Yearly Review: San Francisco Giants

It's time to look back at every team from around the MLB and what they each showed us during the 60 game sprint!

We are going to explore a few things for each team: Review in-season transactions, what we learned, what we loved, what we didn't love, the most significant need(s), and lastly, the biggest takeaways.

Let's jump over the NL with the SF Giants today. We talked about the Padres, A's, Marlins, Yankee's, Cardinals, Whitesox, Cubs, Twins, Reds, BlueJays, Brewers, and Indians so far; you can find all posts on the homepage https://www.theballboyblog.com/.

What moves did the 2020 Giants make?

Tampa Bay Rays traded LHP Anthony Banda to San Francisco Giants for cash.- I mean, this trade did little for Giants season-wise.

San Francisco Giants traded C Rob Brantly to New York Yankees for cash.- This move happened after Joey Bart was called up.

What did we love about the 2020 Giants?

The Giants were one of those teams this year that stayed in it until the very end. I had them projected to go 27-33, and a 5th place finishes and they finished 29-31 on the season with a 3rd place finish. The Giants were not an awful team, just missing the expanded playoffs. They were the #9 team in the NL after all and the highest finish of a non-playoff team. That was incredibly encouraging as this team is in the midst of a rebuild. Have you heard of that guy Mike Yazrzemski? If you haven't, then you aren't a Giants fan or paying attention to baseball. As he is called, Yaz is a stud hitting .297BA, 10HR, 35RBI drawing 30BB this season. Donovan Solano(.326BA)and Wilmer Flores(12HR), Alex Dickerson(.298BA, 10HR) were all pretty dang good as well. The offense looks to be going in the right direction with Longoria and Crawford putting together excellent vet seasons. We also loved the season from two RP Jarlin Garcia(0.49ERA) and Tony Watson(2.50ERA).

What did we not love about the 2020 Giants?

We did not love the debut of Joey Bart hitting for .233BA, 0HR, 7RBI, and 41K to only 3BB. We also did NOT love that Johny Cueto leads the team in Wins 2, ERA 5.40, K's 56 for all starters. The pitching staff had a combined 4.64ERA, 8.5K/9. The teams pitching was the problem outside a few players, but what matters is wins, team performance, and pitching did not help them win. If you are a Giants fan from the last decade, you know who Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence are; both did not perform well during the season were both cut midseason. I didn't love this for Pence as it put an end to his career, and he didn't go out on a high note. Pence did retire shortly after the release.

You know what I don't love, that you haven't listened to the podcast yet. If you have, thank you, keep listening. If you haven't, you're missing some high-quality listening. Short episodes with these yearly reviews, news, and so much more. Go over to the Podcast Page on the Site and pick one of 6 platforms to listen on.

What is next for the 2020 Giants?

The Giants are in a weird place; they aren't in a full-on rebuild. But they are at the same time. With a fair amount of young talent showing up in 2020 to mix with reliable vet performances, the Giants have a large payroll for 2021, but after 2022, many of those contracts come off the books. I can see the Giants cutting ties with Cueto and Belt and possibly trading them for something and then signing some pieces for 2021 and beyond to keep pace in the NL West.

Building around Yaz, Dickerson, Flores, and Solano will be wise for the Giants, and offensively they have a core, but the pitching issues need to be addressed in a significant way.

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What was the biggest takeaway from the 2020 Giants?

Heart, even when this team is down, going against a formidable opponent, they found a way to win. They proved myself and many professionals wrong all season. The Giants are a team to watch and pay attention to in 2021 in that tough NL West.

Thank you for your time and reading today. I am so grateful for you sticking around until now and the support. I appreciate you, and please don't hesitate to share the blog and podcast with someone you know that enjoys baseball as much as you and me.