Hi Roger, I'd like to ask about your thoughts about a couple young pitchers, Mason Black and Keaton Winn. What does Black need to work on to stick on the big league club? He gives me Sean Hjelle vibes where a move to the bullpen might really help. And given Winn's health record, should he move to the bullpen as well, where his stuff could play up and there would be fewer innings on his arm?
Am I wrong to be cautiously optimistic about the Giants core and PD system? Harrison, birdsong, Bailey, fitz, Ramos all have emerged in the past two years and look like they could be strong regulars, not to mention all the guys in the pen or more utility roles. Then there is batch of guys that seem to be a few adjustments or developments away in the upper minors that it’s possible a few more of them pan out as well. I guess my question is that this seems quite better from how the giants were doing for the last decade, but how does it compare across the league?
How does the level of competition evolve at each minor league level as the season progresses. Players are getting promoted and rosters are always in flux. Is the pitching quality that Bryce Eldridge faced in San Jose at the beginning of the season comparable to what Walker Martin is facing now? I assume a lot of the best A ball pitchers are now in high A while a lot of the best Complex League pitchers are in A ball. But maybe the difference isn’t so great? Thanks for sharing your knowledge as always Roger.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the Doval situation, and whether it was driven by Melvin or the FO. Reading btw the lines, it seems that there is general consensus among the Giants leadership that Doval has an attitude problem. You implied in a recent post that you thought sending him down was a mistake, and I’d be curious to hear your full take.
What is the plan for Luciano? I don’t think i’ve ever seen a player go from being seen as the “everyday shortstop” to viewed as unplayable in the field at any position in the span of a season. Is he a potential trade candidate in the offseason or do you think they will go the position change route? As it stands, their usage of him has been puzzling (much like it was with Ramos and Fitz, pre-breakouts).
Bonus: Who do you think would win in a race, Fitzgerald or Grant McCray? I know Fitzgerald is ranked 6th in sprint speed currently, but McCray seems like he could definitely give him a run for his money. Thanks!
Piling on here... what the heck was the plan for Marco this month? They brought him up as the DH after shipping out Soler, then didn't give him an ABs. Even Baggs seems put out at how the Giants handled this, and he is typically reticent about criticizing the org in any way. Was this move truly nothing more than PR cover for moving Soler out?
Hi Roger - I just finished viewing MLB's newest Top 100 and farm system rankings and, once again, I'm disappointed at the huge gap between the Dodgers' (#5) drafting and player development, and that of the Giants (#23) under Farhan. Can you help me understand how a team that consistently drafts last in each round year after year consistently produces top-shelf players? What are they doing differently? And, what changes should we be making?
Does Eldridge try out RF again next year? He has hit so well this year and it's easy to see how much more valuable that output would be if he was playing even an average RF compared to First base. It already looks like he moves pretty well and he's faster than you would think for a hulking guy like him..
Reading through Eric Longenhagen's draft review (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-mlb-draft-day-two-and-three-roundup/), I was struck by two things: contact skills are increasingly sought after as a baseline to add other tools onto (contrary to the Giants), and the Brewers nearly-all high school strategy. While it's easy to say that getting someone with as much talent as Dakota Jordan in the fourth round is great, the reality is that a $2 million bonus could be spent in a lot of ways, so I'm wondering in a normal draft with all of their picks, what sort of players would you prioritize? (Due to not signing their second comp pick this year and having $500k+ unspent, Milwaukee wasn't that far off what the Giants would normally have to offer players, so it seems plausible to me, and it also seems well-suited to MLB's desire to shrink the minor leagues. Also, lots of upside-y picks is of course irresistible)
Do you think Grant McCray's promotion says anything about the Giants view of Wade Meckler? Thought he was looking the likely next man up given Matos' struggles in the majors or was it perhaps too early since his return to AAA?
Since I’m sure this is gonna be a generally desultory mailbag experience for you Roger, I didn’t want to lead with a question so much as an invitation to talk about something positive: You wanna just brag about Tyler Fitzgerald for a bit? You were the high man on him for almost his entire minor league career, and now he’s a near daily fixture on MLB Highlights Twitter and one of the best players on the team by pretty much any measure you wanna use. I know scouting is a game filled far more with failure (like actually playing baseball too!), but I think you’re pretty well owed a victory lap on one of “your guys” at this moment.
Now that I’ve said that, it’s time for a little negativity after all, if you’ll pardon me. Reggie Crawford’s been felled by yet another mysterious muscle strain, and at this point it’s hard to imagine how he’s going to build up to a major league workload of any kind if he can’t throw more than 20 innings at a pop before something else goes “sproing” (if you’ll allow me to steal a Brisbee-ism.) I vaguely remember an old mailbag question on here that asked if Reggie was somehow *too muscular* for what he was asking of his body. Based off Heliot’s comments earlier this year about how he needed to get more flexible in order to unlock his swing, I wanted to ask if you’d have a different opinion on that question than you did at the time. It sure seems like there have been a lot of bad backs and muscle strains on the farm recently, and I wonder what kind of flexibility training the Giants emphasize in their program right now that might be used to combat that. From a complete outsider’s perspective, it sure seems like Giants farmhands could do with a few less protein shakes and a few more yoga mats in their daily routines!
Hello Roger. Thanks again for all your great content. Perhaps it's time to start thinking about the 40-man roster and what could be significant changes this offseason. Who are the Rule Five players who must be added or exposed? Who among this group do you think is most deserving of a spot? Which players currently on the 40-man should be removed (via trade, DFA, waivers, non-tender, etc.)
MLB re-ranked the Giants prospects incorporating the new draft picks. It always bothers me that a lot of those new pics are bright and shiny and end up ahead of prospects that were drafted a lot higher than they were and are actually performing in the minor leagues. My question is this a function of bright and shiny and new or are our prospects that bad?
Hi Roger, I'd like to ask about your thoughts about a couple young pitchers, Mason Black and Keaton Winn. What does Black need to work on to stick on the big league club? He gives me Sean Hjelle vibes where a move to the bullpen might really help. And given Winn's health record, should he move to the bullpen as well, where his stuff could play up and there would be fewer innings on his arm?
Am I wrong to be cautiously optimistic about the Giants core and PD system? Harrison, birdsong, Bailey, fitz, Ramos all have emerged in the past two years and look like they could be strong regulars, not to mention all the guys in the pen or more utility roles. Then there is batch of guys that seem to be a few adjustments or developments away in the upper minors that it’s possible a few more of them pan out as well. I guess my question is that this seems quite better from how the giants were doing for the last decade, but how does it compare across the league?
How does the level of competition evolve at each minor league level as the season progresses. Players are getting promoted and rosters are always in flux. Is the pitching quality that Bryce Eldridge faced in San Jose at the beginning of the season comparable to what Walker Martin is facing now? I assume a lot of the best A ball pitchers are now in high A while a lot of the best Complex League pitchers are in A ball. But maybe the difference isn’t so great? Thanks for sharing your knowledge as always Roger.
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the Doval situation, and whether it was driven by Melvin or the FO. Reading btw the lines, it seems that there is general consensus among the Giants leadership that Doval has an attitude problem. You implied in a recent post that you thought sending him down was a mistake, and I’d be curious to hear your full take.
What is the plan for Luciano? I don’t think i’ve ever seen a player go from being seen as the “everyday shortstop” to viewed as unplayable in the field at any position in the span of a season. Is he a potential trade candidate in the offseason or do you think they will go the position change route? As it stands, their usage of him has been puzzling (much like it was with Ramos and Fitz, pre-breakouts).
Bonus: Who do you think would win in a race, Fitzgerald or Grant McCray? I know Fitzgerald is ranked 6th in sprint speed currently, but McCray seems like he could definitely give him a run for his money. Thanks!
Piling on here... what the heck was the plan for Marco this month? They brought him up as the DH after shipping out Soler, then didn't give him an ABs. Even Baggs seems put out at how the Giants handled this, and he is typically reticent about criticizing the org in any way. Was this move truly nothing more than PR cover for moving Soler out?
Great questions.
Hi Roger - I just finished viewing MLB's newest Top 100 and farm system rankings and, once again, I'm disappointed at the huge gap between the Dodgers' (#5) drafting and player development, and that of the Giants (#23) under Farhan. Can you help me understand how a team that consistently drafts last in each round year after year consistently produces top-shelf players? What are they doing differently? And, what changes should we be making?
Does Eldridge try out RF again next year? He has hit so well this year and it's easy to see how much more valuable that output would be if he was playing even an average RF compared to First base. It already looks like he moves pretty well and he's faster than you would think for a hulking guy like him..
OK, Bo Davidson has my attention. Wait — I forgot to phrase this as a question.
Bo Davidson? Really?!
Reading through Eric Longenhagen's draft review (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-mlb-draft-day-two-and-three-roundup/), I was struck by two things: contact skills are increasingly sought after as a baseline to add other tools onto (contrary to the Giants), and the Brewers nearly-all high school strategy. While it's easy to say that getting someone with as much talent as Dakota Jordan in the fourth round is great, the reality is that a $2 million bonus could be spent in a lot of ways, so I'm wondering in a normal draft with all of their picks, what sort of players would you prioritize? (Due to not signing their second comp pick this year and having $500k+ unspent, Milwaukee wasn't that far off what the Giants would normally have to offer players, so it seems plausible to me, and it also seems well-suited to MLB's desire to shrink the minor leagues. Also, lots of upside-y picks is of course irresistible)
Do you think Grant McCray's promotion says anything about the Giants view of Wade Meckler? Thought he was looking the likely next man up given Matos' struggles in the majors or was it perhaps too early since his return to AAA?
Since I’m sure this is gonna be a generally desultory mailbag experience for you Roger, I didn’t want to lead with a question so much as an invitation to talk about something positive: You wanna just brag about Tyler Fitzgerald for a bit? You were the high man on him for almost his entire minor league career, and now he’s a near daily fixture on MLB Highlights Twitter and one of the best players on the team by pretty much any measure you wanna use. I know scouting is a game filled far more with failure (like actually playing baseball too!), but I think you’re pretty well owed a victory lap on one of “your guys” at this moment.
Now that I’ve said that, it’s time for a little negativity after all, if you’ll pardon me. Reggie Crawford’s been felled by yet another mysterious muscle strain, and at this point it’s hard to imagine how he’s going to build up to a major league workload of any kind if he can’t throw more than 20 innings at a pop before something else goes “sproing” (if you’ll allow me to steal a Brisbee-ism.) I vaguely remember an old mailbag question on here that asked if Reggie was somehow *too muscular* for what he was asking of his body. Based off Heliot’s comments earlier this year about how he needed to get more flexible in order to unlock his swing, I wanted to ask if you’d have a different opinion on that question than you did at the time. It sure seems like there have been a lot of bad backs and muscle strains on the farm recently, and I wonder what kind of flexibility training the Giants emphasize in their program right now that might be used to combat that. From a complete outsider’s perspective, it sure seems like Giants farmhands could do with a few less protein shakes and a few more yoga mats in their daily routines!
Hello Roger. Thanks again for all your great content. Perhaps it's time to start thinking about the 40-man roster and what could be significant changes this offseason. Who are the Rule Five players who must be added or exposed? Who among this group do you think is most deserving of a spot? Which players currently on the 40-man should be removed (via trade, DFA, waivers, non-tender, etc.)
MLB re-ranked the Giants prospects incorporating the new draft picks. It always bothers me that a lot of those new pics are bright and shiny and end up ahead of prospects that were drafted a lot higher than they were and are actually performing in the minor leagues. My question is this a function of bright and shiny and new or are our prospects that bad?