Tag Archives: Giancarlo Stanton

One More Christmas Wish

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Ok, well, at least Giancarlo Stanton is not going to the Dodgers =)

This is a good news, bad news situation for the Giants, and allows for a part 2 to yesterday’s post.

The good news is that Stanton is not going to LA, and, in fact, is leaving the National League all together. Meanwhile the Yankees are creating a juggernaut similar to the one they had in the early to mid-2000’s (a version of Yankees juggernaut that never won a World Series, for the record).

The bad news is that Giants did not get Stanton, and in addition, the stakes for the 2018 offseason just got a bit higher. The Dodgers and the Cubs now become the early leaders for Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.

It is the official position of this website that the Giants should be ALL IN on Manny Machado from this day forth. While Bryce Harper is the only left-handed hitter in the game who would not be intimidated by playing at AT&T, Machado makes more sense for a couple of reasons:

  1. He plays a position of greater need, 3B. We are living in a golden age of third basemen, and somehow the Giants have completely whiffed here. I would argue, positionally, Machado would be more valuable. Plus, he hits right-handed and balances their Panik/Crawford middle infield.
  2. He will be expensive, but not as expensive as Harper.
  3. He has a personality. So does Harper. Both are fiery guys who have rubbed opposing players (and their own teammates) the wrong way. I am totally ok with this. The Giants, long known for a great clubhouse culture, need someone to bring the life and energy and edge back.
  4. He is Latino. San Francisco is one of the most diverse areas in the entire world, and the Giants have a proliferation of guys from Georgia and North Carolina. How do the Giants not have a star level player from outside the US? (My apologies to Johnny Cueto and Pablo Sandoval who are past their star primes at this point). This is the franchise of Willie Mays, Millie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Kevin Mitchel, Barry Bonds, Dusty Baker, Ellis Burks, the Alous, Omar Vizquel, and so many others, but that stream has dried up recently. Bring me Jackie Bradley Jr and Manny Machado!

I laid out some ideas yesterday that could help improve the team in 2018 and open up the possibility of a run at Harper/Machado next winter, but I want to add one more.

I would love to be surprised. The Giants, especially since 1997 under Brian Sabean, have been known to surprise. The big moment was trading Matt Williams for Jeff Kent. But there have been other surprising moves, trades for guys who we weren’t super excited about but ended up being awesome. A couple of my favorites: Javy Lopes, Freddy Sanchez, and Angel Pagan.

The Giants have unearthed endless gems in many different ways, from Cody Ross to Connor Gillespe, from Jason Schmidt to Ryan Vogelsong.

I’m excited for the new gems. Who might they be?

One final thought. If you are afraid of the Yankees right now there’s good reason to feel that way. But, I would point out that they did this before and the A-Rod era produced one title, and it’s arguable how important A-Rod was to that team.

The Yankees went and spent a ton of money before 2009 and that produced a title, but then the Giants and Cardinals started their runs. The Giants took down the unbeatable Phillies and Rangers and Reds and Nationals and Cardinals and Tigers and Royals. Every era has had some incredible teams.

This era has some really incredible teams, probably some of the best in the last 20 years. The Dodgers, Cubs, Yankees, Astros, Nationals, and Indians are all stacked. The Rockies, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, and Angels are very good too. Look out for the Mariners and the Twins and probably a few other teams that come out of nowhere to be good.

Things look very bleak for the Giants right now. They did 10 years ago too, and we all know how that turned out.

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What Now?

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Today Shohei Ohtani signed with the Angels. Giancarlo Stanton is not going to the Cardinals and he is probably not coming to San Francisco either.

What this all means, along with the Winter Meetings starting next week, is that players are going to start moving soon. In the spirit of Christmas, here’s my list of moves I think the Giants should make (again, given Stanton not arriving on a white horse over the weekend).

  1. Trade Brandon Belt to the Red Sox for Jackie Bradley Jr. This is a long shot and Grant Brisbee digs into the layers in this post, but my thinking goes thusly: JD Martinez signs with Arizona, and the Red Sox don’t like Eric Hosmer and/or his price tag. Trading Bradley allows the Red Sox to shuffle some parts in a good way, doesn’t cost a ton, and doesn’t hurt their defense in the OF too badly. The Giants lose some power here, but get WAY better in CF, and cut some costs.
  2. Sign Jay Bruce. I am not a huge fan of Jay Bruce, but it sounds like he may go for 3 years and less than $40 million. This is exactly the kind of move the Giants need to make. Trade for young, controllable players, and sign older guys to shorter deals. This is essentially the middle road: the team does not get dramatically better, but this is also not a full rebuild. Essentially, the Giants should not make a move that takes them out of the Manny Machado/Bryce Haper/Josh Donaldson 2018 sweepstakes.
  3. Let Christian Arroyo play 3B all year. This will help clarify some things. Either Arroyo won’t cut it, making Machado/Donaldson all the more obvious, or he will cut it and maybe the Giants can go in a different direction (trading Joe Panik, pursuing Bryce Harper, etc). The Giants need to find out what they have here.
  4. Sign one more cheap veteran to help at 1B. Matt Adams? Mitch Moreland? Adam Lind? I don’t know, it could be any of those guys. Best case scenario: Aubrey Huff in 2010. Worst case scenario, you have a one year lame duck who opens up an opportunity for Chris Shaw.
  5. Dump Denard Span. My money is on the Twins or the Royals =)
  6. Spend any extra money on the bullpen. In particular, I’m looking at 1-2 year deals. Jake McGee? Trevor Rosenthal? Brandon Morrow? I don’t know, there’s a TON of these guys out there, let’s bring in a few and bolster that bullpen.

Here we go:

  • Bradley Jr. CF
  • Panik 2B
  • Posey C
  • Bruce LF
  • Pence RF
  • Crawford SS
  • Arroyo 3B
  • Moreland 1B

But, hey, let’s be honest, it’s going to cost too much, but Andrew McCutchen will look good in Orange and Black.

The Thing About Giancarlo Santon

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After a long hibernation, a season of solitude and silence, it is time for baseballmonk to speak.

First, props to Houston for beating the Dodgers. That was awesome and your contributions to making 2017 a slightly brighter place are deeply appreciated.

Second, man the Giants were bad. When last we spoke, it was early September and I started previewing the roster through the lens of what was, at that time, the biggest question/mystery of the Giants future: would Jonny Cueto opt out? September was a bleak time.

Third, the Giants brass, to their credit has (a) realized this was a bad year, (b) realized that some trends in the game have passed them by, and (c) seem hell-bent on at least shooting for the moon in pursuing Giancarlo Stanton.

And so, I have thoughts.

First, a philosophical thought. I have NO REGRETS about the Barry Bonds era. Bonds essentially saved the franchise from moving to Tampa Bay, got a new stadium built, provided endless highlights, and darn near won a World Series along the way.

During the Bonds era the Giants philosophy of roster building was centered on two core ideas: (1) Bring in enough veterans to keep Bonds happy, (b) pay Barry a bunch of money and spread whatever was left over around.

After Bonds “retired” the Giants went in a totally different direction, a much more strategic direction (pitching and defense) and won three titles.

Now, a couple of differences between now and then. During the early Pac Bell Park days the Giants scrimped on some money because they were paying down the park. They are no longer in stadium debt which is sort of like getting a couple “free” players back every year.

Another significant difference: also in the early years of Pac Bell (I know it’s AT&T now fools) they were learning the dynamics of the park and they discovered that basically only Barry Bonds and a couple good right-handed hitters could make the place remotely resemble a “hitters park.”

So, the pitching and defense (and develop and sign) philosophy made a lot of sense and paid off handsomely.

And part of the payoff has been the increased ability to spend money. This a major change for fans who have followed the team for 3 decades. For many years the Giants were a “mid-market” team, but the TV deals and the #3Rings propelled them to the upper echelons of MLB. They are a big market team now, no questions about it.

All of that to say, I get wanting Giancarlo Stanton, I really do. And if he comes to the Bay I will be happy to watch him take aim at the Coke Bottle for the next decade. Totally cool with that. But, are we cool with a return to an approach that didn’t work as well as the one that produced an unprecedented championship run?

Second, a more practical thought.

The Giants front office spoke a lot at the end of the season about getting more athletic, improving the defense (especially in CF), bolstering the pitching depth, and adding power. In particular (note #3 in this article), the Giants identified needs at 3B, CF, and the bullpen.

Again, I will LOVE Stanton in a Giant’s uniform. But he does not play 3B or CF, nor does he pitch out of the bullpen. Yet. Just kidding.

Yes, he is a good athlete, and HECK YES he would bring the power, but Stanton is not the final piece to any puzzle that makes a picture of a good 2018 Giants team.

Let’s walk through a couple of scenarios. And let’s make a couple of assumptions. It’s clear that if Denard Span is on the 2018 Giants he will play in left field. There’s a good chance he and Hunter Pence would form some sort of platoon over there. Let’s also assume that while the Giants are bringing back Pablo Sandoval for “free” they do not want him to be their everyday third basemen. Ok, let’s go.

First, let’s say the Giants and Marlins swing a deal where essentially the Giants take Stanton’s contract. No other players change hands. (This would never happen, obviously, but hang with me).

Here’s your 2018 SF Giants:

  • Span/Pence LF
  • Panik 2B
  • Posey C
  • Stanton RF
  • Belt 1B
  • Crawford SS
  • Arroyo 3B
  • Steven Dugger/Hernandez/Parker CF

Even without giving a single player the Giants would enter 2018 with a question about Arroyo at 3B (something I’d be all for, for the record), and a bit of a mess in CF.

Second, let’s examine the most rumored package for Stanton: Joe Panik, Tyler Beede (SP), and Chris Shaw (1B/OF). Let me just say that while I love Joe Panik, if the Giants get Giancarlo Stanton the baseball gods have looked favorably upon them. There’s no way in the world the Dodgers and/or Cardinals could not easily beat this deal, maybe even several times over. What this would mean is that either the Dodgers/Cardinals were not really serious, did not want that contract, or Stanton, for some reason, did not want to go there (he has a full no-trade clause).

Anyway, here’s your team:

  • Span/Pence LF
  • Arroyo 3B
  • Posey C
  • Stanton RF
  • Belt 1B
  • Crawford SS
  • Kelby Tomlinson 2B
  • Somebody CF

We can argue the optimal order of this lineup until the cows come home, but that’s not the point. The point is, you’ve now thrust Arroyo into a major role, and have a gaping hole at 2B, not to mention the CF problem.

This is why you are seeing this deal rumored as well: Third, the Giants send Panik/Beede/Shaw and Denard Span for Stanton, the contract, and 2B Dee Gordon. 

Ok, this is interesting:

  • Gordon 2B
  • Arroyo 3B
  • Posey C
  • Standton RF
  • Belt 1B
  • Pence LF
  • Crawford SS
  • Somebody CF

Somethings I like about this. Dee Gordon, though not my favorite player by a long shot, could be a good leadoff hitter for this team. He also plays a more than decent 2B. He might get 30 triples playing in AT&T. This also allows Hunter Pence to be the everyday LF, something I think he can do for a year. AND (I am so passionate about this), it breaks up the glut of left-handed hitters in the bottom half of the lineup.

I also, for the record, am not opposed to Steven Duggar getting a real shot at CF next year. But, I don’t think they will do that.

Which means: something else is going to happen. #HotTake.

There is no way the Giants go into 2018 with a both Christian Arroyo and Steven Duggar as key cogs in their every day lineup. If they do this I would be shocked (pleasantly surprised too, but also shocked).

What will this other move be? Do the Giants move Brandon Belt for a CF? Perhaps the Red Sox lose out on a couple of guys (like Eric Hosmer and JD Martinez) and get deperate for more power so they go after Brandon Belt (who would be great in Fenway if he can deal with the fans). Imagine this lineup for a moment:

  • Gordon 2B
  • Arroyo 3B
  • Posey C
  • Stanton RF
  • Pence LF
  • Crawford SS
  • Somebody 1B
  • Jackie Bradley Jr CF

That is a much more athletic and much better defensive team than what we’ve seen in a while. But, now there is a hole at 1B.

Which brings me, finally, to my thesis: Giancarlo Stanton would look so good in a Giants uniform. No doubt. But, he is not the silver bullet. He is not the answer to everything. The Giants are a couple moves away from really getting to a good place.

(Also, none of this addresses the pitching/bullpen issues.)

So, hope and pray for Giancarlo, but know that he will not solve all of our problems.

Crazy Trades

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For the second time in the last three months an absolutely crazy trade has gone down in MLB. There have been plenty of articles written about how terrible the Marlins are for making this deal happen.

But I get it, in a bottom-line, penny-pinching way, I get it. It’s terrible and it’s wrong and all that, but it makes a weird sort of sense.

Not the point. The point is, the Marlins best player is still a Marlin. His name is Giancarlo or Mike or whatever Stanton.

And they are NOT going to trade him.

Right.

Actually, I makes a lot of sense for them not to trade him. Yet. He’s not expensive at this point, he hits crazy home runs, and he will be the ONLY reason to go to that hideous ball park in 2013.

But, what would it take to get him?

Probably a Zack Wheeler and a Tommy Joseph at least. Oh, wait.

Would you give up a Gary Brown? Would you try to sell some combo of Crick and Hembree and Susac and Peguero?

Stanton is going to command big money at some point, which is maybe how you pull the strings and get something to happen. Anything is possible in this crazy world.

I can’t help but keep looking at this, your 2014 SF Giants:

  • CF Brown
  • 2B Panik
  • 3B Sandoval
  • C Posey
  • LF Stanton
  • 1B Belt
  • RF Peguero
  • SS Crawford

(-SB)