Austin Jackson fills out the outfield and comes at a price the Giants like (2 yrs, $6M). It's not a very exciting move but it is an upgrade and that's what matters. I don't expect he'll play every day but he'll be out there a lot and let's hope he can do for the Giants what he did for the Indians (.318/.387/.482 in 318 PA) last season. It's so, so Sabean-esque to sign a guy like Jackson. And McCutchen. And Longoria. BobbyE learned at The Master's feet, and thus we have an abundance of Veteran Savvy Clutchness for 2018. We'll need it--the Giants play the Dodgers nine times** in the first month. You heard that right. They cannot have a bad start or they'll be doomed. So, stock up the quality oldsters, the seasoned pros, and they'll help steer the ship and navigate the rocky waters. That's straight out of the the Book of Boch, too.
It can work. There is certainly enough talent on the club to win. They'll have to stay healthy and deliver what's expected of them, not like last season when it all fell apart. I have to believe--Gambler's Fallacy, I know--that things will just by chance be better than last year. There will be more healthy guys and more career-normal performances. Add the upgrades and it's a good team with a chance to be really good.
Q: When do pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training?
--M.C.
**correction: it's TEN times (the Giants open the season with four in LA)
21 comments:
Some upgrade! Two articles in *The Athletic* clarify this. Eno Sarris, using Statcast, “our best defensive metric,” shows only seven CF worse than Jackson in 2017; and A. Baggarly, looking at 72 center fielders who played more than 100 innings there last season, ranks Jackson 60th in defensiveruns above average and 67th in season-adjusted UZR. Of course getting Jackson carries a serious opportunity cost, since we might have had, perhaps, someone else and, if so, very likely someone better.
The most sanguine way of looking at this signing, for Sarris, is that Jackson will subside into being a fourth outfielder at such time as Duggar is ready, and for Baggs, that Jackson more generally buys the Giants time for finding someone who can actually play the position reputably. Then Jackson can do what Evans specified in announcing the signing, back up the team at all three OF positions. In short, if the Giants can get an actually capable CF, whether Duggar or not, this signing probably improves them; and if they can’t, it’s a pretty dubious move.
At least if J’s incentives kick in, they won’t count against the CBT payroll for 2018.
As you might imagine, I am totally cool with this move. You can whine all you want to about declining defensive metrics, but this guy is still an OK Centerfielder & a veteran hitter. The whole package he brings is an improvement on Span & Gorkys & all of the other guys who have recently had a shot for us in CF. So, improvements at 3 positions is a good thing. Furthermore, he's kind of a placeholder for the day when Duggar is ready to jump in, so a good placeholder. Dyson was starting to arouse other interest, so his price was probably on the way up. The Giants went for the next best available option.
What I am still concerned about is that we haven't come up with Rotation options. We've stockpiled all kinds of Middle IF bits-&-pieces. I'd like to see us commit to bringing in a few potential Starting Pitchers to provide Spring Training competition plus a chance to make the Roster. I really don't believe that we're super-confident yet in Stratton & Blach.
I think they are pretty high on Stratton and expect him to get the 4th spot. The 5th spot is not necessarily Blach's, and Beede will get a good long look. I expect they'll have a couple of vets show up at Spring Training. I heard the Giants might be pursuing Scott Feldman, for example.
Also keep in mind that we just hired a centerfielder for right field. So you have some amount of pressure off of Jackson just for that. Where does that leave Parker/Williamson? Nowhere, I'd guess.
Fie, ye willful whiners about Ajax’s declining defensive metrics! Ron assures us that he’s still an OK centerfielder. But I remain uneasy, because no one else, except Grant Brisbee, agrees. Not, for instance, Brian Sabean, who said, “Did we get him to be our everyday center fielder? Probably not. I don’t know in his recent history that he’s been able to go out in that fashion.” Of course, Ron is right, I think, in asserting that we’re better off with Ajax, bat and glove, than without him, and that he can step aside when a proficient-in-2018 center fielder shows up. But the Giants seem to be at the end of their financial resources if they want to stay below the CBT threshold. That means that we (a) can make a trade, thereby losing personnel, (b) bring up Duggar, ready or not, or (c) write off the goal of having a top-notch defensive OF, as unmet. In any case strengthening the pen and the rotation won’t get done. Perhaps they don’t need to be; but are they really lower priorities than an able fourth outfielder, with CF still iffy?
Zo’s suggestion, that Cutch can cover areas that Ajax can’t reach, makes sense, and yet appears to downplay the challenges of RF at AT&T, its size and its treacherous caroms. Cutch will be a busy man in his own bailiwick.
I like that the Giants have made active efforts to acquire better players. They also seem to be saying Jackson is more of a 4th-OF super-sub type. He's not necessarily the starter. Could be another move coming.
The team may be veteran but they are not that old of a team.
Nomisnala makes an excellent point. In 2017 the supposedly geriatric Giants had a team with the same average age as the Nats. They were .3 of a year older than the 2016 World Champion Cubs, and .2 of a year older than the 2017 World Champion Astros.
Chris Heston is back with the Giants.
Chip, Vlad and Thome but no Barry? Sad!
#thehalloffameisajoke
The BBWAA will punt on the steroid-tainted and force the Veterans Committee to get them in. Sanctimonious assholes. The HoF is more and more irrelevant each day. Who cares (other than the players enshrined)? I certainly don't. It has no impact on my enjoyment of baseball. In fact, all the awards are increasingly pointless to me and don't hold my attention. I'm not interested. Baseball is a team game and the best team wins and I like the way teams are put together and what it takes for a team to be successful. I could give a shit who gets individual honors. I'm more interested in individual contributions. I know these things are big deals to players but I'm not a player, I'm a fan. I like watching teams work together to win. Baseball is great because individual performances are highlighted each inning and each game but the TEAM wins and loses and the best players still have to be surrounded by a TEAM in order to achieve success.
Now that the Brewers have both Cain and Yelich maybe we'll get a shot at one of their surplus OF youngsters (like Keon Broxton or Brett Phillips).
My interest in the Hall-of-Fame is limited to minutiae such as being happy when non-power hitters, such as Omar Vizquel, make it in.
Other than that:
a) Who cares?
b) Having baseball writers select the entrants is super-dumb & archaic.
Engelb Vielma gone once more
Now he’s owned by Baltimore
Gone to accommodate Austin Jackson
His just unpacked bags he repacks ‘n’
Waits till jesting Fate, compliant,
Next week makes him again a Giant.
Very creative ... helps takes some of the sting out of losing Engelb Vielma twice. Although, as you imply, he'll probably be back again, before too long.
You know him ... you love him ... &, he's back! Gregor!!!!
From the MLBTR notes:
Though Blanco is now 34 and his speed isn’t what it once was, he still has a shot to split playing time with the newly-signed Austin Jackson in center field. Indeed; a platoon combination of the two makes a lot of sense; the left-handed-hitting Blanco is a 98 wRC+ hitter against righties for his career, while his mark against lefties is 13 points beneath that. Meanwhile the right-handed-hitting Jackson absolutely demolished lefites last year, to the tune of a .357/.440/.574 batting line.
Another BobbyE move in the great Sabes tradition. VSC galore!
Where does that leave Parker/Williamson? Less than nowhere, I'd guess.
Well they were going to have to compete for a job anyway, and Blanco is certainly not a sure thing (it is a minor-league deal). This is good. If those guys want a job they have to earn it as they unfortunately did not make the most of their chances last season. Now there's Austin Slater and Gorkys Hernandez and Stephen Duggar in the mix as well. I like it--may the cream rise top.
Duggar is 24. Williamson and Slater are 25. Parker is 26. I guess there is still a future for those guys. It is just rather shocking to think that what was thought to be OK last year going into the season (but clearly wasn't, in part because of injuries) is now no better than 4th or 5th or lower on the depth chart. I guess I should be thrilled at the upgrades, but it reminds me of how much hype there is that we fans willingly swallow like strychnine-laced candy.
"Hope springs eternal." (Especially in baseball)
I think the Giants genuinely hoped that Parker and/or Williamson would turn into a ballplayer and neither did, hence the makeover of the outfield. Again, may the best men win.
The thing about Parker and Williamson is, every time the giants trade away young power, it comes back to bite them in the face.
Post a Comment