Subcribe to this Feed
Adding More Punch to the Giants’ Offense
There’s no question that the San Francisco Giants need offensive help. The team ended the 2009 season 14th in the National League in slugging percentage and last in on-base percentage. This put them dead last in the National League in OPS with a .699 mark. But what can be done to improve this?
On November 13th Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors continued his great Offseason Outlook series with a review of the Giants. He figured that the Giants have $62 million committed before arbitration raises to Jonathan Sanchez, Brian Wilson, Brandon Medders, Ryan Garko and Tim Lincecum. Tim figured that these raises will push the payroll up to $80 million. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts (another site with a wealth of information), the Giants started the 2009 season with a payroll of $82,616,450. Unless Brian Sabean is given permission to raise payroll back to the $90 million mark they had for 2005-2007, Brian will have little to work with. Tim cited an article from Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News that stated that the Giants have the payroll room to afford “one free agent starting pitcher and one modestly-priced free agent hitter,” so the return to a $90 million payroll may be the case.
IF Brian Sabean has any sense (if you are familiar with this site, you’ll see that I’m not a big fan of his), he’ll make signing Tim Lincecum to a long-term contract his first priority this off-season. This may let him back load the contract to give Sabean a little more flexibility this winter.
The most obvious move would be letting Benji Molina walk and having prospect Buster Posey play regularly. I named Posey the Minor League Player of the Yearin an earlier post, noting that he is essentially ready for regular duty in the majors. He’s not exactly tearing up the AFL right now, but once he settles in behind the plate in Frisco, Posey should definitely carry an OPS above .699. The team can also expect minor rebounds in output from Aaron Rowand and Freddy Sanchez.
The main spots for improvement look to be the corners in the outfield and the infield. Ideally, the addition of a bat like Adam LaRoche would be nice. But payroll issues may limit the team to adding a more affordable slugger like Troy Glaus or Carlos Delgado who both need to re-establish their value after a ’09 season marred by injury.
The team may also look to move Pablo Sandoval over to first and upgrade the defense at third while nabbing another bat. The Giants were interested in Joe Crede last winter, but his continuous injuries might shy the team away from signing him. Sadly, I can see the veteran-minded Sabean signing Melvin Mora for third base.
As for the outfield, Grant over at McCovey Chronicleswrites about a couple rumors that are swirling around that the Giants may be after Jason Bay or Jermaine Dye for an offensive boost. He makes a good argument that the team shouldn’t sign either one. Personally, I feel that there’s more hope for Nate Schierholtz with his modest power potential and plus defense in right field than for Fred Lewis in left. With Lewis’ inefficient base stealing, the only real asset that he brings to the offense is a good on-base percentage and occasional ability to stretch doubles into triples. Adding a Johnny Damon might be nice, but with limited payroll flexibility the team might be inclined to try to sign Xavier Nady and spend their remaining funds on an infield corner. Nady could also be used in either corner of the outfield (unlike Damon), allowing the team to go with whichever outfielder emerges out of what they currently have.
There’s plenty of options out there, some better than others. It’ll be intriguing to see how Sabean reforms this offense.
Comments
One Response to “Adding More Punch to the Giants’ Offense”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
[...] their remaining funds on an infield corner. Nady could also be used in either corner of the …This Bloggirl bee under: johnny damon Tags: blog girl, carlos delgado, johnny damon, payroll issues, [...]