After one of the worst seasons in franchise history, the San Francisco Giants find themselves at a crossroads. Do they follow the lead of the Houston Astros and blow up their roster to (hopefully) make another World Series run in five years? Or do they try to squeeze out one more championship while their core players are still in their prime? All signs seem to indicate the latter, which means the Giants have a lot of work ahead of them to compete in 2018.
With so many big contracts on the books and not a lot of wiggle room financially, the front office will have to get creative to substantially improve the roster. General manager Bobby Evans referred to that multiple times during the team’s end of the year press conference. It wasn’t exactly Jed York referencing “culture” 16 times during last January’s 49ers post mortem, but “creative” was the word of the day for Evans and the rest of the front office staff.
What does being “creative” mean though? It’s not entirely clear, but the main takeaways from that end of the year presser are that the Giants:
- Prefer impact players acquired via trades rather than free agency.
- Won’t completely gut the farm system to make trades happen.
- Want to get younger and more athletic.
- Will look to significantly improve their defense (and yes, their power too, don’t worry)
And while players like Giancarlo Stanton, J.D. Martinez, Lorenzo Cain and Josh Donaldson, who are either set to hit free agency or rumored to be traded, could still be on the team’s radar, for now let’s focus on players who fit the above criteria. Here are five “creative” options the Giants should consider this offseason.
Randal Grichuk – Outfielder, St. Louis Cardinals
According to Cardinals’ beat writer Derrick Gould of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Grichuk is likely the odd man out in a crowded Cards outfield. This isn’t new for him though, St. Louis acquired Grichuk from the Angels prior to the 2014 season because there was no spot for him with Mike Trout occupying center field in Anaheim.
At the time, the Cardinals were acquiring a promising young defensive outfielder with solid power potential. In four seasons in St. Louis, Grichuk has displayed that power (46 home runs over the past two seasons) and has been a solid defender from all three outfield positions.
Unfortunately, power is all he really has to offer at the plate. In 404 career major league games, Grichuk has posted an unimpressive .249 batting average, a troubling .297 on-base percentage and he’s strikeout prone (133 K’s in 412 at bats last season). Luckily age is still on his side, as he’ll be 26 at the start of next season and he’s entering his first year of arbitration.
Grichuk’s disappointing offensive numbers could mean he won’t cost very much in terms of players in a trade. That’s good news for the Giants considering the state of their farm system. That said, the Cardinals have a talent for pilfering hidden gems from other team’s farm systems.
Jurickson Profar – Infielder, Texas Rangers
Once the most talked about prospect in baseball, Profar has quickly become an afterthought. Signing with the Rangers at just 16 years old, he showed off his all-around game early by hitting 37 doubles, 12 homers and stealing 23 bases as a 19-year-old shortstop with A-Hickory.
But it soon became clear that the Rangers may not have a spot for him defensively. Elvis Andrus has been locked into the shortstop spot for the Rangers since Profar’s professional debut in 2010. Rougned Odor took the 2nd base job and ran with it after Profar was injured in the 2015 season and Joey Gallo is the future at 3rd base once Adrian Beltre decides to hang up his cleats.
That puts Profar in a tough spot: Either learn a different position (which he did, playing some first base for the Netherlands during the World Baseball Classic and left field for the Rangers, which didn’t go well) or demand a trade out of Arlington. When Profar did demand a trade back in July, he was banished to AAA for the rest of the season and didn’t even get a September call up. Despite the turmoil, Profar managed to put up a .287/.383/.428 slash line with an .811 OPS in AAA last season, and he’s still only 25 years old.
Couple those stats with his impressive run in the World Baseball Classic, where he posted a 1.266 OPS playing under Netherlands manager and Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens, and it’s clear that Profar might be the steal of the offseason. If the Giants need a third baseman, he could be the guy. If they trade Joe Panik, Profar could be the guy to slide into his spot. Considering how rocky the relationship between Profar and the Rangers has become, they may not ask for much in return. If that’s the case, he would be a fantastic low-risk, high-reward option for the Giants.
Billy Hamilton – Outfielder, Cincinnati Reds
Since his debut in 2013, Hamilton has been one the most exciting players in baseball. He’s by far the game’s best baserunner, stealing no fewer than 56 bases since his rookie season in 2014 and while adding a career-high 11 triples in 2017. He’s also one of baseball’s best defensive center fielders, something that the Giants desperately need. In fact, no center fielder in baseball has a better ultimate zone rating (UZR) than Hamilton since his rookie season.
All of these stats are due in large part to Hamilton’s game-changing speed. When he’s hot, Hamilton can single handedly change a game. The Giants saw that up close this past season when he put up a .393/.469/.643 line with three triples and three stolen bases in six games against San Francisco.
Fans shouldn’t expect Hamilton to put up those gaudy numbers though if he does head to the Bay. For a guy who does a majority of his damage on the base paths, Hamilton doesn’t get on base nearly enough. He has a career .298 on base percentage and has never batted better than .260 in a season. Plus he doesn’t address the Giants other desperate need, power. Hamilton has only hit 17 home runs in the majors and has a career .335 slugging percentage.
Those disappointing offensive numbers could make the Reds wary of giving him another big raise in arbitration this offseason. If Hamilton becomes too expensive for the Reds, a spacious AT&T Park could be a place where he can thrive. Defensively he’s exactly what the Giants need in center field, and he could turn Triples Alley into inside-the-park-homer alley. If Cincinnati decides to dangle Hamilton this offseason, he might be the most intriguing player not named Giancarlo Stanton on the trade market.
Kevin Pillar – Outfielder, Toronto Blue Jays
Speaking of great defensive center fielders, Kevin Pillar has become must see TV in Toronto over the last three seasons. It feels like Pillar has made an all-time great grab every week since becoming the Blue Jays’ starting center fielder in 2015. Since that season, Pillar ranks second only to the Rays Kevin Kiermaier in UZR and defensive runs saved among center fielders.
It’s still unknown if the Blue Jays are willing to part with Pillar though, as he’s arbitration eligible until 2021. He should be very affordable for Toronto, as MLB Trade Rumors projects he’ll make around $4 million in arbitration for 2018, but there’s reason to believe the Jays may put him on the trade block. They have nine other arbitration cases to deal with plus top prospect center fielder Anthony Alford is waiting in the wings.
After missing their first losing season since 2013, Toronto may be looking to shake things up this offseason. With slugger Jose Bautista hitting free agency and trade rumors surrounding former MVP Josh Donaldson, the Jays may be ready for a soft rebuild. Trading Pillar could be a great place for them to start.
Pillar would be an attractive target for any team looking for center field help, but he doesn’t offer much at the plate. He did hit a career high 16 home runs in 2017, but his .264/.302/.390 career batting line is the definition of league average. Still, an average hitter who’s an elite defender is a much better option than anything the Giants had last season. Like with Hamilton, the Giants will have to find their power somewhere else if they acquire Pillar, but they could rest easy knowing they have one of the game’s elite defenders roaming center field.
Nick Castellanos – Third Baseman/Right Fielder, Detroit Tigers
Castellanos might be the biggest wild card of the offseason since he isn’t locked into any position at the moment. The former top prospect has played a majority of his career at third base, albeit not very well. Since his 2014 debut, Castellanos has been one of the biggest defensive liabilities in baseball, with defensive metrics ranking him as the worst defensive third baseman by a long shot. His -43.4 UZR is nearly 30 points worse than anyone else at his position. Granted, defensive metrics are an inexact science, but that number is alarming.
The Tigers had enough of him at third late in the season and decided to try him out in right field, which he hadn’t played regularly since 2012. The results weren’t much better, in fact he might have been worse.
So why would the Giants bite on one of game’s worst defensive players? One reason could be that Castellanos’ short tenure in right field didn’t fairly reflect what he’s capable of defensively. Being throw into a spot that you haven’t played in five years more than halfway through the season was never going to work out well, so maybe a full Spring Training in that spot could fix the problem. Reason No. 2 is the obvious one. He’s young, controllable and has plenty of pop.
As he enters his second year of arbitration, the 25-year-old is coming off his best offensive season, hitting a career-high 26 home runs and 101 RBIs. In back to back seasons, he’s posted an OPS of at least .811 or better while playing his home games at Comerica Park, one of the few stadiums that might be a better pitcher’s park than AT&T Park.
The Tigers are in rebuild mode right now, so there’s no question Castellanos will be made available. The question for the Giants, and any National League team with interest for the matter, does his offensive performance make up for his defensive shortcomings? If the Giants are unable to sign or trade for any of the premiere power hitters on the market, they might just have to find out for themselves.
These are just a few names to consider, but there will be plenty of surprising players connected to the Giants this winter. Heck, who saw Heyward to the Giants becoming a rumor? It won’t be the last time we hear a rumor no one saw coming, and it shows Bobby Evans is serious about taking a more creative approach to building their roster for 2018.