San Francisco Giants looking towards 2018, not a rebuild

The San Francisco Giants have been terrible this season and have a farm system that is lacking top talent. Giants GM Bobby Evans still believes they have the pieces to contend next year.

On MLB Network Radio, Evans told Mike Ferrin, “This is the time to build with [Crawford, Posey, Belt, Bumgarner and Panik]. They’re not 34 going on 35. They’re 28 to 30.” He later added that this trading period may offer opportunities for them to look toward next year. He also mentioned that the team will need to do more than they have in order to compete with said core.

Bruce Bochy echoed those statements to KNBR, saying, “[Making trades] is not something we’re going to force because of our situation…I’m hoping that we get this thing turned around, and play better ball and realize that we don’t have to do a lot.”

The one trade piece that is almost certainly going to be on the move is Eduardo Nunez, who has become the first player linked to the Boston Red Sox since the Yankees swooped in on Todd Frazier last night. Nunez is batting .295 with a .319 OBP this season to go along with a wRC+ of 94. He has also hit four homers and swiped 17 bags.

If Nunez were to join the Sox, the power numbers would figure to increase once he’s removed from AT&T Park on a regular basis. The one problem with Nunez is that he has missed time this season with a hamstring strain, which he recently returned from. He sat out this afternoon due to hamstring tightness. That injury plus his pending free agency should limit any potential return.

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With Bobby Evans mentioning Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Belt and Joe Panik as building blocks, they’re not going anywhere. That basically leaves Hunter Pence, Jeff Samardzija, Johnny Cueto and Denard Span as players with any potential value on the market.

The problem is that Cueto has an opt-out clause, which makes him hard to deal with $87M potentially left to pay an already 31-year-old pitcher with an ERA of 4.59 and a blister. Cueto could also walk at the end of the year. Good luck finding a compromise that works for both clubs there.

Jeff Samardzija has pitched much better than his 4.86 ERA would indicate, but he too is owed a small Brinks truck of nearly $20M a season through 2020.

Hunter Pence has been dealing with injuries and isn’t going to be bringing back a large haul if he gets dealt. He’s batting .245 with an OBP under .300 and is owed $18.5M next season, the final year of his deal. Pence will be 35 in 2018.

Denard Span is slightly above average at the dish this season (106 wRC+) but he has been a huge defensive liability in center for the Giants. According to FanGraphs, his DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) stands at -15, which passes the smell test. That’s also the worst mark in the bigs at any position this season.

So the San Francisco Giants are doing what makes some sense to them in riding with their core. Their window is being propped open with a stick right now and 2017 has been very breezy by the Bay. If I were in charge of the club, I would move Belt or Panik if the right deal came along. While they have stuck with their commitment to keeping recognizable faces on the field by locking them up to contracts early on, those deals tend to tie up lots of money (Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, etc.) with little to no production later on.

It will be interesting to see how the Giants approach this winter. Cueto, with his performance this season, may end up staying in San Francisco after all. The issue then becomes how productive will he be? The Giants need to improve their outfield defense and bring in a masher or two. J.D. Martinez, who was just traded to the division rival Diamondbacks, would be a logical fit for the mashing part.

Next: Midseason prospect rankings

The Giants still have number three prospect Chris Shaw who could field some flies in left, and Christian Arroyo to take over at third, but with a sense of urgency about the club to win now, relying on the two kids at positions of need seems counterintuitive at this point. If they’re going to have more youth around the diamond, go all in that way. If they’re going to try and win, their farm system may become even further depleted, which would spell doom for years to come if it doesn’t work out.