Giants coming to grips with DH, other new rules
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> With a new collective bargaining agreement, the gates of Scottsdale Stadium were unlocked Friday as the first players trickled in. Inside that CBA are significant changes to the game, at least two of which will impact how Farhan Zaidi goes about contracting the Giants roster.
Friday afternoon, Zaidi weighed in on the designated hitter coming to the National League, and the new limit on options, preventing teams from sending a player back and forth more than five times in a season.
How will the Giants employ the DH?
The new CBA etched major changes in the rule book, perhaps none more glaring to the average fan than the universal designated hitter, which debuted in 2020 but was made permanent in the new agreement. You may have seen your last pitcher step into the batter's box at Oracle Park.
For one reason, Zaidi is glad to see the DH makes its way to the NL. Giants pitchers swung the bat at a .090 clip last season, third-worst in the National League (though who could forget Logan Webb's hacks, including the final pitcher dinger under the old rules).
“Maybe this universal DH will save us from ourselves,” he said with a laugh. “With all due respect to our pitchers, who we all love, I think we had one of the if not the worst hitting pitching staff in the league last year.”
Zaidi is also an American Leaguer at heart — it's where he started his career — but has come around to appreciate the strategy required by the oldschool style of play. That said, he's not complaining about trading in the pitcher's slot for more at-bats for his position players.
“It's been interesting to watch how rallies just need to get funneled to the pitcher spot and managers face really difficult decisions as a result,” Zaidi said. “But I'm looking forward to it. I think it's a fun challenge for us. And obviously it's an organizational priority for us to have a deep roster, so having more at bats to go around is a good thing for us.”
Every year, the top DH in the American League is given the Edgar Martinez Award. David Ortiz is another name that comes to mind when thinking about designated hitters destined for Cooperstown. But fewer and fewer traditional designated hitters exist these days. Smart teams have started using the spot to spell position players while keeping their bats in the lineup.
Unsurprisingly, Zaidi subscribes to a similar philosophy.
“I actually think it's going to be great for workload management,” he said. “That's becoming a more and more important thing for teams and how we manage our rosters. It has a chance to extend players careers — not just guys that are relegated to DH only duty later in their careers. But even guys that play premium positions, if they have a less of a defensive workload because they're getting rotated through that spot, it has a chance to help those guys as well.”
Unintended consequences?
The other new rule in the CBA that could have a significant impact on the Giants surrounds the ability to shuttle players back and forth between the majors and minors.
Last season, the Giants employed a caravan of sorts between their bench and bullpen at Oracle Park and those a few hours up I-80 inside Sacramento's Raley Field. This year, they'll have to find a way to replicate that depth without optioning a player more than five times, or risk losing him.
“I guess I have some concerns over how it will impact our decisions,” Zaidi said. “I have mixed feelings about the rule. I completely understand the intent. It's not a fun thing for guys to be going back and forth.”
Two players went back and forth between San Francisco and Sacramento more than five times last season: Jason Vosler and Thairo Estrada, who under the new rules would have either had to stay on the major league roster or pass through waivers to send them back down after being called up for the fifth time. Three relievers — Jay Jackson, Sammy Long and John Brebbia — and backup catcher Chadwick Tromp also encroached on the limit, being optioned four times.
The rule is intended to provide more stability for young players who until now could get yanked between their MLB team and its affiliates, forced to pack up their belongings in one city and jet to another, only to do it all over again, and again, and again.
Zaidi, however, sees the possibility for unintended consequences.
“Once that player has been optioned four times, it's going to affect the last time,” he said. “We're really going to need to mean it because at that point we're either going to have to DFA him or keep him up.
“I wish the system worked where everybody operated the same way and at the point of the fifth option it's like OK, we either have to trade this guy or put him on waivers. But in reality, it's going to affect transactions upstream. The second or third time you're calling a guy up, does it impact things? Are you more likely to spread out the opportunities than call up the player that in a vacuum is most deserving? I really like the intent of the rule and I'll be interested to see how it plays out.”