Biggest Offseason Additions
Tim Hudson: No deal hurt the Oakland Athletics fan the most as when the Giants signed 15-year veteran and former green and gold right-hander Hudson to a two-year deal.
At 38-years-old and after coming back from a season-ending ankle fracture, Hudson is looking to add onto his already highly successful 205-111 career with a chance to win a ring on the team from the West Bay that has been the most successful at winning World Series championships in the last five seasons.
For the last nine seasons, Hudson has been one of the most dominant arms in the National League with a 3.56 ERA and just a hair shy of 1,000 strikeouts (997).
Hudson has yet to finish a season with a win percentage less than .520 and had won at least 16 games for three consecutive seasons prior to 2013.
Even though Hudson doesn’t exactly have the hardware to back his stellar career, he more than makes up for it in quality starts, leadership and wisdom that many of the young, up-and-coming arms in the Giants system can learn from.
Michael Morse: It’s fair to say that Morse had a terrible year in 2013, but the thing to take note of is that he was suffering an arm injury for most of the season and he jumped leagues without much of a choice. As a result, the Giants locked him up for a one-year deal worth $6 million for a little risk, but a lot to gain.
It’s kind of a mystery why no other NL teams rolled the dice on Morse, especially when you take into account that he hit .289, .303 and .291 respectively with the Washington Nationals from 2010-2012 where also managed to average 21 home runs and 66 RBI per season during that frame as well.
Realistically, 2013 was a fluke year for Morse and it’s more than likely that the right-handed batter will tee off in AT&T Park in 2014.
It would also be wise of the Giants to stick Morse in the outfield and just let Brandon Belt do his thing at first base because in the 319 seasons that Morse has played in the outfield he has only managed to tally three errors. Not too bad for a player of his size.
Biggest Offseason Losses
Barry Zito: It’s kind of interesting to see what $100 million can do for you, and there is no finer example of how much of a waste it can be than when the Giants signed Zito back in 2007. For seven years Zito had been the most decorated of the “Big Three” (Zito, Hudson and Mark Mulder) in Oakland and earned himself a 102-63 record, a 3.55 ERA, 1,096 strikeouts, a winning season every single year, three All-Star Game appearances and the 2002 American League Cy Young Award.
In total the Athletics paid him just a shade over $18 million in that stretch (2000-2006). After that, it all went downhill. Even though Zito won two World Series rings with the Giants in 2010 and 2012, only one of those seasons proved his worth (2012).
In fact, 2012 was the only seasons in which Zito finished the season with a record over .500 as he managed to compile a 63-80 record along with a 4.62 ERA, 787 strikeouts and didn’t make a single All-Star Game roster nor did he receive a single vote for the NL Cy Young during his seven year run. How much did that end up costing the Giants? Roughly $119 million.
When Zito become a free agent at the end of the 2013 season the Giants made it clear that they would not be exercising any option on the left-hander. Now, Zito is 35-years-old and hasn’t received a single bit of interest from the other 29 teams. While it may appear to be a truly beneficial move by the Giants to keep Zito off the books, now might be a good time for a competitor to get him on the cheap and strike back.
Brett Pill: The Giants and their fans love Pill, but unfortunately there really wasn’t much room on the roster to keep him around and give him minimal playing time. So, like any reasonable team, they sold his contract to the KIA Tigers of the Korea Baseball Organization. Ouch!
Pill had only played in a total of 111 games over three seasons and didn’t exactly rack up any worth-while stats: .233 average, nine home runs and 32 RBI. Most teams have the tendency to just drop a guy and let them find their way through free agency, but the Giants took a different approach to “allegedly” get him on the right path by shipping him off where he will get every day playing time.
In theory this is a good plan as it has worked for a number of guys who went from the Major Leagues to the Nippon Japanese League, but it’s still a tough pill to swallow (no pun intended) for anybody, let alone a guy who has a World Series ring (2012) and turned 29-years-old back in September. It’s like Bryan LaHair and the Chicago Cubs. They’ll both be missed.
Name to Watch in Spring Training: Ryan Vogelsong
Voggy’s 2013 campaign ended on a bad not when he broke his pitching hand against Craig Stammen of the Nationals early in late May. Even though he came back after missing three months and pitched well in the last month-and-a-half of the season, there is still a little bit of worry that goes along with a reliable veteran who will entering is 10th official season at 36-years-old.
If Vogelsong ends up doing well in the spring as the team’s fifth member of the rotation, there is little-to-no doubt that he will provide the necessary push as the Giants shoot for their third World Series title in five years.
Biggest Spring Training Battle: Angel Pagan, Gregor Blanco and Morse
As pure of a game it is on the NL circuit, having the designated hitter option definitely has its perks. In the case of how manager Bruce Bochy will set his lineup in 2014, the addition of Morse certainly throws a wrench into the gears.
Over the last two seasons Blanco and Pagan have been a welcomed addition to the Giants’ outfield with their speed, attitude and most certainly their bat. While neither of them is especially good with the long ball, they both can get on and steal bases with little effort.
Between the two, Pagan has the advantage as the leadoff hitter. In his two seasons with the Giants he has maintained a .286 average, led the league in triples in 2012 with 15, scored 95 runs that same season and can even plate run as he is averaging 43 RBI per season, even though he only managed to play in 71 games in 2013 due to injury.
Blanco on the other hand has played in 141 games in each of the last two seasons and managed to hit .256 with 11 total triples, and average of 37 RBI per season and an average of 53 runs person with an average of 20 stolen bases as well.
He’s good, but Pagan clearly outshines Blanco. Now, add Morse to the mix. As stated above, Morse can crush the ball and is an exemplary defenseman in the outfield. Morse can play first base as well, but leaving Belt on the bench after he hit .289 with 17 home runs and 67 RBI would be a waste. It’ll certainly be an interesting battle for playing time.
What Went Right in 2013
The Giants finished 2013 with a 76-86 record, tied for third place in the NL West just two games ahead of the Colorado Rockies after having won the World Series the previous season. It’s hard to say if there was anything that went right in 2013, but there is always a silver lining no matter how bleak things appear.
Sergio Romo did a more than respectable job as the team’s new closer with 38 saves, a 5-8 record, a 2.54 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. While one could knock the guy for his win/loss record, it was also his first season in that roll. Back when he was serving as the team’s setup man his ERA was consistently below 2.00 and his strikeouts per nine innings was significantly better.
Don’t be too surprised if he’s able to shake out the jitters in 2014 and improve upon his numbers with his wicked slider.
Biggest Areas of Improvement in 2014
The Giants are an interesting team simply based on how they won the World Series in 2010, missed the playoffs in 2011, won the World Series in 2012 and missed the playoffs again in 2013. The odds are certainly in favor of them going all the way based on patterns, but realistically they actually have a great shot.
The addition of Hudson will relieve the pressure that was put on Matt Cain after his great season and perfect game in 2012 and clearly showed in 2013 when he only managed to go 8-10 with a 4.00 ERA. It should be noted that Cain went 16-5 with a 2.79 ERA in 2012.
The Hudson addition will also hopefully deflect any rough outings that Tim Lincecum has which may also prompt Bochy to give Yusmeiro Petit a few well-earned spot starts. Outside of that, the addition of Morse will be great for the power numbers, but General Manager Brian Sabean didn’t mess with the offense at all this offseason.
Overall Spring Training Preview
Don’t expect too much out of the Giants during Spring Training other than to see how their young players perform. Due to the amount of money they have wrapped up in certain players, don’t expect too much out of the veterans until the season starts.
It will be at that point that the Giants will do everything in their power to jump out to an early divisional lead over their biggest rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Even though the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies have reloaded for 2014, the NL West is a lot like the AL East in regard to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, there’s really only two teams that anyone cares about (Giants and Dodgers) and it will be a total surprise if anyone else from the division take the reigns.
The Dodgers have certainly done the better job of keeping a powerful unit together, but don’t count the Giants out as they will more than likely make the playoffs but as one of the Wild Card teams.