SAN FRANCISCO–With Major League Baseball’s July 31 trade deadline rapidly approaching, Giants’ general manager Bobby Evans announced the franchise is open for business on Tuesday evening.
In the middle of the Giants’ 11-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, Evans dealt starting third baseman Eduardo Nunez to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a pair of pitching prospects who will likely need multiple years of seasoning in the Minor Leagues if they hope to one day step on the mound at AT&T Park.
Even after San Francisco clinched a series victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday, the Giants improved to just 40-63, and remain 31 games behind the first-place Dodgers as they prepare for a weekend series in Los Angeles.
In essence, the Giants’ trade of Nunez was Evans flipping the switch to light up the florescent bulbs of an “Open” sign on the organization’s store front. And while Evans found a willing customer in the Boston Red Sox for Nunez’s services, the rest of his assets won’t exactly create bidding wars.
With a team that sits 23 games under .500, Evans might well be the general manager of a dollar store, as most customers know that teams in the Giants’ position are willing to sell their items at a cheap cost. However, the Giants aren’t like most non-contenders. This is a team that’s set up as a luxury antique shop, where customers are often tempted to look, but rarely willing to touch.
Though the current form of the San Francisco Giants look like they’re ready to slash prices and go out of business, on Wednesday, Evans sounded as if the business model’s flaws were still fixable.
“No, there’s no directive to clear payroll,” Evans said. “The expectation is to get ourself in position to where we move forward in 2018 to get ourselves more competitive and hopefully back to winning baseball. Everyone understands realistically what a climb that is, we’re not naive to the struggles we’ve had.”
At points this month, Evans has referenced ‘tearing down a wall or two’ and ‘retooling’ instead of using the harsher term, ‘rebuilding.’ But after losing their fourth straight series to the San Diego Padres over the weekend, the Giants might be damaged beyond repair. Giants management has routinely stressed that it wants to keep the team’s current core –a group that played pivotal roles in three World Series titles this decade– in place. But at what point does the core become too large? At what point are the cracks in the foundation too glaring to ignore?
“You have to be open,” Evans said. “I think we have to be opportunistic. We have to take an honest look at where we are and not over-evaluate and not under-evaluate. This is a front office group that has worked together for a long time, has had success and won three championships together. So I believe in our group, not only in the clubhouse, but I believe in our group upstairs that we can put together a plan that’s going to help us get back to where we need to be.”
Certain members of the Giants’ core, like Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, are non-starters for opposing clubs hoping to work a deadline deal with Evans and the Giants. Others, like Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik, and Brandon Belt, are all homegrown talents that are unlikely to be involved in any trade involving San Francisco.
After Wednesday’s victory over Pittsburgh, right-hander Jeff Samardzija made reference to the team’s core. Samardzija threw seven innings of one-run ball, and a pitcher in the second year of a five-year, $90 million certainly sounded as if he felt he was a member of that core.
“I love being here and obviously it hasn’t gone the way we wanted it too which has put some people in some trade talks, but we also know that we have a very great core group of guys here that as long as we do our job and have confidence and momentum and excitement that we’re going to do very well,” Samardzija said.
Samardzija’s name has appeared in various trade rumors throughout the past two weeks, in large part because he’s a durable right-hander who eats innings like they’re a critical food group. After Wednesday’s start, though, Samardzija sounded convinced he will stick it out through the trade deadline, but a pitcher who’s been traded twice in his career acknowledged the possibility for any player to be dealt is a reality of the game.
“Pretty confident, I haven’t heard anything,” Samardzija said, when asked if he thought he would stay in San Francisco. “You guys probably know more than I would, man. Usually when something like that and your name gets popped up, no connections, there’s interest but that’s asking for too much from my experience in the past. I think anybody would give up almost anybody if it was a great deal for them but that doesn’t mean that anything is imminent.”
The primary question Samardzija’s postgame comments raise is at what point does the expensive nature of the Giants’ core thwart the franchise’s efforts to rebuild and contend in 2018?
If Samardzija considers himself a part of the team’s core, and a pitcher San Francisco has committed $18 million to annually probably deserves that right. It’s logical to assume the Giants’ ability to reshape their roster will be fraught with logistical and financial challenges.
Though Samardzija may not be viewed as a member of the Giants’ “inner core” by management, regardless of how San Francisco looks at Samardzija and other expensive pieces, the Giants’ financial commitments to players create perceptions and obstacles from the outside.
Samardzija is just a singular example on a team loaded with players set to earn at least $10 million over the next few seasons. In 2018, the Giants have committed $11 million to Denard Span, $15 million to Crawford, $15 million to closer Mark Melancon, $17 million to Belt and $18 million to Hunter Pence. If right-hander Johnny Cueto opts in on his contract, the Giants will be on the hook for another $21 million.
No outsider looking at Span and Pence believe they have long-term futures beyond 2018 in San Francisco, but with the salary both players are commanding, they too are a part of a current core that has failed the Giants in 2017. And though Evans and Co. would probably love to take their contracts off the books and begin the ‘retooling’ process, because of their contracts, there’s no obvious landing spot for the outfielders at the trade deadline.
Even players like Belt, Cueto and Samardzija would be extraordinarily difficult for San Francisco to move in a favorable deal, considering the Giants would either have to eat large portions of their contracts or accept middling prospects in return.
After Wednesday’s game, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy was asked how his players are handling the constant speculation surrounding trade rumors. Bochy said his team oozes professionalism, but the reality is most Giants know their contracts are hard to move, and their recent play isn’t likely to attract many buyers.
“Not one of them. I haven’t had one guy come into my office and bend my ear on what’s happening,” Bochy said. “Am I involved in something? Even Nuni. They know. It’s part of the game. They’re going to hear rumors and those things but no, I haven’t had one guy come in.”
On Wednesday, Evans acknowledged that the Giants are still committed to their core, even if it is large. But he also said San Francisco will have discussions surrounding its roster makeup beyond this year’s trade deadline.
“You want to protect your core, we believe in our core, we want to protect our core, but we also have a very large core,” Evans said. “There could be some opportunities that we have to take advantage of. It’s too early to say that. Some reflection of that will take us all the way into the offseason where there’s a lot more clubs looking to advance their next season.”
In reality, Evans and the rest of the Giants’ front office have no choice but to continue to think big picture beyond the trade deadline, because most of the franchise’s top assets are challenging to move. Though San Francisco’s play this season is an invitation to close down the shop, at this point, Evans is left searching for creative ways to change up his inventory, while keeping the front windows polished.
