Melancon signed

[sfgdood]

Buster Olney is reporting that Mark Melancon and the Giants have signed a contract, pending passage of a physical exam. Stage one of the offseason is complete. Well done. Now time to NOT go cheap on the LF position. Personally I would trade Belt for a solid LFer and stick Posey at first...but Barring that, my choice is to sign Encarnacion, put him first and stick the big oaf in LF.

[Islandboagie]

Good signing, now we have a legit closer at the back end of a bullpen still needing some rebuilding. To distract away from that would be stupid.

We don't need a left fielder, we have Nunez who can play there if needed.

If offense is your concern then the one we need to replace, or at least have a strong backup plan for is Span. The first two spots in our order are the major reason why we were not generating a lot of runs at certain times during the season.

Panik and Pence again spending a lot of time on the DL also didn't help. What we need is a stronger bench in case that happens again.

I like Tomlinson and Nunez in backup, platoon and pinch hitting roles. But we don't have a solid left handed bat coming off the bench. They should look at adding a few pieces for bench depth.

Gillaspie was great down the stretch and into the post season. Which says to me he's only valuable as an everyday starter.

I like Nunez, but he's not a smart hitter, he doesn't work counts, Gillaspie does.

[sfgdood]

Gillaspie's postseason heroics was very romantic...very Ishikawa-y, if you will. Unfortunately, the entirety of Connor's career is just as bad as Ish's was. Love the moments, but don't let it fool you into thinking he is an everyday player. I prefer Eduardo...not only is he a better hitter, he's a masterful glove man and has top notch speed. That said, this offense is in DIRE need of power. We need to go outside the system to get it.

[klaiggeb]

Randy-Gillaspie's postseason heroics was very romantic...very Ishikawa-y, if you will. Unfortunately, the entirety of Connor's career is just as bad as Ish's was. Love the moments, but don't let it fool you into thinking he is an everyday player. I prefer Eduardo...not only is he a better hitter, he's a masterful glove man and has top notch speed.

***Boly says***

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

That's what I posted recently. Not the Ishi thing, but Giant fans being mis lead by Gillaspie's post season.

He's NOT that hitter.

His career has been an inconsistent one at the plate and worse in the field INSPITE of how good he looked for us late in the year.

I LOVE him off the bench, but I do NOT want to see him get more than 300 at bats.

If he was that good of a hitter, why did the White Sox NOT want him back?

If he was that good of a hitter, how come he lost his starting job with the White Sox in the 1st place?




The ONLY problem I have with Nunez is that he's a hacker. He refuses to work the count.

But he DID show us he can hit in the clutch.

And you have to love his speed.

And is defense at 3B? As Randy pointed out, outstanding!

boly

[Islandboagie]

Call me crazy, I like guys that grind at-bats, make contact and come through in big moments. Randy prefers free swingers like Miguel Tejada.

Gillaspie is not a bench guy, he needs consistent at-bats to be affective. We saw that last season and during his best two seasons in Chicago. When he doesn't get consistent at-bats he struggles.

[Rog]

Good signing, now we have a legit closer at the back end of a bullpen still needing some rebuilding.


Rog -- Melancon has been more than a legit closer; he has been among the elite over the past four seasons. His ERA's during that time have been 1.39, 1.90, 2.23 and 1.64. During that time he has 147 saves, including 98 over the past two seasons. Those 98 saves came in 104 opportunities, for a save percentage over 94%. I'm not sure any reliever has been better over that period.

Yes, the Giants could use another reliever. Teams virtually always use another one.

But even as we've shown how Will Smith, Derek Law, Hunter Strickland, George Kontos and Steven Okert had good seasons in 2017 and how except for the time surrounding his injury Cory Gearrin was quite good as well, we missed something.

Josh Osich had the league's best record when he allowed only two of 44 inherited runners to score. That's less than 5%. While he has the advantage of facing few hitters most times out, that's still an excellent accomplishment. He does need to throw more strikes and keep the ball in the park.

Heck, I'd love to see the Giants still sign Greg Holland. But Will Smith is capable of filling a more leveraged role, and Derek Law in particular seems capable of pitching in later innings. With Melancon on board, I think the Giants have a very nice-looking bullpen. I'd give them a B or a B+, and if the young guys click in a more significant role, they could be an A or A-. The Giants had one huge bullpen void, and Melancon provides a very high-quality solution.

I would rather have had Kenley Jansen, primarily because he's younger by three years. But while Melancon doesn't strike out batters like Jansen and Aroldis Chapman do, he excels at his job because of command and the ability to get batters to hit the ball on the ground. His ground ball to fly ball ratios over the past four seasons have each been above two to one.

That's not to say that there isn't risk even with Melancon. Early last season he lost some of his curve ball, but he got it back and wound up with 47 saves in 51 chances. Melancon has the potential to be the best closer in Giants history.




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[Rog]

Man, I'm not sure how I got the most recent post on this thread instead of the one about the Melancon signing. Sorry about that.

[Rog]

Then again, this WAS the right place. I must be Gillaspie'd out!

[Rog]

See my previous post on Conor. He can't hit lefties, and in the one good full season he had, he dropped off precipitously in the second half. We talk about his two best seasons with the White Sox, but his OPS were an acceptable .752 and a subpar .695. Conor was essentially a league average hitter over those two seasons combined. Corner infielders are expected to be above league average.

Conor might be able to help the Giants as a starter if he is used almost exclusively in a platoon role. I could see him "platooning" with Mac Williamson. Over his career, Conor has been a little better than average against right-handers and a washout against lefties. I'm glad the Giants have him, but we may be overvaluing him a bit.

[Rog]

Conor's career OPS as a starter is .705. Last season it was .781 though. At .781, Conor can play. At .705, he's strictly a bench/platoon player.

[Rog]

Regarding left field, let's be realistic. Williamson and Parker aren't likely to be the answer, with Williamson having the better chance of the two. But it's highly unlikely the Giants will spend big to fill the position. I've seen various figures for their payroll this season, but I'm almost certain it will already be higher than last season.

A trade for J.D. Martinez would be quite nice, and at $11 million plus in 2017, he might be affordable. But adding him would give the Giants horrible outfield defense, and they could wind up holding the bag at the end of next season when he becomes a free agent and makes something like 6/$150. The other problem is that the Giants are lacking in top prospects with which to entice the Tigers into sending Martinez to the Bay Area.

Encarnacion? He's certainly been a consistent hitter the past several years, but he's about to turn 34, will cost a lot of money on a long-term commitment, and would hurt the Giants defensively at two positions. With even the high-spending Dodgers cutting back on salary, he doesn't look to be affordable at this point.

Let's not forget either that the Giants could truly use a right-handed hitting center fielder with a good glove. Like Gillaspie, Denard Span has become a platoon player. Play Conor and Denard against left-handers, and the Giants have one of the shortest lineups in the game. And when they've had offensive success, it has been based on having a long lineup.

[rxmeister]

Bobby Evans said yesterday the Giants are already over the luxury tax threshold, so we all can forget about a big move, be it a left fielder or more help for the bullpen. With regards to Gillaspie, I agree with Boagie. With consistent at bats he's a decent hitter. Not a star, but a solid player who helps with occasional starts and pinch hits. I can see lots of starts for him against righties with Nunez in LF. Would like to see Mac get an everyday shot first though.

[Rog]

If the Giants are already over the new (and increased) luxury tax threshold, that should eliminate any talks of their being cheap. Previous experience tells me it won't, but logic says it certainly should.

Then again, when have we been limited by logic?

[klaiggeb]

And I agree about Gillaspie. As I've posted in 2 different threads; I want him to GET at bats, but NOT more than 300.

That is enough to keep him sharp.

But as has been pointed out, he's NOT a guy who can ONLY play 1 day/week.

boly

[Rog]

Gillaspie is a conundrum. Perhaps he hits only when he plays a fair amount, but he really isn't good enough to play a lot. He's got to play only against right-handers. And his fielding must continue to grow. Put simply, he's no Eduardo Nunez, and Eduardo is a good third baseman, not a star.

I like Conor better than Jarrett Parker. I like him better against right-handed pitching than Mac Williamson. On the other hand, we can talk about Conor's not having had much of a major league career because he hasn't gotten enough at bats, but in the two seasons in which he played somewhat regularly, he put up OPS of only .757 and .695. The .757 was OK, but the .695 wasn't too close.

Or maybe we want to look at his minor league career, where he sports only a .775 OPS on top of a .286 batting average.

I'm glad the Giants have Conor, but he's a lefty pinch hitter specialist who can play against right-handed pitching in a pinch. Conor is certainly above a Four A player, but he is to a starting player as a Four A player is to a proven major leaguer. In other words, not quite good enough for the role.

We have seen him hit a really fine fastball, but that's about all he can hit. And against lefties who don't throw 100 mph? Forget it.

[sfgdood]

If the Giants are already over the new (and increased) luxury tax threshold, that should eliminate any talks of their being cheap

Dood - that all depends on your goal...rings or profits

[Rog]

If the Giants are already over the new (and increased) luxury tax threshold, that should eliminate any talks of their being cheap

Dood - that all depends on your goal...rings or profits



Rog -- Most teams shoot for both, and some teams achieve neither. Most World Championships are won by teams other than the one which spends the most money. Virtually EVERY team worries about the luxury tax. Even the Dodgers are trying to spend less.

Earning more money than a team spends guarantees a profit, but spending more on salaries doesn't guarantee a World Championship.

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