The Giants Baseball Blog

After the way things have gone the last season and a half, it's seemed like an eternity since the Giants been playing games with as much interest that's surrounded the first weekend of Spring Training. After adding Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria, Austin Jackson concocted with optimism that the core of their ballclub will stay on the field this year, and you have the recipe for an enthusiastic fan base. It's strange how time can both seem drag on during some periods and to fly during others. It was a slow start to an offseason with a lot of question marks for the Giants, like waiting out the Giancarlo Stanton saga and dealing with the slowest moving and quietest free agency period in recent memory (maybe ever). Then they added 'Longo' and there was still some question as to what else they would do. After the McCutchen trade and their lone free agent acquisition in Austin Jackson, which felt like last week, time has flown and I think it's because a lot of pe...

Within 24 hours of me posting yesterday’s post, asking the Giants to go out and sign another left-handed reliever like Tony Watson, they did precisely that. According to  ESPN  and many other sources, the Giants came to terms with the lefty on a deal which the exact terms are a little unclear at the time of writing this. I've heard anywhere from $9M over the next two seasons with incentives and options in there that could make it bigger. I've also heard it could be as low as a 2-year deal in the $7M range. The incredible thing about this deal though is that the Giants were creatively able to get him signed without going over the luxury tax threshold, which I'm still unclear on how they were able to do so. I just heard the news and haven't investigated the money part of it too deeply, but one thing I know for sure is this is a huge move for the club. As I said just 24 hours ago in yesterday's post, relief pitching, particular of the left-handed variety, was perhaps...

They're baaaack! After a strange, slow start to the offseason, The Giants were arguably the most busy team in baseball this winter, making three significant moves that they hope will help turn their fortunes around in 2018 after a dismal '17 season.   The Giants have been lacking thump in their lineup really every since Pablo Sandoval left and Busey Posey and Hunter Pence (for different reasons) both have seen their power numbers plummet over the last few seasons. This winter, they were able to tune up their offense in a big way, bringing in former all-stars and MVP candidates in Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria, while also finding themselves a capable defensive and productive offensive centerfielder in Austin Jackson. Now all three additions are 30+ years of age so the Giants clear goal is to really go all out for another ring over the next year or two.  And while they were able to fix up their offense while also improving their all-around defense, the one area the team...

The Giants, in their search for pitching help for the low, aka the bargain basement of the free agent pool, found their first arm they've inked all season long, signing former Ranger's LHP Derek Holland to a minor league deal on Friday. Far from the level of guys I was hoping they'd be able to lure in on a minor league deal or Major League minimum, Holland will come in and join the competition for the two remaining rotation spots that are up for grabs.   I mean, I get the deal in the sense that the Giants need some pitching depth that has major league experience and Holland will provide that and be there in case Chris Stratton, Ty Blach or Tyler Beede don't pan out this spring. However, that being said, I really was hoping the team would be able to get someone with a little more success in recent seasons. Now, the good part of this deal is that it's a minor league deal and won't preclude them from adding another starter with a better chance at making their r...

We're just a couple weeks away from spring training kicking off, and with the Giants fanfest coming up next weekend, things are really starting to heat up and the expectations for this team will be as high as ever. Fans are excited about the makeover the team went through over the winter, and to see the new faces making up 3/8 of the teams starting lineup (including potential all-stars Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria in particular). While the team wasn't quite able to fill every single one of their needs (or at least haven't yet), they still made three huge additions that have most fans, including myself; optimistic that this team should be right back in the playoff mix in 2018. That said, they'll still need a lot of things to go right, even with their three big adds, in order to overtake the Rockies, D-Backs and/or Dodgers in attempt to birth another postseason appearance. Just getting into the tournament is so important to them because they don't always have ...

No, he's not an earth shattering talent, but on Monday the Giants finally found the guy they expect to be their everyday center fielder, at least to start 2018, and that is veteran Austin Jackson.   The Giants signed the soon-to-be 31 year old to a 2 year deal worth $6M guaranteed but has clauses in it that could bring the total value up around $8.5M. The deal doesn't come as a shock to me whatsoever, as the Giants made it clear after the McCutchen trade last week that they were still in on center fielders and that McCutchen would in fact move into right field to improve the outfield defense as a whole. I talked in our last post about how Jackson really has the best bat/glove combo out of the handful of center fielders the team was looking at. That group included Cameron Maybin, John Jay and Jarrod Dyson but none of those guys present the offensive upside that Jackson does. However, of the bunch, Jackson is at the bottom of the list in terms of defensive rating in center fi...

*Update added to bottom of post* With the clock ticking on the MLB offseason, the Giants finally made that big addition to their outfield we've been waiting for by obtaining Andrew McCutchen from Pittsburgh and likely ending their work for the winter. Whether they've done enough to fix the problems that cost the team just shy of 100 losses though remains to be seen. Early Monday morning, the Giants and Pirates struck the deal that brings the all-star outfielder to the bay area in exchange for Kyle Crick and outfield prospect Bryan Reynolds. Upon hearing this news, I wasn't surprised at all, the Giants have been linked to the outfielder all winter and after losing out on Giancarlo Stanton then Jay Bruce, it became apparent that McCutchen had moved atop the their wish-list. Although I know he's not the ideal, young stud outfielder the Giants can build around into the next decade or so, McCutchen's still an impact player and I really do like this trade. Much more s...