SF Giants Sign Curt Casali - Target Tomoyuku Sugano!

The San Francisco Giants have signed backup catcher Curt Casali who played for the Cincinnati Reds from 2018-2020 and has 37 career home runs in 831 at bats. He also accumulated 95 career walks and is an ideal backup catcher - he gets on base, provides some pop and is solid behind the plate. Casali will be the leading candidate to backup Buster Posey during the 2021 Season.

The Giants do have an array of excellent catchers including recent draft picks Joey Bart and Patrick Bailey. Bailey still has a lot of development to go through while Bart is likely to start the season in Triple A after an underwhelming rookie campaign in 2020. This leaves Posey, Casali and Chadwick Tromp, who was recently re-signed. Tromp, like Bart, has minor league options available and, therefore, is likely to begin the year in the minors as well.

This is an excellent signing by the Giants and Casali looks like a prime candidate to continue the Giants string of great backup catchers to Posey such as Nick Hundley and Stephen Vogt. Of course, Posey opted out of the 2020 season.

Meanwhile, the Giants are one of three teams that have shown interest in Japanese ace Tomoyuki Sugano, who had an outstanding 2020 going 14-2 with a 1.97 ERA and 131 strikeouts in just over 134 innings. He’s still only 31 years and and would be a huge asset to a team like the Giants who lack consistently effective starters in their rotation. The other two teams are the Blue Jays and Mets, although recent reports indicate that the Mets may be stepping out of the race.

San Francsico Giants Trade Speedy Billy Hamilton to the Mets for Young Pitcher...

In a somewhat surprising move, the San Francisco Giants just improved their farm talent on the pitching side by trading their speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton to the New York Mets for young prospect Jordan Humphreys. Humphreys has not pitched a full professional season since 2017 when he dominated Single A ball, going 10-1 in 11 starts with a 1.42 ERA and 80 Strikeouts in just over 60 innings.

With that type of performance, the Mets surely took notice. However, after he had to undergo Tommy John Surgery, Humphreys missed all over 2018 and most of 2019, only pitching sparingly in the Gulf Coast League and Arizona Fall League. Nevertheless, he continued to pitch well and show great promise.

With this move, the Giants have added a much needed arm to their system while giving up a player who hit .211 last season with the Royals. While Billy Hamilton has several tools including ridiculous speed and great defense, the Giants have a comparable player in Steven Duggar, who was recently promoted and can handle the bat as well if not better. He brings some pop and can fill in when needed, including as a pinch runner. The Giants have also witnessed great performances from outfielders such as Mike Yastrzemski, Alex Dickerson and Austin Slater.

The bottom line is, Hamilton won’t be missed (he never even appeared in a regular season game with the Giants) and Jordan Humphreys is a huge boost to the Giants system. I love this move and am surprised that the Mets gave up such a great looking young arm for a 30 year old veteran who doesn’t bring much other than speed and a great glove. Congratulations to Farhan Zaidi on another outstanding move, further bolstering the Giants farm system and preparing for an Orange & Black resurgence.

MLB Lifts Transaction Freeze & San Francisco Giants Cut Three Players

Major League Baseball lifted its freeze on transactions yesterday and the San Francisco Giants took that opportunity to release three players who had been in big league camp - pitchers Tyson Ross & Nick Vincent along with outfielder Jamie Westbrook.

Pitcher Tyson Ross in 2020 Spring Training with the San Francisco Giants

With the deadline looming to submit 60-man rosters, the Giants made the tough decision to release these players, who were only there for depth in the first place. They would have more than likely begun the season in Triple A with the Sacramento River Cats. Of course, this season, there are no Sacramento River Cats or any other Minor League Team for that matter to send them.

Nick Vincent was a quality reliever for the San Diego Padres before being signed last year by the Giants. He made the team out of Spring Training but was released halfway through the year then signed again this year. Vincent had a somewhat historical moment for the Giants last season when he became their first
"opener,” starting a game although the team planned to remove him after an inning or two.

Nick Vincent with the Giants in 2019

Ross was likely to be a long reliever and spot starter if needed while Westbrook would have provided additional outfield depth. However, the Giants already have an array of outfield options. The problem is, none of those options (other than Mike Yastrzemski) are particularly reliable. This is why the Yasiel Puig rumors are swirling once again…

How The Giants Allowed Bumgarner To Leave To a Division Rival

When we think of Madison Bumgarner’s best moments with the San Francisco Giants, the 2014 World Series will always be one of the first memories that comes to mind. However, his World Series dominance started in 2010, when he absolutely baffled Rangers hitters, helping the Giants win their first World Series in San Francisco. Not longer after that, the Giants Front Office knew they had to figure out a way to lock this guy up… and they did it.

After the 2012 World Series, which the Giants also won, Bumgarner signed a long term extension that would last through at least 2017, with options for 2018 and 2019. It was during this time that folks started making some noise about the fact that Bumgarner was being underpaid. The Giants heard the noise and knew they needed to negotiate another extension — and they were set to do so after the 2017 season, when Matt Cain’s contract would come off the books.

It was in April of 2017, however, when the Giants plans with Bumgarner were forever altered — he seriously injured his shoulder in a dirtbike accident. Although he eventually returned to action, there was no way the Giants would approve of a long term extension without at least making sure was fully healthy again in 2018. Fast forward to 2018 Spring Training, and a line drive off the hand throws another wrench into the extension plans. Bumgarner was sidelined again, and this time, the final decision would have to be made in 2019, which corresponded with the arrival of new President of Baseball Operations, Farhan Zaidi.

Zaidi showed up with a new philosophy in mind — an analytical philosophy that included making sure to not allow emotions to get in the way of practical decision-making. Bumgarner, at 30, signing a multi-year deal for upwards of 100 million dollars, would likely not be the wisest baseball decision in his mind. Therefore, he was allowed to become a Free Agent and take his talents elsewhere. It was not simply a cold, calculated, analytical Front Office that sent MadBum out of town, but it was a sequence of unfortunate events that included a dirtbike, a broken hand, and a Farhan Zaidi.