In Need Of A Splash

By Mike Rifkin

MLB’s Winter Meetings start this weekend. Yes, free agency has begun, but history tells us that many significant deals go down at the Winter Meetings. Last year at the Meetings, Aaron Judge, Justin Verlander, Trea Turner, and Xander Bogaerts all signed massive contracts. This year, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (who has been posted), Blake Snell, Josh Hader, and Cody Bellinger are among the top names on the free-agent market. There has also been speculation on the trade front regarding Juan Soto, Dylan Cease, Corbin Burnes, etc.… Multiple teams will be aggressive at the meetings, but two teams need to make a splash, whether at the meetings or over the offseason.

The first is the San Francisco Giants, who did make a change at manager, firing Gabe Kapler and bringing in Bob Melvin. The Giants were in on all the primary free agents last year and whiffed. They did sign Arson Judge and Carlos Correa; the problem was Arson Judge was not real, and Correa failed his physical. The Giants ended up signing Outfielders Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto and pitchers Sean Manea, Taylor Rogers, and Ross Stripling. Conforto had 15 home runs and 58 RBI with a slash line of .239/.334/.384 in 125 games. Mitch Haniger had six home runs and 28 RBIs with a slash line of .209/.266/.365 in 61 games. Haniger was limited to 61 games because of injuries. An Oblique strain during Spring Training caused him to miss the first month of the season; in June, he fractured his forearm after getting hit by a pitch, and that caused him to miss two months. Manea and Stripling both had an ERA of over four. (Stripling was over five) and the two combined 59 games and 21 starts. Rogers had a 3.83 ERA in 60 games. 

The Giants won 107 games in 2021 and lost to the rival Dodgers in the NLDS; in 2022, they finished 81-81; this past season, they were 79-83. In 2021, the Giants were second in all of MLB in Home Runs and ERA, respectively. This year, the Giants were eleventh in ERA and nineteenth in Home runs. You can make the case the Giants haven’t had a pure slugger since Barry Bonds; despite the three World Series titles under Bruce Bochy, those teams didn’t have a massive power source; it was by committee, and they were built on their pitching. The Giants can be dangerous if they can land a pitcher to pair with Logan Webb at the top of the rotation. Farhan Zaidi’s job could be in jeopardy if they whiff again this offseason. 

Other teams have to make a splash, like the Cubs or Yankees, but the team I will say has to do something big here is the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox finished in last place in the last two seasons. General Manager Chaim Bloom was fired but did what ownership wanted: to cut salary. His first move was trading Outfielder Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, which has been a disaster for the Red Sox. Not because of what they got back but because Mookie Betts is one of the faces of the game. And having Betts, Rafael Devers, who hit 33 Homers and drove in 100 RBI, and last year’s signing Masataka Yoshida, who hit .289 with 15 home runs, would give the Red Sox some real thunder. The lineup could use a right-handed power source with Devers, Yoshida, Triston Casas, a finalist for AL Rookie Of The Year, and all left-handed hitters. The Red Sox were 21st in ERA this past season, and because of Chris Sale’s injury history, maybe they target pitching. Red Sox ownership isn’t happy about finishing in last place back-to-back seasons, but if they spend money this offseason, that could change.

The Giants and Red Sox were successful in the 2010’s. But now they need to make some noise because teams in their respective divisions have passed them by. If they don’t make splashes this Winter, their fanbases will not be happy.