It is already happening...

It is already happening. The World Series isn't even here yet, the playoffs are still going on, but we are already getting our first taste at what Buster Posey and the San Francisco Giants will look to do this offseason. We'll break down some of the best fits for this team heading into the winter here on SF Giants Digest. If you're new here, welcome to the channel. I am your host, Michael Monreal. And if you've been here before, welcome back to SF Giants Digest. Now, before we get into today's video, let me know down in the comments what you would like to see the Giants do this offseason. There are a lot of ways they can go, but I want to hear what you guys have to say down in the comment section below. Also, if you haven't yet, make sure to go down below, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button. Those are the two easiest ways to help support the channel and really do help us continue to bring the best Giants content and analysis on YouTube. So if you enjoyed the video, hit those buttons. That'd be much appreciated by myself and everybody here at Digest Media. Now we can get directly into today's video. Of course, it is that time of the year. We are getting free agent fits, we are getting free agent rumors, we are getting all of that, despite the playoffs not even being done. It's already happening. And our first taste of this comes from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. She gave five pitching targets for the San Francisco Giants to go after this offseason. And I will say, all five of them do make a pretty good bit of sense, but we're going to break down all five of them and why some of them are better fits than others. Now, this tweet came to us from Sleeper SF Giants, just listing the names that Susan Slusser talked about. Those guys are Adrian Morejon, Clay Holmes, Kevin Gausman, Freddy Peralta, and David Bednar. So yes, this is a rather weak free agent class, but there are some pretty big names on the pitcher market, which is a good thing for the San Francisco Giants because we know they have money. We know they need pitching. The only question is, will they actually do anything? And that's what we're going to break down today. Now, of course, just really quickly getting into it. the Giants had a very rough year 65 and 97 they ended the year losing five straight never won four in a row finished fourth in the NL West and it was just a disastrous year from every single way we can look at it but now we can get into how they can kind of turn things around heading into next season there are two needs the Giants really need to focus on and we've covered that time and time again here they need reliable starters they need starters who can eat innings they need starters who can be effective over the course of 162 games and they need to bolster that bullpen that one is for sure a focus. We've already heard that from Buster Posey, Zach Maness, and this entire regime, so we know they're going after pitching. Again, the only question, will they finally spend money on that group? Now, this is an interesting one. Kevin Gosman, a reunion with the San Francisco Giants, is 1,000% in play. Now, we can look at what he did last year, and it was a down year for Gosman. I'm not going to lie. He's getting up there in age. He's 35 years old now, but he still threw almost 180 innings. It was a 4-5-1 ERA. He struck out 184 innings, so that was a good number as well. He still is racking up some of those totals over the course of the season because he does throw so many innings and is always available, but the 4-5-1 ERA is definitely something to monitor. He did take a step back last year. Now, maybe it was an off year. He bounces back in his 36th season, and maybe he looks like the Kevin Gosman, who was one of the more consistent starters in baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays, consistently in the Cy Young conversation. Now, His pitch mix has changed a little bit since leaving the San Francisco Giants. He does throw the four-seamer over half the time, the splitter at 40% of the time, and then he'll occasionally mix in the slider. But for the most part, he's a starter, a rare starter, who can strictly use two pitches, the four-seamer and the splitter. Now, this is the fit. This is why it makes sense. Of course, Gosman was a Giant back in the early 2020s. He was with that team that magically won 107 games. And we know he has a good relationship with the city. we know he has a good relationship with Logan Webb. It's just Farhan Zaidi didn't want to hand out that money back at the end of 2021. So we know he has a good place, a good home in San Francisco, I guess is a good way to put it. He did throw 180 innings last year, and that's a big deal because we know how depleted this rotation was last year and how depleted they are in terms of depth heading into next season. Now, the only question marks are, yes, he's going to be 36 years old. That is rather old for a starting pitcher. And then, of course, can he still be effective? Can he post a sub-4 ERA in his age 36 season? Last year was a 4.51. That's a pretty tough year. So there are pretty good question marks about what he can do next season. Now, the next fit is going to be Clay Holmes, who he could kind of fill multiple roles. But for the most part, he is being touted this offseason as, of course, a starting pitcher. And I will say, after talking to some people in the industry, he's going to be a rather popular name. Now, I don't know why this picture is from him on the Pirates, because that is very old, but either way, a 3.29 ERA, the only question mark, only threw 101.1 innings, which is not a good mark. We knew that, or we know that Buster Posey wants innings in that group. He signed Tyler Malley, still injured, went off to the Braves, became dominant, signed Adrian Hauser, dealt with injury, wasn't very good, so signing these guys that don't have a big track record of long innings isn't the best thing, but still, Clay Holmes, as I've mentioned, I've talked to people around the industry, he is going to be a very popular name around free agency. And the only reason I don't see him becoming a San Francisco Giant is because I think he's going to get overpaid. I think he's going to get a lot more money than people think. And it's going to be interesting because of the lockout, especially. First of all, he's a fresh starter. So there's not a ton of innings in his arm, which yes, can be a good thing. But on the flip side, like I said, he hasn't shown the true potential of a guy who can throw 180, 200, 210 innings, which is going to be interesting to see how that affects his market. He is a ground ball specialist. We know Buster Posey, the San Francisco Giants as an organization they adore adore adore they're guys that can keep the ball on the ground and keep it out of the air and lastly what i kind of touched on already he is going to be a very popular name this winter that's why i don't think he's a San Francisco Giant i think he's going to get overpaid i think he's going to get a pretty big deal but again could be wrong maybe the giants give him two to three years at a pretty good AAV but we will see what happens this winter the next one is a very interesting case Freddy Peralta offers a lot of rotation upside for the San Francisco Giants despite coming off of a pretty underwhelming season if we are being completely honest this past year it was a 4.42 ERA in 169 innings and in those innings he struck out only 156 hitters per nine innings now we know he was disastrous with the New York Mets after getting traded to them last offseason however he went to the Tampa Bay Rays who are still playing of course and he was very very good you know we know the Rays are pitching loud we know they do things right over there analytically pitching minds over there are really really good so maybe they fix something and now he's going to get a bigger deal but I do think this is a guy who could get maybe a one-in-one a one-year prove it deal who's going to get a lot smaller contract than people think because of how bad he was with the Mets however on the flip side with the lockout someone can hand him a bag because of what he did with the Rays and truly believe that that is what it's going to be moving forward, which is going to be really, really interesting to see. Now, this is what his pitch mix looks like. He is one of the rare breeds who can throw his four-seamer the well, well majority of the time. 53% he throws his fastball, and then his changeup is the second best pitch. There's 23.5% of the time, makes it into a curveball a little over 10, and then slider, sweeper, a slower curve. Those are kind of non-starters for him. He doesn't throw them that often, so it really is the four-seamer and the changeup, and then the occasional curveball, and that is how he makes his money. So it is an interesting fit for the San Francisco Giants moving forward. As I mentioned, 169 innings last year. Not a ton, but also a pretty good number. The Giants would have loved to have a guy throw that many innings in their rotation this past year. He does bring a big ceiling to this rotation. If he can do what he did with the Brewers for so, so long, that is a huge plus. Again, I think he can get a prove-it deal. This next name, we are now getting into the two relievers, the two top relievers in the market. Adrian Morejon brings a ton of upside to this bullpen. Now, he is coming off of a dominant year, a 2.83 ERA in a huge workload, a huge game load. He threw in 76 games this season. He's still pitching to the postseason, good for right around two wins by replacement. He struck out 107 guys in those 76 games, 86 innings in total, just a really good reliever. This is a flamethrower guy who's going to be available throughout the course of the year, and just one of the most talented southpaws in baseball. Whether you're talking starters, relievers, he is in that conversation. Now, getting into this fit, this analysis, he had a 2.83 ERA last year. He was great. He does have strong velocity. He does bring a lot of fastballs. He throws hard with the Giants, lacking their bullpen. He strikes a lot of guys out, which they definitely lack in their bullpen. That's something they definitely need to look to add into that group this season. But my biggest worry with Morejon, he threw a ton of innings this season. And typically, I'm not going to say typically, But I will say there are a lot of examples of guys who throw very hard, coming off of huge workloads, who take a big, big step back the next season. Now, again, this is the most talented reliever on the market. He's going to get a bag. I just don't know if I see the Giants really doing that again. We know that they've been very hesitant to hand out money to closers or relievers since the Mark Melancon debacle in the mid to late 2010s, especially because Buster Posey was behind the plate for that entire thing. Now, the last name we are going to talk about is David Bednar, of course, brother of Giants prospect Will Bednar. This is a guy who has real closer experience and one that I think makes a lot of sense for the San Francisco Giants. This past year with the Yankees, he was very good. A 2.47 ERA, 76 strikeouts in almost 70 innings. So he didn't rack, rack up strikeouts, but still a very good reliever. He racked 35 saves on the season. That was in the top 1% of closers. this year of pitchers in total so again a very talented reliever and one that does make a lot of sense for the San Francisco Giants especially considering he's not going to get as big of a bag as Adrian Morejon now getting into his pitch mix what he does when he's you know trying to close those games a splitter four seamer curveball the splitter and four seamer definitely take the chunk of his pitches both right around 40 percent now why does this fit make sense again he had 35 saves last year. We know the Giants really struggled in that department last season, a 2.47 ERA. However, he has had some volatility in the past, especially with the Pirates. He was an all-star, took a step back, an all-star again. He's really had some up and downs in his career, but if he can do what he did last year for a few more years, then the Giants should definitely look into adding that because they need relievers more than anything else on this roster. Now, that is going to do it for today's video, and before we get out of here, let me know in the comments which pitcher do you want to see on the San Francisco Giants? Do you want to see Kevin Gausman return to the San Francisco Giants? Do you want to see Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta come to the Orange Black? Or do you want to see the Giants sign one of the two top relievers in the market, Adrian Morehón or Will Bednar? Let me know in the comment section down below. As always, thank you so much for watching and we will see you next time.