A mad rush of free agency transactions at the ratification of the new collective bargaining agreement hasn’t yet materialized.
Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi isn’t shocked. He’s being reminded now of how “interactive” the inner-workings of baseball can be during the last 12 hours of phone calls with agents.
Those 12-hour phone calls did, however, lead to the Giants reportedly inking free agent starter Carlos Rodón to a two-year, $44 million contract. The executive addressed the media prior the reported signing.
“I would expect a lot of activity this weekend,” Zaidi told local media via Zoom on Friday. “I don’t know if people thought once the button got pressed, there would be a steady stream of news. It obviously takes a while for everybody to get back in touch and weigh their options. I think we’ll start hearing news of some of the bigger free agent signings in the next couple days.”
The mandatory spring training reporting date is this Sunday. Free agents don’t necessarily need to sign with a team prior to that, but many would likely prefer to have some certainty.
Regardless of when more transactions might happen, the Giants project to be in the mix. CEO Larry Baer told reporters Thursday that the team will be “pretty aggressive” in adding talent, either via trade or free agency. Currently, the team’s payroll is at roughly $112 million — well shy of the newly bargained $230 million luxury tax.
Zaidi highlighted some priorities for the Giants including starting pitching depth and adding another bat — albeit not necessarily a right-handed one as many presumed.
“We’re still looking to add a starting pitcher,” Zaidi said, presumably referring to Rodón. “Interested in adding a bat. We obviously love versatility. Handedness isn’t as critical. But there’s still some interesting bats out there. That’s kind of what we’re hoping to add. There are some really interesting options on both of those lists that might not be at the top of everyone’s best available free agents lists.”
With the rotation, the Giants re-signed Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani prior to the lockout. They also signed Alex Cobb to bolster a rotation led by Logan Webb.
Zaidi has always looked at starting pitching not through the lens of a five-man rotation, rather getting through 162 games. Even with Rodón, SF could use more depth, particularly with a shortened spring training that will likely affect starters adversely. Rodón, Wood, and Cobb each have injury histories, too.
Starters remaining on the open market include Yusei Kikuchi and Clayton Kershaw. Potential trade candidates that could surface are Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea and Luis Castillo. Notably, Zaidi predicts some trades that would normally get finalized may not materialize given the unprecedented time crunch.
San Francisco could also address the rotation internally. Sean Hjelle, Sammy Long and John Brebbia are all option-eligible pitchers. Based on how they perform in spring training, they could be stretched out to starter length or used more as long relievers to eat up innings.
But those options open up a whole new challenge for the Giants, who now have to navigate the limit on call-ups in the new CBA.
As for position player help, the retirement of Buster Posey and the likely departure of Kris Bryant apparently diminishes much of SF’s power from right-handed batters. But Zaidi doesn’t see it that way.
Asked about the need to add a right-handed bat, Zaidi dismissed the concerns and called the group currently on the roster “underrated.” He cited Austin Slater, Evan Longoria, Darin Ruf and Wilmer Flores as players more than capable of producing against left-handed pitchers. Joey Bart, who’s expected to play in a “timeshare” role with Curt Casali, has also hit well against lefties in his career. They’re the reasons San Francisco isn’t limiting itself to pursuing a righty.
“We have more options on that side than I think maybe we’re being given credit for,” Zaidi said.
The best right-handed bats available in free agency include Japanese superstar Seiya Suzuki, Carlos Correa, Nick Castellanos and Jorge Soler. But given the Giants are less “fixated” on righties as Zaidi said, other slugging options like Kyle Schwarber could open up.
“If there is a left-handed bat that makes sense for us, I think we can find a way to fit that as well,” Zaidi said. “I think we’re trying to find a balance on the position player side between giving some opportunities to some of our younger guys like Thairo Estrada and Steven Duggar who played well for us last year. Were both a little bit up and down. And whether there’s a possibility of having them in stable roles on the Major League roster and kind of keeping our eye out for additions that might just improve the length of our lineup.”
Another dynamic to think about is the implementation of the universal designated hitter. That could allow the Giants to employ even more flexibility and get even more creative in their acquisitions.
The new rule presents a challenge, but having a deep roster was a strength in 2021 and continues to be an organizational focus in 2022, so having more at-bats to go around should theoretically play to the Giants’ advantage. Zaidi in general is in favor of the rule, as it should extend players’ careers and help with workload management.
And although Logan Webb did hit the last home run by an NL pitcher, the Giants hit 0.90 on the year — 20th in MLB.
“With all due respect to our pitchers that we all love, I think we had one of if not the worst hitting pitching staff in the league last year,” Zaidi said. “So maybe this universal DH will save us from ourselves.”