Which Non Roster Invitee Makes the Giants in 2016?

The San Francisco Giants have several non roster invitees who have made the team in recent years. Juan Uribe, Andres Torres, Guillermo Mota, Ryan Vogelsong, Joaquin Arias, Gregor Blanco, Juan Gutierrez and Brandon Hicks all have World Series rings despite not being guaranteed a roster spot heading into camp.

The Giants have had at least one non roster invitee make the team in each of the last 7 seasons. So which non roster invitee will force the issue and make the 25 man roster in 2016?

Giants camp has several players fighting for what appears to be very few opening day spots. At the moment, it looks like the only jobs even available are a utility infielder, a fifth outfielder, one relief pitcher and maybe a battle at backup catcher.

As we look at the Giants recent history, however, it is clear that the Giants front office will use Spring Training to let players earn those spots. That is why so many players like Uribe, Torres and Vogelsong have found their way onto the Giants roster.

So let's look at who might have a shot this season:

Kyle Blanks: The former San Diego Padre has enormous power, and has already homered twice in Spring Training. He has played both outfield and first base at the big league level. In an interview with Andrew Baggarly, Blanks said his main focus right now is his health.

“I’m confident that if I’m out there, I’ll be able to contribute." Blanks explained. "My past medical history is like a book. So I literally try to feel as good as I can every day and put my best foot forward.”

Conor Gillaspie: A former Giants 1st round pick in 2008, Gillaspie is back with the club looking to make the team as a utility infielder. His spring got off to an interesting start, making an error at third base and hitting a mammoth home run in the same inning.

Conor Gillaspie makes error on routine grounder to 3B. 📉 Conor Gillaspie hits the Giants' first homer of the spring.📈

— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) March 2, 2016

The Giants liked Gillaspie enough in 2008 to make him a top pick and might look to him once again to fill the backup third base role they need behind Matt Duffy. Giants fans, including baseball writer Wendy Thurm, describes what it would be like for Gillaspie to come full circle back to the Giants.

Conor Gillaspie is the new Adam Duvall is the new Nick Noonan is the new Conor Gillaspie — Wendy Thurm (@hangingsliders) March 2, 2016

Grant Green: Green was the 13th pick of the 2009 draft by the Oakland Athletics. He made his Major League debut on July 8th, 2013 and was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim three weeks later. Green played several positions for the Angels, and his versatility may be his best shot at making the club.

Ricky Romero: Another former 1st round pick, Romero was the 6th overall pick in the 2005 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. The 2011 All-Star owns a career 51-45 record in the big leagues with a 4.16 ERA and 622 strikeouts between 2009-2013. Injuries ended his time with the Blue Jays, and Romero was signed last season by the Giants. He pitched in Sacramento, the Giants Triple-A affiliate, with an eye on coming to camp with the club in 2016.

Romero spoke to Giants beat writer Alex Pavlovic about getting a second chance with the Giants.

“I’m happy to be here,” he said. “To be able to get another shot with a team like this is humbling.”

Romero will most likely start the season for the Sacramento River Cats, but his Major League experience should help him if the team needs a starting pitcher at some point during the season. Manager Bruce Bochy also talked to Pavlovic about what having a guy with a track record like Romero means for the Giants.

“He knows how to pitch, he gives us depth,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Anytime you have a guy with his success and experience, that’s intriguing. The fact that he’s left-handed made us bring him back to see what he has.”

Other long shots include catcher George Kottaras, infielder Ramiro Pena and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez.

The beauty of baseball is someone in this group will have a major impact on the Giants in 2016. We just won't know who until April.

What the Kolten Wong Extension Means for Joe Panik

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today that Kolten Wong will be signing a 5 year extension to stay with the club through 2020 with a club option for 2021.

#STLCards sign Kolten Wong to 5-year deal thru 2020 with club option for 2021 pic.twitter.com/fPs77iE7Ae

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 2, 2016

Baseball Essential writer Corey Adams (@corey_adams) wrote about the Wong extension earlier today.

So what does this mean for the San Francisco Giants homegrown second baseman Joe Panik? Panik went to his first All-Star game in 2015 and won a championship with the Giants his rookie year. A back injury limited his 2015 season to 100 games. That means Panik will be heading into his 3rd different season in the Major Leagues, but he hasn't actually played a full season yet. However, the former 1st round pick has been impressive from the day he joined the Giants during their World Series run in 2014.

Panik had a slashline in 2015 of .312/.378/.455 with an OPS of .833, an OPS+ of 131 and a Wins Above Replacement of 3.3. He also played Gold Glove level defense at second base, and had he not been injured, may have been in the running for the award.

Wong, who played in 150 games in 2015, with a slashline of .262/.321/.386 with an OPS of .707, an OPS+ of 92 and a Wins Above Replacement of 2.2. Wong had a small sample size in 2013 and played in 113 games in 2014. Wong's career WAR is 3.9, which is only slightly higher than Panik's production in only 100 games in 2015.

The Giants recently gave an extension to Panik's double play partner Brandon Crawford earlier this off-season. The Giants also have long term deals set with Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner and newly acquired Jeff Samardzija. Johnny Cueto, another off-season acquisition, can opt out of his deal in two years, but could possibly be another long term fixture for the Giants.

Will Panik be the next player to get an extension? The team may also consider extensions for Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy as well. The Giants has shown a willingness to be patient with their extensions. Wong's deal certainly sets the bar for negotiations, so the question will be how much higher will the bar go for Panik?

BREAKING NEWS: Matt Cain has Cyst Removed from Right Arm

The San Francisco Giants announced this morning that Matt Cain had a cyst removed from his right arm and will resume baseball activities in ten days.

Matt Cain had a cyst removed from his right upper arm. He will start therapy in AZ & is expected to return to throwing in 10 days. #SFGiants

— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) February 25, 2016

Andrew Baggarly reported as well that the procedure was done this morning by team doctors according to General Manager Bobby Evans.

Cain had a cyst removed today from his R upper arm in SF by team physician Dr Ken Akizuki. — Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) February 25, 2016

Any other pitcher in the rotation would be looked at as a minor setback, but Cain has had setbacks for the last three seasons. From the All-Star break in 2013 through the end of last season, Cain's right arm has been evaluated and surgically repaired several times and now his spot in the rotation may be in jeopardy.

Cain has already been penciled into the #5 spot in the rotation, but with Chris Heston still on the roster, it is likely that Cain won't be rushed back. Heston started 31 games last season and was one of the team's most reliable pitchers the first half of the season, including a no-hitter vs the eventual National League Champion Mets. Heston did struggle after the All-Star break, but his experience last year should make it a fairly simple decision for Bruce Bochy if the team decides to start Cain on the disabled list.

When the San Francisco Giants won the World Series in 2012, Matt Cain was their ace. He was the starting pitcher for every clinching game that post-season, started the All-Star game in July and threw a perfect game. It was his most successful season professionally, where he went 16-5 with a 2.79 ERA and 1.040 WHIP.

Cain had established himself as one of the games top pitchers and his first seven full seasons for the Giants were as good as the organization had seen since Hall of Famer Juan Marichal pitched.

It was identified several years ago that Cain had bone chips in his elbow that might someday need to be removed. Cain continued to pitch season after season with the problem and excelled. 2013 was the first time his elbow seemed to be a problem and it's a problem Cain and the Giants have battled ever since.

The Giants are loaded on paper with inning eaters in their rotation and Cain has always prided himself on taking the ball every fifth day and giving his team a chance to win. Sometimes the strongest compliment you can give any pitcher is that he puts his team in a position to win every time out. For 2 1/2 years, Cain has struggled to do that with the consistency he showed from 2005-2012.

Now, in 2016, it's hard to be confident that his consistency will be able to return. This latest setback may only be for 10 days, but it's been much longer since Cain has been able to be the team's most reliable pitcher.

Players accept changes because of Bruce Bochy

Angel Pagan came into camp with a lot of questions, mostly from the media. San Francisco Giants beat writers wanted to know if he was healthy, first and foremost. They wanted to know how he felt about the Giants signing Denard Span. Span was essentially signed to replace him in center field and the leadoff spot in the lineup. And they also wanted to know if he was going to accept the move to left field and down the batting order.

Pagan said all the right things to reporters today, saying "I don't have any hard feelings. I want them to know I'm on board." Pagan did admit "every player has pride, but you have to sit there and understand that at some point you have to make a move." He even went so far as to suggest he could bat behind the game's best hitting pitcher every fifth day.

Angel Pagan here and healthy and ready to go said he would hit anywhere in lineup even 9th to give SFG two lead off hitters when Bum pitches

— marty lurie (@baseballmarty) February 23, 2016

Pagan didn't have any questions coming into camp because his questions had already been answered by Bruce Bochy and the Giants front office. Some fans have wanted the Giants to make a change in center field for a long time.

Pagan has struggled to stay healthy ever since he signed a new contract with the Giants after the 2012 season. And yet Bochy kept giving him chances to prove he was healthy and prove he could perform at the level they expected of their centerfielder. As Pagan's production declined at the plate and in the field, the writing may have been on the wall for a change, but Bochy was going to give Pagan every chance he could to prove doubters wrong. Some may look at Bochy as being foolish for this, but this is why Bochy has had so much success.

All 25 guys in a Bruce Bochy clubhouse know where they stand and what their role is and what the team's expectations are. Giving his veteran players more chances than fans may want could be one of the reasons they have missed the playoffs in three of the last six seasons. But it is also the reason they have won the World Series in three of the last six seasons. Bochy has proven this format works and is the best way to get the best out of the 25 guys he's been given. Whether he has the right 25 guys is an argument for another article, but there is no question this is how the Giants have won championships.

In 2010, Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria were big money players at the end of their careers. There was talk of them not making the post-season roster at all. However, Bochy saw a need for both, and Renteria proved him right with a World Series MVP. One player who didn't make the roster,
however, was Barry Zito, the team's highest paid player. Bochy chose to go with 20 year old Madison Bumgarner over Zito. However, Zito understood the move and handled it professionally. Zito knew he wasn't one of the team's top four pitchers heading into October, and also knew he had been given every chance that season to earn that job. That set the stage for every tough decision the team would have.

In 2012, Zito and Ryan Vogelsong had earned their spots in the rotation, but that meant Tim Lincecum, the team's two time Cy Young award winner, would be coming out of the bullpen. Like Zito, Lincecum handled it professionally and was incredible during the post-season in middle relief. So were Zito and Vogelsong, who shined in the National League Championship series and World Series. Zito, having been demoted two years earlier, not only knew he deserved the starts he got in 2012, but he knew he had the full support of Bochy and the front office.

There are many more examples of Bochy letting his player's play on the field determine their status, and not the opinions of anyone. All professional athletes want from their front office and their manager is to be told where they stand and given a chance. Bochy tells players what their role is, what the expectations for them are, and then backs it up by giving them a chance to prove it on the field.

Pagan comes into the 2016 season knowing he has been given many chances to regain his job in centerfield and atop the batting order. He knows the team signed Span because he didn't meet expectations. He also is being given an opportunity to win the left field job because he can still be a part of this year's team. And as we've seen many times before, we should get the best version of Pagan going forward as he tries to live up to his manager's new expectations for him.

What to do with Brandon Belt?

 

From the moment Brandon Belt burst onto the scene for the San Francisco Giants following their first championship season since moving from New York, he's been tough to figure out. He homered in his second ever game for the Giants, to dead center field, off Chad Billingsly of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

From that moment on, the expectations for Belt and the actual results have always varied. Fans of the Giants have either loved of hated on Belt for his ability to hit to all fields or his lack of power. His ability to field his position or is tendency to slump at the plate. No matter what the argument, Belt, more than any other Giant, has been a talking point for Giants fans. When other players slump, they don't seem to receive near as much criticism. When other players get hot, there doesn't seem to be near as much skepticism. It seems like no matter what he does, he can't win over all of the fans.

Maybe it's because he has never lived up to the power numbers fans expect from a first baseman. Or maybe it's because he has had some long stretches at the plate where he's looked lost. Or maybe it's because he's the second most popular Brandon. Or it could be simply because fans tend to stick to their opinions.

 There is some rationale for fans to want Belt traded, and it has very little to do with Belt himself. Buster Posey, the team's franchise player and All-Star catcher, has been playing some games at first base. 144 of his 706 career starts have been at first base. And according to his numbers at the plate, fans want Posey moved to first base permanently to keep his bat in the lineup and his legs strong into September and October.

The Giants have experimented with Brandon Belt in left field to keep his bat in the lineup as well, while also allowing Posey to play first. Another Giants homegrown talent, Andrew Susac, has started 53 of his 69 career games at catcher, and fans want him as the everyday guy.

Here is the problem. Unless they trade Belt for a left fielder with the production of Belt behind the plate, their lineup loses more than it gains. Also, the defense suffers at all three positions. Both Belt and Posey received Gold Glove nominations this year and Gregor Blanco in left field has been an above average defender as well. With Susac behing the plate, Posey at first and Belt in left, the team built on defense and pitching will have downgraded defensively at all three positions. 

Ultimately, Giants fans don't see what they have with Brandon Belt. In Belt's three full seasons, he has had a Wins Above Replacement of 2.8 in 2012, 4.2 in 2013, and 3.9 in 2015. His best season was 2013, where he had a slashline of .289/.360/.481 with an OPS of .841. Last season, he had a near identical slashline of .280/.356/.478 with an OPS of .834. In the Giants two World Series seasons of 2012 and 2014, Belt played in 32 post-season games. He had a slashline of .245/.349/.355 with an OPS of .703 which also included an 18th inning home run vs the Nationals to help the Giants advance in 2014.

At first glance, those numbers aren't overwhelming. They are good. They are productive. They are, as the stat would suggest, above replacement. This is the whole reason the Giants should keep Belt. It wasn't that long ago that the Giants were lost at first base.  

J.T. Snow last played first base regularly for the Giants in 2005 and the Giants replaced Snow through the years with Lance Niekro, Shea Hillenbrand, Ryan Klesko, John Bowker and Travis Ishikawa, among others. Ishikawa's WAR of 0.9 in 2009 equaled Brandon Belt's worst seasons, where he only played 63 games in 2011 and 61 games in 2014. He shared time with Aubrey Huff in 2011 and was out with injuries in 2014. The only other player above replacement between 2005 and 2009 was Klesko's WAR of 0.3 in 2007. Bowker's WAR of -1.2, on the other hand, was the low point in 2008.

Belt might not be putting up All-Star numbers so far in his career. He might be overshadowed by teammates at the plate and in the field. And he might seem like he should be the odd man out in the Giants lineup. However, if you look at the recent past and you look at what Belt has done by comparison, it's easy to see why the Giants have stuck with Belt since 2011. It's also easy to see why trying to replace Belt would be tough to do.