Giants must tackle multiple issues at second

The San Francisco Giants could have afforded to keep Tommy La Stella on their payroll. At the same time, they could not have afforded to keep him on their roster.

Money wasn’t the problem. The Giants are loaded. Even after eating La Stella’s contract, they won’t come close to the luxury tax threshold. It was a bad contract, and the Giants moved on.

The problem was that La Stella wouldn’t have been a fit because the Giants no longer would have been able to hide him on the roster or on the field.

Training camps open next month — the Oakland Athletics’ first workout with pitchers and catchers is Feb. 15, the Giants’ is Feb. 16 — and teams must adjust to a series of new rules, including the elimination of the defensive shift.

No longer can teams stack all their infielders on the right side of the diamond against left-handed batters. Going forward, two infielders must be on the left side of second base and two on the right, all within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitch is thrown.

Without the shift ban, a second baseman who was defensively challenged could have been hidden among a sea of defenders. Now that that’s no longer the case, teams are going to prefer athletic second basemen with range and arm strength because they will need to be cover more ground.

La Stella had surgeries to both Achilles tendons before last season, and couldn’t move well enough to play the position. Any position, really, but especially second base. When you’re a defensive liability and post a .282 on-base percentage, you’re going to get replaced — even when you’re owed $11.5 million.

Two weeks after the Giants released La Stella, the Mariners signed him — they’ll pay the league minimum with the Giants picking up the rest — to get at-bats as a designated hitter against right-handed pitchers. More than anyone else on the Giants, Joc Pederson already owns that role, and the team’s signings of corner outfielders Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto will limit Pederson’s outfield reps.

Subtracting La Stella from the infield picture, however, does not mean the Giants’ second-base issue is resolved. It’s a work in progress, like their other infield positions except perhaps shortstop, where Brandon Crawford will try to perform like it’s 2021, not 2022. One possible benefit of the shift ban is it might mean seeing more of Crawford’s diving stops up the middle and other athletic exploits.

La Stella started just twice at second in the 47 games in which his name was in the opening lineup, so he wasn’t the main reason Giants second basemen ranked at or near the bottom among the 30 teams in various defensive metrics. They started eight men at second, mostly Thairo Estrada (88 starts, -12 defensive runs saved) and Wilmer Flores (50 starts, -9 defensive runs saved).

The hope is that Flores, who got exposed at second by hard liners and grounders hit to the right side, sticks to the corner spots and that Estrada shows enough improvement in the field that management feels more comfortable with his getting the most reps in the

era of life after the shift.

For now, Estrada is the only man on the roster equipped to back up Crawford at short, though Farhan Zaidi is searching for a defensive-minded middle infielder to serve in a utility role. Estrada’s bat is another concern — he hits lefties well but posted a mere .674 OPS against right-handers.

A nicer development would have been Carlos Correa at short and Crawford at second with Estrada in a utility role, but we know how that turned out with Correa’s roundabout offseason journey that brought him back to the Twins. The Giants’ infield up the middle hasn’t changed, while the departures of Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt leave behind uncertainty at the corners.

Opening up the right side of the field might lead to more

hits, more baserunners, more action and (owners hope) more fans. MLB’s overall batting average last season fell to .243 (for lefties, just .236), the game’s lowest mark since 1968, the year offense was so weak it led to the decision to lower the mound by 10 inches. The rule change should help the Giants’ regular left-handed hitters, such as Pederson, Crawford, Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski and LaMonte Wade Jr.

The game should be more aesthetically pleasing, but don’t think teams won’t try to outsmart each other with shenanigans such as turning the left fielder into a rover and playing him in short right field, overloading the pull side like the old days but leaving a two-man outfield. Or putting the shortstop in motion on the pitch so that he is on the right side once the batter makes

contact.

But would the Giants really want to rotate Conforto, coming off shoulder surgery, around the diamond and make him throw from different arm slots? Or put Crawford, at age 36, in motion like a tight end? Likely not.

Other rule changes include a pitch clock, pickoff limit and bigger bases, but it’s the shift ban that will affect how the Giants align their infield as they try to get more overall production from their second basemen. Athleticism will be prioritized, and that’s a worthy goal. What it means for the team’s net offense remains to be seen.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle The Giants had eight players make starts at second base during 2022 — Thairo Estrada (right) got the most (88) — and ranked near the bottom in defensive metrics at the position.