Player Evaluations

The season for the San Francisco Giants is now officially over as far as the playoffs go, the last series of the season is against the Colorado Rockies and the final games are meant more to maintain their dignity after a crushing series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks.  But now that the season is over, it's time for player evaluations and making the hard decisions of who to keep and who to dump.  This is the time where the GM is up all night, looking for ways to improve their team.  Here is an evaluation of the players that have played the biggest role for the Giants, as well as their contract position and what I think they should do with them.


Eli Whiteside (Catcher)
.204/.272/.320 with 4 HRs and 17 RBIs in 209 ABs
The slash line pretty much says it all, he is and will continue to be a backup catcher and when put into the spotlight of a starting catcher, he could not handle the workload.  Chris Stewart looks to be taking over Whiteside's job at catcher, having a very comparable offense and a much better at gunning out potential base stealers.
Verdict: Expendable (free agent)
Grade: C-


Aubrey Huff (1B)
.244/.304/.369 with 12 HRs and 59 RBIs in 520 ABs
There's no sugar-coating this one, Aubrey Huff had an awful season and did not come up to nearly the production one would be expecting from the first base position.  However, Huff has been know to have a pattern of one good season-one bad season and could have a bounce-back year next year.  But still, he looks to be losing his job to 27-year old prospect Brett Pill who has been performing admirably.
Verdict: Give him and a chance and if fails to produce bench him (10M for 2012)
Grade: F


Jeff Keppinger (2B)
.255/.286/.335 with 2 HR and 14 RBIs in 212 ABs
Jeff Keppinger, acquired near the trade deadline, has done a respectable job filling in for Freddy Sanchez and keeping the Giants afloat at the shortstop position as well as plugging in the gaping hole that was left at the 2-spot.
Verdict: Give him arbitration and assign his as a backup to Freddy Sanchez if anything was to happen to him or if Freddy can't make quite a quick recovery as he would like to.
Grade: B-


Brandon Crawford (SS)
.197/.279/.275 with 3 HRs and 20 RBIs in 193 ABs

Brandon Crawford, a midseason callup, is finishing the season as the starting shortstop and he is in there for one reason and one reason alone, defense.  Defensively, he is fantastic, absolutely capable of winning a Gold Glove someday.  But unfortunately, hitting hasn't come as easily to him, and he hits with little to no power.  
Verdict: Try to sign another SS during the offseason and develop Crawford behind him.
Grade: C-


Pablo Sandoval (3B)
.314/.357/.553 with 23 HRs and 70 RBIs in 423 ABs


 Ah, Pablo Sandoval, if there is any hope to be found within the Giants offense, it is present right here.  He has regained his incredible 2009 form and looks as if he's here to stay.  Sure, he's gained back much of the weight that he lost during the offense, but the quickness and strength seem to have remained and so as long as he keeps hitting, nobody's going to say a word.  He's due for arbitration and be sure that the Giants are going to give him a pretty penny.
Verdict: No-brainer, pay whatever you need to pay him in arbitration.
Grade: A+


Cody Ross (LF)

 .240/.325/.405 with 14 HRs and 52 RBIs in 405 ABs
Cody Ross, postseason hero and NLCS MVP, had an abysmal injury prone season.  It's really sad to see him perform this badly because obviously he is a really good person and a crowd favorite.  It's not rare to hear the crowd chanting "CODY CODY" at home games, heck, even at some away games.  But, it's hard to see the Giants resigning the 32 year-old free agent unless it's at least below 3 million.
Verdict: Resign him if you can get him for cheap, but other wise absolutely not.
Grade: D-


Andres Torres (OF)
.221/.312/.330 with 4 HRs and 19 RBIs in 348 ABs
It seems to be a reoccurring theme for the Giants, another player that had an awful season.  Andres Torres had a breakout season last year at the age of 33 and it looks like he was a flash in the pan as much as it hurts to say that.  Torres was the sparkplug leadoff guy with speed last season and this year he has been the exact opposite.  
Verdict: Time to cut ties with Torres.
Grade: D


Nate Schierholtz (OF)
.278/.326/.430 with 9 HRs and 41 RBIs in 335 ABs
Nate was one of the only Giants that had a season that was better than their career average, in fact it was somewhat of a breakout season.  Bochy has said that Nate Schierholtz has a starting spot in the outfield as of now, and it is well deserved after at first having a hard time getting at bats and then suffering from a major foot injury.  
Verdict: Keep him. Start him. Enjoy.
Grade: B+


Carlos Beltran (OF)
.323/.369/.551 with 7 HRs and 18 RBIs in 179 ABs.
The Giants traded their number one pitching prospect Zach Wheeler for Carlos Beltran, expecting him to do exactly what he ended up doing.  Unfortunately, the rest of the offense collapsed at it ended up being a two-man show between Sandoval and Beltran so they slipped out of the playoffs.  The bottom line is that Beltran can hit, both for power and average.  Although old, he's still a top-of-the-line free agent and a two-year contract would be good enough to milk him for what he has left in the tank at his age of 34.  
Verdict: There are going to be a lot of teams hunting for him, but the Giants should give him a reasonable offer and sure hope that he likes San Francisco.
Grade: A


Judging on these player evaluations, the Giants have a lot of holes to fill, including shortstop, centerfield, and either right or left field.  The vast majority of the Giants have had bad to terrible seasons and hopefully next year they will come out rejuvenated and at least get back to their career averages.  If the Giants are going to get to the playoffs next year, it will have to be on the back of the pitchers and the players that they have on the team right now because their payroll flexibility is not where they want it to be because they are tied up in huge contracts with players that are not helping the team at all or not even on the team.

Hope for Next Year

As many fans of the Giants nation well know, the Giants are all but out of the playoff race against the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Currently, the Diamondbacks hold  a 6.5 game lead on the Giants, and are also currently beating the Colorado Rockies.  This is an extreme disappointment, because they will not have a chance to defend their World Series title.  With 19 games remaining, the chances of the Giants making a comeback are slim to none, ESPN calculating that the Giants chances of winning the division are less than 2%.  So San Francisco Giants fans, instead of looking forward to the playoffs, they are forced into looking for good signs for next season.  And boy oh boy, the future looks bright for the Giants.  First and foremost, Freddy Sanchez, their star second baseman, and there superstar catcher Buster Posey are coming back from season-ending injuries that absolutely crippled the Giants, both offensively and defensively.  And of course, no one can forget about their pitching staff that is second in ERA and first in opponent's batting average.  Their starting five consists of 3 All-Stars: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Ryan Vogelsong, as well as future All-Star Madison Bumgardener and impressive pitching prospect Eric Surkamp.  Not to mention, they have 2 viable starters that are on the disabled list right now, Jonathon Sanchez and Barry Zito.  Backed by a stellar bullpen with Brian Wilson, the All-Star closer on the back end, this is easily one of the best if not the best pitching staff in baseball.  Now for the offense is a different story, placing dead last in the National League for runs scored.  Even though Pablo Sandoval has returned to his normal form, hitting .296 with 18 big flies, the offense besides him and mid-season trade acquisition Carlos Beltran is feeble.  Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross, after being heroes last season, have struggled mightily, combining for 24 homeruns and neither one hitting above .250.  To put that in perspective, Aubrey Huff by himself hit 27 homeruns by himself last year.  But, the return of Buster Posey, who hit for .305 and 18 homers in his rookie season, and Freddy Sanchez, who was hitting .289 before his season-ending shoulder injury, should help things.  Also, a shining ray of hope for the Giants is Brett Pill, who was absolutely tearing up the Giants Triple-A affiliate, hitting .312 with 25 homers and 107 RBIs.  A week ago, he was called up to the major league and he has started the last two games.  Now here's the amazing thing, the second pitch he saw in the big leagues he vaulted over the left field wall at Petco Park in San Diego.  The next game, he ripped a high fastball over the left field fence as well.  It is evident that Pill has a gorgeous swing, and the balance he has through the swing is exceptional.  It's obvious that he's here to stay, his appearance is reminiscent of Buster Posey's emergence during May of last year.  However, even with all these upsides, the Giants have many holes to fill, including shortstop and a lead-off man.  The Giants have sold out every game this season and therefore they should have enough money to pay any potential free agents to come over to San Francisco during the off-season.  Just for food for thought, here is what I think the lineup should be if they acquired nobody the off-season.

1. Freddy Sanchez 2B

2. Jeff Keppinger SS

3. Pablo Sandoval 3B

4. Buster Posey C

5. Brett Pill 1B

6. Aubrey Huff RF

7. Brandon Belt LF

8. Nate Schierholtz CF

Doesn't look that bad, does it?

It's young, it's energetic, and most importantly, it'll score runs. And keep in mind, that's if they spend NO money over the off-season.  The lineup will most certainly be better than this, and this lineup is very serviceable.  So Giants fans, don't lose hope just because this season was not what we expected it to be.  2012, assuredly, will be full of magic.