Bob Melvin seemed like the perfect match for the Giants, especially after a few too many years of Gabe Kapler's ill-fated saber metric tactics. As the Rangers found out last year, sometimes just getting a veteran, trusted manager who works well with the system is a good enough way to jumpstart something. And yet here we are, the Giants in 4th place behind Mike Shildt and Torey Luvullo. And probably not making the playoffs. A lot like Bruce Bochy in Texas, there was never a feeling of 'okay we'll get this guy and then we'll immediately be a playoff contender', but...I have to imagine year one was supposed to go better than this.
Of the four big contracts signed prior to the year, only one is guaranteed to still impact the team in the coming seasons, and it's the guy that only played for like a month this year. Jorge Soler is already gone, Matt Chapman and Blake Snell could both be gone by the end of the year, and while Jung-Hoo Lee will still be here in 2025, there's no guarantee how much of a factor he'll be given his limited performance this year. I mean, it'd be nice if Lee was something, but all we have to go buy is a month and a half of work and he was hitting like .262. Chapman, however, is having a fantastic year, with 68 RBIs and 20 homers, but he could choose to go somewhere else given the halted trajectory of the team.
Perhaps the best elements of this Giants team have been the homegrown, low-budget, low-key guys who've begun to repopulate the team. Heliot Ramos, Ryan Fitzgerald, Patrick Bailey, now Kyle Harrison and Hayden Birdsong. I'd even throw Ryan Walker in there. Though Walker made his breakthrough last year as a swingman with relief perks, Walker has been the best relief specialist in San Francisco this year. In 67 games he's 8-3 with a 1.92 ERA, 92 strikeouts. Going into the year people really thought Camilo Doval would keep the momentum going, and despite 22 saves he really hasn't. Walker may not be a born closer, and he may be better off as this setup man type, but he's an impressive, consistent hurler who hopefully will be in this kind of condition for the next few years.
After this season, the Giants are likely gonna be parting with a lot of key pieces of this team, at least from a contractual standpoint. Michael Conforto, Wilmer Flores, Mark Canha, probably Snell and Chapman. The hope is that this team is far enough along in their development that they won't need to rely specifically upon contracts to make themselves competitors soon enough. The way it's looking, they have a 1B bat in LeMonte Wade, they have starting depth, they have Brett Wisely if Chapman leaves, and now they have Grant McCray as an OF piece. This team could benefit from a lower key year to just come around unified, and hopefully they'll be allowed this.
I'd love to think the Giants could just put this year behind them and compete again in 2025. I don't know if it'll happen. But parts of this team have got me excited.
Coming Tonight: Now that Danny Jansen's in Boston, this guy has no safety net. Which is a nice time for his average to rise, I guess.
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