Analysis: Five questions the SF Giants must address in spring training
From Brandon Crawford's awkward offseason to Logan Webb's contract situation, the Giants have some outstanding questions that need to be resolved before Opening Day.
Rejoice.
Baseball is back. Almost.
Giants pitchers and catchers hold their first workout in Scottsdale on Thursday, and position players join them a few days later. Between then and Opening Day in the Bronx on March 30, they have some outstanding questions that need to be resolved following a disappointing .500 season and an offseason for the history books (hey, no one said you had to read them).
Did the Giants really get younger and more athletic?
The Giants had the oldest group of position players in the National League last year, and it showed. By many metrics, they were also the worst fielding group in the game, or close to it.
It was clear, to Zaidi and outside observers, that they needed to upgrade their defense.
Entering spring, fans are likely wondering if they’ve done enough.
The Giants added a pair of everyday corner outfielders (in Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger), but none of their six free-agent additions play a premium, up-the-middle position, leaving the tandem of Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater in center and nobody to help manage Brandon Crawford’s workload at shortstop. They should benefit from Joc Pederson primarily DHing, and they’re hopeful about LaMonte Wade Jr.’s athleticism translating to first base, though Brandon Belt leaves big shoes to fill (size 15, to be exact).
“Some of the improvements defensively will be more subtle,” Zaidi said in January. “When we go around our defense now, we see everybody as average or potentially above average defensively. If we can have that kind of floor, that’s where the improvement is going to come from.”
How will Brandon Crawford handle the offseason turmoil? (And what effect will not acquiring another capable shortstop have?)
Speaking of Crawford, nobody was more directly impacted by the back-and-forth with Carlos Correa than the Giants’ franchise shortstop (who, with Belt’s departure, is also their last remaining link to their World Series title teams). Barring unforeseen circumstances, he will make his 12th Opening Day start at shortstop.
It didn’t always look that way this offseason.
Soon after Correa signed his initial contract, Zaidi and Gabe Kapler were on the phone with Crawford, discussing his move to third base. A few weeks later, when the saga was over at last and Correa had re-signed with Minnesota, Crawford was back as the Giants’ starting shortstop, the only job he’s ever held and the only one he’s ever wanted since being raised a Giants fan in Pleasanton.
“I’m sure it was a frustrating and confusing period for him,” Zaidi said in December. “… I don’t think we could’ve prioritized that communication any higher than we did. It’s a big part of his identity being the shortstop of this team. I think we understood his disappointment. He wanted to understand what it meant for him and where he would be playing, and we tried to explain that the best that we could. Look, it didn’t work out, and he’s our shortstop now. We want and expect to be a playoff team. We know he’s motivated to have a great season. …
“I’m guessing he’s happy to be back at his natural spot. If there’s some awkward or negative feelings from the past couple weeks, hopefully we can turn the page when we get to spring training. We all want the same thing, which is success for this team.”
More consequential could be the decision not to add another shortstop, which leaves Thairo Estrada, projected as their starting second baseman, as Crawford’s only capable backup at short.
After last season, when Crawford performed better down the stretch following an extended stint on the injured list to get fully healthy, Zaidi said they would prioritize adding more depth there, but with players reporting this week, the Giants appear set to depend on a full season’s load from a man who turned 36 in January.
Keep an eye out for Isan Díaz, who hit .275/.377/.574 at Triple-A last season and was only prevented from being a September call-up by injury. The Giants’ lack of middle infield options could allow the 26-year-old second baseman/shortstop, both acquired from Miami last season, to sneak on to the roster.
Are Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto fully healthy? (And can they help this team rediscover its home run swing?)
In an offseason defined by a failed physical, the Giants’ two largest contracts went to one player who didn’t appear in a game last season and another who has played 100 games twice in seven seasons (but appeared in 57 more last year than the other guy).
The Giants, however, are confident that Michael Conforto is fully recovered from shoulder surgery, and they believe Mitch Haniger’s health problems can mostly be attributed to a long string of bad luck. They will be counted on, not only to provide a consistent presence in the middle of the order but to hopefully help rediscover the thump that was lost last season.
“One of the strengths of our ’23 team, we think, is going to be power,” Zaidi said last week on KNBR. “We’ve got three guys who’ve had 30-plus home run seasons who we think can do that again. We have four or five guys who have hit 20, and a couple more who have hit 18 or 19.
“So, we think we’re going to be right at the top of the league in terms of home runs and power, and that’s going to be a big driving force of our team.”
The Giants led the NL with 241 home runs in 2021 (and allowed the fewest in MLB, 151, 90 fewer than they hit), but that home run power fell off in 2022. They left the yard only 183 times, sixth-most in the NL and 12th in the majors (while their pitchers still led the majors in homer suppression, surrendering 132, again the fewest in MLB).
Infamously, they haven’t had a player hit 30 home runs since Barry Bonds in 2004.
Whether Zaidi’s prophecy proves to be true could decide their fate this season — which could depend on how their two new free agent outfielders hold up. It was only two years ago, in 2021, that Haniger clobbered a career-high 39, while Conforto has also once eclipsed 30, with a career-high 33 in 2019, and twice more hit at least 27.
Will the Giants lock up Logan Webb? (And how will the rotation shape up behind him?)
It’s Valentine’s Day on Tuesday, and spring is often cuffing season for major-league teams and their players.
The Astros provided a timely example, kicking off extension season by locking up one of their bevy of homegrown starters, Cristian Javier, to a five-year, $64 million deal. The Giants have their own homegrown ace in Logan Webb, whom they would very much like to secure long-term, and deals such as Javier’s will set the market.
Webb, for his part, let his intentions slip at fan fest in an answer about Aaron Judge, saying, “I’d love to be a Giant, just like guys want to play for the same team their whole career; I get it,” mentioning at another point how there are “a lot of parts that want to stay here for long time.”
But, asked directly about extension talks, Webb deferred.
“Farhan can answer those questions,” he grinned.
Zaidi has said those discussions have begun.
No matter what, Webb won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2025 season. A contract signed this spring would likely take effect next season, buying out his final two arbitration years.
While contract talks play out in the background, the Giants must also figure out what the rotation behind Webb looks like. Their stable of starters, with the additions of Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea, is arguably deeper than ever before, but it also contains the biggest hole on the entire roster to fill from last season after the departure of Carlos Rodón.
To get a sense of the market for a Webb extension, take a look at a few of the contracts that preceded Javier’s:
- Sandy Alcantara, MIA: 5 years, $56 million ($18.5M over three arbitration years, $37.5M two free agent years); includes $21M sixth-year club option
- Spencer Strider, ATL: 6 years, $75 million ($6M over three arb years, $69M over three FA years); includes $22M seventh-year club option
- Luis Castillo, SEA: 5 years, $108 million ($10M for one arb year, $98M over four FA years); includes vesting $25M sixth-year option
What effect will the new rules have? (And how will the Giants prepare for them?)
Last year, baseball learned it could get ready with an abbreviated spring.
This year, many players will likely be thankful it’s back to a full six weeks, particularly pitchers and catchers, who will have the most to adjust to with the new rules being implemented this season. Between the pitch clock, restrictions on the shift and even larger bases — not to mention the newly balanced schedule — there is plenty to get acclimated to this spring.
A refresher on the new rules:
— Pitch clock: Pitchers will have either 15 seconds (with the bases empty) or 20 seconds (with runners on) to deliver the ball. A violation by the pitcher results in an automatic ball, while a violation by the batter, who must be in the box and ready to hit with 8 seconds on the clock, results in an automatic strike. Pitchers are allowed two disengagements, or pick-off attempts, per plate appearance, which reset the clock.
— Shift restrictions: Teams must have two defenders with their feet on the infield dirt on each side of second base (a minimum of four total, preventing an infielder from playing in shallow right field) when the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. The Giants have a collection of lefties who are enthusiastic about the demise of the shift, but on the flip side, few teams employed them more effectively than San Francisco, which will have to find more creative methods to mask its lack of athleticism.
— Larger bases: The bags at first, second and third base have grown from 15 square inches to 18 (home plate remains unchanged). It’s an effort to ostensibly make the game safer but, in conjunction with the pitch clock and limit on pick-off moves, is anticipated to lead to more stolen bases as a side effect.
“We always say when new rules come we want to be good within the construct of those rules. It’s immediately an opportunity to get a competitive advantage,” Gabe Kapler said in September, after the changes were made official. “How can we be creative with new things that we have?”
No better time for experimentation than Cactus League exhibitions, but the Giants and other teams may even play coy and wait until the games count to publicly showcase their most creative strategies.
“Maybe we get a couple of games where at some point we’re doing something that’s fun that we want to just hold on to for a day or two,” Kapler continued. “Once you do something that makes sense, whatever that thing is, a lot of other teams are going to want to do that thing that makes sense. This is true for us, too. Somebody else is going to try the thing and we’re going to be like, ‘oh, that’s a thing that we should try, too.’ … I definitely haven’t seen every piece of this puzzle yet. We all have a lot of work to do.”