A lot of attention this offseason for the San Francisco Giants has been focused on new manager Tony Vitello and a couple of old MLB managers with connections to the organization.
It’s great that Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy are around to help guide Vitello and answer any questions he might have.
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But, what about the product on the field? That’s not really been addressed too much.
On Tuesday, MLB writer Chad Jennings of The Athletic took a look at all 30 MLB clubs and put them in different categories. These ranged from “Aggressively adding,” where the Los Angeles Dodgers landed, to “Half-measures,” where a few clubs are just toddling along.
Where did the Giants end up? Jennings put them in the tier titled “Lying in wait.” Jennings’ article was focused on the different MLB offseason tiers, according to how he views these ballclubs at this point.
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“A Rule 5 catcher and a back-end starter might be useful, but they’re not going to push the Giants back into October,” Jennings wrote. “Maybe they could trade for Brendan Donovan or sign one of several remaining free agent starters? Six months ago, this team traded for Rafael Devers. Surely, the Giants are going to do something of note before spring training starts.”
Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey and Giants general manager Zack Minasian are probably making their lists and checking them twice. After all, it is near Christmas, right? They’d love to add a gift-wrapped player or two under the Giants’ Christmas tree.
At this time, Giants fans might wonder if that Devers trade really paid off. San Francisco has been treading water in the past few seasons, just hanging at or near the .500 mark record-wise. The Giants’ fan base probably wants the team to be more competitive in the National League West Division.
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Yet that’s not going to be an easy task. The Dodgers have the money and resources to keep on adding to their roster. Los Angeles signed fire-balling reliever Edwin Díaz this offseason to the most lucrative contract ever given to a relief pitcher.
Seeing that type of deal go down probably makes Giants fans ask, “Hey, why can’t we make that type of move?” Well, maybe it’s because of the team’s financial situation and what they see that they can or cannot do.
If San Francisco really wants to be in the chatter about getting to October, then another move or two, as Jennings suggests, would be a good first step. Vitello will have his hands full when the Giants head into Cactus League play in a few weeks.