Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Farhan Zaidi, as is his wont, was open to the premise but not entirely forthright.
Still, he made it clear he can envision the future of the Giants being put on display in 2020.
“I don’t think it’s out of the question,” the team’s president of baseball operations said about whether the nearly ready organizational gems — Joey Bart, Heliot Ramos and Sean Hjelle — will hit the major leagues this year.
In a lengthy sitdown with KNBR’s Larry Krueger, Zaidi pointed to last season and its 64 players used as evidence the team will promote anyone who has earned a promotion. Guys like Logan Webb, Sam Coonrod, Zach Green and Chris Shaw, just to name a few, showed they were capable and thus rose through the system.
“We pulled guys aggressively. I think that not only creates excitement for the fans and people at the major league level but for the players themselves — they feel like, ‘Hey, if I perform, I have a chance to move up one or two levels. Even if I start this year at Double-A, I have a chance to be in the big leagues by later in the season,’” Zaidi said.
Double-A Richmond is right where Bart, Ramos and Hjelle finished their seasons last year. Bart, the top catcher and second-overall pick in 2018, has only been slowed by hand injuries, a pair of fractures that delayed the start of his season and then prematurely finished it in the Arizona Fall League. Ramos, who stalled in limited time in Richmond (.242/.321/.421 in 106 plate appearances) is regarded as a bit further off, just 20 but the future of their outfield. Of the trio, he’s the only one not invited to major league camp. Hjelle, a 22-year-old mountain at 6-foot-11, also stumbled in Richmond, but overall had a breakout season last year, finishing with a 3.32 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 143 2/3 combined innings.
“I think moving guys, promoting guys aggressively and rewarding performance, rewarding guys addressing some of the areas of weakness that have been pointed out to them as things they need to address, that’s a real positive,” Zaidi said before a season without much expectations, and a youth movement will be one avenue toward ticket sales. “And I would expect us to continue on that path in 2020. I wouldn’t rule those things out. You don’t want to be overaggressive in a way that you wind up actually hurting the guys’ development and careers, so we’re going to be mindful of that.”
Zaidi wanted to point out one success story that has clearly meant a lot to the franchise.
“I think it’s been a great message to the guys in the organization that they see guys being moved up quickly,” he said. “And not just the elite prospects. Even a guy like Tyler Rogers getting a chance to come up to the big-league level, showing what he can do. I know that Sacramento clubhouse, those guys were all glued to the TV when Tyler made his big-league debut. Those types of things are always a positive for the organization throughout.”