If a prospect is doing all the things the org wants - successfully — through the higher levels, and they don’t put him on the 40 man and call him up at some point, what message does that send to the rest of the prospects?
I think that the reason they traded for Padlo instead of calling up Villar is pretty simple (and it's not an anti-Villar thing, or at least not more than my opinion of "Let's not crown his ass" which I somehow turned into 800 words a few weeks ago). The reason the 40-man spot was available was a COVID IL roster crunch, and so they wanted to use that spot on someone who wouldn't necessarily be a permanent fixture on the 40-man. You trade cash for Kevin Padlo and then lose Kevin Padlo when the IL clears up, well, okay, nice knowing you. You call up David Villar and then have a roster crunch, and suddenly you have a very unpleasant decision to make. And for what? You don't want Villar to be another Adam Duvall, who you don't give enough of a chance to in the majors, and then you see him have success elsewhere. If the Giants don't have to use that 40-man spot for someone, they're not going to unless he's proven pretty definitively that he's an upgrade over any other option.
I liked the 800 word "let's not crown his ass" piece! That could definitely be a big part of the equation, but the one nuance is that players who are added as a direct offset to another player going on the COVID IL can be removed from the 40-man without waiving them (as happened with somebody in that flurry of moves, Tom or Krizan or someone). It's pretty hard to go back through that snare of moves to figure out if Padlo's addition was an offset for somebody going on the COVID IL though, so it's hard to figure out how much that weighed in. Actually, now that I'm looking at it, they acquired him April 26 and didn't recall him until May 3, so he had already been added to the 40-man before the COVID crunch started I think???? but man, that was a crazy time
While I’ve been a big believer in Farhan & Kapler, I’ve been a little perplexed by some of their moves on and off the field. Not a fan of the Dubon trade, I realize the roster crunch and option game but he was a plus defender in the infield and outfield and it looked like his offense was starting to develop despite his mental errors. Outside of the starters nobody plays defense. I think Villar’s the better option to Padlo but they’ve probably been holding back since he’s not on the 40 man. Give me Ramos over Fairchild, I don’t care if he’s not kicking the door down, bring him up with consistent playing time and it may all click for him. His K rate and walk rates haven’t been bad. My last vent is let Bart hit when down 6-2, give him a little confidence instead of having a .219 lifetime minor league hitter hit for him. Also, Kapler could have had LaStella hit for Bart instead of for Estrada.
I think Dubon is a really great kid and fun to root for, but he also has a .241 OBP this year, which is not rosterable for a team that is trying to contend and it doesn't show any growth from last year. He still gets too excited and tries to do too much -- doesn't play within himself. I hope he continues to grow and establish himself as a real big leaguer, but I don't think he's that right now (and I'll be surprised if he lasts that long in Houston once they get over their immediate injury situation). As for Ramos, he has some real mechanical things he needs to get worked out and I'm not sure the hothouse of MLB where a couple days of failure gets the fans restless is the place for that. I have plenty of critiques of Zaidi (I really think they were too passive this winter, and read their own headlines/drank their own koolaid a bit too much) but I don't have any real problem with either of those moves.
I agree with everything you’re saying but backup middle infielders are Flores and LaStella which is bad defense especially since Kapler for some reason thinks he needs to pinch hit for Estrada. They pride themselves on a deep 40 man that even with injuries shouldn’t have Fairchild, Tom, Padlo on a contending team, no disrespect to those players. I didn’t get the DFA with the current roster
I totally agree that the back of the 40-man is actually pretty squishy right now. It's not in great shape. The fact that Fairchild -- whose been through three orgs already -- is the only OF option on 40 man is an indictment
If a prospect is doing all the things the org wants - successfully — through the higher levels, and they don’t put him on the 40 man and call him up at some point, what message does that send to the rest of the prospects?
I think that the reason they traded for Padlo instead of calling up Villar is pretty simple (and it's not an anti-Villar thing, or at least not more than my opinion of "Let's not crown his ass" which I somehow turned into 800 words a few weeks ago). The reason the 40-man spot was available was a COVID IL roster crunch, and so they wanted to use that spot on someone who wouldn't necessarily be a permanent fixture on the 40-man. You trade cash for Kevin Padlo and then lose Kevin Padlo when the IL clears up, well, okay, nice knowing you. You call up David Villar and then have a roster crunch, and suddenly you have a very unpleasant decision to make. And for what? You don't want Villar to be another Adam Duvall, who you don't give enough of a chance to in the majors, and then you see him have success elsewhere. If the Giants don't have to use that 40-man spot for someone, they're not going to unless he's proven pretty definitively that he's an upgrade over any other option.
I liked the 800 word "let's not crown his ass" piece! That could definitely be a big part of the equation, but the one nuance is that players who are added as a direct offset to another player going on the COVID IL can be removed from the 40-man without waiving them (as happened with somebody in that flurry of moves, Tom or Krizan or someone). It's pretty hard to go back through that snare of moves to figure out if Padlo's addition was an offset for somebody going on the COVID IL though, so it's hard to figure out how much that weighed in. Actually, now that I'm looking at it, they acquired him April 26 and didn't recall him until May 3, so he had already been added to the 40-man before the COVID crunch started I think???? but man, that was a crazy time
While I’ve been a big believer in Farhan & Kapler, I’ve been a little perplexed by some of their moves on and off the field. Not a fan of the Dubon trade, I realize the roster crunch and option game but he was a plus defender in the infield and outfield and it looked like his offense was starting to develop despite his mental errors. Outside of the starters nobody plays defense. I think Villar’s the better option to Padlo but they’ve probably been holding back since he’s not on the 40 man. Give me Ramos over Fairchild, I don’t care if he’s not kicking the door down, bring him up with consistent playing time and it may all click for him. His K rate and walk rates haven’t been bad. My last vent is let Bart hit when down 6-2, give him a little confidence instead of having a .219 lifetime minor league hitter hit for him. Also, Kapler could have had LaStella hit for Bart instead of for Estrada.
Good to see Matos is back!!
I think Dubon is a really great kid and fun to root for, but he also has a .241 OBP this year, which is not rosterable for a team that is trying to contend and it doesn't show any growth from last year. He still gets too excited and tries to do too much -- doesn't play within himself. I hope he continues to grow and establish himself as a real big leaguer, but I don't think he's that right now (and I'll be surprised if he lasts that long in Houston once they get over their immediate injury situation). As for Ramos, he has some real mechanical things he needs to get worked out and I'm not sure the hothouse of MLB where a couple days of failure gets the fans restless is the place for that. I have plenty of critiques of Zaidi (I really think they were too passive this winter, and read their own headlines/drank their own koolaid a bit too much) but I don't have any real problem with either of those moves.
I agree with everything you’re saying but backup middle infielders are Flores and LaStella which is bad defense especially since Kapler for some reason thinks he needs to pinch hit for Estrada. They pride themselves on a deep 40 man that even with injuries shouldn’t have Fairchild, Tom, Padlo on a contending team, no disrespect to those players. I didn’t get the DFA with the current roster
I totally agree that the back of the 40-man is actually pretty squishy right now. It's not in great shape. The fact that Fairchild -- whose been through three orgs already -- is the only OF option on 40 man is an indictment
Of Luke Williams