The San Francisco Giants were the biggest surprise in baseball a year ago, as they went through the regular season with the best record in baseball. Do you think this year will be this one? It's not much. The Los Angeles Dodgers are leading the NL West, but San Francisco is looking up at the.500 mark.
We asked MLB experts to break down San Francisco's decline and lay out the moves the Giants should make to get back to the top.
The Giants won more than 100 games last year. That is not a critique but a tribute. It's been difficult to repeat that. The roster has been constantly changing since Zaidi took over. After every marginal upgrade, another one.
The Giants received a lot of value from this. Not a lot this season. There were a lot of players who performed near the upper ranges of the projection probabilities last year. The team lands in the middle of the road as they slip from the top of their game. This is still better than we thought the Giants would be at this point.
When a team is built on depth, this happens. The system-wide lack of production turned last season's alchemy into this season's futility.
Brandon Crawford had his best offensive showing ever at the age of 34 while Brandon Belt had his best season ever at 33. All three were very strong at their jobs. The Giants have taken a big step back on defense if you didn't expect a regression.
Gonzalez said the bullpen is one of the main reasons. The Giants' relief corps went from being one of the best in the majors last year to being one of the worst in this year's season. Jake McGee went from being a lights-out co-closer to released at the end of the year. Also taking a step back were Tyler Rogers and Dominic Leone. The Giants' relief corps benefited from a lot of luck last year and is not doing so this year.
This season is absolutely certain. That doesn't change what the Giants did last year. The wins are in the past. The team was playing a game that was out of line. The Giants' current record is in the middle of what you would expect.
They are two different teams in terms of vibe and personnel. Things went well for them last year, but little has gone right this year. At times, this year's version has had to scramble just to field a nine. At one point they were forced to trade for a small ball player because of injuries to their big league and minor league players. It's just weird. cogent analysis was almost impossible because both seasons were anomalies.
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Without a healthy Crawford and Belt, the Giants are exactly who they are supposed to be in 2022. They need players who can play all the positions.
The person is who they are. The Giants exceeded expectations because they tapped into something we didn't think they had in them. The Giants seem to be in need of a new identity.
Their best prospects aren't necessarily close to the majors yet, as evidenced by the fact that their farm system is 14th in the latest rankings. The Giants will have several holes in their lineup in the off-season, as Joey Bart has yet to pan out, Mike Yastrzemski is having a down year, and so on. They have some financial flexibility.
You have to wonder if Brandon Crawford is done when he tumbles so badly. I think it's reasonable that the Giants could expect another above average season from Crawford, even though I wouldn't expect him to have anotherMVP-esque season. His knee problems have made it difficult for him to cover ground in the field and hit the ball. He's been better during the second half and hopefully an off-season of rest and healing will position him for a bounce-back in five years.
Gonzalez said he would go with Mike Yastrzemski, who has yet to duplicate the offensive showing he provided during the 2020 season. He hit 25 home runs, provided elite right-field defense and ran the bases well despite his down year in the batting cage. Everything has been down. He still plays above replacement level and the Giants still consider him a central member of their team. He should be better at his age.
Brandon Crawford played at a near-replacement level this year, but he played at a near-MVP level last year. I'm going with LaMonte Wade Jr because of the question. Injuries slowed him early and he never seemed to recover from them. He can be an anchor in the lineup.
It's hard to see long-standing pieces around which the Giants will build as they move forward. Joey Bart is on a roster filled with a lot of older players.
The team has the resources to spend a lot of money and if there is one thing I would give up, it would be a big run-producer like Kapler. The first name that comes to mind is the one of Judge.
Gonzalez said to sign the judge. While building up the farm system, the Giants will need the financial resources of Farhan Zaidi. Right now, both are needed. The Giants need more than just Judge, they need a first baseman, a third baseman, some relief help, and they want Carlos Rodon back. When the pieces are right, Judge's offense can mix and match with the best of them.
There are seven teams that could challenge the Yankees.
There is a man namedBuster Olney.
The Giants need to commit to getting younger and more athletic. A short-term rebuild may be in order. If Zaidi is not interested in that approach, he will have to use his skills of persuasion to get the team owners to open the checkbook. I bet that the rebuild will happen.
I'm saying the same thing here as well as Judge. He would give them everything they needed in the moment, including a leader, a power hitter, and a face of the franchise.
Sometime in the next two years, I will hedge my bets. It is a difficult division. The Dodgers will never go anywhere. For the foreseeable future, the Padres have an elite core. They are getting better. The Giants are smart, willing to adapt their processes, and have a lot of economic clout. The minor league system is fertile. There is no excuse for this team to not be a contender every year.
The Giants have one player who will be with them through 2024, Anthony De Sclafani. The Giants can really spend this winter because the front office has not tied itself to long deals before they become a legitimate championship contender. I think they can make the playoffs if they do it the right way and some of their key guys bounce back. Even though they aren't any better than the third-best team in their division, they can still get in.
The Giants are in danger of letting the NL West run away from them because they are one of the best six out of 15. The Dodgers and Padres are not the only ones that have a team. So, in the year 2041.
I think they will make the right moves in the next two years. In the evolutions of the two teams, they aren't as prepared to contend in the future as the Padres are, and they are even behind the Arizona team in their rebuild. They have a lot of flexibility and will be dangerous if they make the wrong choice.
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