Although they've made a couple of more under the radar moves thus far, Farhan Zaidi and the Giants continue to scour free agency for that next potential steal. They got their big win with signing Kevin Gausman to a deal he vastly outperformed last winter. The year prior to that they won big by inking Mike Yastrzemski to a minor league deal for the 2019 campaign. So who will it be this year?
So far the Giants have been operating very cautiously, as you'd expect, as it still unclear what rule changes instituted in 2020 will carry over to the 2021 season. However, regardless of what rules stay, they've been clear in their desire to add more pitching depth, both in the rotation and bullpen, as well as another left-handed option at the plate to play a utility role. They signed Jason Vosler to a minor league deal back in November, which is a very low-risk, potentially high reward type of signing. Vosler is still just 27 years old and has a terrific track record hitting for power during his minor league career. He'll be in camp battling to become that left-handed utility infielder that Pablo Sandoval couldn't quite provide last season. I don't think they're going to stand pat with just the addition of Vosler to that mix though.
There are still intriguing names out on the free agent market and their asking prices may start to dwindle as we inch closer to spring training. I'm not expecting them to do anything anytime soon in that regard unless they come across a situation too good to pass up, which I don't anticipate. There is also the possibility they look into the trade market to find another bat but I haven't heard of anyone they're considering too seriously at the moment.
The Giants made a couple of other moves this month in attempt to bolster their rotation. They signed starter Anthony DeSclafini and reliever Matt Wisler to one-year deals. As far as the DeSclafini signing, I don't necessarily love this move and I don't see him turning into the next Gausman, but I hope I'm wrong. I don't thing anyone could have predicted Gausman's success, but at least he looked right at the end of 2019 whereas DeSclafini really looked badly throughout all of the truncated 2020 season. He brings a power arm though and the Giants maybe hoping a move to a more forgiving ballpark will help drop that ERA. He did have some decent seasons prior to 2020, with arguably his best coming in 2019 when he posted a 3.89 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with a K per inning over 167 innings. If they get that guy, this deal looks good, if they get more so the 2020 version, it doesn't. We'll have to wait and see on this one.
As for Wisler, I do like this move a lot. They get a guy who had a tremendous season over 18 games in relief with the Twins last season striking out 35 batters in 25 innings of work for a bargain of $1.5 million. If you put him on the 2020 Giants with that success, he's likely the runaway closer or at the very least the main 8th inning guy. He's got the starting background so he can go more than an inning if needed and looks to be really coming into his own as a full-time reliever now. I can certainly see him slotting in to that 7th inning role and maybe moving into a primary set-up role should last years success carry over.
It's been about as slow moving as I think we were all expecting this offseason, but it is moving through quickly. We're only about 7 weeks out from report dates for spring training, and I would expect to see an uptick in movement after the new year and I don't think the Giants are done, just be patient.
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