The SF Giants are rapidly turning into the full-team equivalent of the Chris Davis contract -- a cautionary tale about long-term contracts and poor planning. Some fun facts:
They are one of the 5 worst teams in baseball, but have the 5th-highest payroll. Last year they were a bottom-10 team (73 wins) and had the #2 payroll.
Their highest-paid position players are essentially untradable --
Buster Posey has $69m left on his contract (including this year) and can't hit anymore;
Brandon Crawford has $45m left on his contract (including this year) and can't hit anymore; and
Evan Longoria has $75m left (including this year) and is a replacement-level player.
It's possible Brandon Belt could be dealt, but he has a 115 OPS+, $51m left on his deal (including this year), and can really only play first.
They owe Johnny Cueto $77m (including this year) -- he pitched 9 games last year before undergoing Tommy John surgery at age 32. They also have to pay Jeff Samardzija about $40m for this year and next (he's got a tidy 0 WAR so far this year).
They are running through OF like Spinal Tap drummers. By my count, Yaz's grandson is the 12th guy to play in the OF for them this year, and they haven't had major injury issues. More generally, Farhad Zaidi seems to have decided to treat his roster like a fantasy team this year. He is cycling through outfielders, catchers, and pitchers without any clear rhyme or reason, to the point that the team has started complaining about it a bit.
Worth remembering is their incredibly short-sighted "GFIN" pre-2018 off-season in which they traded for Longoria and Andrew McCutchen. The guys they traded for McCutchen would be regular players for this year's Giants. And their ridiculous overreaction/overpayment for Mark Melancon during the pre-2017 offseason after their relief pitching collapsed late in 2016 has also hamstrung them.
None of this is likely to improve in short order. They have one top-25 prospect and one top-100 prospect. Bleacher Report had them as one of the worst minor leagues in baseball.
Their best bet would be to sell off their entire bullpen (which has a few decent pieces) at the deadline (they've got to be praying that Mark Melancon entices someone to take on his deal) and MadBum, which will be a really controversial move among the remaining fandom that's made more difficult by the fact that MadBum strategically chose his no-trade list to mostly include contenders (Braves, Sox, Cubs, Astros, Brewers, MFY, Phils, Cards).
They are pretty much a worst-case scenario in modern-era MLB: too many older guys who got paid for past performance and too many high-paid mediocre starting pitchers. I'm very curious to see how they can pull themselves out of this, because the solution is non-obvious.
And, of course, I'd be remiss not to mention their best player. He has a 158 OPS+, leads the team in OPS and co-leads in homers, is a fan favorite, and is one of their (in his mind) best relief pitchers: the Panda.
Two last points:
(1) The main all-sports station out here had to concede the Warriors radio contract to their rival because their deal with the Giants required them to carry all Giants games, including Spring Training, which would've pushed Warriors games to their weaker affiliate. Oops.
(2) There was an article in the SF Chron today that said that a lot of the restaurants and bars around the ballpark are starting to suffer as the Giants' attendance drops. I can't imagine that's going to improve any time soon. https://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/Restaurants-near-Oracle-Park-endure-highs-and-13895277.php
They are one of the 5 worst teams in baseball, but have the 5th-highest payroll. Last year they were a bottom-10 team (73 wins) and had the #2 payroll.
Their highest-paid position players are essentially untradable --
Buster Posey has $69m left on his contract (including this year) and can't hit anymore;
Brandon Crawford has $45m left on his contract (including this year) and can't hit anymore; and
Evan Longoria has $75m left (including this year) and is a replacement-level player.
It's possible Brandon Belt could be dealt, but he has a 115 OPS+, $51m left on his deal (including this year), and can really only play first.
They owe Johnny Cueto $77m (including this year) -- he pitched 9 games last year before undergoing Tommy John surgery at age 32. They also have to pay Jeff Samardzija about $40m for this year and next (he's got a tidy 0 WAR so far this year).
They are running through OF like Spinal Tap drummers. By my count, Yaz's grandson is the 12th guy to play in the OF for them this year, and they haven't had major injury issues. More generally, Farhad Zaidi seems to have decided to treat his roster like a fantasy team this year. He is cycling through outfielders, catchers, and pitchers without any clear rhyme or reason, to the point that the team has started complaining about it a bit.
Worth remembering is their incredibly short-sighted "GFIN" pre-2018 off-season in which they traded for Longoria and Andrew McCutchen. The guys they traded for McCutchen would be regular players for this year's Giants. And their ridiculous overreaction/overpayment for Mark Melancon during the pre-2017 offseason after their relief pitching collapsed late in 2016 has also hamstrung them.
None of this is likely to improve in short order. They have one top-25 prospect and one top-100 prospect. Bleacher Report had them as one of the worst minor leagues in baseball.
Their best bet would be to sell off their entire bullpen (which has a few decent pieces) at the deadline (they've got to be praying that Mark Melancon entices someone to take on his deal) and MadBum, which will be a really controversial move among the remaining fandom that's made more difficult by the fact that MadBum strategically chose his no-trade list to mostly include contenders (Braves, Sox, Cubs, Astros, Brewers, MFY, Phils, Cards).
They are pretty much a worst-case scenario in modern-era MLB: too many older guys who got paid for past performance and too many high-paid mediocre starting pitchers. I'm very curious to see how they can pull themselves out of this, because the solution is non-obvious.
And, of course, I'd be remiss not to mention their best player. He has a 158 OPS+, leads the team in OPS and co-leads in homers, is a fan favorite, and is one of their (in his mind) best relief pitchers: the Panda.
Two last points:
(1) The main all-sports station out here had to concede the Warriors radio contract to their rival because their deal with the Giants required them to carry all Giants games, including Spring Training, which would've pushed Warriors games to their weaker affiliate. Oops.
(2) There was an article in the SF Chron today that said that a lot of the restaurants and bars around the ballpark are starting to suffer as the Giants' attendance drops. I can't imagine that's going to improve any time soon. https://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/Restaurants-near-Oracle-Park-endure-highs-and-13895277.php
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