Fixing The Franchise: The San Francisco Giants – Spring Training 2019

This is a really tough year to be a fan of the San Francisco Giants. As I type this they are 30-39 on the season and 16.5 games back of the first place Dodgers. They have no path to the playoffs in the near future. They have old and bloated contracts that will hinder them for the foreseeable future. Long story short – the Giants need to unload their bad contracts and re-stock their farm system. Their quickest path to success is to blow things up.

If you are following along with Fixing The Franchise: The Miami Marlins, you will notice that I have a much quicker path to success with that ball club. I am going to play by different and more realistic rules with this San Francisco Giant organization.

Rules

• I cannot tinker with trades. I can only offer up players, or identify players that I am interested in.
• Players have to be played at their primary position, unless there are injuries.
• I can make realistic position moves – if I can justify it in writing.
• I have to make this a realistic rebuild – meaning the Giants are not buyers this season, I am only able to trade talent for prospects.
• I am using the latest version of OSFM Rosters – which includes draft picks from 2019.

State of the Initial Roster

This team is bad. In my lineup, if I am looking for young talent to build around I see Steven Duggar, Mike Yastrzemski, Joe Panik and Tyler Austin – none of which are all that young. Every other starter is into their 30’s and does not match the timeline of my rebuild. I also have some hefty contracts with Posey, Longoria, Belt and Crawford.

The rotation looks much better. Dereck Rodriguez is talented and only 26, Shaun Anderson is a good player at just 24 years old. Trevor Gott and Reyes Moronta are also within the rebuild window as 26 year olds. I absolutely have to get rid of Jeff Samardzija with his $18M a year contract. Bumgarner is also an impending free agent, I need to flip him for prospects.

Budget

The contracts that I have are insane. I am locked into Johnny Cueto, Buster Posey, and Evan Longoria through 2022. I have Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford for a combined $27M through 2021. Jeff Samardzija and Mark Melancon are costing me $34M through 2020. If any of these players were in their prime, these numbers would be reasonable. As it stands, I am not fielding a competitive team with these players. I simply needs to unload these contracts to jump start my rebuild.

Getting Rid of Bad Contracts

Looking at my budget – I am locked into many aging former-stars for multiple years at 7 or 8 figure contracts. That is not going to work for my team. I want to just get these players off of my roster and set myself up for the future.

Cueto

The first player that I want to unload is Johnny Cueto – he is 33 years old and owed $21.6M annually through the 2022 season.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Johnny Cueto	33	79	B	Angels	Jeremiah Jackson	19	SS	61	B
					Jonathan Lucroy	32	C	74	C
					Matt Harvey	30	SP	77	C

With the salary of Cueto considered – no teams were willing to take him on entirely for prospects. I was able to make a deal with the Angels – acquiring two of their pricey vets and a decent prospect. Jeremiah Jackson was a second round pick in the 2018 draft. With this trade I am able to save $7.2M this season.

Longoria

My next move was to get rid of that Evan Longoria contract. He is owed between $13M-$20M annually through the 2022 season. I simply cannot pay a 33 year old that much, no matter how awesome he was in the past.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Evan Longoria	33	78	C	Astros	Seth Beer	22	LF	59	B
					Miguelangel Sierra	20	SS	57	C
					Wade Miley	32	SP	76	C

Not bad. I was able to acquire two prospects and a vet with an OK salary. I saved $8.6M on this season alone by moving on from Longoria.

Posey

The last of my 2022 monster contracts – Buster Posey. He has been the face of the franchise and the heart and soul of the team for almost a decade. Rookie of the Year, MVP, and three time World Series Champion. Baseball is a business, and I cannot be paying a 35 year old catcher $19.8M in 2022

I offered up Posey and there was not a single team that would take him on alone. To entice teams I pulled a move out of the Houston Texans playbook. Not long ago they attached a 2nd round pick to unload the Brock Osweiler contract. My version of this was to attach Tyler Beede to Posey in order to get a team to make an offer. It worked.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Buster Posey	32	88	A	Twins	Royce Lewis	19	SS	65	A
Tyler Beede	25	66	B		Marwin Gonzalez	30	3B	79	C

Oh my god. I somehow was offered the #1 overall pick from the 2018 draft. What a deal. Posey is out but I may have a new face of the franchise for years to come. Hopefully Royce Lewis lives up to his potential. I was so excited I forgot to see how much money this would save me.

Samardzija

The next big contract to move is Jeff Samardzija – $18M per year through 2020. There was not a lot of interest in the former Notre Dame Wide Receiver.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Jeff Samardzija	34	81	B	Indians	Jason Kipnis	31	2B	81	C

This move looks like a wash – but it saves me $10M. With Jason Kipnis at a much lower salary I may be able to immediately flip him for a few mid-level prospects.

Melancon

Next to go was Mark Melancon – owed $15.5M through 2020. Much like Posey, he was too expensive to take alone. I decided to attach him to 26 year old RP Trevor Gott in hopes of getting a prospect back.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Mark Melancon	34	88	B	Dodgers	Kody Hoese	21	3B	62	B
Trevor Gott	26	82	C		Matt Beaty	26	1B	63	B
					A.J. Pollock	31	CF	78	C

Whoa, a trade with the Dodgers. I was able to acquire their 1st round pick from the 2019 draft – Kody Hoese – a power hitting 3rd baseman. I also grabbed A.J. Pollock – who I will be immediately trading. This move saves me $3.4M.

Pollock

OK, Pollock is owed $12M a year through 2023 – we need to dump him somewhere.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
A.J. Pollock	34	75	C	Phillies	Vince Velasquez	26	RP	74	B

Nice. I grabbed a Major League level relief pitcher and saved $9.8M in the process. Not bad.

Belt

Brandon Belt is the next to go – he is owed $14.5 per year through 2021. Unsurprisingly, nobody wants to take on his contract without getting something in return. I attached Fernando Abad – and the Mets showed interest.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Brandon Belt	30	83	B	Mets	Dominic Smith	23	LF	73	B
Fernando Abad	33	70	D		Juan Lagares	30	CF	75	C

Not a bad return for Belt and a RP I would never use. Dominic Smith was the 11th pick of the 2013 draft. I also save $10.1M on this trade.

Crawford

We have just a few bloated multi-year deals left to move, and this next one hurts. I have to move on from Brandon Crawford at shortstop. I love him as a player, but I can’t pay him $12.5M a year through 2021. Without attaching a prospect I did not get much interest. I decided to add on Andrew Suarez to see what interest I could draw up.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Brandon Crawford	33	82	C	Athletics	Logan Davidson	21	SS	64	B
Andrew Suarez	26	68	B		Stephen Piscotty	28	RF	77	B

This is an interesting trade. I save $6.5M with this move. I also snag Logan Davidson, the 29th pick of the 2019 draft out of Clemson. Stephen Piscotty is not a bad player to acquire either – it just depends on if I want to keep him through his contract, which goes through 2023.

Gonzalez

My next move is to get rid of the newly added Marwin Gonzalez contract. He is 30 years old and I don’t need him around for the rebuild. Much to the dismay of Heliot Ramos – I attached his brother Henry Ramos to this deal.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Marwin Gonzalez	30	77	C	Marlins	Magneuris Sierra	22	CF	63	B
Henry Ramos	26	57	C		Garrett Cooper	28	RF	73	C

Magneuris Sierra was the key piece in the Marcell Ozuna trade to the Cardinals. I also save $10.1M in this deal.

Kipnis

Time to move Jason Kipnis next. I was kind enough to let him know I would trade him right away – he didn’t even come to San Francisco.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Jason Kipnis	31	77	C	Braves	Shea Langerliers	21	C	65	B

Another great move for the future of the Giants. I move Kipnis and his $8M this year – for 2019 9th overall pick Shea Langerliers.

Piscotty

I want to move Stephen Piscotty next. He has a long commitment and I am unsure if I want to go all in on Piscotty.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Stephen Piscotty	28	75	C	Brewers	Brice Turang	19	B	63	B

I grab another young shortstop prospect in Brice Turang. A 2018 first round pick for the Brewers. I save $6.3M this year with this move.

Harvey

Matt Harvey and his $11M this year have to go. I don’t want his personality around on my squad. His interview with Dan Patrick still bothers me.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Matt Harvey	30	77	C	Nationals	Jackson Rutledge	20	SP	57	B
Brandon A. Beachy	32	66	B		Adam Eaton	30	RF	76	C

I pick up another 2019 first round pick in Jackson Rutledge and only had to attach a 32 year old minor leaguer to Harvey to get it done.

Bumgarner and Smith

OK – now it is time to move some big names. Madison Bumgarner and Will Smith do not benefit my ball club this year. They are free agents in 2020 – it is time to collect some prospects for them. I am going to attach both players in a trade to see what kind of big return I can get.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Will Smith	39	90	A	Pirates	Cole Tucker	22	SS	77	B
Madison Bumgarner	29	85	B		Ke’Bryan Hayes	22	3B	67	A
Peter Maris	25	55	C		Josh Bell	26	1B	81	A

Wow! The left side of my infield and Josh Bell! All three players are controllable for the foreseeable future. What a trade!

Tucker

Hayes

Bell

Eaton

Adam Eaton does not fit into my future plans. Time to trade him before he steps on the field in a Giants uniform.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Adam Eaton	30	72	C	Mariners	George Kirby	21	SP	65	B

I needed to beef up my minor league pitching depth and this helped in a big way. George Kirby was the 20th pick in the 2019 draft. This takes another $4.6M off my salary.

Pillar

I love Kevin Pillar – but a $5.8M 30 year old CF on a rebuilding team doesn’t do me any good.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Kevin Pillar	30	79	C	Red Sox	Darwinzon Hernandez	23	SP	65	B

Holland

This is another player that does not fit my franchise moving forward. Derek Holland is expensive and I would rather give the innings to a younger players.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Derek Holland	32	71	C	Blue Jays	Ryan Noda	22	1B	45	B

I save $6.5M with this move and pick up a decent 1B prospect with good potential.

Dyson

Sam Dyson is a solid relief pitcher. Someone else can use him this year that has an eye on competing. I need to get a good prospect in return for him.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Sam Dyson	30	76	C	Yankees	Trevor Stephan	22	SP	61	B

I snag a solid pitching prospect and save $5M on the 2019 season.

Lagares

Just like the other vets I acquired, I have no plan for Juan Lagares. I would rather give the playing time to a younger player.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Juan Lagares	30	73	C	Yankees	Clarke Schmidt	22	SP	63	B

I save $4.7M and snag another young pitcher with good potential for my farm system.

Panik

Joe Panik has been a solid player for the GIants for a few years. He is getting older though and does not fit the vision I have for the future of the ballclub. It is time to say goodbye to another World Series Champion.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Joe Panik	28	75	B	Blue Jays	Alek Manoah	21	SP	64	B

With this trade I save just about $4M and also grab the 11th overall pick from the 2019 MLB Draft.

Lucroy

Jonathan Lucroy was another player that was acquired as part of moving a larger contract. Just like the others, it is time to say goodbye before he puts on a uniform.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Jonathan Lucroy	32	72	C	Padres	Miguel Diaz	24	RP	68	B

Miguel Diaz is a solid player that I can add to my bullpen and will find his way to the 25 man roster in the immediate future.

Miley

Wade Miley is a decent arm with a good personality. While it would be nice to keep him around and fill out my rotation – I am all in on grabbing prospects.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Wade Miley	32	73	C	Cardinals	Seth Elledge	22	CP	56	B

I save almost $5M in this trade and snag a good prospect at just 22 year old.

Vincent

Simply just another aging vet that I have no use for this season.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Nick Vincent	32	80	C	Rangers	Tyler Phillips	21	SP	59	B

I save about $3M with this move and grab another arm to continue to add to my minor league depth.

Watson

I love Tony Watson – I respect him enough to seek out a competitive club to send him to. He is 33 years old and I want him to have an opportunity to make it to the playoffs in 2019.

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Tony Watson	33	79	B	Brewers	Ethan Small	21	SP	61	B

I grab another 2019 first round pick in Ethan Small, and save $3M in the process.

Pomeranz

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Drew Pomeranz	30	74	C	Mariners	Joey Gerber	21	RP	62	B

Solano

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Donovan Solano	31	70	C	Red Sox	Jarren Duran	22	RF	59	B

Cooper

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Garrett Cooper	28	71	C	White Sox	Luis Gonzalez	23	CF	59	B

Austin

Traded	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	To	Rec.	Age	Pos.	Ovr.	Pot.
Tyler Austin	27	69	A	Dodgers	Caleb Ferguson	22	RP	75	B

This is a huge move. Tyler Austin does not fit the path of this franchise. He is just a bit too old to fit the timeframe I have set for our club. Caleb Ferguson can come in and get some innings right away.

Coaches

The Giants had a pretty good staff to begin with. Considering all of my prospects, I absolutely must have the best coaches. I let go of Jose Alguacil and Ron Wotus. I picked up Landon Baldwin and Jay Makepeace to take their spots.

Free Agents

After all of the move that I made – I could hardly field a Major League team. There is an odd beauty to tanking and rebuilding, you have to perform just well enough to not get fired. I turned to Free Agency to help fill out my 25 man roster.

Player	Pos.	Age	Ovr.	Pot.	Yrs.	Contract
Carlos Asuaje	2B	27	73	B	2	$1.9M
Chase Headley	3B	34	72	C	2	$4.6M
James Shields	SP	37	69	B	1	$600K
Bartolo Colon	SP	45	68	A	1	$600K
Jason Hammel	SP	36	71	C	1	$1.7M
Jose Reyes	2B	35	69	C	1	$600K
Santiago Casilla	RP	38	73	B	1	$1.9M
Alexander Palma	RF	22	63	A	1	$100K
Joaquin Benoit	RP	41	75	A	1	$2.4M

• After three seasons with the Padres, Carlos Asuaje found himself playing in Korea with the Lotte Giants in 2019. I called him up to be my everyday second baseman and brought him back to the United States.
• Chase Headley was a 2015 target for the San Francisco Giants when they lost Pablo Sandoval. I do not want to rush Ke’Bryan Hayes to the show, so this will buy me some time.
• James Shields, Bartolo Colon, and Jason Hammel fit the mold of players that used to be great that the Giants sign five years after their prime.
• I pick up a versatile player in Jose Reyes to play a utility role for this club.
• Santiago Casilla comes back to the Giants, along with Joaquin Benoit to fill out my bullpen.
• Alexander Palma was sitting in Free Agency for some reason. At just 22 years old and with A potential I had to grab him. He will start the year in the minor leagues.

Making Room For Free Agents

In MLB the Show 19, rosters are capped at 90 players. In order to make room for the free agents above – I had to release the following players:

Player	Pos.	Age	Ovr.	Pot.
Pat Venditte	RP	33	58	D
Ronnie Freeman	C	28	50	C
Sam Selman	RP	28	50	C
Enderson Franco	RP	26	54	C
Michael Reed	LF	26	59	C
Brock Stassi	1B	29	61	C
Levi Michael	SS	28	61	C
Keyvious Sampson	SP	28	62	C
Chase Johnson	SP	27	61	C
Ben Madison	SP	21	60	C
Gio Brusa	1B	25	59	C
Samuel Coonrod	RP	26	57	C
Sam Moll	RP	27	58	C
Jandel Gustave	RP	25	62	C
Anthony Garcia	RF	27	61	C

Updated Budget

Before

Now

I went from having a 2019 player salary total of $177M to now having player salaries coming in at $33M. I shaved $144M off of my total payroll for the 2019 season. I had $62M committed through the 2022 season, and now I have zero commitments in 2022. In fact, I only have $3M committed in the 2020 season. Those values will increase a bit – I have some contract extension possibilities that I need to take a look at.

Current Roster

Pitching Staff

Dereck Rodriguez is the ace of the staff. Following Rodriguez is a trio of vets in Shields, Hammel and Colon. I have the youngster Shaun Anderson as my #5 starter – I don’t want to put too much pressure on him during his rookie campaign. My bullpen is a grab bag of old and young talent. Reyes Moronta and Caleb Ferguson are in my long term plans – Vince Velasquez is currently auditioning for that as well. Casilla and Benoit are short term options to keep the team competitive.

Lineup

	RHP	Pos.	LHP	Pos.
1	Carlos Asuaje	2B	Cole Tucker	SS
2	Pablo Sandoval	3B	Jose Reyes	2B
3	Josh Bell	1B	Josh Bell	1B
4	Dominic Smith	LF	Chase Headley	3B
5	Steven Duggar	CF	Aramis Garcia	C
6	Mike Yastrzemski	RF	Austin Slater	RF
7	Stephen Vogt	C	Dominic Smith	LF
8	Cole Tucker	SS	Steven Duggar	CF
9	–	P	–	P

Outside of Josh Bell – there are not many exciting bats in this Giants lineup. Dominic Smith, Steven Duggar, and Cole Tucker are giving fans a glimpse of the future. We don’t project to score too many runs, so we can let the fans see what the young bucks can do. Outside of those four players, everyone else in the lineup is in a platoon role. We do not have the talent, so we need to play the odds and take on the best matchups this season.

Coming Up

The Giants are a completely different franchise as we head in to the 2019 season. We are no longer the aging over-priced team. We are a franchise with a ton of minor-league talent and a bright future. In the next post we will look at some contract extensions, top prospects lists, and opening day.

– Buzz