After blowing a league leading 30 saves in 2016, it should come as no surprise that Giants executive Brian Sabean and general manager Bobby Evans are making finding a ninth-inning solution their top priority this offseason.
“We’ll make sure no ninth inning goes unstaffed,” Evans told reporters during the Giants’ end of season press conference.
How San Francisco plans on doing this exactly remains to be seen, with Evans saying the club will exhaust every option in free agency, via trade or internal.
Four big time closers sit atop the free agency list this offseason, with Aroldis Chapman (36 SV, 1.55 ERA), Kenley Jansen (47 SV, 1.84 ERA), Mark Melancon (47 SV, 1.65 ERA) and Francisco Rodriguez (44 SV, 3.25) all coming off the books. The Giants reportedly pursued both Chapman, who helped end San Francisco’s season on Tuesday, and Melancon at the trade deadline, but ultimately were outbid, something Evans said made him feel like a “knucklehead”.
The only internal option would seem to be Derek Law, a 26-year-old rookie right hander who was the Giants best reliever in 2016 before sustaining an elbow strain in August.
Closer is the Giants’ most obvious hole, but San Francisco also has to decide what to do with aging relievers Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Santiago Casilla, all three of which have been with the club since 2010. Many see this offseason as an opportune time to break away from the remaining members of the “core four”, but Evans seemed to indicate that the veterans haven’t all necessarily played their last game in orange and black.
“We have a lot of talent there,” Evans said. “We’ll find ways to improve, but we’ve got a good core.”
“An overhaul would be a tremendous overstatement.”
Which of the three will stay remains to be seen, though Romo had a stellar year and is only 33, and Lopez is still a valuable lefty-specialist, and has expressed interest in returning to the team next year, quelling assumptions that the 39-year-old is headed for retirement. Casilla is probably the odd-man out after his disastrous season, but the Giants decisions with all three will be largely predicated on if they feel young relievers such Hunter Strickland, Will Smith, Steven Okert and Josh Osich are ready to slot into more defined set-up roles in 2017.