Ironically, despite all the negativity surrounding the Giants this offseason, they come in with a rosy record projection, according to ZiPS. The popular projection system projects the SF Giants to win 88 games and make the postseason as the final team in the NL. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the Giants are projected to finish only a few wins beneath the Dodgers and the Padres, who each have 91-win projections. Those teams appear to have higher ceilings than the San Francisco Giants, but they also have far less depth to cover bad and unexpected scenarios.
Logan Webb was a surprising omission from the Team USA World Baseball Classic roster, which was announced last evening. Webb had agreed to participate in the tournament earlier this offseason, so it was surprising to see his name left off of the official roster for Team USA. Webb is an extension candidate this offseason (even though he's under team control through 2025), so perhaps the Giants wanted him to put off him plans to play in the WBC while they're negotiating a long-term deal.
Why didn't the SF Giants upgrade their infield defense this winter? The outfield was much more of a problem than the infield defensively in 2022. And even in the infield, where the Giants ranked 21st with -7 Outs Above Average, they got a combined -12 from Brandon Belt (-4), Tommy La Stella (-4), and Donovan Walton (-4). Their projected starters, Brandon Crawford (+7), Thairo Estrada (+3), LaMonte Wade Jr. (+2), and David Villar (-1) combined for +11 Outs Above Average in 2022. So the short answer is that their infield defense might not really be a huge problem and that's why they didn't make huge efforts to improve it.
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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.
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