Santiago Casilla pitched brilliantly for the San Francisco Giants for seven years and was a key part of a dominant bullpen that helped nail down three World Series titles. Check out the bWAR totals (2010-2016): 1.7, 1.4, 0.5, 1.1, 2.0, 1.1, 0.8. Not bad for a guy who pitched less than 65 innings per season. And his post-season work was also excellent: 19-2/3 IP, 15 H, 20 K, 5 BB, only three runs allowed in 25 appearances. We are left with the bitter taste of last season's failures, but closing out wins was a team-wide problem, much of it due to the end of the Core Four. Jeremy Affeldt retired and neither Sergio Romo nor Javier Lopez could conjure up the old magic in 2016.
Casilla returns to his original team, the Oakland A's, on a two-year deal. He's still an effective pitcher and I expect he'll contribute positive value to that club. But the Giants had to move on. All the bullpen roles are up for grabs (other than closer!) and we will finally get to see if the young arms can deliver. Even if Lopez and/or Romo return there's a good chance neither will play as big of a role as they once did. It's a "whole new ballgame" for the Giants relief corps. Thanks for everything, Santiago. Wear those rings proudly, you earned them.
In other news, the Giants avoid arbitration with Conor Gillaspie and sign him to a one-year deal for $1.4M. I think he'll be a useful role player in 2017. It's nice to have a veteran left-handed bat who can play the hot corner. And none of us will forget his post-season heroics!
Pitchers and catchers report in 32 days.
--M.C.
17 comments:
32 days? Really? I just watched a compilation of last years World Series. That was a great series and incredible game 7! Are you ready for some baseball? Hell ya!
Adios Santiago and thanks for some excellent memories. Hopefully you'll have a great run with the A's and I agree with Mark - Wear those rings proudly. You will always be a GIANT in my heart. Vaya con Dios!
The guy with the most consecutive games without giving up a run in post-season play? Mariano Rivera (23).
The number 2 and number 3 guys on that list?
Giants.
Jeremy Affeldt (21), and
Santiago Casilla (20).
Explains a lot about why there are rings to be worn.
Kontos and Nunez signed, Will Smith the last of the arb-eligible players.
Smith signs.
Bochy kept throwing him in to pitch against Lamb. The guy owned him and Bochy kept giving him a chance. Those failures to me were on Bochy. Wrong pitcher vs. wrong batter. A few more times and we do not make the playoffs. I enjoyed the years he had when he had decent control, and appropriate match-ups. Overall he was a good giant.
He had, certainly in 2016, the fatal problem of getting rattled. Part of the ethos of a closer is swagger, to enable him to play the baseball equivalent of a matador. I have always had my doubts, from having grown up with baseball before anyone came up with the idea of closers, about the necessity of having closers at all (as opposed to having bullpens with some guys more trustworthy in high-leverage situations). But if they serve any baseball purpose, rather than simply amping up the show for the fans with the strut, the theme music, and the hope for seeing enemy batters overwhelmed, they need to have almost unshakable confidence that they can convey to their teammates and the luckless batters who are about to be mastered. Casilla lacked that more and more as the 2016 season went on, and--I want to say, as a result--his performance got worse and worse.
Pulling him when Jake Lamb came to bat would have aggravated his uncertainty about himself, hence Bochy risked leaving him in. By the end of last year, though, what with Casilla's petulant display on the mound when he was pulled, his tears and bitterness in the clubhouse afterward, and the fans' boos, the problem wasn't one Lamb but a whole herd of dangerous hitters who made Casilla a goat.
Hey, M.C. I appreciate the retrospective giving Casilla (and the rest of our Core Four) their proper due. Awesome. They set a supreme standard that they themselves eventually fell victim to. Every MLB bullpen requires 400+ innings. Having them deliver so many of those, allowed us proper function of journeymen relievers to fill the voids. How many MLB teams would DREAM of their top 3-4 relievers (by IP) hovering in mid-2's to 3-ish ERAs? MOST, that's how many. Casilla & Romo 0.00 ERA in all 3 WS combined!!!
IMO, Casilla is painted in unfair prejudice for his postseason "outburst." I read it differently. I don't want a pitcher closing for us who doesn't WANT the ball when it matters most. That's character, not necessarily usurping authority. Losing is never just "one" player. 0-62 when trailing going into the 9th inning, for example. A closer like Melancon can't "fix" everything.
Ah, the armor comes off. Do we now have a soft underbelly, where once we had strength? The mighty undersung heroes. Affeldt, Romo, Casilla, Lopez. Blanco. All great Giants. Always. Forever. Will Knotos arm fall off, he had some abusive usage for a couple seasons...
Anyways, I've noticed our Strength of Schedule might be the most favorable in more than a decade! Gotta take advantage. Go Giants. Dream big...
Gregor Blanco signs a minor-league deal with Arizona.
Adios, Gregor. You kicked ass in Giants uniform! I will miss you.
Here's a nice piece from FG about our lovely Park and it's impact on homers.
Not that we didn't know this stuff already, but it is always interesting and it is also nice to see Brandon Belt get a little appreciation. And one has to renew one's awe over Barry Bonds' hitting prowess. Our Park is certainly distinctive and the Giants play their own kind of baseball because of it.
Well, someone's got to bitch about the BBWHOF voting, and I guess it might as well be me. So let me understand......the "character clause" has been invoked as to why Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are not in because they allegedly took PED's. But Jeff Bagwell (suspected PED user) and Ivan Rodriquez (named as a PED user) are now in? The voting process is a fucking joke.
Yordano Ventura was killed in a car accident in the DR. He beat the Giants in Game Six of the 2014 World Series. Also started Game Two which the Royals won. Would have been all of 26 this June.
Very sad news about Ventura & the other guy in the separate accident. Ventura was a good Friend of Oscar Taveras.
On another subject, I've been a Jae-Gyun Hwang forever. Interesting acquisition. If he is actually good v. MLB Pitching, then Nunez as the super-utility guy may still happen. I think that this is yet another indication that Adrianza is on his way elsewhere. With Rollins, Tomlinson, & now Hwang, unless Rollins has nothing left, I don't think that we have room for Adrianza. But, having a vet like Rollins is meaningful, so I think that he will stay.
They've been talking about their interest in this guy for some time. Glad to see they've signed him. Not a lot of room on the 40-man. Nice to have competition for spots.
Nick Hundley? Seems like an odd move. Trevor Brown must be super-bummed - first, we get Federowicz, now Hundley.
Middle infielders: I am baffled by the Giants' treatment of Tomlinson, who was worth 1.2 fWAR as a rookie in 2015, with 193 PA, and 0.8 last year, with 120 PA. He sharply improved both his defensive fWAR and his K/BB ratio last year. That's a productivity that, extrapolated over 600 PA, would put him among the 50 best players in the league. He achieved it with a high BABIP, which warns of regression, but since the BABIP was high in two successive seasons, the warning is somewhat muted. I would have thought that such a player would be a shoo-in for the roster. Yet the Giants keep stockpiling lesser competitors, such as Adrianza, and what would seem like exhausted antiques, such as Rollins. Nor have I seen reports of other teams' slavering to add Tomlinson to their rosters. I wish I knew why.
I think Tomlinson will get every chance to prove his worth to the club. The key word is "extrapolated." Lots of guys look good in projections. Maybe they don't think he's ready for 600 PA. Plus his natural spot is second, and he's not Joe Panik. Nonetheless he's still under team control, he won't arb-eligible for two more seasons. He'll get his chances. I like logjams--guys have to step up and really show their game. The competition will be good for Kelby. And he can learn from a guy like Rollins. Adrianza has been in the organization since he was 16! I saw a stronger, smarter player last season, even if the numbers don't show it. This is "fish-or-cut-bait" time for him, and he's probably at his physical peak, so if he's got game this is when it will happen.
Well, so much for that. Giants DFA Adrianza. I wish him well. Got to love a guy with his persistence!
Post a Comment