Giants: Organization defines ‘success’ in 2021 as a trip to postseason
In 2020, pain meant progress. That’s what Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said 48 hours after his club had missed out on a playoff berth by one victory.
Even with an expanded postseason field, the Giants weren’t expected to compete until the end, to take the wildcard race down to the wire and to leave stomachs turning on the final day of the regular season. An upstart Giants team felt the agony of defeat anyway.
“That disappointment that I think a lot of us are feeling, mixed in with a lot of pride in what we accomplished, that disappointment is going to fuel us to have greater aspirations next year,” Zaidi said after the season. “It’s certainly going to be a goal of ours to be a playoff team next year.”
Before spring training began in Arizona, the Giants’ top-ranking baseball executive reiterated his vision.
“I don’t know how else you can start a season other than having the
playoffs as the goal,” Zaidi said.
As the Giants open the 2021 season in Seattle with a three-game set against the Mariners, there’s not exactly significant reason for optimism. The club does bring back all of its key hitters from a lineup that emerged as one of the top 10 offenses in the majors, adds veteran infielder Tommy La Stella and returns franchise cornerstone Buster Posey, but the pitching staff is loaded with question marks.
Kevin Gausman is the only starter who was league average or better in 2020 while Jake McGee is the only relief pitcher with a long track record of success in high-leverage situations.
Aside from the concerns about having enough quality arms to handle a 162game marathon, the Giants must also deal with the reality they play in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. With a combined 38 games against the reigning World Series champions and the team that made the most aggressive, highprofile moves across the league to position itself as a competitor with the Dodgers, the Giants face a daunting schedule.
Oddsmakers in Las Vegas have set the Giants’ over/under for wins at 75.5 while a variety of projections models, including PECOTA and FanGraphs, anticipate the Giants will win somewhere between 73 and 78 games.
Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler have expressed confidence the Giants will be able to outperform projections because models are typically bearish on players who were limited by injuries such as Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood and hitters who are late-career bloomers such as Alex Dickerson and Donovan Solano.
They also believe that with Logan Webb expected to take a step forward and veterans Matt Wisler and José Álvarez joining the bullpen, the pitching staff is much deeper than it was a year ago.
“A team that was that close to the postseason and from my perspective gotten better, that provides optimism,” Kapler said.
Zaidi and Kapler, of course, have no choice but to be confident. Without conviction the Giants will
exceed expectations, there’s little reason for players or fans to believe the team is capable of achieving the postseason goal that seems far-fetched.
Entering his 11th major league season, Posey knows the drill. Every season starts with hope.
“I don’t think there’s anybody in here that’s thinking there’s no chance at competing for the division late in the year,” Posey said. “That’s definitely the goal.”
Even with the Dodgers and Padres poised to leave the Giants in the dust?
“I don’t think I’d be a very good teammate or competitor if I said otherwise,” Posey said.
It’s not exactly runthrough-a-brick-wall lingo, but Posey can speak from a position of authority. In each of the three seasons the Giants won World Series in his career, they were viewed as underdogs. Often overlooked and easily dismissed, Posey and the Giants routinely pulled off surprises and defied expectations.
The odds are clearly stacked against them in 2021, but Posey has often cited the unpredictability of baseball as one of the reasons he loves the sport.
“I believe we have a chance to compete late in the year and as we all know, it’s such a marathon season and things can change from day-to-day, week-toweek and month-to-month,” Posey said. “I don’t think there’s anybody in here that’s thinking there’s no chance at competing for the division late in the year.”
Is it playoffs or bust in San Francisco? And what would that mean for Zaidi and Kapler’s job security?
Barring a major meltdown, a 60-something win season and a bad year for the organization’s top prospects, it’s hard to envision any kind of a shakeup taking place inside a franchise that’s searching for longterm stability. The Giants may have a better chance of posting a losing record for the fifth consecutive season for the first time in franchise history than they do of securing the second National League wild-card spot, but the ownership group and top stakeholders appear convinced Zaidi and general manager Scott Harris are the right executives to chart the path forward.
Another losing season would lead to greater scrutiny surrounding the transactions Zaidi has made and the on-field decisions that Kapler will face, but the Giants’ president of baseball operations hand-picked his manager and they appear in lockstep regarding the direction of the club.
If the Giants miss the postseason, pain won’t necessarily mean progress in 2021. It should bring a greater sense of disappointment and an acknowledgement that time is of the essence in giving the Giants a better chance to compete for division titles.
So in 2021, “success” means a ticket to the postseason. Anything less will be a failure, but the magnitude of the failure will depend on how close the Giants come to achieving their goal.
NEGATIVE TEST OR FULL COVID VACCINATION REQUIRED TO ENTER ORACLE PARK >> Under a public health order issued by San Francisco’s acting public health officer, Dr. Susan Phillip, the Giants received clearance to welcome fans back to Oracle Park beginning with the April 9 home opener against the Rockies.
The club announced Thursday that it will operate with the ballpark at 22% capacity at the start of the season, meaning around 9,000 fans are expected to be permitted to attend each game.
The San Francisco health order will require each fan 12 years or older to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test or proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination in order to gain entry to the ballpark. Test results will need to be received within 72 hours of the first game a fan plans to attend during a homestand.
Full vaccination is defined as the completion of the two-dose regimen of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. To qualify for full vaccination, fans must have received their final dose at least two weeks prior to attending a game.
All health and safety requirements will remain in place at Oracle Park through at least the first homestand, which begins next Friday and runs April 9-14.
WOOD STARTS ON INJURED
LIST >> The Giants’ 26-man Opening Day roster is officially set, but it won’t include left-handed pitcher Alex Wood.
The free agent signee who entered spring training as the only southpaw slated to begin the season in the Giants’ starting rotation was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to March 29 after Wood underwent an ablation for nerves in his lower back two weeks ago.
With Wood on the injured list, the Giants will have Kevin Gausman start on Opening Day against the Mariners, Johnny Cueto pitching today and Logan Webb on the mound for Saturday’s series finale. Anthony DeSclafani is likely to start Monday’s game in San Diego against the Padres.