This week's mailbag gets into the Giants' rotation, why Framber Valdez remains unsigned, a thorough look at where Eugenio Suarez could land, the Tigers and Nationals, and more collective bargaining thoughts.
Paul asks:
Who makes sense for the Giants to add to their rotation?
Daryn asks:
Why is Framber Valdez not signed yet? He is the best starting pitcher in the market. Is it his age and asking for a lot of years, or it is the clubhouse thing we hear about?
At present, the Giants' rotation looks like this:
Like every team, they'll need reinforcements for injuries. Ray is 34 and 2025 was his first full season in three years. Houser is 33 and tossed a career-high 164 1/3 innings last year (Triple-A included). Roupp missed 24 days with elbow inflammation and then saw his season end in August with a deep bone bruise to his knee. Mahle missed over three months with shoulder soreness.
On the Mahle conference call, Giants GM Zack Minasian said, "I don’t know if we’re ever done. I think we’re very comfortable with the five that we have and then the bundle of arms behind them. Our depth is in a much better spot than it was at the beginning of the offseason, so we’re happy with where we’re at. We’ll keep working at it, but we do think this is a solid five-man rotation going into the spring." That quote comes via Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
That bundle behind the starting five may include Hayden Birdsong, Kai-Wei Teng, Carson Seymour, Blade Tidwell, and Carson Whisenhunt, all of whom made big league starts last year. Trevor McDonald and Keaton Winn are options as well.
The Giants are paying $21MM in AAV for Houser and Mahle this year, but neither can be counted on for a 2-WAR season. I don't know that Zac Gallen would be enough of an improvement over the Giants' existing back-end options, but slotting Framber Valdez in behind Webb would be huge. The Giants have a good team at present, but Valdez could add a crucial three wins over whoever he replaces.
Back in November, Giants owner Greg Johnson expressed reluctance to sign a pitcher to a long-term deal. Just before that, MLBTR predicted a five-year deal for the 32-year-old Valdez. Ranger Suarez signed a five-year deal two weeks ago, so it is possible to get that type of contract in January. That said, we haven't seen a free agent starter get five years on January 28th or later since Yu Darvish in 2018. As we get closer to pitchers and catchers reporting, the chance of Valdez getting a true five-year deal like Suarez decrease.
There are several factors that likely contribute to Valdez being unsigned on January 28th:
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Why wouldn’t the Dodgers want Suarez at third?
Between him and in an aging Muncy
at third – they could maximize that position?
This comment is based on the fact the Dodgers have no constraints by money
So why not have two pretty good hitting players with lots of flaws … dividing that position?
So you want two guys who are used to being penciled in every day, to suddenly platoon?
Luis – One of which is a 50-homer guy. LOL!
There’s no way Suarez wants to the short side of a platoon.
Why wouldn’t the Dodgers want Suarez at third?
Between him and an aging Muncy
at third – they could maximize that position
This comment is based on the fact the Dodgers seem to have no constraints by money…
So why not have two pretty good hitting players with lots of flaws … dividing that position?
Burner account revealed.
Coming from a place of pure ignorance of an old 48 year old guy…what would be the motivation of having a burner account for the purposes of commenting on MLB Trade Rumors? Not disagreeing , just would like to understand the motivation.
Agreeing with your own posts. Upvoting. Odd practice. But certainly have a couple of those around here.
phony – And also paying for the subscription for each account.
I’m leaning toward they know each other and one is just trolling the other by repeating the first post word for word.
@phony
How else would you explain two different accounts with the same exact posts, word for word?
Because I posted on two different places on this site… it was a mistake
There’s always an easy explanation for what so many people think of as
Deception or a conspiracy
By the way…
I was trying to make fun of the Dodgers having so much money that it wouldn’t matter if they had multiple players at multiple positions
Geez
Jimmy – But why do you have two subscriber accounts?
That is the $100M question ($70M deferred).
Hmmm
I don’t know that I do … if I do I don’t know how that happened
I just put the comment at the end of the mail bag section and then I wasn’t sure if that was the right place
so I put it at the end of baseball Rumers post where we are now…
The glitch is back !
Jimmy, I meant no bad will or conspiracy. I have an advanced degree in smartassery, so it’s what I do..
jimmy – Yeah you do because each account can accommodate only one handle.
That’s okay, even at double the price this place is still a bargain.
Phony-48 is still a young man
Old-Know thyself is a wonderful thing.
There are plenty of posters on this site who do not.
I like your optimism! I’ll be sure to let my knees know!
The cheap Angels have seen options come and go that would easily help them. The Whitesox have outmaneuvered them.
The Angels re-signed Yoan Moncada. For better or worse he’s their Third Baseman again next season
It blows my mind the NBA is more profitable than MLB. It’s a garbage product on the court. Load management nonsense, no defense, leflop as the face of the league still.
I don’t see the MLBPA ever agreeing to a salary cap. I’m no labor expert but I think the first steps are to somehow limit the amount of money deferred in contracts. Say maybe 20% maximum of the deal can be deferred over the life of the deal. Another idea would be to make the deferred money still count towards the luxury tax in the years it is paid out. So the $68 million per year the dodgers are going to pay the almighty tax evader would still count against them at some point in the future when they are writing him the checks. I have no respect for the guy so I won’t type his name.
The NFL has true parity. It is difficult for MLB to match that parity when the drafted players take years to get to the show. It’s easier for NFL teams to turn around their fortunes when their new talent from the draft plays immediately. Perhaps MLB needs to look at new and creative ways to discourage tanking beyond the new draft lottery. IDK what those methods are but somehow the league needs to figure it out or the haves will always win and the havenots will simply be big league farm teams for the haves.
Of course the myth that you are only a successful player at any sport if you win the championships is also a problem in every sport and every level. Saying a player like Ernie Banks or Dan Marino isn’t as good of player as ozzie smith or Joe Montana simply because those guys were part of teams that won championships is nonsense. Ernie was a far superior player to ozzie smith, and Dan Marino was 10x the QB Montana ever was. Ships and rings aren’t the only measure of greatness. So many players just chase rings and care little for loyalty to their team they came up with.
you had me until you said Marino was 10x the QB Montana was. That is just silly. Montana did not put the raw statistics as Marino did, but he was a higher rated QB by metrics and ratings. Add the 4 SB titles and it’s not even close. If you want people to take you seriously, you should not end your rant with “Marino was 10x the QB Montana was.” That is just childish and immature.
The NBA has 3 national tv contracts worth $77 billion dollars, MLB’s national tv deals are worth only about $2.1 billion. That’s a significant difference in each league’s “profitability”
I like the “spot em a run” idea
For much of the season, so did the Dodgers! 😀
I doubt the clubhouse thing with Framber is the issue holding up him getting signed. Mostly I think it’s that GM’s feel his prime years are behind him, and the asking price is too high. Is he worth a long-term deal> you’ll get 2026, Players Strike in 2027, and suddenly you’re paying a truckload for a 34 year old clubhouse cancer.
I don’t think it would be helping. Rather revealing incident when it comes to the guys character. He didn’t release the frustration by throwing at an opponent. He went the teammate ! Pretty low act on the scale of low acts.
Is that known for sure? There seems to be a haze over the full picture.
It very much looked like it. They denied it post game but the catchers immediate reaction made it seem pretty obvious. I was shocked it passed by so quietly. Jomboy did his thing with it. Probably the best review of the incident out there.
@foppert
I don’t know. The C says he hit the wrong button on the Pitchcom, so maybe it was just a mistake but Frambers reaction was just a residual of the grand slam he gave up?
Maybe. I was left feeling a ton of respect for the catcher . Took one in the chest and brushed it off for the team. Good work. Looked to me like the red mist took over Framber. Grand slam being a big part of it. I hope he bought the catcher dinner that night !
The catcher was sent down right after that and never came back. The catcher may have made more out of it than needed.
Wow. Did not know that.
I had him as the hero of the day ! Maybe his pitch calling did deserve being pinned in the chest.
You say the clubhouse thing is not holding it up but then mention at the end of the comment the clubhouse cancer. To me that says it is holding it up as the last part of the deal would be a clubhouse thing.
I don’t get how that could be the reason – his numbers are incredibly consistent for his entire career. He’s only 32, and could easily put up great stats for another five seasons or more, especially if he were pitching at Oracle.
I know the Giants ownership is saying our pitching is fine and spring training is almost here, but it’s really hard as a fan to not still hope and wish that they would do something for our pitching with the few weeks we have left.
Our bullpen is much worse than last year and our rotation is shaky after Webb. I thought we’re going to win with pitching and defense?
Birdsong for the bounce back, either in rotation or bullpen.
Rooting for Birdsong, i still believe in him!
Word on the street is he figured out some issues with his control. The pure stuff is, and always was, still there.
I follow his tweets.
Not bad for a guy named goob
Walker, Miller, Bivens, Beck, Butto, Hentges, Peguero, Birdsong.
My guess for the pen.
Keep in mind that Dodger prospects are even more over-hyped than other team’s prospects, and once they’re used as trade bait, most of them (at least recently) fade into mediocrity pretty quickly.
Give me some examples of that Pete (genuinely asking)
May,Lux,Ruiz come to mind at first glance
True, and also true for nearly all prospects.
The very nature of prospecting promote both the speculation of upside vs the risk of mediocrity or failure. Even the best scouts likely hit 10% of the time so untrained fans can feel how they want to feel but it’s nothing more than barbershop banter. So many times we argue over huge trade hauls that usually end up being nowhere near the actual “get”. It’s fun but it’s crazy how emotional some ppl get.
McKinstry, Bush, Caleb Ferguson…
Make Birdsong the closer. Let Roupp start in AAA with an innings cap and sign Framber. I doubt he will get more than a one year very large contract to prove he isn’t the A-hole who crossed up his own catcher intentionally. Just what Buster has been waiting for… the market to come to him! Make it happen Gerald Dempsey!
Valdez has excelled in Houston, and taking into account park factors, he could have a Cy Young caliber year in SF. Giants should most definitely sign him to a 3-yr deal.
Whereas Gallen would be a total waste of $ and roster space.
@ Tellit
I agree, but think the O’s will top that offer.
If the Pirates are serious about contending for something and that takes into account the words of their GM, they have to open the checkbook for Suarez. It’s not that I think he’s an all world player but as is, they still have too many holes in their offensive “attack” that relies on guys like Cruz and Reynolds. His ability to hit homers and drive in runs immediately upgrades their lineup
But will they outbid others? Would he even be amenable to coming here? Guess we shall see
Giants are getting Framber, though.