2021 SF Giants - shocking the world?

nattysez

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Sep 30, 2010
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The 2021 Giants were left for dead after an off-season when the Dodgers and Padres seemed poised to spend the season chasing 100 wins while the Giants waited another year to get a bunch of big contracts off the books. It hasn't worked out that way, and the Giants' FO has a tough call to make at the trade deadline.

They are currently 62-37 despite a number of stomach-punch bullpen meltdowns, Kevin Gausman having a couple of tough outings post-ASB, and losing Longoria, Crawford and Belt (the latter may have been addition by subtraction) to injury for substantial periods. They are 2 games ahead of LA and 5.5 ahead of the Padres as action starts tonight.

After this season, the following players are potential free agents: Posey (team option), Cueto (team option), Crawford, Belt, Gausman, DeSclafani, Wood, Solano, and Flores (team option). That is a TON of money potentially coming off the books, but it's also the starting catcher, 2b and SS along with 4/5 of the rotation.

So do they GFIN, knowing that any close-to-MLB prospects they send away are guys that they might need next year? Or do they just make small adjustments (acquiring a bullpen arm or 2) and hope this annus mirabilis continues without adding new players to the mix? I think the latter is much more likely, but SF keeps getting mentioned in Scherzer rumors, so it should be an interesting next few days...
 

sean1562

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Sep 17, 2011
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What di they do with Joey Bart? Top catching prospect but he is 24 and Posey's option seems like it will definitely be picked up. Maybe Posey is one of the catchers that stays good through their 30s? He is also a Giant legend, I can't see them just letting him walk to call this guy up. If they are open to trading Bart, that could open up a lot of possibilities. Berrios?
 

E5 Yaz

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What di they do with Joey Bart? Top catching prospect but he is 24 and Posey's option seems like it will definitely be picked up. Maybe Posey is one of the catchers that stays good through their 30s? He is also a Giant legend, I can't see them just letting him walk to call this guy up. If they are open to trading Bart, that could open up a lot of possibilities. Berrios?
24 is still young for a catcher. Varitek, for instance, wasn't a full-time starter for the Red Sox until he was 27. Posey started at 23, but he was generational. It would be unwise to trade Bart at this point.
 

nattysez

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Sep 30, 2010
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Kapler has consistently said that Bart is not ready to catch in the majors yet. They've given him cups of coffee, but I just don't think he's as good as a receiver as they'd like, which is why he's still getting reps in the minors even though he's hitting well. If he's showing improvement, I bet he'll be up next year as the back-up and split time with Posey (which is how they broke Posey in).

Regarding Posey, I suspect that his rejuvenation this year is in significant part due to him having last year off. He's not going to have that luxury in the future, so I wouldn't assume that his results this year are indicative of how he'll play in years to come. That said, I expect they exercise his option for next year at $22m and then figure things out after that.

I also think they'll try to bring Crawford back after this season -- he's a local kid and should not have a ton of suitors as a 35 year-old SS.