KNBR
In terms of a power-hitting corner outfielder who could make an immediate impact and whose youth makes him projectable for future seasons — the type the Giants have sought this offseason — it appears they have struck out.
There is still one outfielder who somewhat fits that bit — you may have heard of him, Yasiel something — but after San Francisco did not land a big piece from a free-agent market that was led by Nick Castellanos, Farhan Zaidi signaled if another outfielder is entering the mix, it won’t be an everyday guy.
Hunter Pence still exists as an interesting option, a righty bat beloved in San Francisco who, with a renewed swing, crushed lefty pitching last season. But Pence will be 37 in April, and does not completely make sense for a rebuilding team.
Zaidi said they are still evaluating the free-agent crop and mentioned there could be one or two additions before spring training commences (one will be the still-not-official Wilmer Flores signing), but an outfield flier likely won’t turn many heads, unless his name is Hunter.
“The challenge is leaving some opportunity for that group of players between Austin Slater, Jaylin Davis, Steven Duggar, who came into camp last year as the everyday center fielder,” Zaidi said Thursday during a 30-minute chat with reporters at Oracle Park. “… That may push us more toward if we add someone, maybe not a 150-game, everyday guy, maybe somebody who could be part of a rotation where there’s still some playing time up for grabs for some of those younger guys.”
Duggar (26) had a second straight disappointing season that was prematurely ended due to injury, this time a sprain of the AC joint in his left shoulder short-circuiting his season in early August. Davis (25), part of the Sam Dyson trade, hammered through minor league pitching, 35 combined home runs across Double- and Triple-A last season, but had trouble getting the ball in the air upon debuting in September. Slater (27), well-liked throughout the organization because of his plate discipline, killed Triple-A pitching and then looked solid until September, when he flat-lined and finished with a major league slashline of .238/.333/.417.
The Giants’ other incumbents are Mike Yastrzemski (29) and Alex Dickerson (29), both of whom the Giants want to see more of. The what-the-hell signings include Darin Ruf, coming back from South Korea, and Joey Rickard and Jamie Westbrook.
The Giants’ best starting outfield may be Yastrzemski, Duggar and Dickerson, which is all-lefty. They will try to identify which righty bats can destroy southpaws, especially in a season that will include rule changes of 26-man rosters and three-batter minimums for pitchers.
“It maybe creates a little bit more value for position players who have maybe bigger splits and are particularly effective against lefties or righties,” Zaidi said, perhaps referring particularly to Flores, who mashes lefties, but also projecting what they’re seeking in outfielders.
The bench will be less of a bench this year — even less so than last year, when Bruce Bochy was willing to platoon-switch in the third inning when the opponent changed pitchers. They believe there will be enough at-bats that young players can get enough opportunity to prove themselves as they continue to weed through players, looking for their future. They have not been sufficiently impressed with any available outfield bat that they wanted to commit 500 at-bats to that signing.
It all adds up to a disappointing offseason by most fans’ standards, with the Giants still on a long-term hunt for big sluggers.
“We’re probably going to pay attention to those things on the margins and target players that we think are going to be more valuable with some rule changes,” Zaidi said.