Delay brings new questions for Giants.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> With the start of Major League Baseball’s season now delayed until at least April 9 — and potentially much longer — the Giants shut down their facility at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday and could keep it closed to players and coaches through the weekend.
Executives, including CEO Larry Baer and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, scheduled a meeting Friday to discuss how the team will prepare for the regular season and what precautionary measures the Giants will need to take to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Instead of determining who will bat leadoff and who will close games, the Giants and most others in the professional sports world have a whole new set of questions to answer because of the pandemic. Here are five that executives,
players and fans will be asking in the coming days. WHAT'S A REALISTIC WAY
TO GET READY FOR OPENING DAY? >> For a moment, let’s assume the best-case scenario.
Let’s believe social distancing, limited large gatherings and widespread business and school closures across the country help stop the spread of COVID-19 before it becomes much worse.
In this case, the Giants could theoretically prepare to play April 9 and resume workouts in Scottsdale early next week. Pitchers would be throwing bullpens, hitters would be taking live batting practice, and, with about three weeks until the season, teams could schedule closed-door exhibition games to prepare for a new Opening Day.
That doesn’t sound too disruptive, but it also doesn’t sound too realistic.
If the regular season is delayed further, pitchers may have to significantly adjust throwing programs, hitters could lose their timing and players may end up with serious injury concerns if MLB starts the year without giving teams much time to prepare.
Managers and coaches now face an unprecedented challenge of readying their teams for a season when no official start date has been set, no clarity has arrived on whether exhibitions will eventually be permitted and no one is certain when practices will be allowed to continue.
It all makes for a daunting challenge.
WILL VETERANS HAVE AN
EASIER PATH TO THE TEAM? >> To this point in the spring, Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler have indicated the Giants are open to keeping a large number of the veteran minor league free agents, who signed with the team this offseason, on the Opening Day roster.
Zaidi and Kapler have said the front office and coaching staff won’t put much stock in spring training at-bats for players such as Billy Hamilton and Yolmer Sánchez, because their production throughout their major league careers is a much better indicator of their talent level than 30 Cactus League at-bats.
The same is true for pitchers such as Trevor Cahill, Tyson Ross and Jerry Blevins, who are all fighting for roster spots and, theoretically, competing against players with minor league options on the 40-man roster.
The drastic changes to MLB’s schedule that have already taken place likely won’t impact roster decisions in a major way, but they may compel the Giants to choose a veteran over an unproven talent in a situation where the room is split on who to keep.
Doing so allows the Giants to stockpile depth, as a
player such as Zach Green can work his way to the big leagues with a strong start to the minor league season whereas a player such as Sánchez might opt to become a free agent instead of accepting a minor league assignment. WHAT HAPPENS TO PLAYERS
WITH OPT-OUTS? >> This is a question no one in baseball seems to have an answer for.
It’s also a question that MLB needs to answer soon because it impacts a massive number of players, including many in Giants camp who are referenced above.
When veterans agree to minor league contracts over the offseason, they almost always negotiate optout clauses that are set for the end of spring training. Last season, Gerardo Parra, Yangervis Solarte, Cameron Maybin and Rene Rivera all came to camp with opt-out clauses in their deals, and when the Giants informed Maybin and Rivera they wouldn’t be on the Opening Day roster, both players opted out and chose to pursue opportunities elsewhere.
This spring, the situation is no different, but it’s fair to wonder whether MLB and the players’ association will step in and push opt-out dates in contracts back so they line up with the regular-season start date that’s still to be determined.
If not, the Giants may have to make roster decisions on players such as Sánchez, Hamilton and Cahill by a date like March 21, even if the season won’t start for a few more weeks. WILL THE NEW START DATE
BENEFIT PABLO SANDOVAL, TONY WATSON, TYLER BEEDE AND OTHERS? >> It probably can’t hurt, right?
As long as MLB teams are permitted to hold closed-door workouts in the weeks leading up to Opening Day, players battling injuries should benefit from the delayed start date.
Before the regular season was delayed, Sandoval and Watson faced longer odds to make the Giants’ initial roster because both are battling through injuries that have slowed them since the start of camp.
Sandoval is recovering from Tommy John surgery and had a small chance of playing the field before spring training ended, but now that the start of the season has been pushed, it’s possible Sandoval’s arm will be ready, giving him a chance to make the team as a corner infielder.
Watson battled shoulder tightness that slowed his start to the spring and, while he still hasn’t pitched in a game, he was going to have a decent shot of making the Opening Day roster. As long as he’s able to continue throwing, the Giants may now have the veteran reliever at full strength.
As for Beede, the Giants haven’t made a formal announcement regarding how the pitcher will rehab from a UCL sprain and a right flexor strain. The severity of the injury remains unclear.