The Giants have a deal (2 yrs, $7M) with lefty reliever Jake McGee. The 34-year old veteran (11 seasons, 546 games) came up with the Rays and spent time with both the Rockies and the Dodgers. He's a local boy (born in San Jose) but went to HS in Nevada and had his first pro stint at age 17. Lifetime (475-2/3 IP) McGee has a 3.59 ERA, 3.39 FIP, and 3.00 SIERA*. By comparison Tony Watson has a career line of 2.80/3.61/3.47 over 591 innings, and he's a free agent. I assume they don't expect to re-sign Watson and that's why they targeted this guy.
This is a good move as the Giants need lefty arms and competition for spots in the bullpen. Pitchers and catchers report on February 17. I have not heard of a corresponding 40-man roster move to make a spot for McGee.
--M.C.
3 comments:
McGee is Mr. Fastball. He threw 320 pitches last year and except for 10 sliders and 2 sinkers ALL of them were fastballs! Batters hit .187 and whiffed 34% of the time. I guess you don't have to worry about sign-stealing with McGee pitching!
Another one we don't have to worry about sign-stealing is Matt Wisler who the Giants signed in December. He threw his slider 83% of the time!
Let's hope that translates into a much better bullpen. Starting to feel a little roster squeeze--I'm curious who gets bumped with this signing.
The giants seem to be amassing some medium/decent talent, but no real studs. Can a team compete vs. the Pads, and the Bums, with good players, but not great players? Looks as if they are putting together a team destined to play around 500 ball, which may be a bit difficult if they have to play the bums and the pads around 18 games or so, each. A little worried about the tightness of the aging defense. Dubon though, was much better in centerfield than I expected, and with more games behind him he should only get better.
I think the Giants will make a trade here real soon and pick up another good player. I like a team with a bunch of good, versatile ballplayers. I think a team like that can be a real pain-in-the-ass for the high-flying favorites. I think we saw some of that last year but they did not have enough pieces. There were too many raw, unpolished players. I think we will see a more seasoned and deeper crew. Over the long haul the superstar talents will emerge and produce for the front-runners, and that will give them the edge. But a well-run team with good ballplayers ought to be able to make them earn it. I can see the Giants at .500 this year, even a little over despite the competition. I see them with a good chance of playing spoiler at the end, too.
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