slim. I don’t blame him for trying, but they should have realized it was Plan B, not Plan A.
Judge is from norcal so you have to try.
More like the Island of Misfit Toys.
See – you just nailed the issue, 27. Instead of singing free agents they should have been signing free agents!
This is Joey Barts make or break year so far he whiffs too much to improve – but the no-shift may help his confidence that could cut down on whiffs. He is looking like a bust right now and Giants don’t have much at C in the minors (Bailey, Genovese) are all struggling. This is why Farhan has brought in so many C’s through and none have stuck.
Bart improved significantly during the course of last year, his rookie season. I’d bet money he improves more this year.
How sad does your team have to be that Manaea, Rogers, and Jackson are considered upgrades?
bullpen was brilliant in 2021 and it was awful in 2022. So yeah the 4 pitchers they signed add depth which killed them last year.
That’s funny! Thanks for a great joke. I needed that.
Yes, you certainly do need help…
*gasp* replacing the back spot rotation and two pieces of the bullpen shows how bad a team is? Please tell me more about your sheer brilliance in roster construction…
No Sanchez, we need defense behind the plate. I also think Bart will be traded by the deadline.
I think Bart will bloom into an all star this year
Does Logan Webb value winning or is he happy battling Arizona for 3rd place in the division?
He sure seemed to enjoy winning over 100 games, the division and playing in the postseason, with the Giants
He could value being 2 hours from his home town, which he is frequently seen in during the off-season. Hard to say what he values more unless you know him…
For the Giants it all comes down to the farm. They weren’t able to swing big trades last season because their prospects weren’t shining, now they need a couple to turn into bona fide major leaguers. If that happens they’ll be ok, if not it’ll be a struggle to get a wild card spot.
I agree. They need to throw money at the farm and lock up their young talent starting with Webb and Doval. I like Doval but if they feel like trading him they should at least get a couple top 100 prospects.
Sanchez is one of the worst catchers, if not the worst. Pretty bad defensively. Forget about the homers. Look at batting average and strikeouts. Awful.
And still better than what the Giants put on the field last season.
Bart is better than Sanchez
Probably on defense. But not with the bat. But there’s no way you can say wynns is better that Sanchez.
Bart is certainly better than Sanchez, defensively and with the bat. Wynns is whatever. An interchangeable backup catcher, just like Sanchez
Bart has not shown to have a better bat. There potential sure but Sanchez had had 5 seasons better than Bart’s rookie year
Bart hasn’t even played a full season in the majors yet. Go look at Mike Trout and Nolan Ryan’s rookie numbers and get back to me about what busts they are/we’re, based on those stats.
Thanks for pointing out in the first sentence that Farhan didn’t keep his public promise to us Giants fans this off-season. He seems to think we’re fools
He made a good offer to Judge, but Judge got to have his cake and eat it too by getting it matched where he was already a superstar and well-loved. Not much Farhan could have done differently except dramatically overpay, and that wouldn’t have been wise.
And with Correa? They WERE ready to overpay, but the medicals sobered them up. If they had second dibs, like the Mets did, they probably still would have rightfully bolted once they realized that the dude was damaged goods.
Or do you really believe that every stroke this offseason was born out of a false narrative just so that the team can continue saving money and fielding a mediocre product when there’s frankly no motive to do that at this time? The bad contracts are off the books.
He didn’t get the job done. Results are what matter.
Personally I was hoping to see them go after Tre Turner, as opposed to Correa. Better player, more speed, imo. But the front office was determined to go for Correa and disrespect the greatest SS in franchise history, Brandon Crawford. Too bad they wearn’t nearly so concerned with keeping Rodon.
Instead they’d rather pay almost 20 mil for a platoon DH, who bunts with 2 strikes and runners in scoring position with 2 outs, and doesn’t have enough fire in his belly to even respond, when an opponent literally b***h slaps him.That sends a loud message to competitors. That bad contract is on the books. So is LaStella’s. This team is becoming an embarrassment.
Turner wanted to go play with Harper and be on the east coast. Pretty well known
Yeah it was rumored that Turner might have wanted to go back East. Welp, that’s it! Best not to even try! Smh