SAN FRANCISCO–There’s an arms race in Major League Baseball, and the San Francisco Giants don’t have plans on participating.
As other franchises load up on power hitters and figure out ways to increase their home run totals, Giants’ general manager Bobby Evans opened the franchise’s end-of-season press conference by announcing that improving the team’s defense is San Francisco’s top offseason priority.
“Defense is something that we’re very concerned about,” Evans said. “It’s one of the ways to help support our pitching and it’s important that we support our pitching with excellent defense and we struggled in that area this year. We’ve seen the trends of the game as it has moved toward more and more power so we’ve got to do everything we can to try to fight against that from our pitching staff. Albeit, our pitching overall gave up the third least number of home runs, it still felt like we gave up way too many and we’ve got to find a way to counteract the power that is in the game so that we provide our own power. So that’ll be an area that we would like to address.”
It is unclear whether the Giants plan to align a player in the left field bleachers next year.
It is clear, however, that the defensive alignment San Francisco used throughout the 2017 season did not work. While the team’s infield defense was above average thanks in large part to Gold Glove shortstop Brandon Crawford, the Giants’ outfield defense was exposed on a game-by-game basis.
A revolving door in left field coupled with Denard Span in center and Hunter Pence in right didn’t prove capable of covering the vast outfield territory at AT&T Park, and struggled in other large expanses of green grass like the one at Coors Field and the one down at Petco Park.
Though Bochy thought Span showed signs of defensive improvement over the last month of the season, the 33-year-old ranked 207th out of 209 outfielders in baseball in MLB.com’s Outs Above Average, a defensive metric that accounts for the number of plays an outfielder makes as well as the difficulty of them.
The Giants’ front office is well aware that it cannot have Span start the 2018 season in center field.
“You’re talking about the position changes, you’re talking about the outfield more than anywhere,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Denard is all in on playing left field. Now, as we go into the offseason, we don’t know what is going to happen. There could be something in left field. I thought Denard’s center field play really picked up the last month or so. He took it upon himself to make himself a better center fielder and so, you’re going to keep your options open, that’s my answer. As far as a Hunter Pence, it could be a right fielder, he could be one. Anyway, you want to keep your flexibility. You’re not going to do a lot on the infield.”
Because of a ballooning payroll and a desire to stay below the luxury tax threshold in 2018, the Giants aren’t blessed with limitless options. Giants’ CEO Larry Baer said that San Francisco would consider pushing beyond the threshold for the fourth straight season for the right opportunity, but the penalties have become so stiff that it’s highly unlikely the Giants will find the right opportunity.
How exactly do the Giants plan on improving next season?
“We had some issues everywhere,” Bochy said. “We’re going to roll up our sleeves and talk about this all winter and in fact, we’ve already had discussions on where we need to improve. We’ve met with players, could be some position changes. We’ve done a good job being creative in doing these type of things and that’s what we need to do now.”
Position changes will only do so much. The Giants can move Span to left, or ask Pence to shift over as well, but if both players are members of Bochy’s regular starting lineup next season, San Francisco will be asking too much of whoever it acquires to play center field.
And yes, acquire is the right word.
On Tuesday, Evans said that “free agency could be part of the answer, but it’s not necessarily the core answer.” Will prospects help? Steven Duggar might be ready to play center field by the end of 2018, but he shouldn’t start the season on the Giants’ 25-man roster. Bryan Reynolds is a promising young outfielder, but he’s never played a game above the A level.
In all likelihood, the Giants’ best opportunity for a short-term fix in center field is conversing with a team willing to trade. San Francisco could surrender prospects, dump Span’s salary, or pursue a blockbuster move that might involve second baseman Joe Panik or top prospect Christian Arroyo. In any scenario, the Giants insist they’ll stay true to who they are, and attempt to build through pitching and defense.
“We don’t want to get too far away from our game,” Evans said. “Ultimately, we’re a pitching and defense team. If we compromise too much in the area of power and give up too much defensively, that can hurt us as much as the benefit of adding the power. It’s always a balance. Some of that will be the approach in trades, some of that will be the approach at the plate, some of that will be using our system. As Boch mentioned, just being creative.”
The Giants’ Vice President of Baseball Operations, Brian Sabean, did acknowledge the team’s lack of offensive production was difficult to stomach this year. San Francisco finished second to last in runs scored, and dead last in home runs hit. In a season in which more than 30 players hit 30 home runs, the Giants’ home run leader was Brandon Belt, who hit 18 and didn’t play after August 4.
“A lot of games were tough to watch from an offensive standpoint because you were going into a game with literally three or four established Major League players,” Sabean said. “To answer the question, home runs aside, and lord knows everybody wants power, I know Bobby and his staff is desperate to figure out how we can add that. There’s a huge emphasis put on past and present timely hitting, so we’ll see how that evolves.”
The reality of the situation is that the Giants don’t have much flexibility. Fans who want San Francisco to be active on the free agent market may not grasp the challenges associated with routinely paying a luxury tax. Fans who want San Francisco to trade away their assets may not realize that even players like Crawford and Belt wouldn’t attract a considerable amount of teams due to their contractual obligations. Ultimately, a shift in the organization’s philosophy regarding power could take years to materialize, because drafted players don’t arrive in the Major Leagues in rapid fashion.
“I think the evolution of power these last few years can be disheartening because we haven’t shown that same power and it’s effected even the results our pitchers are getting but I think our scouts are steadfast to try to get the best players into this organization that are well-rounded and can play both sides of the ball,” Evans said.
In the short-term, the Giants are dealing with a roster that just finished 64-98, which is tied for the worst record in baseball. San Francisco might have a long-term vision of an overhaul, but at least in 2018, free agents like J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton aren’t walking through the gates to AT&T Park. Evans and Co. understand that they can’t begin Spring Training with the same team, even if they want to keep the same priorities.
It won’t be easy. It will take creativity. The Giants know this. Now they must act.