This Giants “apologist” predicted 78 wins.
OF, you ignore quite a bit.
“Diamonds in the rough” - Yaz, Estrada. Neither are stars. Both good players.
Flores. Another solid pick up. Cobb, good FA signing. Pederson, yes ‘22. No, 23.
Farm system - Question - is it your expectation that when a rookie is called up he immediately produces and moves ahead on a straight line progression? Doesn’t happen often. I’ll go down the line with who they called up. Regulars first:
Sabol. Rule 5. Athletic. Good power. Forced to play a position he’s ill suited for. 13 HRs. Showed promise. And after this year he’ll have three options. Needs to improve contact. Especially on breaking stuff.
Schmitt. Plus fielder. Bat somewhat of a question. Needs to improve approach. Handles inside fastball. Struggles with breaking stuff. Showed enough to be a nice part of a roster. Star? Doubtful. But will contribute
Luciano. Flashes of power that is his exciting feature. He’s 22. Strong. Good athlete. I question if SS is his ultimate position. He’s going to be a major league player. For many years. Question is if he can be a “star”
Matos. Majors leap at 21-22. This is a guy that people were questioning in May ‘22. Good bat to ball skills. Decent speed. Needs to get stronger.
Fitzgerald. Another guy that made big leap. Versatile. Good power. Excellent speed. Question is contact. If he can improve that (a big if) he could be a very very good player.
Wisely. Good speed. Versatile. 25-26 roster guy. Potential as a utility infielder. Another gut that needs to work on contact.
Meckler. An outlier. Excellent speed. Made tremendous leap in ‘23. Good contact skills. Raw. A potential high average/OBP speed guy.
Villar. AAAA. Enough said.
Bart. Personally, I think Giants blew this one. I expect him to be traded.
Ramos. See, Bart.
Pitchers in next post
Harrison. Showed why he’s a No 1 prospect. Needs better command within the zone. 22. A legit shot at being no 3 starter next year. And eventually an ace,
Winn. Easy 96 with a nasty split. If he develops a plus slider, he’s going to be very good. Although, he may be a trade chip.
Beck - Solid first year. I think he was impacted but the up and down BS. Zaidi got him in a trade for Mark Melancon. Which, considering it was a salary dump is impressive.
BTW- another steal of a trade was Davis and three pitchers Seymour, Zwack and Szarpucki. The latter got hurt. But both Seymour and Zwack have a shot - especially Seymour. Davis slumped. Badly. But he’s a more than serviceable mlb player. Getting him straight up for Ruf. would have been a steal.
Oh, and I forgot Wade. I think they got him for Sam Dyson…..EDIT - Wrong. It was for Shaun Anderson. A steal nonetheless.
Pitchers to look for next year - Mason Black and Carson Whisenhunt.
Zaidi has done an excellent job adding depth to a farm system that was dead last in MLB when he took over. Whether that system produces mote than just marginal pieces is to be seen. And ultimately will determine his fate.
As to future FA’s - they will come. The Giants might have to pay a “ballpark premium “ for a hitter. Especially a left handed hitter. But that can be done. After all, they had Correa up in the fold.
OF, you ignore quite a bit.
“Diamonds in the rough” - Yaz, Estrada. Neither are stars. Both good players.
Flores. Another solid pick up. Cobb, good FA signing. Pederson, yes ‘22. No, 23.
Farm system - Question - is it your expectation that when a rookie is called up he immediately produces and moves ahead on a straight line progression? Doesn’t happen often. I’ll go down the line with who they called up. Regulars first:
Sabol. Rule 5. Athletic. Good power. Forced to play a position he’s ill suited for. 13 HRs. Showed promise. And after this year he’ll have three options. Needs to improve contact. Especially on breaking stuff.
Schmitt. Plus fielder. Bat somewhat of a question. Needs to improve approach. Handles inside fastball. Struggles with breaking stuff. Showed enough to be a nice part of a roster. Star? Doubtful. But will contribute
Luciano. Flashes of power that is his exciting feature. He’s 22. Strong. Good athlete. I question if SS is his ultimate position. He’s going to be a major league player. For many years. Question is if he can be a “star”
Matos. Majors leap at 21-22. This is a guy that people were questioning in May ‘22. Good bat to ball skills. Decent speed. Needs to get stronger.
Fitzgerald. Another guy that made big leap. Versatile. Good power. Excellent speed. Question is contact. If he can improve that (a big if) he could be a very very good player.
Wisely. Good speed. Versatile. 25-26 roster guy. Potential as a utility infielder. Another gut that needs to work on contact.
Meckler. An outlier. Excellent speed. Made tremendous leap in ‘23. Good contact skills. Raw. A potential high average/OBP speed guy.
Villar. AAAA. Enough said.
Bart. Personally, I think Giants blew this one. I expect him to be traded.
Ramos. See, Bart.
Pitchers in next post
Harrison. Showed why he’s a No 1 prospect. Needs better command within the zone. 22. A legit shot at being no 3 starter next year. And eventually an ace,
Winn. Easy 96 with a nasty split. If he develops a plus slider, he’s going to be very good. Although, he may be a trade chip.
Beck - Solid first year. I think he was impacted but the up and down BS. Zaidi got him in a trade for Mark Melancon. Which, considering it was a salary dump is impressive.
BTW- another steal of a trade was Davis and three pitchers Seymour, Zwack and Szarpucki. The latter got hurt. But both Seymour and Zwack have a shot - especially Seymour. Davis slumped. Badly. But he’s a more than serviceable mlb player. Getting him straight up for Ruf. would have been a steal.
Oh, and I forgot Wade. I think they got him for Sam Dyson…..EDIT - Wrong. It was for Shaun Anderson. A steal nonetheless.
Pitchers to look for next year - Mason Black and Carson Whisenhunt.
Zaidi has done an excellent job adding depth to a farm system that was dead last in MLB when he took over. Whether that system produces mote than just marginal pieces is to be seen. And ultimately will determine his fate.
As to future FA’s - they will come. The Giants might have to pay a “ballpark premium “ for a hitter. Especially a left handed hitter. But that can be done. After all, they had Correa up in the fold.