MLB Winter Meetings - What went down!!!!

Major League Baseball held their annual Winter Meetings December 8-12 in San Diego. While a good percentage of the country experienced record low temperatures in 2019, it must be nice to be in San Diego in December. But anyway, that's not what we're here to talk about. The San Francisco Giants went into the Winter Meetings (and really the entire offseason) with a pretty clear list of needs. The biggest immediate need has to be starting pitching with the potential loss of Madison Bumgarner who has been a staple of the rotation since 2010. They also need help in the bullpen after closer Will Smith signed with the Atlanta Braves and with Reyes Moronta set to miss most if not all of 2020 after shoulder surgery. Finally, they should be looking for a power right-handed bat in the outfield as a possible starting outfield of Steven Duggar, Mike Yastrzemski, and Alex Dickerson are all left-handed.

Those are the immediate needs, but there are some secondary needs as well. They may be looking for a center field after non-tendering Kevin Pillar though Duggar has been projected as the center fielder of the future for a few years now, and Jaylin Davis who was acquired from the Minnesota Twins last year in the Sam Dyson trade can play center field. They're also looking for middle infield depth and preferably a left-handed bat who can spell Evan Longoria at 3rd base. They currently have Mauricio Dubon penciled in at 2nd base and Brandon Crawford is still at shortstop, and Donovan Solano is still there to back up both positions, but the Giants would like to add more depth. Lastly, there may be a need to bring in a veteran backup catcher after Stephen Vogt signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Giants seem to like Aramis Garcia who has played 37 games with the big club between 2018 and 2019, but the team would likely prefer a left-handed bat when Buster Posey needs a day off or is playing 1st base.

So that's the setup. But what went down at the Winter Meetings? Well, the Giants came away making two moves (we're not going to talk about the Rule 5 draft here). They signed right-handed starting pitcher Kevin Gausman who split last year between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, and made a trade with the Los Angeles Angels acquiring infielder Zack Cozart and 2019 first-round draft pick Will Wilson in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Neither of those moves really jumps off the page, but let's look at them and see how our team did.

First let's look at the Gausman signing. Gausman is not a superstar and this signing amounts to little more than depth in the starting rotation. Assuming that Bumgarner, who is reported to be asking for a 9-figure contract, is not going to be in a Giants uniform next year, the 2020 rotation begins with Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija and then you have a number of question marks. Tyler Beede started 22 games in San Francisco and showed some promise, but ultimately finished with a 5-10 record and an ERA over 5. Dereck Rodriguez was expected to be a major contributor in his second season after finishing 2018 with a 6-4 record and a 2.81 ERA in 19 starts. Instead he regressed to a 6-11 record and a 5.64 ERA and split time between the rotation and the bullpen. Shaun Anderson created some excitement when he joined the rotation last year, but finished 3-5 with a 5.44 ERA and ended up ending the year in the bullpen earning 2 saves which has led to some believing he could be the closer in the immediate future. Andrew Suarez looked to be a contributor to the rotation after finishing 2018 with a 7-13 record and a 4.49 ERA in 29 starts, but ended up pitching 2019 almost exclusively out the bullpen only starting 2 games in 21 appearances. Connor Menez also started 3 games for the club in 2019. Logan Webb may be the most promising of this group, making his Major League debut on August 17, 2019, he started 8 games in 2019 finishing 2-3 with a 5.22 ERA. So as you can see there are a lot of bodies here, but are there any answers? One other name to add to the list, the Giants signed Tyler Anderson who was claimed off waivers from the Colorado Rockies, non-tendered by the Giants on December 2, and then signed to a one-year Major League contract on December 3. Tyler Anderson missed most of 2019 after knee surgery but had a fairly impressive rookie season in Colorado in 2016 going 5-6 with a 3.54 ERA. The fact that Gausman is right-handed also has the potential to add some balance to the rotation as Suarez, Menez, and Tyler Anderson are all left-handed. Gausman did not have a good overall year in 2019, though he pitched much better in Cincinnati after being moved to the bullpen. But, before you think the Giants signed him as a bullpen piece, Farhan Zaidi has said that they signed Gausman to be a starter.

As for the other move, this comes at a slight cost, but the potential upside is significant. First, let's acknowledge that this was a salary dump by the Angels in order to free up money to sign Anthony Rendon, which they did on December 11 to a 7-year, $245-million contract after Rendon won the 2019 World Series as a member of the Washington Nationals. Cozart is in the final year of a 3-year, $38-million deal he signed with the Angels following a career-best year and All Star appearance in 2017. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, he has not lived up to his contract as he has only played a total of 96 games in 2 years for the Angels due to variety of injuries. His current shoulder injury means he may never appear in a Giants uniform, but if he does the Giants have a potential depth middle infielder who is only 3 seasons removed from hitting .297 with 24 home runs in Cincinnati. The Giants will take on the remaining $12.667-million on Cozart's contract. One thing I think you may see with both Cozart and Gausman is, if they are able to contribute you may see Farhan Zaidi flip them for more pieces in much the same way Drew Pomeranz was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers after less than one season with the Giants in exchange for Mauricio Dubon.

The big chip in the Angels trade, however, is going to be Will Wilson. Wilson was the #15 pick in the first round of the 2019 draft, only 5 picks after the Giants selected Hunter Bishop with the #10 pick. It's been stated that Wilson was 1 of 3 or 4 players the Giants were considering with their pick, so to get him in this deal is a pretty significant pickup. Wilson was the Angels' #4 prospect and it's reported that he is now the #10 prospect in the Giants organization, which says a lot about how the Giants have rebuilt their minor league system in just a couple of seasons. Wilson was drafted as a shortstop but has a knock against his arm strength which means his Major League position may end up being 2nd base. He was an elite defensive shortstop in college with decent range and soft hands, and has surprising power for his size hitting 37 home runs in 3 collegiate seasons. Wilson only stole 4 bases in his college career and needs to work on his plate discipline and patience. Wilson is only 21 and has only 1 year of professional baseball under his belt, but he could be a major piece of the next great Giants team. Our prospect list currently features names like Joey Bart (C), Heliot Ramos (OF), Marco Luciano (SS), Hunter Bishop (OF), and Logan Wyatt (1B), and now add Wilson to that list. None of these players have played above AA ball so it'll probably be a few years before we see any of these players in San Francisco, but the Giants are definitely building towards the future.

What now will the Giants do? Well, with these trades the Giants have potentially chipped away at 2 of their offseason needs (starting pitching, infield depth), but that still leaves a lot on their shopping list. We may have reason to be excited about the power outfield bat, however, as the Giants have been reported to be the top bidder for Nicholas Castellanos. Castellanos played his first 6 and a half seasons in Detroit, but put together a brilliant 2nd half after being traded to the Chicago Cubs hitting .321 with 16 home runs in only 51 games. He finished the year with 27 home runs overall which is his 3rd straight season with 20+. He also has ties to San Francisco now that Scott Harris is the General Manager. Harris was the Assistant GM with Chicago last year when they acquired Castellanos. There are some concerns about Castellanos' defense, but the Giants report that they think his defense improved last year after the trade.

So that's the news folks. What to look for in the future? I would guess that the Giants will add 1 more starting pitcher. I would also guess that they'll probably add some bullpen arms, but mostly on minor-league and non-guaranteed deals. I think the Giants were pretty comfortable with their bullpen makeup last season after Moronta went down but they definitely need to identify a closer to replace Smith. I'm not sure if we'll see a catcher signing soon. Remember Erik Kratz was acquired last year on March 24, just about a week before Opening Day. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on Castellanos as both the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs are reportedly in conversations with Castellanos' agent. What do you think? Are you excited for baseball? Spring Training opens in about 2 months. Lots to do folks, lots to do.

And now some 49ers news!!!

Hey everyone. So I know I've written a lot of posts on baseball and the Giants and I've largely ignored football. For those of you who don't know, I have always been a 49ers fan. But when I moved to Denver I kind of stopped watching football. The short version is that because of local TV agreements, a team in a local market can't have another game being televised at the same time. That meant if the Broncos were playing an afternoon game on CBS, there was no game on Fox. So I didn't get to watch my team play unless they were playing a prime time game (Sunday night or Monday night). And really between 2003 and 2016 (the years I lived in Denver), they were really only good for 3 years (2011-2013). I'm still a fan though I am a baseball guy first. That said, I wanted to write a quick blog on some of the additions that the 49ers have made at the beginning of the 2019 league year.

So at first glance it looks like the 49ers are really wanting to improve their defense. From 2011-2014 the 49ers didn't finish below 5th in the league in yards allowed and coincidentally those were the most recent years that the team has finished .500 or above. The leaders of those defenses were unquestionably Patrick Willis and Navorro Bowman at inside linebacker. The 49ers have the makings of a new pair of studs with 2nd year player Fred Warner, who finished 2018 with 85 tackles, and the newly acquired Kwon Alexander, who played in only 6 games with Tampa Bay in 2018 before suffering an ACL injury. Alexander has averaged 8.3 tackles per game over his 4 years in the league. The other big move at the linebacker position was a trade with Kansas City to acquire pass-rusher Dee Ford. Ford finished 2018 with 13 sacks which would have been the highest total by a 49ers player since Aldon Smith finished 2012 with 19.5. Pair this with the 12 sacks registered by DeForest Buckner in 2018 and the 49ers have the makings of a dominating front 7. The other significant move on the defensive side of the ball was signing cornerback Jason Verrett from the Los Angeles Chargers. Verrett missed all of 2018 with an Achilles tear and has a pretty extensive injury history, but he was a Pro Bowl player as recently as 2015 and 27 years old so there is still some upside if he can stay healthy. In 2015 Verrett finished with 3 interceptions and 12 passes defended.

Now we turn our attention to the offense and the 49ers signed a running back that head coach Kyle Shanahan is very familiar with from his time in Atlanta, Tevin Coleman. Coleman was the #2 back in Atlanta behind Devonta Freeman, but started 14 games in 2018 after Freeman was injured. Coleman rushed for 800 yards and added another 276 in receiving yards. Coleman has excellent receiving skills out of the backfield as does Jerick McKinnon who is returning from an ACL injury. Add Matt Breida to this list and the 49ers look to employ a 3-headed beast at the running back position in 2019.

These are some good signings, but it seems that the 49ers are ignoring a significant skill position and that is wide receiver. Think back to Shanahan's days in Atlanta and you have to look at Julio Jones who is a superstar at the position. The 49ers definitely don't have a Julio Jones on the roster and it really doesn't look like anyone fits that mold on the free agent market. Granted the 49ers still have tight end George Kittle who not only set the 49ers single season record for receptions by a tight end with 88 in 2018, but also set the NFL single season record for yards by a tight end with 1,377. The 49ers finished last in the league in 2018 in red zone touchdown percentage at only 41.18% and they will need to figure out how to improve that mark if they hope to compete in 2019.

But hold the phone!!!!! As I was writing this, the 49ers have signed wide receiver Jordan Matthews. Matthews' best year was 2015 with the Philadelphia Eagles where he put up 85 receptions, 997 yards and 8 touchdowns. His last 2 years have been less productive as he's had 300 yards or less in each, but he only started 10 out of 24 games during those 2 years. Matthews does his best work after the catch and fun fact, 22 of his 26 career touchdowns have come in the red zone.

So there you go everyone. A quick snapshot of the 49ers offseason, and baseball season is right around the corner so things are good. Here's hoping that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo can continue to build on the promise he showed in 2017 after missing the final 13 games of 2018 with a knee injury. As always, I invite comments, thoughts and opinions. Have a good day and thanks for reading.