What Exactly Did We Just Get?
The Angels are not a team that cares about money. They burn it willingly and in overpaying fashion. The fact that they gave up a young stud like Will Wilson to shed 12 million in salary is ludicrous. They know Cozart is never regaining his form because of a chronically injured shoulder and they must think Wilson was a mistake pick. So did they see an opportunity to ditch 12 mil (because even though they don’t care about money anyone would shed salary if it was easy to) or did they just completely screw up and give us a #1 draft pick stud?
In today’s age of peaked and honed analytics it seems unlikely that it was the latter.
It bums me out that this was the only thread I could think of with the Winter Meetings concluding today. Do something Young Z or I will grade your performance low.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
As much as I enjoy the level of B-Ball knowledge and bantering here, I (against almost a unanimous negative here) firmly believe that Bum should be signed. The strength of his conviction and loyalty to this team , IMO, would be rewarded with a massive effort to reward the team and fans cause , again IMO, money is secondary to him. The young players need to look up to the franchise that would stir the chemistry and bring flashback to mind on how it was done…He is the essence of going down deep….history has shown that and no one here could dispute that.
Agreed.
I agree. I have always been about bringing Bum back, but not on some “stupid money” contract, and we all probably have a different view at to that threshold. Personally, I have a problem with five years, regardless of the amount of coin involved.
Lotsa time left in off season. Discussions started at winter meetings generate later moves…
Winter meetings? I could give two shits. Cell phones invented in 1990s. They work anywhere.
Leftover from yesteryear when the old timers would get together to get shit-canned drunk…
No whores? Don’t forget the whores and the Havana cigars with 22 oz. Porterhouse steaks.
Good point Blade…I would have been King in those days.
The Giants basically payed for an extra draft pick, a good move by Zaidi in my opinion. Nothing wrong with beefing up the farm for both development and trades.
Still, I’m hoping they add to their 25 to build for the future but also be competitive this year. In 2016 they won 64 games, 2018 it was 73 and last year 77. In the Division those years they placed 5th, 4th and 3rd. Rarely does a team go from 64 wins to 100 wins in a season so I want them to keep making progress.
No team has ever won it using all kids (that I can think of anyway), a healthy mix of vets and kids has been the winning ticket. Look at last July, Zaidi picks up Dickerson in June and the guy gets hot which fired up the vets., Belt not so much but it was Posey and Craws best month, Longo only played 9 games but in those 30 ABs he hit 6 HRs, 12 RBIs, .400 BA, 1.537 OPS. So start with the right mix of kids and fire the old dudes up and get the wins up in the 80s.
Rendon off the table.
what’s crazy is that the Angels are in peak hurt from the Pujols deal, they are feeling it RIGHT NOW, and yet the just fire up another future self inflicted pain deal. It’s like they’re just stupid or something.
They’re between a rock and a hard place. This stupidity is because they made a commitment to Trout to improve the team come hell or high water. In their favor, the Angels are $70 million below the 2020 luxury-tax threshold. Pitching was the dire need, but they whiffed on Strasburg, Wheeler, and Cole. So, I would imagine they will look to sign Hyun-Jin Ryu or Madison Bumgarner or trade with the Indians for Corey Kluber.
Porcello to Mets 1Y/$10M.
This Gregorious rumor yday seemed preposterous:
The Giants, Brewers and Redswere the runners-up for shortstop Didi Gregorius, per reports from Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports
Made zero sense. Now Rendon off board, will Castellanos as next biggest bat make a quick decision today??? Then Ozuna and Puig?
The pitching weak Angels will have quite the line up with Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Upton and eventually, Jo Adell, whom many project as a perennial All-Star.
Wilson has 200 ABs at low A rookie level ball where he hit .275 with 5 bombs. Also made 7 errors in 28 games at SS, also played 2b. Angels figured they didn’t need him at middle IF position (so why pick him in first place, idk) I guess and wanted to save money, and found a taker for Cozart.
Giants liked Wilson and apparently were in on drafting him in first round. If I had $12 mil I would have gone after someone to help this season and next.
giants salaries are really stratified. Posey Cueto Smardz at top plus next tier Craw Longo (couple mil still comes from rays iirc) and Belt, plus Gausman accounts for $100mil+.
rest of the roster doesn’t make squat. Think about it–Yaz Davis Slater Dick Solano Dubon Garcia ( or whomever is back up C). Webb Beede Menez DRod Coonrod submariner guy and rest of pitching staff.
Even after blowing $20 mil, Giants still have money to spend.
CONTEST . . . Attached is a great article (DO NOT LOOK AT IT YET) on the HIGHEST PAID PITCHERS (largest contract at that time) IN MLB FREE AGENCY GOING BACK TO 1974.
Guess who was the highest paid pitcher at one time. Hint – he was a closer.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28270610/from-catfish-hunter-gerrit-cole-history-mlb-highest-paid-pitcher
Eck?
No unca
I remember Gossage getting a big deal with Yanks in ’78…
Boom! You da man!
NYteams visiting Bay area, where at least it isn’t freezing with mid 60s temps. Watched Knicks Golden State (2 worst records in NBA) last night as Knicks won in OT after blowing 20 point lead in first half. Marcus Morris tore them up and Randle always gives them problems. But 3rd Q alone Knicks made 10 turnovers and Warriors G League guys like Chriss lit them up. R J Barrett is pretty slick, might be really good player as he gains exp.
10 turnovers in 12 minutes…some of them were first pass lost ball as soon as they dribbled across half court.
Knicks are in Sac next. Rangers are in town to play Sharks who just fired their coach and his assistants. I liked DeBoer. Sharks have been wildly up and down this year with shaky goaltending and after 5 Ls in a row and couple routs, coach had to take the fall. Last season got them to conference finals and upset Vegas, now gone.
This Sunday will also likely be last game ever for Raiders at Coliseum. Raider fans are breed unto their own, funny and wild and made Black Hole something special. After last Sunday tho, many of them seem ready to wash hands of Davis Jr and his whole crew. Another tough break for Oaktown.
I have a good friend who has seasons with the Raiders. He and his sister renewed their tickets for Vegas. He went to last week’s game, but said he really did not want to be there for the final game, as you never know which direction things will go at the Coliseum…especially under the current circumstances.
I;m all for Bummie signing. Just not for 5 years $1xx million.
Yep.
Atleast Z can get a grade in the Winter meetings being proactive, not like Sabean his last few years in the meetings, where his meet and greet was only with the cocktail waitresses.He graded out as a complete F…
So I take it that you like the guy with the spreadsheet but not the guy spreading the sheets.
Lulz..Now that you put it that way Bozo I always prefer a good spread!
Great article, Blade. Funny, a lot of those long-term pitching deals worked out until Kevin Brown. And he wasn’t as bad as I thought he was. After him, they mostly cratered.
I thought the same thing. Amazing how much the deals have increased, eh?.
My choice was Bruce Sutter, who is still collecting from the Braves. That deal will cost north of $45 million dollars . . . as the article states, “Eat your heart out Bonilla.”
Way to go Loo . . . Thought you would probably get the right answer. Yes, Gossage was the player – Jan. 7, 1984: Goose Gossage, five years, $6.25 million (Padres)
Well, technically I was wrong. My guess was his Yankee deal in 78…
I think the Angels feel they have to always compete with the Dodgers for attention in the LA area. The Angels continually make big splashy expensive signings that don’t seem to really move the needle much. They’re a strange team that just continues to spin its wheels and flounder. The Giants really want to avoid being the Angels, and floundering for many years.
The predicament is does Bum go tot he Flodgers if we wont go to 5 years. I still am in on 4 years $80 range but 5 years $100 to make sure he is not in SmelLA???
I just asked Daniel if the prevailing sentiment in StL is to go after Bummie. He would appear to be a good fit there as they need rotation help, and that isn’t a bandbox.
And I’d rather see him in Cardinal red than Dodger blue. He and Kershaw are buds though so you never know.
The Angels are baffling at best. Giving up on their #1 pick this quick is odd to say the least. They need pitching so they get Rendon?
I’m sure they aren’t done. Maybe they get Bummie.
They bagged Rendon cause he’s the next best player available. Yeah they could use more pitching probably 2 arms, but Bum won’t go there he’s staying in the NL imo.I’m going with Cardinals now to balance out a heavy RH starting pitching staff and he can still hit bombs at the Golden Arches..
When do we hear what the plan is from Farhan? Not signing Pillar was a mistake. Bum needs to comeback, Farhan should realize that. A more consistent lineup will make his numbers much better. Have Posey,Craw or Belt ever seen the inside of a gym? Hope those three guys realize how poor their performances were. Respect is earned, let’s see what Farhan can do before we shower him with accolades.
Couldn’t agree more.
Three fat slobs…
Dodger fans are a bit freaked out about the possibility of Bum becoming a Dodger. The last several years he has been the focal point of their ongoing hatred (and jealousy, in my opinion) of the Giants. For them to absorb Bum as a Dodger, is like me absorbing Richard Sherman as a Niner. It’s tough, lulz. 🙂
It didn’t really bother me much when Kent became a Dodger. The Dodgers were a mediocre team in those days, if I remember correctly.
A quick check shows he made the playoffs with the Dodgers in ’06 and ’08. I have no memory of it. I guess I didn’t watch much of those playoffs.
The Giants have released artist renderings of what the new bullpens will look like. I saw them on Facebook, so I don’t have a link.
The garden area is going to lose some of its size for one of the bullpens. And some of the previous centerfield bleachers will be gone.
I didn’t think they would mess with the garden area at all, but it turns out they will.
Straight-away centerfield is going to be a bit of a bandbox for hitters. Pitchers are going to be stunned at balls going out over that moved in fence. Could be a lot more offense. Maybe.
I tried to put in a link but I think it was screwing things up.
Speaking of bullpens, here are details on the new OF dimensions…
https://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/article/And-the-new-outfield-dimenisons-at-Oracle-Park-14900781.php
Does anyone really give a shit about watching relievers warm up? I’m not necessarily opposed to moving the bullpens but the design as currently proposed is terrible imo. Especially for those bleacher seats that are now even further from the on field action. It would be better to put them under the stands with one, preferably the Giants BP, under the archway for fans walking by to see.
These bullpens are Williamson’s biggest contribution to SF Giants history.
Didn’t Loo predict Mac would go down to injury like 5 hours before it happened? That was an incredible predicition
Also predicted a lawsuit.
Still waiting on that one…
I thought everybody did. 🙂
Here’s the diagram I made last year. Pretty close . . .
Craig you said it. Angels dumb. Lets hope Z smarter then they are!