The move that everyone was predicting after the Giants made Bob Melvin their new manager finally went down over the weekend. A little later than anyone would have guessed, but Farhan Zaidi's patience paid off.
Coming off the heels of adding Jorge Soler a couple weeks back, after camp had gotten underway, the Giants made another late addition to their starting lineup, bringing in 4-time gold-glover, Matt Chapman. The former A's and Blue Jays' third basemen will help solidify the infield defense and give Melvin another bat he can pencil into the middle of the order on a daily basis.
The Giants did have some incumbent options at the position, but simply put, Chapman is better than any of those guys at this point. Plus, when you get a chance to get a projected $100+ million player at half price, it's a smart move to make.
The knock on him will be that he's coming off a down year offensively, but some of of that can be attributed to a hand injury that slowed him down after a scorching April. Plus his exit velocity metrics suggest that he's still the same caliber hitter that hit 36 home runs for the A's in 2019.
Rotation Questions Remain
So, now that the offense and defense look much more capable than the 2023 version, the main question this team is facing is the uncertainty in their starting rotation.
With Keaton Winn unsure to be ready for his first start of the regular season and Tristan Beck now looking at a lengthy absence, an already thin starting staff is looking a lot shakier. Not to mention, Jordan Hicks has been hit relatively hard in his first two starts of the spring. There's a lot of questions as to who will help Logan Webb and Kyle Harrison bridge the gap until Alex Cobb and Robbie Ray get back.
The Giants' pursuit of Blake Snell was said to be ramping up in recent days prior to the Chapman news, and apparently the Giants are still very much in on Snell, according to Susan Slusser.
Of course, Zaidi played down the possibility of Snell or any other additions during a conference call over the weekend. He said the same thing after the Soler signing and then got Chapman, so despite that message being sent, I think he's still very much in the starting pitcher market.
Whether it's Snell or Jordan Montgomery, if the Giants can ink one of those two to a shorter term deal like Bellinger and Chapman each just took, it would put a really nice bow on this offseason.
Shortstop Competition
We still are over three weeks from opening day, but the one lineup spot seemingly up for grabs thus far may not shape up like we thought coming into spring.
Marco Luciano has looked over-matched at the plate, going hit-less in his first nine at bats so far while compiling 5 strike outs. He also committed a costly late-inning throwing error in a game early last week.
Casey Schmitt, who is looking to make the team as a utility option and potential shortstop has also started out the spring 0-9.
Luciano still likely has the slight upper hand, and there's still plenty of spring left, but Nick Ahmed has looked like their best option at the position so far.. We're well aware of his gold-glove defense, but it's his bat that has stuck out early on. He's 5-8 with two home runs and 5 RBI.
I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that it will be Ahmed as the teams opening day shortstop. I hope I'm wrong and both Luciano and Schmitt heat up over the next couple weeks but they're going to have to earn it.
Young Standouts
You never want to read too much into spring training performances, especially a couple weeks in, but two guys who I'm sure the Giants are thrilled about are right-hander Mason Black and outfielder Luis Matos.
Black very well could be thrust into the starting rotation to begin the year. With Beck down, he would seem to be the next up in line unless the Giants make an addition. The 24 year-old impressed in his start on Saturday, going three innings vs. the Padres, allowing just three total base runners while striking out three.
Matos, who was asked to bulk up a little this offseason in effort to enhance exit velocity and power to go along with his solid bat-to-ball skills, has done just that. The early payoff seems to be there as he leads the team with three big fly's so far, and all of them have been impressive.
Depending on how many pitchers the Giants start the year with as well as Austin Slater's health will likely determine whether or not Matos is with the big club out of spring but even if he isn't, this kid is going to be a big part of the plan for the 2024 season.
J.D. Davis' Future
With Chapman on the roster and Wilmer Flores backing up at DH and first base, Davis has become somewhat redundant. He's a solid hitter and definitely a usable player but with the guys there are ahead of him, he doesn't make a lot of sense to keep around for the price he's being paid. Not to mention, assuming the Giants carry just four bench players to start the year, they don't have much roster space.
Three rumored landing spots for him that I've heard are the Cubs, Marlins and Blue Jays.
The Marlins are the most intriguing to me, seeing that they have a few young starters the Giants could use. Of course Davis alone wouldn't land one of them but could be used as part of a package to make something work. Maybe they could package Davis and Joey Bart with one of their young pitching prospects and get Edward Cabrera or Trevor Rogers.
Former Giant, Drew Smyly, seems to be the odd man out in the Cubs rotation this spring, and it's possible the Giants look into a reunion here. He could help in the rotation early and possibly shift to the pen if/when the rotation gets to full health.
Santiago Espinal has been rumored to be available in Toronto. The 2022 all-star has fallen out of favor a bit after a bad season last year and slow start to spring. Espinal could provide the Giants with a more proven utility player up the middle and give them another option at short should Luciano and Schmitt begin the year in Sacramento.
Wherever he ends up, I would be very surprised if Davis is on the Giants' roster when they leave Arizona.
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