Shifting to life without Ohtani
Zaidi says team is all in on pitching and defense
In the wake of missing out on Shohei Ohtani, a unique opportunity to add superstar-sized thump to their lineup, the Giants are going all-in on pitching and defense, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi suggested this week.
“We have a staff that throws a ton of strikes, gets a lot of ground balls. If we can put a good defense behind that group, I think we have a chance to be really good next year,” Zaidi said. “We're going to continue to look for athleticism up the middle of the diamond, look for players whether it's by trade or free agency who will put our players in their best defensive spots, not having guys playing out of position, and really support our pitching staff, which we've talked about as a strength of our team.”
A quick pivot to 25-year-old Korean outfielder Jung-Hoo Lee, pending a physical, is only step one.
If all is well with his surgically repaired left ankle, Lee's reported six-year, $113 million deal will become official — the largest freeagent deal with a position player in franchise history — and the Giants will have a true everyday center fielder for the first time since Kevin Pillar in 2019, Zaidi's first season at the helm.
Defense hasn't necessarily been a priority since, with the Giants ranking 23rd and 30th in Defensive Runs Saved the past two seasons, faring slighting better in Outs Above Average, which ranked them ninth in 2023 and 28th in 2022. They also committed 15 more errors than any other team last season, prioritizing platoon advantages over defensive positioning while trying to extract any offense they could from one of the least productive line
ups in the league.
While getting younger and more athletic was always a goal this offseason, the decision to double down on pitching and defense may be the best response to striking out time and again on attracting free-agent sluggers, who so often seem to end up with a division rival a few hundred miles down the coastline.
Despite their best efforts to mitigate its effects on offense, the Giants' home ballpark remains a deterrent to hitters. Bringing in the fences and closing the archways in right field have made it play fairer, but much like the city's reputation, perception becomes reality.
“I still think as things stand right now, the ballpark is more of an advantage in signing pitchers than position players,” Zaidi acknowledged at the Winter Meetings. “Everybody has an advantage one way or another, and for us it's pitchers. We've had a lot of success recruiting pitchers to come. On the position player side, it has to be a little bit of a nuanced pitch.” Why not lean into it? The Giants believe they have the best defensive catcher in baseball in Patrick Bailey. Certain advanced metrics loved Thairo Estrada at second base, and those inside the organization think he made huge strides there last season. They could fill at least two of their three outfield spots with plus defenders, with Lee in center shifting Mike Yastrzemski to right field, where he is better suited.
It is, perhaps, a bit ironic to focus on defense while moving on from Brandon Crawford at short. The Giants plan to give Marco Luciano every opportunity to be his successor. While scouts have long questioned the 21-year-old power-hitting prospect's ability to stick at short, Zaidi could make life easier on the left side of the diamond with one free-agent hitter who might actually be attracted by the situation.
Signing Matt Chapman, a two-time Platinum Glove-winner who played for manager Bob Melvin in Oakland, would send a clear signal about their priorities.
However, Zaidi said, they must remain cognizant of opportunities for young players, such as Casey Schmitt and Luis Matos.
“We definitely want to look for ways to improve via free agency, but we can also get to a point where we're making tradeoffs with investing playing time in our own young players versus bringing in free agents who would eat into that opportunity,” Zaidi said. “We're really aware of that. We want to get younger, we want to get more athletic, and some of that may come by virtue of giving opportunities to our own young players.”
An emphasis on the dirt only plays to the strengths of a pitching staff led by Logan Webb and Alex Cobb, two of the top ground-ball pitchers in the majors. As a staff, the Giants generated ground balls at the highest rate in the league last season but turned fewer batted balls into outs than all but five other clubs.
After using openers more than any other team last season, new pitching coach Bryan Price is expected to bring more stability to the rotation.
While that could come through opportunities for their cast of homegrown arms, starting with Kyle Harrison, Keaton Winn and Tristan Beck, the Giants were already shopping for starting pitching, and that pursuit is expected to heat up after missing out on Ohtani.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is at the top of their wish
list, but they risk coming up short again to the Yankees, Mets or Dodgers, who are said to have the upper hand. The more affordable option, believe it or not, might be two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell. While his hometown Mariners seem unlikely to sign him, San Francisco isn't far away.
Previously reticent to devote big money over many years to pitchers, Zaidi said the Giants are more comfortable shopping at the top of the pitching market because of their in-house depth, which also includes Ross Stripling and Anthony DeSclafani, as well as another group of prospects on the verge of graduating to the majors.
It is also perhaps the best counterweight in a division that now includes Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Ha-Seong Kim and Corbin Carroll.
Ohtani is “one of a kind” in terms of star power, Zaidi said. But he's not the only player who can move the needle.
“I really think of stars as the impact they can have on the field,” Zaidi said. “We've talked about wanting to be motivated to improve our team. Certainly making acquisitions that get our fans excited is really important, but making acquisitions that excite people in the moment but wind up not panning out, that's not going to be good business, either.
“It could come through trade, it could come through free agency. Improving our athleticism, getting more dynamic, those things are going to remain priorities for us this offseason.”