With pitchers and catchers reporting this week and position players set to join them a few days later, Aaron Judge will soon suit up in the same colors as Carlos Rodón for the first time, only it will be in the Yankees’ clubhouse at 1 Steinbrenner Drive in Tampa, some 2,000 miles east of the Giants’ home in Scottsdale.
The haul Farhan Zaidi did come away with this offseason is looking to make its own impressions this spring. Although none of it was spent on Judge or Carlos Correa, the Giants did guarantee $174 million to six free agents this winter and, at an estimated $182.5 million (per Baseball Prospectus), are set to take into 2023 the highest payroll of Zaidi’s tenure.
They believe they have stabilized the middle of their lineup and their outfield defense with Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, bolstered their bullpen with Taylor Rogers and (eventually) Luke Jackson, and done their best to replace Rodón with Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea.
But is it enough to make up last year’s 23-game gap behind the Dodgers? The eight-game chasm with the Padres?
Looking back on Zaidi’s comments at the end of last season and throughout the offseason, it would appear that the Giants addressed some — but not all — of the issues the front office identified. Let’s run through their offseason to-do list, shall we?
“Shortstop depth has been a concern for us over the last couple seasons. At a minimum, we need to create more good shortstop options so we don’t need (Brandon Crawford) to play 150 games a year.” — Oct. 10
Check? No. Of the 77 players in camp, three account for all of the Giants’ 1,616 total major-league games of experience at shortstop. Crawford is responsible for 1,525 of those games. Another 68 belong to Thairo Estrada, who would be one of baseball’s better backup shortstops, if he wasn’t also the Giants’ starting second baseman. Besides that, there’s Donovan Walton (the remaining 23 games), Isan Díaz (with 239 games at short in the minors but none in the majors) and Brett Wisely (another 19 career minor-league games). But the Giants appear set to enter the season with Crawford, who turned 36 in January and is entering his 13th season, expected to handle close to everyday duties.
“Jakob Junis did a great job for us this year, but I think in a perfect world we view him as a swing man who can start when the need arises but can also eat up two or three innings at a time out of the bullpen. … I would anticipate us being in the market for at least one starter. Maybe it is just one. But at least one.” — Oct. 10
Check? Yes. Junis is currently slotted in to serve the exact swingman role Zaidi described, with at least six other capable starters ahead of him, thanks to free-agent additions of Stripling and Manaea (each at $25 million over two years, with the possibility to opt out after this season). However, it is still a question mark whether the rotation is better off, with the departure of Rodón.
“One of the concerns we had with Camilo (Doval) is making sure we’re taking the long view on his workload. Having two guys that are comfortable closing, that you’re comfortable with closing games, just gets important when you get a save situation and you’ve got an extra-inning game where you used your closer a third day in a row. … I think it mitigates some of the risk of overworking your closer if you have multiple options.” — Dec. 6
Check? Yes. The Giants identified Taylor Rogers as a top target at the start of the offseason and, when they finally had some time on their hands amid the Judge and Correa sagas, inked him to a deal (three years, $33 million) that pairs him with his twin brother, Tyler, in the Giants’ bullpen and gives Zaidi the high-leverage arm he was seeking. The other reliever brought in, Jackson (three years, $11.5 million), is expected to pitch in late innings, too, when he is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, in May or June. More broadly, the Giants need to see improvement from their relievers, who went from the best group in the majors in 2021 to among the bottom third of the league last season.
“We’ve talked about our desire and need to get more athletic and more rangy defensively. Our pitching staff deserves that. Certainly our starting staff, who were among the best in the league this year. We want to be able to provide that kind of defense that saves them outs, that saves them pitches, so that we can get even more out of them.” — Oct. 7
“I talked about our desire to add players up the middle just because you’re talking about premium positions, you’re talking about the ability to move guys to positions a little bit down the defensive spectrum where they may be even better. … That’s the goal.” — Oct. 10
“I think in a perfect world we have (Mike Yastrzemski) playing right field. That’s been the position at which he’s performed the best and we just like having a guy familiar with the right field in Oracle playing out there rather than have someone learn that rather idiosyncratic position on the fly. But his versatility gives us the ability to add at any two spots.” — Dec. 5
Check? No. Last year’s team, which was rated worst in the majors by Defensive Runs Saved, left plenty of room for improvement. Ultimately, though, while nearly a quarter of the Giants’ Opening Day roster will be made up by free-agent additions, none of them play a premium, up-the-middle position, and the only changes to their infield group were the subtractions of Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria. Rather than roam right field, where they thrive, Yastrzemski and Austin Slater will provide something closer to league-average defense in center, while Haniger and Conforto handle the corners, where they should at least provide some stability and serve as an upgrade over Joc Pederson (who will primarily DH), Darin Ruf, Yermín Mercedes and others who made up the worst defensive group of left fielders in the majors in 2022.
“Our goal is to make the playoffs next year. We’re not going to judge ourselves by the offseason headlines. But obviously making headlines in the offseason could be really impactful in that goal of making the postseason in 2023.” — Oct. 10
Check? Headlines: Yes. Playoffs: TBD.
