These are just my opinions. I cannot promise that I will be perfect, but I can promise that I will seek to understand and illuminate whatever moves that the Giants make (my obsession and compulsion). I will share my love of baseball and my passion for the Giants. And I will try to teach, best that I can. Often, I tackle the prevailing mood among Giants fans and see if that is a correct stance, good or bad.
There was only going to be seven in my series. But I decided to add a bonus additional one because of my recent interaction with a troll (he/she called themselves that).
He/she said that he/she is a realist and that I'm just rationalizing my thoughts on why I think the Giants can be competitive in 2024. Thinking through this, I realized that much of what the downcast Giants fans are doing are rationalizations of their unhappiness with the team.
I posted this comment, and given all the work I put into it, I'm posting it here. I, of course, added some more content (I tinker constantly) and added headings. Also, the Giants signed Jordan Hicks in the meantime, so I added some thoughts on that, but didn't add to existing projections to give more buffer for the projection I'm making.
I analyzed where I think the Giants are improved in 2024 vs. 2023, and how many wins that should translate into, and whether they can make the playoffs.
The Giants signed reliever Jordan Hicks for 4 years, $44M, and he will be given the opportunity to become a starter with the Giants.
The Giants fanbase, from the view of The Athletic's comment pages for the Giants, are in an uproar about Farhan Zaidi's stewardship of the Good Championship Giants. The Zaidi Haters complaints include but are not limited to:
The Giants traded for former Cy Young winner LHP Ronnie Ray, getting him from the Mariners for Mitch Haniger, DeSclafani, and cash considerations, which makes the deal net zero dollar trade. Ray is rehabbing from TJS, and is expected to return in July 2024, plus whatever rehab time he needs. Ray has a player option after the 2024 season, where he can opt into a two year @ $25M per season deal, or make himself a free agent.
One of my pet theories for over a decade now is that once the Giants get to the dog days of August, they should go to keeping the rotation on a five day rest rotation, even when there is no rest day during a week, usually happens at least twice in August, and sometimes more, because rain outs are sometimes scheduled in August to make up that game. Now there is a study that validates that theory and suggests keeping to it all season long.