2025 Rosterbation

[SF11704]

Just my 2 cents .. but I don't believe that the answer lies with one individual but rather a team of people. For what is worth I think the best team for this happens to be within the Dodgers organization. They are perennial division champs and also have a great farm system. They are doing something right. FZ came from that organization but I think he was only a piece of their success. Without the rest of the team he couldn't pull it off in SF. I'm also guessing we had him in the wrong position. He was a piece of the solution .... but only a piece ... and I'm guessing we had him in the wrong position or ownership handcuffed him at times. Just some WAGs on my part ...

 

[calsnowskier]

Just my 2 cents .. but I don't believe that the answer lies with one individual but rather a team of people. For what is worth I think the best team for this happens to be within the Dodgers organization. They are perennial division champs and also have a great farm system. They are doing something right. FZ came from that organization but I think he was only a piece of their success. Without the rest of the team he couldn't pull it off in SF. I'm also guessing we had him in the wrong position. He was a piece of the solution .... but only a piece ... and I'm guessing we had him in the wrong position or ownership handcuffed him at times. Just some WAGs on my part ...

I said from FZ’s early days with us that he was in the wrong position. He needs to be a #2 or #3 guy. He needs to be a voice in the room, but not THE voice in the room.

 

[LHG]

Working the waiver wire is a smart move. But FZ did it to a crazy level. I actually fear that the Giants (Posey) will avoid it completely as an overcorrect to FZs tenure.

I haven't looked into it to see if true, but the waiver wire, in general, has seemed more quiet this offseason than in the past few years. Maybe it just feels that way because the Giants have been very quiet on it this offseason.
I do agree that some decent players can be picked up this way. What really drove me crazy about FZ's pickups wasn't just the shear volume of claims, it was how quickly the org gave up on those claims. Many of them seem liked they were rejected almost from day one and thus made no sense to even acquire.

 

[calsnowskier]

I haven't looked into it to see if true, but the waiver wire, in general, has seemed more quiet this offseason than in the past few years. Maybe it just feels that way because the Giants have been very quiet on it this offseason.
I do agree that some decent players can be picked up this way. What really drove me crazy about FZ's pickups wasn't just the shear volume of claims, it was how quickly the org gave up on those claims. Many of them seem liked they were rejected almost from day one and thus made no sense to even acquire.

My sense was that the whole process was intended to increase the depth of the minors rather than to actually acquire useful inventory.

 

[LHG]

My sense was that the whole process was intended to increase the depth of the minors rather than to actually acquire useful inventory.

But it didn't. There were quite a few instances where guys were lost on waiver claims and some others that were kept were just let go a month after passing through waivers. The catcher who was claimed on waivers and then let walk through the nontender process within a couple of weeks of being claimed was probably the height of that nonsense.

 

[LHG]

Hey look! Only 4 teams have spent more on the free agent market so far this offseason than the Giants!

Each Team's Free Agent Spending Thus Far

Which teams have been most aggressive in free agency to the offseason's halfway point? Find out at MLBTR.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

 

[tzill]

So, is it better to just not participate at the top tier of free agency as a general practice? I’m not saying it’s wrong or right, but that does end up being the end result with a lot of these guys who do want the opt-outs(and can mostly dictate their terms).

Not saying that at all. My comment was more a criticism of opt out contracts. Remember, we got burned on the Snelk deal..

 

[tzill]

And he hasn’t won a championship yet?

Well, he ain't no Susac....

 

[tzill]

I haven't looked into it to see if true, but the waiver wire, in general, has seemed more quiet this offseason than in the past few years. Maybe it just feels that way because the Giants have been very quiet on it this offseason.
I do agree that some decent players can be picked up this way. What really drove me crazy about FZ's pickups wasn't just the shear volume of claims, it was how quickly the org gave up on those claims. Many of them seem liked they were rejected almost from day one and thus made no sense to even acquire.

Brother, you have NO idea....

 

[tzill]

I was bored on NYE and looked at WAR for the team. In 2023, position players for the Giants were downright terrible. They ranked 25th. In 2024, the team improved to 18th. 2B was a disaster at 28th. SS was 24th. CF was 21st. LF was 19th and the much maligned Yaz dominated RF was 12th.

• 2B was manned by mostly Estrada with 376 PA and rounded out by Wisely with 137 and Schmitt, Luciano, Walton, Fitz in much smaller numbers. It's probable that Fitz regresses, but the Giants should see a big leap in rankings.
• SS again had a hodgepodge of players with Fitz at 283 PA, Ahmed at 172, Wisely at 115 and a few others chipping in. The interesting part about SS is it's very hard to climb up the rankings since it's a star dominated position. MIL ranked 18th with Adames with his down year defensively at 2.2 WAR. Witt / Gunderson are above 9 WAR. Just a huge gap with the stars. It's going to be an improvement, but probably not to the upper tier.
• CF will obviously depend on JH Lee's 1st 2nd year performance. He had 158 ABs which is more than the 130 that loses rookie status.
• 1B is interesting. Giants ranked 17th, but it was a huge drop-off from 2023 when they ranked 5th. Wade only had 355 PA in 2024 vs 437 in 2023 and the non-Wade players were just terrible: Flores, Canha, Villar, Brooks. Will depend on Wade staying healthy (ugh) or a Flores bounce back (ugh)
• Other positions: Catcher ranked 19th: would need the backup to perform better since Bailey is around 420 PA. Giants led the league at 3B rankings. LF could see an upper half ranking with Ramos manning LF for a full season. Yaz will need to hold up at age 35 in RF. Giants slid from 15th at DH in 2023 to 20th: not sure if anything can be projected since there isn't an obvious candidate.

High level if you look at 2023, the Giants pitching was much better than I remembered. Total pitching ranked 9th with SP at 12th and RP at 9th (yes, it looks weird, but that's the data). I'm sure the Giants using "openers" data skews SP / RP split data a bit. And, the Giants dropped to 20th in 2024 with SP ranked 21st and RP at 12th.

• SP had some really dreadful performances with Winn/Black who had 20 starts. Both had the worst WARs in the pitching staff. Sure, the Giants will need to mix and match, but getting 15th or better isn't out of the question. Snelk was a 2.1 WAR player last year. The "hope" is having Ray getting back to his somewhat Blue Jays self for a bounce back year to replace Snelk. Obviously, the team will need to rely heavily on younger pitchers with pressure to improve.
• RP saw the emergence of Ryan Walker and the stumble of Doval (went from 1.5 WAR to -0.5). Team should still stay around 10th in rankings. It's a solid, but not spectacular staff: Walker, Doval, Rogers x2 and then fill in the blank for the remaining spots: Miller, Hjelle, Bivens, Rodriguez, etc. Not having Luke Jackson is addition by subtraction.

Again, this is a half glass full evaluation. Should see some real improvements in 2B and SS. Need for JH Lee to contribute and the Giants could be creeping in the upper half of the rankings for position players. RP should remain in the upper half. SP will be a real challenge on the coaching staff and front office. Coaches will need to develop players and the front office will need to press the right buttons on callups from the minors. If SP can get close to 15th in rankings, the Giants should have an outside shot at the wild card.

Bottom line: we need another front line starter.

 

[LHG]

I was bored on NYE and looked at WAR for the team. In 2023, position players for the Giants were downright terrible. They ranked 25th. In 2024, the team improved to 18th. 2B was a disaster at 28th. SS was 24th. CF was 21st. LF was 19th and the much maligned Yaz dominated RF was 12th.

• 2B was manned by mostly Estrada with 376 PA and rounded out by Wisely with 137 and Schmitt, Luciano, Walton, Fitz in much smaller numbers. It's probable that Fitz regresses, but the Giants should see a big leap in rankings.
• SS again had a hodgepodge of players with Fitz at 283 PA, Ahmed at 172, Wisely at 115 and a few others chipping in. The interesting part about SS is it's very hard to climb up the rankings since it's a star dominated position. MIL ranked 18th with Adames with his down year defensively at 2.2 WAR. Witt / Gunderson are above 9 WAR. Just a huge gap with the stars. It's going to be an improvement, but probably not to the upper tier.
• CF will obviously depend on JH Lee's 1st 2nd year performance. He had 158 ABs which is more than the 130 that loses rookie status.
• 1B is interesting. Giants ranked 17th, but it was a huge drop-off from 2023 when they ranked 5th. Wade only had 355 PA in 2024 vs 437 in 2023 and the non-Wade players were just terrible: Flores, Canha, Villar, Brooks. Will depend on Wade staying healthy (ugh) or a Flores bounce back (ugh)
• Other positions: Catcher ranked 19th: would need the backup to perform better since Bailey is around 420 PA. Giants led the league at 3B rankings. LF could see an upper half ranking with Ramos manning LF for a full season. Yaz will need to hold up at age 35 in RF. Giants slid from 15th at DH in 2023 to 20th: not sure if anything can be projected since there isn't an obvious candidate.

High level if you look at 2023, the Giants pitching was much better than I remembered. Total pitching ranked 9th with SP at 12th and RP at 9th (yes, it looks weird, but that's the data). I'm sure the Giants using "openers" data skews SP / RP split data a bit. And, the Giants dropped to 20th in 2024 with SP ranked 21st and RP at 12th.

• SP had some really dreadful performances with Winn/Black who had 20 starts. Both had the worst WARs in the pitching staff. Sure, the Giants will need to mix and match, but getting 15th or better isn't out of the question. Snelk was a 2.1 WAR player last year. The "hope" is having Ray getting back to his somewhat Blue Jays self for a bounce back year to replace Snelk. Obviously, the team will need to rely heavily on younger pitchers with pressure to improve.
• RP saw the emergence of Ryan Walker and the stumble of Doval (went from 1.5 WAR to -0.5). Team should still stay around 10th in rankings. It's a solid, but not spectacular staff: Walker, Doval, Rogers x2 and then fill in the blank for the remaining spots: Miller, Hjelle, Bivens, Rodriguez, etc. Not having Luke Jackson is addition by subtraction.

Again, this is a half glass full evaluation. Should see some real improvements in 2B and SS. Need for JH Lee to contribute and the Giants could be creeping in the upper half of the rankings for position players. RP should remain in the upper half. SP will be a real challenge on the coaching staff and front office. Coaches will need to develop players and the front office will need to press the right buttons on callups from the minors. If SP can get close to 15th in rankings, the Giants should have an outside shot at the wild card.

Bottom line: we need another front line starter.

Do see that being fulfilled with Jack Flaherty or trading for Luis Castillo? Outside of those two, I'm not sure a front line starter is available and even Castillo may not be possible. Not sure the Giants have the players to pry him from Seattle.

 

[tzill]

Do see that being fulfilled with Jack Flaherty or trading for Luis Castillo? Outside of those two, I'm not sure a front line starter is available and even Castillo may not be possible. Not sure the Giants have the players to pry him from Seattle.

Castillo would be a reach, but Alcantara might be more do-able. Something like Harry and Matos?

 

[LHG]

Castillo would be a reach, but Alcantara might be more do-able. Something like Harry and Matos?

Alcantara seems like more of a gamble. Do we really want 2 of the top 3 starters to be coming off TJ surgery? And wouldn't Harrison going away further melt away at the starting rotation? Seems a bit like spinning wheels to me. Of course, if Alcantara bounces back with a full season of dominance, it would be a great trade. But that may not happen until May at the earliest, once the Marlins feel confident enough that they can give maximum value in the trade.

 

[msgkings322]

I was bored on NYE and looked at WAR for the team. In 2023, position players for the Giants were downright terrible. They ranked 25th. In 2024, the team improved to 18th. 2B was a disaster at 28th. SS was 24th. CF was 21st. LF was 19th and the much maligned Yaz dominated RF was 12th.

• 2B was manned by mostly Estrada with 376 PA and rounded out by Wisely with 137 and Schmitt, Luciano, Walton, Fitz in much smaller numbers. It's probable that Fitz regresses, but the Giants should see a big leap in rankings.
• SS again had a hodgepodge of players with Fitz at 283 PA, Ahmed at 172, Wisely at 115 and a few others chipping in. The interesting part about SS is it's very hard to climb up the rankings since it's a star dominated position. MIL ranked 18th with Adames with his down year defensively at 2.2 WAR. Witt / Gunderson are above 9 WAR. Just a huge gap with the stars. It's going to be an improvement, but probably not to the upper tier.
• CF will obviously depend on JH Lee's 1st 2nd year performance. He had 158 ABs which is more than the 130 that loses rookie status.
• 1B is interesting. Giants ranked 17th, but it was a huge drop-off from 2023 when they ranked 5th. Wade only had 355 PA in 2024 vs 437 in 2023 and the non-Wade players were just terrible: Flores, Canha, Villar, Brooks. Will depend on Wade staying healthy (ugh) or a Flores bounce back (ugh)
• Other positions: Catcher ranked 19th: would need the backup to perform better since Bailey is around 420 PA. Giants led the league at 3B rankings. LF could see an upper half ranking with Ramos manning LF for a full season. Yaz will need to hold up at age 35 in RF. Giants slid from 15th at DH in 2023 to 20th: not sure if anything can be projected since there isn't an obvious candidate.

High level if you look at 2023, the Giants pitching was much better than I remembered. Total pitching ranked 9th with SP at 12th and RP at 9th (yes, it looks weird, but that's the data). I'm sure the Giants using "openers" data skews SP / RP split data a bit. And, the Giants dropped to 20th in 2024 with SP ranked 21st and RP at 12th.

• SP had some really dreadful performances with Winn/Black who had 20 starts. Both had the worst WARs in the pitching staff. Sure, the Giants will need to mix and match, but getting 15th or better isn't out of the question. Snelk was a 2.1 WAR player last year. The "hope" is having Ray getting back to his somewhat Blue Jays self for a bounce back year to replace Snelk. Obviously, the team will need to rely heavily on younger pitchers with pressure to improve.
• RP saw the emergence of Ryan Walker and the stumble of Doval (went from 1.5 WAR to -0.5). Team should still stay around 10th in rankings. It's a solid, but not spectacular staff: Walker, Doval, Rogers x2 and then fill in the blank for the remaining spots: Miller, Hjelle, Bivens, Rodriguez, etc. Not having Luke Jackson is addition by subtraction.

Again, this is a half glass full evaluation. Should see some real improvements in 2B and SS. Need for JH Lee to contribute and the Giants could be creeping in the upper half of the rankings for position players. RP should remain in the upper half. SP will be a real challenge on the coaching staff and front office. Coaches will need to develop players and the front office will need to press the right buttons on callups from the minors. If SP can get close to 15th in rankings, the Giants should have an outside shot at the wild card.

Bottom line: we need another front line starter.

Some buzz about us signing Scherzer. Not really “front line” anymore but should come on a short deal.

 

[sf1giantfan]

Signing Justin Verlander would also bring us Kate Upton, I think she would look good with a Giants cap in the stands.

 

[LHG]

Some buzz about us signing Scherzer. Not really “front line” anymore but should come on a short deal.

I just saw this and it seems the rumors are that 4 teams are in on him and that he could sign soon. It would be kinda cool to land him. Not many pitchers I think are worth signing who left on the market. He is one that I think is worth signing.

Four Teams Interested In Max Scherzer

Max Scherzer is reportedly fielding interest from four teams. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

 

[tzill]

Some buzz about us signing Scherzer. Not really “front line” anymore but should come on a short deal.

One year tops, IMO. And even then I'm not sure that's $20M well spent.

 

[tzill]

I just saw this and it seems the rumors are that 4 teams are in on him and that he could sign soon. It would be kinda cool to land him. Not many pitchers I think are worth signing who left on the market. He is one that I think is worth signing.

Four Teams Interested In Max Scherzer

Max Scherzer is reportedly fielding interest from four teams. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

I dunno, he only pitched in 9 games last year in his age 39 season. Can't think we'd get more than half a year from him in 25.

 

[msgkings322]

One year tops, IMO.

Has a few suitors so he could get more from someone

 

[tzill]

Has a few suitors so he could get more from someone

Indeed. Hope it's not us.