[lex24]

Back to the Giants. Just read a story about the DH being part of the agreement for the NL.  Of course here we are in February and are they even talking agreement ?
However who on the Giants now would be an Ideal DH ?

Or is that a necessary trade or free agent signing ?

Slater v. Lefties
Wade v. Righties

Here are the splits from last season: 

Slater

v. LHP - 10 HR 24 RBI .284 BA
v. RHP - 2 HR 8 RBI .171 BA

Wade

v. LHP - 0 HR 2 RBI .135 BA
v. RHP - 18 HR 54 RBI .268 BA

The Giants aren't going to do a strict Slater/Wade platoon but this goes to my point that the job will be shared, and that there will be different ways to maximize the talent at hand.

Roster construction is about assembling a versatile squad so that you can optimize the lineup on a day to day basis, maximizing efficiency by moving players around the field and the lineup based on matchups, parks, need for rest, injury recovery etc. This is how AL teams approach it these days and how NL teams will approach it.

Last year there were only five AL batters who qualified for the batting title with over half their at bats coming as DH, and Ohtani is a unique case since he would be playing outfield if he wasn't pitching. The other four DH were J.D. Martinez, Giancarlo Stanton, Yordan Alvarez and Nelson Cruz. But Cruz was the only fully dedicated DH. Alvarez DHed 98 times and played in the field 41 times, Martinez DHed 113 times and played in the field 36 times, Stanton DHed 108 times and played in the field 26 times. In any case, unless you have a hitter of that caliber you're not going to designate someone as the DH, it's too costly in terms of roster flexibility, and even if you do have someone of that caliber they still haven't been DHing more than 98-113 games because there are times when it's optimal to DH someone else and play these guys in the field.

I'm assuming that Kapler will be moving around a number of players daily and utilizing the DH spot in different ways. Even if they sign a poor fielder such as Castellano or Schwarber they aren't going to DH 146 games like Nelson Cruz, that would be way too limiting and an inefficient signing.

P.S. DH would have been pretty handy last year with Posey not able to catch that many games, he could have DHed or played first while someone else served as DH.

The roster will change. But as of today, I’d think Ruf would be the most heavily used as DH.  His splits aren’t dramatic.  And his glove, while not bad, is weaker than Slater/Wade etc.  I could see Bart getting some ABs at DH as well.  If his bat plays.

[lex24]

Back to the Giants. Just read a story about the DH being part of the agreement for the NL.  Of course here we are in February and are they even talking agreement ?
However who on the Giants now would be an Ideal DH ?

Or is that a necessary trade or free agent signing ?

Slater v. Lefties
Wade v. Righties

Here are the splits from last season: 

Slater

v. LHP - 10 HR 24 RBI .284 BA
v. RHP - 2 HR 8 RBI .171 BA

Wade

v. LHP - 0 HR 2 RBI .135 BA
v. RHP - 18 HR 54 RBI .268 BA

The Giants aren't going to do a strict Slater/Wade platoon but this goes to my point that the job will be shared, and that there will be different ways to maximize the talent at hand.

Roster construction is about assembling a versatile squad so that you can optimize the lineup on a day to day basis, maximizing efficiency by moving players around the field and the lineup based on matchups, parks, need for rest, injury recovery etc. This is how AL teams approach it these days and how NL teams will approach it.

Last year there were only five AL batters who qualified for the batting title with over half their at bats coming as DH, and Ohtani is a unique case since he would be playing outfield if he wasn't pitching. The other four DH were J.D. Martinez, Giancarlo Stanton, Yordan Alvarez and Nelson Cruz. But Cruz was the only fully dedicated DH. Alvarez DHed 98 times and played in the field 41 times, Martinez DHed 113 times and played in the field 36 times, Stanton DHed 108 times and played in the field 26 times. In any case, unless you have a hitter of that caliber you're not going to designate someone as the DH, it's too costly in terms of roster flexibility, and even if you do have someone of that caliber they still haven't been DHing more than 98-113 games because there are times when it's optimal to DH someone else and play these guys in the field.

I'm assuming that Kapler will be moving around a number of players daily and utilizing the DH spot in different ways. Even if they sign a poor fielder such as Castellano or Schwarber they aren't going to DH 146 games like Nelson Cruz, that would be way too limiting and an inefficient signing.

P.S. DH would have been pretty handy last year with Posey not able to catch that many games, he could have DHed or played first while someone else served as DH.

The roster will change. But as of today, I’d think Ruf would be the most heavily used as DH.  His splits aren’t dramatic.  And his glove, while not bad, is weaker than Slater/Wade etc.  I could see Bart getting some ABs at DH as well.  If his bat plays.