- Derek Law: He had a great 2013 and was prominently promoted as a possible 2014 addition to the bullpen, but unfortunately he needed Tommy John surgery. Was considered the future closer by some (including me) before the injury. Assuming he comes back like Strickland did from his TJS, we could have a sterling future bullpen of Law, Strickland, Okert.
- Ray Black: 100 MPH fast ball but wild as heck. Pavlovic noted that teams were interested in him.
- Cody Hall: He has been doing well as a reliever rising up the farm, but Law and Strickland got most of the headlines. 9.9 K/9 (but 26 YO in AA) and 4.07 K/BB ratio (excellent).
- Joan Gregorio: People are down on him because of his higher ERA and high walk rate, but his K/BB was above 2.0, which is the mark of a good pitcher, generally. He's only 23 YO for the 2015 season, so if he can work out whatever issues he had while in San Jose, and put in a good season, he would be on track for making the majors at age 25-26, which is not that bad.
As often happens, the 40 man roster got filled beyond, so a player was DFAed: Juan Gutierrez. Obviously, if the Giants sign any of their free agents - Sandoval, Romo, Peavy, Vogelsong - they will need to open up a spot for them and more players will be DFAed.
Sandoval Thoughts
Speaking of Sandoval, lots of rumors going around, one that the Giants already offered 5 years and $90M, another almost polar opposite that Sandoval basically was insulted that he wasn't signed before reaching free agency, and will sign with another team. I don't want him at that contract so I'm kind of hoping he wants to move on if that is really the offer.
I can't believe that the Giants offered 5 years and $90M, though, the more I think about it. If that is really their best offer, why didn't they offer that in spring training or late in the season, a la Pence. Just because you agree not to negotiate don't mean you can't throw out a number and ask them to think about it. And Sandoval probably would have signed a contract like that. And it is such a huge leap from 3 years and $40M, that just don't make sense to me, especially given how poorly he hit this season, he's certainly capable of better but other teams tend to look at recent performances for a clue to future, and Sandoval has been lacking and dropping since 2011, a double whammy.
No, this looks like something a desperate agent would release to the press in order to make other teams think that they need to outbid the Giants. Because, as an inexperienced agent who apparently screwed up his only other negotiation and gave the Royals a sweetest of hearts deal for their starting catcher - I don't see how he did his fiduciary duties for his client, I would bet that if Perez wanted to sue his agent on the grounds of incompetence, he would probably win - he don't know how to actually negotiate and drive the hard bargains necessary to win his client a bigger contract. And he showed off his inexperience in spring with his poor handling of the press and saying the things he said. So he could have released this "fact" in hopes of pushing another team to go higher, towards what he wants.
Only, most reports are that Boston only want to go four years AND place weight bonuses as part of the contract. And there is no way the Padres or Blue Jays will pay that much money for Sandoval, SD certainly, Toronto however, has pulled off stupid moves before, and might yet have another one up their sleeves. Bobby Evans thinks that Sandoval wants to decide by Thanksgiving, so we should soon see if any of this is true or not.
As I've written before, I think the Giants can be fine offensively without Sandoval, and I look forward to seeing what Duffy or Adrianza can do at 3B, with Arias as a floor on what we get from the position. Better than paying Sandoval a contract that 1) don't fit in with what he has actually produced, 2) don't fit in with the market for 3B, 3) don't fit in with his lack of responsibility with regards to the $17M contract he got previously. We will see.
Sandoval's agent Vasquez may well have killed his client's chances of getting The Pence (5/90M) earlier by saying that it would be his, Vasquez', starting point in negotiating. The team couldn't then offer it for fear of looking as if it was acceding to V's bluster, and V couldn't accept it once he denominated it as a starting point. He blundered his client into becoming an envious adversary--envious because S seemed to be saying he needed to beat Pence--instead of a negotiating partner.
ReplyDeleteNo, the Giants don't need to shell out big bucks to a guy who, in his contract year, ranked just above the midpoint of all MLB third basemen, by WAR. If a dozen MLB teams can field a 3B about as good as or better than Sandoval, the Giants should be able to do so too, lots cheaper than 5/90M.
Pablo after hitting 165, for the first 5 weeks of the season managed to hit over 300 for the rest of the season. I guess as he got more tired, and gained back some weight he simply got better. In October, he was so out of shape and so tired compared to all those skinny players that he only had 26 hits in the post season. Just imagine if he was in better shape, like in April. How many RBI did he lose because Posey is slower than a tortoise? Many singles with Posey on second ended up with Posey just making it to third, and doubles with Posey on first ended with Posey just making it to third. Remember the wild pitch that went to the backstop with Posey on first, and he was still thrown out easily at second. Posey may have been thrown out at the plate more than any other player in MLB this year. His crawl like Bengie Molina speed cost Pablo and Pence quite a few RBI. So when I see their RBI total as low as it is, I think of Posey. Yes I love Posey as a giant, and yes he did get on base so Pablo and Pence could hit with the pitcher in the stretch, but get this guy a speed coach. For me, I wanted the giants to keep the Panda. For one simple reason. He made the games fun. As a fan I want the games to be fun.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you and I have different ideas of what makes games fun. I agree that when Sandoval hit pitches at his hairline or shoestrings, or hurled his full rotundity into the air to make a stop of a grounder I was surprised and delighted. When he swung at pitches at his brow and missed, or had to be benched so that Arias could take over at third, I was unsurprised and sometimes disgusted. My idea of what makes games fun is watching smart, disciplined players like Crawford and Panik, absolutely dedicated players like Pence and Bumgarner, players in control of themselves and their game, such as Posey.
DeleteSandoval was a good Giant and, because he seemed to appear from nowhere when the club was no good, an important Giant in the team's trajectory. In the postseason, after the postseason when he was so mediocre he got benched, he became a legendary Giant.
But in terms of what he was likely to do for our team in the future, he got to be an overpriced Giant. If his impending salary money is well spent by Sabean, Sandoval will improve the Giants more by going than he would have by staying.