A: February 13th

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)

Cutch

I've always coveted Andrew McCutchen. Now he is on the Giants! He's an outstanding player and even in the so-called "decline phase" of his career he's better than most. Same goes for Evan Longoria, although the Giants are committed to him for five seasons (through 2022 and an option for '23) which I'm still getting used to. Cutch is here for one year and then is a free agent. Figure the Giants to give him a qualifying offer this fall and if he goes that fattens up the draft picks. So a win right now--an improved club. And a win later--QO draft compensation.

I'm not sure how the Giants will use the veteran centerfielder. As it stands the team is better with him in CF than is was last season with Denard Span and Gorkys Hernandez. Ideally Cutch would move to RF and Hunter Pence would move to LF. Jarrett Parker backs up both corners and we get a defensive specialist for center. Is Hernandez still part of that plan? Is Steven Duggar ready for the majors (probably not, he's only had a month in AAA)? Regardless, the coaches will figure that stuff out in Spring Training. Right now the Giants have a new right-handed power bat to plug into the 3-4-5 part of the lineup and that's a huge boost. In fact, I'm starting to like this lineup. Considering how anemic the offense was last season that's something. Obviously healthy lefties like Brandon Belt, Joe Panik, and Brandon Crawford will go a long way to improving things. But Buster Posey finally gets some "protection" from two other accomplished career hitters (Longo and Cutch) and that has to help.

The Giants have not acted on the bullpen and in fact they had to let go of a promising young piece in Kyle Crick. But I think they believe the return of Will Smith and a full season of their shiny bauble from last season (closer Mark Melancon) will make a big impact on roles and outcomes. Sam Dyson was a nice pickup and complements guys like Hunter Strickland and Cory Gearrin very well. With Law/Okert/Osich/Blach/Moronta you've got some depth to build from. I'm not concerned with the pitching side as long as MadBum and JohnnyC are healthy and available all season long. And I do believe Longo and Cutch improve the team's fielding (the Giants infield looks really strong) and that of course will help the pitchers.

I did not expect another big move after Longo so getting Cutch is a nice surprise. I'm starting to feel a lot better about 2018.

--M.C.

News!

Andrew McCutcheon is about to become a Giant.

No word yet on whom will become Pirates.  McCutcheon is in the last year of his contract.

No Giants News!

Well, maybe a little.  Hector Sanchez, beloved El Magneto, was signed to a minor league contract.

But I keep scouring the innertubes for news.   While doing so, I came across a tribute to Matt Cain that I wanted to share.  Anyone remember El Lefty Malo?  A fine blogster on the Giants, real name Alex Lash.  He now has a new gig, the Frisc.  This is from the Frisc.  Because if you can't read about the Giants' future, you might as well read about their glorious past.

Giants Go Longo

The Giants did exactly what I didn't want them to do--they traded for Evan Longoria. He used to be one of the best players in the game. Now he is older and not as good and he's ours for five years. And they had to give up Christian Arroyo to get him. On the plus side they moved Denard Span in the deal and that means they will have to find a centerfielder. Longoria improves the team for the coming season, and that needed to happen. Armchair owner/GMs like me are willing to let the team lose in order to get younger; real GMs in San Francisco are not. The Giants are going to rebuild by pretending they are not, and in the meantime they'll get some quality players here and there and try to stay competitive. It should be a better club in 2018 just from our core people performing closer to their career averages than they did in 2017.

Regardless, I want Longoria to thrive with the Giants. Even if he isn't what I wanted for Christmas I'm not going to complain. The best thing that can happen is that he stays healthy and plays well, so I'm rooting for that. Welcome aboard, Evan.

--M.C.

Giants Strike Out

Giancarlo Stanton goes to the Yankees and Shohei Otani goes to the Angels. The Giants get skunked. By all appearances they gave it their best shot so I can't complain. Now we'll get to see what the real upgrade path looks like. No more speculation about superstars, just the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-to-work stuff. They've got a lot of work to do.

--M.C.

Ohstantoni Dreams

The Giants showed up to the off-season party in the loudest car wearing the dandiest threads and immediately bought the two hottest babes in the room drinks. I suppose if they go home without a date they can at least take pride in going all out. No pantywaist efforts here--the Giants have made it absolutely clear that they want the best players out there. The club was first-in with Giancarlo Stanton and now they are first-in with Shohei Otani. This is quite a show of organizational testosterone. I don't know what to make of it. But if they want those guys I'm fine with that. They'd sure help the team!

--M.C.