I've got the 2012 World Series on DVD of course and just finished re-watching the whole thing. I thought I'd do for the 2012 team the same thing I did for the 2010 club. Current Giants are in italicized bold. Starred players were on the 2010 post-season roster.
The Giants carried 12 pitchers on that squad:
*Jeremy Affeldt: retired.
*Madison Bumgarner: signed through 2017 with options for '18 and '19.
*Matt Cain: signed through 2017 with an option for '18.
*Santiago Casilla: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
George Kontos: first-year arb-eligible
*Tim Lincecum: a free agent.
*Javier Lopez: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Jose Mijares: a free agent.
*Guillermo Mota: retired.
*Sergio Romo: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Ryan Vogelsong: signed with Pittsburgh for 2016.
Barry Zito: retired
Two catchers:
*Buster Posey: signed through 2021.
Hector Sanchez: signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox.
A whopping seven infielders:
Joaquin Arias: signed a minor-league deal with Arizona.
Brandon Belt: third year of arbitration.
Brandon Crawford: signed through 2021.
*Aubrey Huff: retired.
*Pablo Sandoval: with the Boston Red Sox.
Marco Scutaro: retired.
Ryan Theriot: retired.
Only four outfielders:
Gregor Blanco: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Xavier Nady: a free agent.
Angel Pagan: signed for 2016, eligible for free agency in '17.
Hunter Pence: signed through through 2018.
That's a dozen players still with the team. All of them, in fact, are important pieces for 2016. Speaking of 2016 I don't see much more happening on the roster/trade/free agent front. The Giants grabbed two big pieces in Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto during the Winter Meetings and ought to feel good about a job well done.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
--M.C.
20 comments:
My favorite post-season of all. 2010 was very stressful, because there was always this tiny chance that they'd screw it up again. I was relaxed during 2012 - with one win safely under our belts, getting that 2nd Championship didn't feel 'necessary, just very, very nice. By 2014, I was all wound up & tense again, way too personally invested in things having a positive outcome. Luckily, they did!
2016? We won in 2014; the Royals won in 2015. How about a Giants / Royals mid-decade battle for bragging rights, with the even year good guys getting the win?
I've been enjoying more Latin American Sports Channel Puerto Rican & Cuban League baseball on Sundays - a pleasant diversion, an opportunity to watch baseball, & a chance to do some scouting. Mexican League games are on there, too. A few familiar big names haven't popped up yet in Puerto Rico & Mexico - that usually happens after the New Year.
No analysis here, just the possibility of winning four straight even years, makes this season coming up very exciting. I wonder if any team has ever one four straight every other year World Series, while not playing in the World series during the opposite years?
Leake's $80M for 5 year deal w/ St. Louis has to be compared w/ our more expensive deal for Samardzija. I am going to have to be convinced that we didn't make a mistake here. Leake is 2 1/2 years younger & has better ballpark-adjusted stats. Plus, he can hit.
De Aza now headed to the Mets, so that option is gone. Bobby Evans sort of said that Blanco's our guy, but that we'd prefer him as the 4th OF. Who do we target? Is it still Fowler? Switch-hitter who can play CF makes him a plus. The fact that he thinks that he's a full-time CF presents problems.
I don't see it as a mistake at all. Leake went more cheaply because he doesn't throw hard. Samardzija has heat. Otherwise they are pretty similar, outcome-wise. I would have been happy with Leake at the same rate but for some reason he and the Giants could not make it happen. Leake's younger but he's thrown more innings and faced more batters. No, I'm happy. I like the Samardzija deal.
Baseball's been very, very good to Alejandro De Aza ... up to $7M (almost $6M guaranteed) for an OK platoon corner outfielder who isn't notable for his defense? Gregor Blanco, who has virtually the same length of ML Service, is a good fielder, hits just about as well, & has accomplished so much more, is getting $4M next season. We're getting by far the better deal.
De Aza is one year ahead--he had his final arb year last season where he made $5M. Blanco signed a two-year deal for $7.5M after 2014 for '15 and '16. He is a free agent next year. Maybe De Aza had a better agent! Or the Giants are just better negotiators. Then again, it could just be fluky baseball economics. It will be interesting to see what a player like Blanco could get in free agency. I certainly think he's been very valuable to the Giants. He hit very well last season, best of his career.
Leake vs. Samardzija is about performance vs. potential.
Leake has performed better since coming to the majors than Samardzija, but Samardzija has the potential to be a dominant #2 in the rotation, whereas Leake is a crafty righty, and while he will be a steady cog in the rotation, won't shut down the other team like Samardzija can.
The catch is that Samardzija has only done it once, in 2014, when he combined his good peripherals with good results. Leake can only dream of getting his ERA under 3.
And while Leake is younger, his arm might be older in terms of usage, Samardzija did not commit to baseball until he turned pro, and he was used more as a reliever than SP early in his career.
I agree that there is more risk with Samardzija, but if the Giants pitching brain trust can figure it out, he could become a third co-ace with Bumgarner and Cueto. Leake could never hope for that.
How about the Yanks getting Aroldis Chapman? Makes me wonder about what's going on in LA, the first place the flamethrower was supposed to land. What dramatic moves are they going to pull off for 2016? They are the biggest spenders in baseball (nearly $300M for their 40-man by the end of last season), I can't see them NOT spending a bunch!
Anyway, hope y'all had a Merry Xmas, and may you have a prosperous New Year. The Giants made me happy with their fresh new FAs and I've been skiing on Mt Ashland five times already so things are looking up from this boy's point of view!!
Bring on 2016, baby, I'm ready.
I see LA snagging Maeda. They also may pull off a mega-trade. That would probably involve Puig. Just guessing, I have no information, but it seems like the kind of thing they would do.
So, would bringing back the Melk-Man on some sort of deal for low level prospects be considered a shoring up of our OF situation? Just asking, because the White Sox appear likely to sign either Cespedes or Gordon, so they will have a surplus in the OF, & the subject of them trading Cabrera has already come up this off-season. Would you rather have Melky or Dexter Fowler? One plus in Melky's favor is a better OF arm. He also graciously requested to be withdrawn, so that Buster could win the batting title in 2012 - that earned him back a few points from Giants fans. A top OF foursome of Pence, Pagan, Blanco, & Melky isn't too bad, with Williamson, Parker, & Cruz to choose from for #5.
I don't know how close the Giants are to the luxury tax threshold (which I believe is at $189M) but I'll bet they won't go over it. They still have arb for Belt (#3) and Kontos (#1) and a few mill they'll have to spread around to cover the rooks and 1st/2nd year types. Melky is signed at $14M for next year and $15M for 2017 and I can't see that fitting in the Giants budget plans. I love the MelkMan and I have no bad feelings about his suspension. I mean "do the crime, do the time" and move on is my outlook. He's a good player but on the flip side he's 30 and probably on the decline and won't deliver better value than Blanco (who costs quite a bit less and had a better 2015). No, unless one of the FA OFs comes cheaply I don't see the team having any urgency for that position. I know it's my tiresome deceased equine rant but "LFs are a dime a dozen." They can find value somewhere, even at the mid-season deadline. Belt will get some time out there, and I still think Kyle Blanks is in play. Think about it--the 2014 World Champs used Travis Ishikawa and Juan Perez! My bigger worry is Pagan. If he can't stay healthy then Blanco has to go back to CF and THEN they'll need a guy. I suppose the smart thing would be to grab up young speedy guys, so I expect some minor-league stockpiling and more scrap-heaping rather than a splashy move.
I don't see getting the Melk-man as a splashy move. He is not considered a prime player by the White Sox. I bet that they would suck up some of his salary for the right deal. I just hear a lot of pessimism about Parker & Williamson being ready (now or ever, although Williamson seems like a better prospect), plus have the same concerns about Pagan. If they can get an actual ML player under the right circumstances & don't have to pay his full salary, then it could be a good alternative to signing Fowler or someone else of that ilk - those current Free Agents are definitely going to get overpaid.
They cut loose two guys (Aoki and Byrd) who would have been paid half what Cabrera is owed. Just don't see the math there. Not arguing the need, esp with the uncertainty about the youngsters, just hard to figure why they'd spend money they already cut.
Giants are not going back to Melky. When Mota was caught using again, they dropped him fast. It ain't happening.
Baer announced at Cueto signing that the Giants are over the threshold with Cueto signing, and paying penalty tax again. From my math, with the backloading, they can still spend $10-15M and still have cash payroll around where they were last season plus some.
I see Blanks in the Blanco category, a player who has actually done well as MLB but for some reason nobody is giving him a chance to do that regularly. Blanks is different because his health has been the thing keeping him off the field, whereas Blancos sin was that he didn't fit any standard baseball archetype.
I can see trading for someone like Melky, only not Melky, as a move often done by Sabevans before, and they are waiting for the right player. Still, they could sign Byrd back, he did alright for us.
Funny you mention Byrd. He looked a lot better in the field last season than I expected and he can still mash lefties, making him a good platoon option. He was too pricey for the Giants at $8M/yr. No one else has, it seems, shown interest. I wonder what he will ultimately settle for and I wonder if he'd consider the Giants after they held him off from the vesting option. Anyway, I think the market is still in flux as some big names have not yet signed. After The Gordon/Cespedes/Upton Show is over and done with I imagine the Giants will grab somebody.
Here's the list of guys--free agents. There's always trades, of course.
Here's one thing the smogsuckers did.
"The signing puts the Dodgers in position to field an entirely left-handed rotation with Clayton Kershaw, Brett Anderson, Travis Wood, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kazmir."
Bizarre!
Happy 2016!
Kenta Maeda goes to LA.
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