OT: SF Giants 2023

[GswStorm3]

After another 1-4 day including 3 k's for Luciano, I'm thinking he gets sent down to aaa to start the season for some much needed seasoning.
His .066 batting average coupled with 8 k's in 13 ab's doesn't portend well for the 22 year old. Add to that the errant throw to 1st base the other day during a webb start and I think he doesn't make the big club.
On the other hand nick ahmed has been absolutely crushing the ball and has 2 gold gloves to his resume. I think with all that factored in and the need for infield defense for our slew of ground ball pitchers, nick gets the starting nod.

13 AB’s is not a big enough sample size

[Nvnervous45]

Not really seeing a guy that can make consistent contact. Between his aaa and aa stint last year he k'd 100 x in 269 ab's. The stats say he strikes out 37% of the time.

[wco81]

Another bust wouldn't be surprising. But there's got to be something else going on that high picks like Bart and perhaps Luciano aren't panning out.

Meanwhile, other teams are turning out all-stars out of players chosen late in the draft or signed in the international market.

But it has to be development and coaching too. Giants seem to be the only team unable to produce run-producers. Some of it has to do with the ball park.

[B-King]

Zaidi is a bust. He took an aging team and just slowly dismantled it. There were aspirations of going into the mode of the Dodgers with multi-positioned players and tried to do it with players that lacked the skill set. This team is non-descript and still more than a year away from being relevant. Time to move on.

[Nvnervous45]

If the chips fall right this could be a wild card team. if the baseball gods frown and Jordan hicks flames out as a starter and winn busts we could be in for a long season.

[Samurai]

Not being mentioned on this thread so far but the Giants arguably had the best off-season outside of the Dodgers. Gold glover and former DPOY Matt Chapman is an upgrade at 3B. Two-time gold glover Nick Ahmed isn't a hitter (although he is hitting .435 this spring) but is clearly a defensive upgrade over a 36-year old Crawford or a still developing Luciano. Jorge Soler hit 36 homers last season as an All Star and could be our first 30-HR guy this year since Bonds. Robby Ray won the Cy Young 3 years ago and should be ready to go in the second half as he finishes his rehab after TJ surgery. Alex Cobb was an All Star last year and appears ahead of his rehab schedule. And of course, Blake Snell is a 2-time Cy Young winner, beating out ace Logan Webb for the award last year. If Lee can be a reliable table-setter at the top of the lineup, this team has a good shot at the playoffs.

[wco81]

Not being mentioned on this thread so far but the Giants arguably had the best off-season outside of the Dodgers. Gold glover and former DPOY Matt Chapman is an upgrade at 3B. Two-time gold glover Nick Ahmed isn't a hitter (although he is hitting .435 this spring) but is clearly a defensive upgrade over a 36-year old Crawford or a still developing Luciano. Jorge Soler hit 36 homers last season as an All Star and could be our first 30-HR guy this year since Bonds. Robby Ray won the Cy Young 3 years ago and should be ready to go in the second half as he finishes his rehab after TJ surgery. Alex Cobb was an All Star last year and appears ahead of his rehab schedule. And of course, Blake Snell is a 2-time Cy Young winner, beating out ace Logan Webb for the award last year. If Lee can be a reliable table-setter at the top of the lineup, this team has a good shot at the playoffs.

Have to credit for spending money.

We will see if the moves pan out. If they don't make the post-season with this spending, that's got to be it for Zaidi and the owners may not want to splurge again for a long time.

With the Dodgers making waves with their signings, maybe they felt they had to do something.

But the signings point to continued failures of the farm system, something which you'd hope Zaidi could change. I wish they'd spend some of those millions there, with a more modern developmental staff like the Astros or the Rays.