My priorities were:
- Don't do anything stupid.
- Lock up Cain with a contract extension.
- Sign Jose Reyes, but not to a stupid contract.
- If they can't get Reyes, re-sign Beltran.
- If they can't get Reyes and Boston declines Marco Scutaro's option, sign him for 1 or 2 years. If they do pick up the option, still try to trade for him, as a short-term solution while Brandon Crawford further develops the offensive side of his game.
- Keep Jeremy Affeldt or Javier Lopez.
- If they can't get Reyes, find some way to upgrade the leadoff spot in the order.
- Build the roster with a starting spot for Brandon Belt clearly defined.
- Be extra careful with Buster Posey's return. He is a long-term necessity for success.
- Because we're going to be careful with Posey, finding a backup catcher who can hit a little is crucial.
- Retain other Giants free agents only if they will accept extremely reasonable terms and a reserve role.
- Don't do anything stupid.
Despite plenty of hand wringing and flabbergastedness at various points during the winter, it turns out that this wasn't such a bad offseason after all. Let's review.
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| Matt Cain will continue to be the longest tenured Giant |
- They didn't do anything that qualifies as stupid. Unless Matt Cain's arm falls off in game 2 of the season, none of their moves have the potential to be damaging long-term. So mission accomplished on this one? Yes!
- I am extremely but pleasantly surprised with the Cain contract. Yeah, it's a ton of money, but he would have gotten at least this deal, and probably more, if he hit the open market after the season. Yes it's a risk, but given Cain's history and body, it doesn't seem like an unwise risk. Mission accomplished? Double yes!!
- Not surprisingly, Jose Reyes received a contract offer that is at least kind of stupid. He is a dynamic, game changing player when healthy. But that's the problem. He has a history of not always being healthy, and that only figures to get worse the older he gets. I'm pleased that Brian Sabean and the Giants front office didn't match or try to top the package that Miami gave to Reyes. Mission accomplished? Yes.
- It's very possible that Beltran just didn't want to stay in San Francisco, but the 2 year deal he got from St. Louis seemed pretty dang reasonable, given the market. I would have very much liked to see the Giants match or even modestly top the deal Beltran signed for. Mission accomplished? No, but I still think making the Wheeler-for-Beltran trade last summer was the right move to make at the time.
- I don't remember seeing any "Scutaro to the Giants" rumors, but he seemed like such a perfect fit. Solid defender, reasonable offensive contribution, reasonable money, veteran experience, and a short term deal. I figured one more year of learning to hit at the AAA level wouldn't hurt Brandon Crawford. Plus, if Crawford showed he was really ready for the big leagues, they could call him up and slide Scutaro to second when Freddy Sanchez gets hurt. Mission accomplished? No, but again, this was only a mission in my mind.
- The Giants might have the best bullpen, top to bottom, in all of baseball. Obviously, Affeldt and Lopez are big parts of that, and as far as I can tell, they're both really good guys and good teammates. But for a team that both desperately needs an offensive upgrade and has been very public about payroll limits, it didn't make much sense to keep both of them. Lopez, Runzler, and $4 million towards Reyes or Beltran is better than Lopez and Affeldt. Mission accomplished? Not really, but I'm not too bothered by it.
- Not sure how to score this one. Yes, they acquired 2 players who are both some measure of upgrade from Andres Torres, and those players were acquired through pretty fair trades (not to be confused with Fair Trade). The problem is that they acquired 2 players, which causes problems for the next issue. Mission accomplished? Yes, I guess.
- All spring Bochy was saying that the outfield would be Cabrera, Pagan, and Schierholtz. With Huff getting paid big bucks, that seemed to leave no position for Brandon Belt. This is why I don't really understand picking up Cabrera and Pagan; 2 guys who essentially fill the same role. Plus, I like Nate Schierholtz but I don't think he's shown he can be a successful everyday MLB player, and we just don't know that about Belt yet. However, it looks like Belt will in fact get a chance to play often (if not every day) at first base, with Huff moving to left. Despite what Hank Schulman says, I'm not convinced that Huff is the one who should shift to the outfield, but I am on board with Schierholtz being the guy who loses playing time in favor of Belt, at least until the players prove otherwise. Mission accomplished? Yes, at the last minute!
- At times during the Cactus League it seemed like they were being very conservative with Posey working his way back into actual games. Good. Without personally examining Buster's MRI, it seems like they handled the whole situation very well. Mission accomplished. Big yes!
- With Posey slated to get regular days off and some time at first base, we could be looking at 50-60 starts for the backup catcher, so it's kind of a big deal. I wanted Ramon Hernandez, or at least someone who could hit .220, but they didn't bring anyone in. Throughout spring training, we were hearing that there was a competition between Stewart and Whiteside for the backup catcher spot. Then right before the season started, Stewart gets traded to the Yankees (for a reliever who might actually be helpful at some point), and Whiteside gets sent down. That means Hector Sanchez is the backup catcher, and it makes me very happy. We know Stewart and Whiteside can't hit, but all we know about Sanchez is that he raked in the minors last year. Keeping Whiteside in the organization, in case Sanchez just doesn't cut it, is a good idea, but I am very pleasantly surprised at this move. It might be the most un-Sabean thing Sabean has ever done. Mission accomplished? Yes!
- I don't begrudge Cody Ross taking the Red Sox offer. Get what you can get, Cody. But again, I'm glad the Giants didn't overspend to keep players who didn't contribute much last year. Mission accomplished? Yes.
- Looking at this list, there are things I wanted the Giants to do that they didn't, and they did a few things I don't really understand. But they didn't do anything that turned them into non-contenders, nor did they do anything that is going to hurt their chances for success in the years to come. Basically, they did not do anything stupid. Mission accomplished? Yes.
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| Welcome back, Buster |
As for the opening day roster, I'm happy with the projected lineup and really stoked about the bench. I know many fans want Schierholtz to start because he might be a solid everyday player, but he is an elite bench player. Burriss has earned the opportunity to fill the utility man role. Blanco absolutely earned his spot during the spring, and hopefully he can be sort of the new Darren Ford, except that he can hit a little. I think Pill will be what they hoped Mark DeRosa would be last year; nice righty bat off the bench with a little pop, doesn't play great defense but is adequate at at least 3 positions and passable (in short stints) at a couple of others. As I stated earlier, I'm stoked about Hector Sanchez as the backup catcher.
I don't know if the Giants will return to the playoffs this year, but I think they have the pieces to again content right to the end. Sabean used to say his goal was for the Giants to get into the playoffs, because once you get in "anything can happen." Except that what usually happened was that they'd get bounced in the first round. Now, with what I think is the best total pitching staff in baseball, just getting into the playoffs might lead to another world series title.
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