Suddenly, the San Francisco Giants have a panda-sized hole to fill.
As expected, the Giants made a spirited run at re-signing free-agent third baseman Pablo Sandoval. But the rumor mill had him leaning in the direction of the Boston Red Sox, and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported Monday morning that Sandoval and Boston had finally agreed to something in the neighborhood of five years and $100 million.
It took a while for Kung Fu Panda’s departure to be confirmed. But for those who still have doubts about his signing with the Red Sox being a reality, the Giants’ fare-thee-well note should clear things up:
For most Giants fans, here’s guessing that Sandoval’s exit hurts more than the garden-variety free-agent departure.
Beyond it marking a change of pace from general manager Brian Sabean’s usual post-championship M.O. of keeping the band together, the Giants are losing a guy who’s been a postseason hero in two of the club’s three championship runs since 2010 and who’s been widely liked ever since taking over at the hot corner in 2008.
“He’s been such an important part and integral part of this organization for a long time,” Giants assistant general manager Bobby Evans told Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, adding: “All that he’s accomplished here, it was a terrific story that he wrote while he was here.”
If for no other reason than simple familiarity, Sandoval will be missed in the Giants’ clubhouse. He may be missed even more by the club’s marketing branch, as it’s not easy to replace fan favorites who have fan-friendly nicknames.
What the Giants must make sure of, however, is that they don’t miss Sandoval on the field.
He hasn’t been a great player over the last two seasons, hitting .279 with a modest .748 OPS, but he’s been a good one—particularly in 2014, when Sandoval’s solid offense and defense gave him a decent 3.0 WAR by FanGraphs’ reckoning. A team that won only 88 games in the regular season can’t afford to lose that kind of production without replacing it.
To that end, let’s discuss four solutions the Giants could pursue, beginning with a long shot and ending with the most practical solution.
Move Buster Posey to Third Base and Go with Catcher Platoon
This probably isn’t happening. But since it’s a fascinating idea with a shred of a chance of happening, let’s talk about it.
It was in 2013 when the idea of the Giants one day moving Buster Posey to third base found its way onto the table. This was partially because skipper Bruce Bochy told Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area that he thought his superstar catcher could be a “really good third baseman.”
He certainly could be. Posey’s a solid athlete for a catcher, with the kind of arm strength he’d need for the hot corner. And as a .300 hitter with 20-25-homer power, Posey definitely has the bat for third base.
And it’s not like the Giants are without excuses to move Posey to third. It would be a good way to keep him healthy throughout the life of his nine-year contract, and they have Hector Sanchez and Andrew Susac standing by to form a solid platoon behind the dish.
It’s no wonder that, according to Eno Sarris of FanGraphs, moving Posey to third base has supporters in the Giants front office. Nevertheless, this tweet from the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Henry Schulman indicates pretty strongly that it’s a down-the-line idea rather than a 2015 idea:
Well, nuts. It would be a solid way for the Giants to fill Sandoval’s shoes without sacrificing too much, but it sounds like the Giants have other ideas in mind.
Such as…
Take Sandoval’s Money and Sign a Hitter
Just because the Giants couldn’t re-sign Sandoval doesn’t mean they couldn’t afford him. Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe says they offered him $95 million over five years and were willing to go higher.
Logical conclusion: If the Giants were willing to spend that much on Sandoval, maybe they’ll be willing to spend it on someone else.
To this end, pickings are slim now that the Red Sox have also signed Hanley Ramirez. But one name the Giants have been linked to is Cuban slugger Yasmany Tomas, whom Heyman characterized as something of a Plan B in case the Giants whiffed on Sandoval.
If you don’t know about him already, here’s Ben Badler of Baseball America with the book on Tomas:
A righthanded-hitting corner outfielder, Tomas can hit towering home runs thanks to the strength from his thickly-built 6-foot-1, 230-pound frame. Tomas has 70 raw power on the 20-80 scale. … He has some experience in center field and is a decent runner for his size, but his speed is still below-average and he’s going to be a corner outfielder in pro ball.
That Tomas profiles as a corner outfielder means the Giants could stick him in left field. But since he has some experience at third base and the arm for the position, he could go there instead.
But it must be said that the Giants would be taking a bigger risk than most with a big contract for Tomas. As I outlined last week, AT&T Park is a deterrent for the Giants to invest big on a power-only player. And since they’re in win-now mode, they’re not an ideal fit for a 24-year-old project player like Tomas.
Since he’s really the only free-agent hitter still out there in line for a Sandoval-sized contract, the Giants will be better off if they…
Take Sandoval’s Money and Sign a Pitcher
If you can’t add run production, just go ahead and add run prevention, am I right?
It’s not the worst idea in the world. This according to both myself and apparently the Giants as well. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com says the club has interest in free-agent left-hander Jon Lester:
Lester’s left-handed stylings would be a bit redundant next to those of Madison Bumgarner, but that wouldn’t keep the two of them from being a dangerous duo. And yes, with Tim Hudson old, Matt Cain broken and Tim Lincecum a shell of his former self, the Giants rotation could use such a duo.
Aside from Lester, Max Scherzer’s probably a bit outside the Giants’ price range. But the same doesn’t go for James Shields. He’s likely to be the cheapest of the three and would fit well at AT&T Park after pitching at Kauffman Stadium for two years.
But while the Giants using the money they had set aside for Sandoval on a stud pitcher would work, there’s no rule that says they have to spend that money all on one player. Arguably, the best idea of all would be to…
Take Sandoval’s Money and Spread It Around
Had the Giants spent roughly $20 million per year on Sandoval, they would have filled one hole and left themselves with little money to fill the others. That would have been a dilemma, as they need help in left field and in their rotation.
Now that Sandoval is gone, that potential dilemma has been erased and replaced with a very doable project: spend $20 million to shore up third base, left field and the starting rotation.
The Giants could make a play for Chase Headley at third base and target an affordable left fielder and starting pitcher. They could make a play for Colby Rasmus or old friend Melky Cabrera in left field and target an affordable third baseman and starting pitcher. Or they could target Francisco Liriano, Ervin Santana or Brandon McCarthy and target an affordable left fielder and third baseman.
Based on how they’ve operated in recent years, this is more of a typical Giants way of doing things. Sabean has crafted three championship teams in five years not by luring big-name free agents, but by looking for solid bargain buys and using them to give Bochy a deep roster to work with.
It would have been hard to give Bochy a deep roster if the Giants had committed big bucks to Sandoval. Since the Red Sox barred them from doing so, the Giants must look at what comes next as an opportunity rather than a curse.
Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked.
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