The 2025 Giants, part two

The Giants are lucky to have a young, talented ballplayer at a key infield position. That would be 25-yeaer old Patrick Bailey who is one of the most valuable fielders in MLB. He's a switch-hitter without much of a platoon split but has yet to hit at a league average rate (MLB 2024 was .243/.312/.399) over his 801 career PAs. I suspect he will improve as he hits his prime seasons. His superb work behind the plate makes him a crucial building block for the franchise.

Veterans Matt Chapman and Willy Adames give the Giants middle-of-the-order hitters who are also great fielders. Chapman can be other-worldly at times—we saw him make some sensational plays last season. He's known throughout MLB for his glovework. Newcomer Adames doesn't quite have that same reputation but he's no slouch and looks like a perfect fit. Third base and shortstop are well-covered. Pitchers will enjoy having those guys behind them. Buster Posey believes young players need veteran leaders and role models in the clubhouse and these two guys are ideal for that.

And speaking of young players, Tyler Fitzgerald was a bit of a sensation in 2024, smacking 36 XBH in 96 games and making himself useful all over the diamond. The fanbase really needed an exciting debut from a farmhand and Fitz did his best to fulfill that. Going forward Buster says he will be the starting second baseman in 2025. The projections aren't kind to Fitz and they peg him for a big regression. His high K-rate and .380 BABIP get flagged by the computers, but I'm convinced he's a mature hitter and will make the adjustments. He's 27 so the Giants are capturing his prime seasons. I think if expectations aren't too high on him he can be a solid everyday player with some pop. Adames taking over short and moving Fitz to second base is a smart move. If he's going to stick in the bigs it will be with his big stick!

First base is a bit of a conundrum. LaMonte Wade, Jr. and Wilmer Flores make a pretty good platoon pair but injuries limited them both last season. After a sensational 2023 Wilmer had his worst season in 2024. He's 33 and even though he's one of my favorite ballplayers I think this might be the end for him. He's a free agent next year. Wade once again showed off his excellent on-base skills but his power disappeared. There was talk of trading him. He's also a free agent next year so this is probably his last season in orange-and-black. He just turned 31. We all know about super-prospect lefty slugger Bryce Eldridge. If he lights it up in Spring Training or at AAA he could get the call-up early in the season.

Marco Luciano, Brett Wisely, Casey Schmitt, and David Villar are all on the 40-man roster. Both Schmitt and Villar hit at an above-average rate last year. Villar is 27 and this is probably his last shot with the team as he is out of options. Schmitt looked like he could hit but was a real free-swinger. Lefty Wisely could use some plate discipline as well. Luciano looks over-matched but of course he's only 23.

In the backup catching spot(s) they have both young Blake Sabol and old Tom Murphy in the fold. That will work. Switch-hitting Sabol has shown he can hit at this level and Murphy has a solid track record.

--M.C.

The 2025 Giants, part 1

The Dodgers made another splash, signing KBO IF/OF Hyeseong Kim. He's 25 and profiles much like our very own Jung Hoo Lee. Speaking of Lee, the Giants are counting on him big time. They need a good glove in CF and they need a steady leadoff hitter. We don't know yet if Lee can do that. In 37 games last year he was hitting .262/.310/.331 before his injury. His career line in Korea was .340/.407/.491 which would be phenomenal in MLB. I like to think that will translate into a quality hitter. Certainly we should expect an above-average on-base guy and a strong defender. If he can do that, be a 2-3 WAR player, that would be great.

The same goes for Heliot Ramos. Both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference rate him at 2.3 WAR for last year's .269/.322/.469 in 121 games. Ramos is only 25 so it's not unreasonable to expect him to improve as a hitter. He seems best in left field.

Mike Yastrzemski is a solid bet to deliver 2 WAR in RF. He's done that every year in orange-and-black. He's 34, however. If anyone is a candidate for a decline, it's him. He signed a $9.25M deal for his last year of arb (he's a free agent next year).

Luis Matos, Grant McCray, Jerar Encarnacion, and Wade Meckler all got looks last season. Maybe we'll get a fourth outfielder from that bunch. The starting three are dependable but at this point unspectacular. They can "hold down the fort" but aren't going to carry the club. This would be a good place to improve the team. A young stud emerging this spring or a fresh face from another organization added to the OF mix would be just the thing.

The Dodgers and Padres each have a superstar in their OF (Mookie Betts and Fernando Tatis). LA brought back Teoscar Hernandez. The Padres had a rookie sensation last year (Jackson Merrill, 4.4 WAR). The Diamondbacks have the 2023 Rookie of the Year (Corbin Carroll) who "only" managed 3.4 WAR last year. (I don't care about the Rockies.) It's going to be tough to match up against those teams.

I'll take a look at the infield in the next post.

Happy New Year!

--M.C.