The Giants are off to an 8-12 start and now must face the first-place Oakland A’s for three games at Oracle Park this weekend.
A 3-7 road trip didn’t go as planned for the Giants, but their recent struggles could be corrected in familiar confines as they return home to play 11 of their next 13 at China Basin.
Despite the fact the Giants still have 40 games to play, many fans have already turned their attention toward next season and begun wondering how the club can be competitive again in the National League West. In Part I of a two-part mailbag, Giants beat reporter Kerry Crowley answers questions from fans about the present and future of the organization.
Click here to read Part II of our Friday mailbag.
Question: Kerry, is it in your opinion the Giants sacrificed their defense for more offense? It seems quite a few players are playing out of position in order to keep their bats in the lineup. (From @giantsMVP28)
Crowley: I think even Zaidi and Kapler would admit that on most days, the team has made sacrifices defensively to field a better lineup. The Giants’ lineup isn’t exactly tearing the cover off the ball, but there are so many players who currently profile better as designated hitters including Donovan Solano, Hunter Pence, Alex Dickerson and Wilmer Flores that they are forced to put an average or subpar defense on the field.
I think it’s also worth noting that Mike Yastrzemski is a solid defensive outfielder, but he’s probably better suited to playing a corner position as I’m not sure anyone around the league would consider him an above-average center fielder.
Question: I think the starting pitching will give us quality starts and innings (maybe W’s) these next quarter of games. They fooled hitters this last week and are picking up stride (except for Shark). Do you agree? (@espn76)
Crowley: At this point in the season, the Giants have no choice but to give their starters longer leashes and have them try to eat up innings. An inexperienced bullpen is overtaxed and on days when starters don’t go five innings, too many of the Giants’ relievers have been exposed and it’s led to some late-inning meltdowns.
I think Johnny Cueto, Kevin Gausman and Logan Webb are all built up to take down five-to-six innings per start and it would surprise me if Kapler gave any of them an early hook over the next few weeks like he did with Gausman in Los Angeles last Sunday. The biggest question the Giants have in the rotation is whether they can get length out of Tyler Anderson, Trevor Cahill or any of the other pitchers who might be expected to start in place of the injured Jeff Samardzija and Drew Smyly.
Question: With the most obvious flaw of ours right now looking like pitching, what do you think our next off-season will look like? Where will we be looking most in order to fill out a good rotation and pen? (@sheepduck)
Crowley: This is a really good question and one I’ve started to think about a lot over the last week.
If the Giants hope to be competitive in 2021 and 2022, they’re going to need much more depth in their starting rotation and that could be hard to come by as Samardzija, Gausman and Smyly are all set to become free agents this offseason. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Gausman and or Smyly return, but it’s increasingly clear the Giants are going to need to be active in the free agent market and potentially willing to sign an arm or two they really like to multi-year deals.
I tend to believe that Zaidi thinks he can piece together a bullpen through waiver wire pickups and low-profile additions, so don’t expect the Giants to spend much on relief help this offseason. It’s the rotation that should receive the most attention.
Question: What do you think will happen to the veterans when they near the end of their contract? Do you think trade at deadline, extension, or granted free agent? (@joshua106ful2)
Crowley: Extensions are out of the question and off the table as the Giants have no desire to prolong the tenures of veteran players who have spent the last few seasons struggling on the mound and at the plate.
Trades are honestly the best-case scenario, but it’s going to be challenging to find any takers for a few of the Giants veterans, even if they offer to pay down the rest of their contracts. I could see Cueto or Evan Longoria commanding a bit of interest on the trade market if the Giants paid the remainder of their salaries, but Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt aren’t realistic options for most teams because they wouldn’t represent an upgrade.
In a few cases, making it to the end of a contract before being designated for assignment would be a victory.
Question: How long of a leash do the vets have? Are we looking at this strange season being their last hurrah with the Giants? (@dsteele3412)
Crowley: This is another question that’s been on my mind a lot lately because even though a condensed 60-game season has presented the Giants and veteran players with a ton of new challenges, it’s hard to imagine Zaidi and Kapler agreeing to run things back as is next spring.
The Giants will welcome Buster Posey back with open arms because of what he provides defensively and there’s a case to be made that Crawford can still be a valuable platoon option because he’s a steady leader in the infield, but I don’t think the Giants will have Crawford, Belt and Longoria in the same infield next season.
Zaidi and Kapler value Belt’s plate discipline and think it sets a good example for the rest of the lineup, but if he’s not hitting for average, his slugging percentage is down and he’s not fast enough to play left field anymore, it could be time for a change of scenery.
I don’t think the 2020 season is the last hurrah for all of the veteran players, but I do think fans will see at least one move that surprises them this winter.
Question: When does Heliot Ramos come up? (@11012010Finally)
Crowley: I originally wrote that Heliot Ramos needed to be added to the 40-man roster this winter, but the expert on all things relating to prospects, Roger Munter, (@Rog61) reminded me the Giants’ 2017 first round draft choice signed at 17 years old so the organization won’t need to protect him from the Rule 5 draft until next winter.
With that being said, it wouldn’t shock me to see Ramos debut by the middle of next season because the Giants have been impressed with his performance at the Sacramento alternate site and are particularly fond of the way he’s improved his plate discipline. Ramos was on the same track as Joey Bart last season and while fans are clamoring for Bart, a college draftee, Ramos shouldn’t be far behind.
Is there an outside chance he debuts at the end of this season? Perhaps. Knowing the Giants don’t have to add him to the 40-man roster until next winter does change my calculation a little bit so I’ll set mid-to-late 2021 as his expected arrival.
Question: Two years ago the Padres signed Eric Hosmer, last year Manny Machado, this year the hefty contract to Drew Pomeranz. If Giants want to compete in 2022/23, does it make sense to start finding FA pieces for 2021? Or another year of budget baseball? (@RevolutionGram1)
Crowley: Love this line of thinking and I believe you’re on the right track with this strategy.
Does it make sense for the Giants to sign three or four core pieces to long-term deals this offseason? Not really.
Does it make sense for the Giants to sign someone they love at a position of need and then have a bigger offseason the following year? Absolutely.
A quick look at the 2020-2021 free agent market is somewhat disappointing because Mookie Betts should have been their top target, but now that he’s in Los Angeles for the next 12 years, the Giants need to think realistically about what they can do to ensure they’re ready to contend when their top prospects are ready to hit the majors.
The names on the market aren’t all that appealing, but certain players such as Palo Alto native Joc Pederson, A’s star Marcus Semien and Astros center fielder George Springer could be valuable additions at the right price.
Question: What are you thoughts about how Pablo Sandoval has been used recently? (@BaseballJeff1)
Crowley: It’s difficult to see how the Giants can continue to justify holding a roster spot for Pablo Sandoval if he’s not going to start in the DH spot against right-handed pitchers.
A 7-for-39 start to the season hasn’t helped Sandoval’s cause, but he’s been the victim of some bad luck as his .276 expected batting average suggests. Kapler mentioned Sandoval was dealing with a family issue this week, so it’s possible he wasn’t able to play and that when that clears up, he’ll return to the lineup and return to the form Giants fans saw in 2019.
It would be really disappointing for Sandoval and for Giants fans to see his tenure end during the season if the club simply runs out of room for him, but the way he’s been used recently doesn’t bode well. For his sake, let’s hope everything is okay with his family and that Sandoval gets to enjoy playing again.
SF Giants Gameday: Listen to the Bay Area News Group’s daily San Francisco Giants podcast, hosted by our beat reporter Kerry Crowley. We give you an all-access look at the 2020 regular season with soundbites from manager Gabe Kapler and your favorite Giants players plus the latest analysis on every move during an unprecedented season.
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