Toward the end of the worst season of his professional career, left-hander Matt Moore received a bit of comforting news.
Even though the Giants’ record was bad and Moore’s personal statistics were worse, San Francisco general manager Bobby Evans announced that the team planned to pick up the $9 million option on Moore’s contract for the 2018 season.
While Moore spent much of the season at the bottom of the National League leaderboard in earned run average and endured a near-five month span without earning a victory against a team with a winning record, Moore felt the Giants showed faith in the pitcher he used to be, and the pitcher he still thinks he can become by assuring him he would be on their roster come Spring Training.
On Friday afternoon, all of that changed. With the Giants in dire search of additional dollars to spend on free agents, San Francisco shipped Moore to Texas, exchanging him for a pair of prospects and dumping his salary to free up capital. In just a season and a half, Moore went from becoming a near-playoff hero in 2016 to the weak link in a Giants rotation that struggled with widespread inconsistency last season. In many ways, Moore was the poster boy for the team’s woes, as he spiraled out of control at the same rate the club did in one of the worst years in franchise history.
Still, as the Giants entered the offseason, Evans indicated that San Francisco planned to slot Moore in as the No. 4 starter in the team’s 2018 rotation behind ace Madison Bumgarner, right-hander Johnny Cueto, and seasoned veteran Jeff Samardzija. Though a few promising young starters like Chris Stratton and Ty Blach showed flashes last season, the Giants indicated Moore’s career track record would trump his forgettable 2017 campaign and allow him to start Spring Training without needing to pitch his way into a permanent job.
With Moore now headed to pitch for the Rangers (not exactly the best fit for a pitcher looking to regain confidence), the Giants could enter Spring Training with two vacancies in their starting rotation up for grabs. Though it’s a proposition that many franchises would find undesirable, San Francisco actually has enough young pitching talent to make a situation like this work. Evans and Co. are taking a risk, but it’s not as big as many fans might think. Offering up a full-time job to Moore without any questions asked was already a sign of potential instability, and now the Giants can fill his spot with cheaper homegrown talent.
The candidates to replace Moore
Chris Stratton: Stratton’s performance over the final two months of last season gave San Francisco every reason to believe he could hold down the fifth spot in its rotation next year, and now, Stratton will almost certainly have an opportunity to pitch every fifth day. A former first round draft choice of the Giants, Stratton took a long and winding road through the Minor Leagues, but thrived in his first extended work in a Major League rotation last year as he posted a 3.68 ERA of nearly 60 innings of work. Stratton should have the durability to pitch in a rotation over a 162-game slate, and he’s already proven he can handle tough lineups as he shut down the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks last year.
Ty Blach: Without Moore to rely on, the Giants could call on Blach to add more balance to their rotation and provide the back end of the unit with another southpaw. Blach began the 2017 season in the Giants’ bullpen, but an injury to Bumgarner forced the Giants to use Blach as a starter for much of the year. While Blach turned in many memorable performances and was always one of the Giants’ top competitors, he doesn’t have swing-and-miss stuff and faded toward the end of the season. Blach emerged as the early favorite to start 2018 as the fifth member of the Giants’ rotation, but Stratton overtook him by late August. Now, with Moore headed to Texas, Bruce Bochy might have room for both Stratton and Blach if the left-hander turns in a strong spring.
The candidates for the fifth starter spot
Tyler Beede: Though he’s never thrown a pitch at the big league level, Beede could conceivably begin the 2018 season as the Giants’ fifth starter. If the Giants see Blach as a better fit to help the bullpen as a long reliever, the door could swing open for Beede, the team’s top overall draft choice in 2014. Beede hails from Vanderbilt, a college powerhouse that has produced several prominent Major League players including David Price, and he’s considered the top pitcher in San Francisco’s farm system. Beede would have made his debut in 2017, but he suffered a groin injury in July that wiped out the second half of his season and even impacted his early Arizona Fall League starts. Beede might not be viewed as a can’t-miss prospect or top end of the rotation hurler anymore, but he should be capable of pitching at the very back of the Giants’ rotation.
Andrew Suarez: People who know far more than I do see Beede as the Giants’ next great homegrown pitching talent, but after watching Suarez saw off hitters in Sacramento last season, I can’t help but think he’ll make his Major League debut in 2018. With a fastball that runs in the low to mid 90s and a sharp slider that former Giants’ catcher Tim Federowicz raves about, Suarez is a soft-spoken left-hander who has the potential to develop into a solid middle of the rotation arm. Beede is a year ahead and has logged more Minor League innings, but Suarez was on the doorstep last season and could force his way into the picture with a strong spring. Beede already has a 40-man roster spot locked up and the Giants don’t need to add Suarez until next offseason, but the folks in Sacramento are impressed by his swagger on the mound and after taking in one of his starts last season, I can see why.
Joan Gregorio: Gregorio isn’t a name that’s been tossed around much lately, but he was also on the doorstep last season and was one of the most efficient pitchers in the Pacific Coast League before he was hit with a 50-game suspension for violating Minor League Baseball’s drug policy. There’s no telling how Gregorio’s arm will respond this spring and whether he’ll be the same pitcher after the suspension, but if he’s able to regain his form, he’s a 6-foot-7 lanky right-hander with plenty of potential. Something to keep in mind: Gregorio has struggled initially at nearly ever level he’s pitched at, but ultimately, he’s made adjustments and figured out ways to improve.
Mystery candidate: The Giants don’t have any other internal candidates on their 40-man roster or in their farm system who are threats to snag a job in the rotation next season, but they could sign a veteran arm to a one-year deal or offer a player a Spring Training invite with a shot to prove himself. It most likely won’t be any of the names of free agent starting pitchers you’ll hear dropped in the coming days because San Francisco likely won’t want to pay anyone more than the Major League minimum, but if all of the homegrown products fail, the Giants will be prepared with a Plan D.