Giants' flurry of signings don't add up to much

The Giants are set to report to camp early next week, with the first pitchers and catchers workout slated for the 12th followed by the positional guys getting their workouts underway a few days later on the 16th.

A lot has transpired with the Giants' roster over the last handful of days, including perhaps the biggest splash of the offseason with the re-signing of Hunter Pence. In what has been an extremely quiet winter for the Giants up until this last week, Pence was easily the biggest asset to join (re-join actually) the team and we'll delve more into that shortly. However the 2019 AL All-Star was not the only player to join the team over the last ten days. Aside from Hunter, the Giants inked utility man 27 year-old Wilmer Flores to a 2 year/$6MM deal, an under the radar move that I really like. They also added 2019 AL Gold Glove second basemen Yolmer Sanchez and center fielder Billy Hamilton on minor league deals.

These appear to be the Giants final significant additions to the roster as they get ready to break for Scottsdale. I have to say, given the circumstances of the upcoming season and what is really to be expected, I don't hate any of these moves. Pence, for one, is a great clubhouse guy and he should earn his money with ease just being that leader in the clubhouse no matter what he's able to do on the field. However, if you do look at what he did in Texas last year before his back started acting up on him, it was pretty damn impressive. The soon to be 37 year-old raked a cool .317 with 18 big flies and helped carry Texas offensively when he was out there.

With the additions of Pence and Hamilton, the Giants now have some crowding in the outfield with returnees like Yaz, Dickerson, Steven Duggar, Jaylin Davis, Austin Slater and the expectince that bright young infielder Mauricio Dubon will also get time out there. However, you'd have to place the early favorites of Dickerson in left, Yaz to start the year in center and Hunter back in right (It's also possible Pence actually would play left with Dickerson/Slater sliding into right). Versus lefties we could see Hamilton sneak into the lineup and with Yaz possibly sliding to a corner spot moving Dickerson to the bench but it's way to early to contemplate on what Gabe Kaplar's plan will be. With the way they've been hyping up Dubon as a potential center fielder and all the work he appears to be getting out there prior to camp, he could very well be the wild card of this bunch. With what he showed down the stretch last year, it's obvious the rebuilding Giants are going to look for a spot that Dubon can settle in at.

Another wild card, to a lesser extent, is Billy Hamilton, who can go get in in center field and is as quick on the base paths as anyone in baseball. Now his bat has gone from below average to downright replaceable, but I've seen more surprising late bloomers over the years and he's still in his 20's so I can see why they rolled the dice on him with the minor league deal. Hamilton 's best year came in '16, hitting .260 with 55 swipes and a passable .323 OBP. He was one of the guys the Giants were linked to as a possible replacement to Denard Span the following offseason. I know a lot of people aren't really excited about the signing because Hamilton is coming off his career-worst campaign in 2019 and hasn't done much since that 2016 season, but on a minor league deal, I don't see the harm in it. If he doesn't pan out they can simply release him after spring or even early in the season. Not a bad move for depth in my opinion as obviously they're not going to be tittle contenders this year. Maybe Hamilton has a hot streak and they can flip him for a few prospects early on. Same can be said for Pence as well as their third addition, Wilmer Flores.

Now, Flores and Pence obviously excited me the most because those guys could have some real value come the trade deadline. Pence, again, was an all-star last summer so he obviously still has something left in the tank, ans I'm sure an AL team that needs DH help will come calling if he starts his year off like he did with Texas in '19. The big thing with him at this point in his career are the nagging injuries which started popping up in 2015 and it's unlikely he plays in 100+ games at 37 years-old but that experience and positivity alone make him worth the $3M base salary he'll receive and like I said, if he does catch fire like he did in the first half with Texas last summer, he could net the Giants a reasonable prospect from a contending team in July.

Flores seems like a guy the Giants may want to keep around though, as he's just 27 years of age and is coming off his best, albeit injury shortened, season of his career in Arizona. Depending on what ends up happening with Evan Longoria, the Giants could view Flores as the franchises next third basemen. For now, I believe he'll be splitting time at second with Dubon while also filling in at short and even playing some first base in a pinch. With Flores signing, Sanchez now may be on the outside looking in, but of course that's why they play over a month of spring games.

All these additions fit the Farhan Zaidi mold of versatility so none of them should surprise anyone who's been following the team this offseason. No, there wasn't a big Nick Castellanos or Gerritt Cole signing like some rumors stated way back in November as possibilities for this club, but honestly, did we ever really expect that? I think the big question for Zaidi was contemplating bringing back Pillar instead of Pence but he may have burned the bridge with Pillar by non-tendering him back in December and certainly the latter would be looking at a payday larger than the $3M Pence will be guaranteed. The arbitration number had Pillar slated to make around $9-10M this year and even if you cut that down a couple million the Giants saved millions while still keeping the fan base from going too crazy by bringing back a favorite.

I would be surprised if we see any other big league deals, or significant minor league deals struck between now and the beginning of the Cactus League, which is a short 2 weeks away, so what you see now is what you'll be getting as your 2020 San Francisco Giants. Much like last year and the goal for this year should be further development and progress of the younger core. Hopefully another couple guys like Yaz and Dubon emerge and maybe Logan Webb and Tyler Beede take that next step and become rotation staples. Regardless of the team expectations though, I, like I'm sure every other Giants fan on the planet, am anxiously awaiting to see this new regime get to work and get a glimpse at some of these younger players getting to start the year with the team. They could be tough to watch on a lot of nights, but just give us something that we can look forward to in 2021 and beyond guys, that's all this fan is asking!