Giants 2017 Preview: Full Analysis

The 2016 Giants were built for a deep playoff run last season. Too bad, General Managers Brian Sabean and Bud Evans failed in providing the team with a solid bullpen to close out games. This was their achilles heal last season.

Give credit to the Chicacgo Cubs for knocking out the Giants with great play from their dominant closer, Aroldis Chapman, who consistenty threw 101+ MPH fastballs. Meanwhile, Sergio Romo's slider died on the national spotlight and the Giants ended their three "even year" championship run. 2010, 2012, 2014.

With good reason, the Giants pursued the best closer on the market and successfully landed their guy, Mark Melanconw, who saved 47 games for the Nationals and recorded a dominant 1.64 ERA last year. Job well done!

That said, with new beginnings come long goodbyes. Gone are the likes of Angel Pagan, Gregor Blanco, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, and Sergio Romo who all were pivotol pieces to the Giants three championships in five years. Now they hang their hat on aging veterans Denard Span and Hunter Pence who are 33 and 34 years of age respectively. Both are coming off a year where they landed on the disabled list numerous times.

The departure of Matt Duffy last season was bitter sweet. Granted, we landed a stud in Matt Moore to solidify the post season starter pitching line up. Moore is coming off numerous Tommy John surgery but he looked great in the post season and we hope he continues in 2017. It will be interesting to see how much we miss Duffy over the full season. He shored udp the third base corner with gold glove d, and solid at bats every time out. If Eduardo Nunez is not a suitable replacement for Duffy, it could be a long year.

One concern of the Giants is their tendency to go discount shopping instead of opening the wallet for a solid infielder or offensive threat. For example, they nickled and dimed fans by picking up role players in Jimmy Rollins (SS), Aaron Hill (IF), and Gordon Beckham(3B) to backup the Panik, Nunes, Crawford and Belt. These are not viable long term backups and quite frankly, spreads the infield depth charts thin.

That turns my attention to the Giant's farm system. It has been in decline for quite a while now. Once hailed for creating this dynasty, going back to 2009 their first round picks have been suspect. The 2011 draft class may prove me wrong as both Joe Panik and Kyle Crick may be quality starters in a Giant uniform for quite some time. From what I've read about Phil Bickford, he may be the real deal first round pick of 2015 class, however, he's got some time before he will be in the big leagues on a regular basis.

Speaking of pitching prospects, Kyle Crick should have an opportunity to make the starting rotation if one of the big five goes down with injury. It will be nice to see him, although i'm not wishing bad health on any of our starters, but it's a long season and chances are someone will go down at some point. If Crick doesn't make the best of his opportunity, he will be shipped out in a possible mid season trade. That's my guess.

It is a bit concerning when this franchise has achieved so much success through the draft, and now we have very few prospects in the pipeline. Recent trades have depleted the inventory and that was not the philosophy for years. Between the years 2002 to 2008, the Giants drafted stars such as Matt Cain, Jonathon Sanchez, Brian Wilson, Tim Lincecum, Sergio Romo, Madison Bumgarner, Branden Crawford, Buster Posey to name a few.

Fortunately, the Giants have made some quality picks in the likes of Brandon Belt, Matt Duffy, and Joe Panik. Belt has to provide more consistency. He should be a .300 hitter with a little pop but he goes into long hitless streaks. With Duffy's departure, the Giants really need Joe Panik to step up. He had a great first full season in 2015, however, his numbers dropped significantly last year (.238 BA /.312 OBP /.695 OPS and 10 HRs in 464 ABs). This could be a make or great year for the young Panik who is expecting to be the starting second basemen in 2017.

Another player with high hopes is Eduardo Nunez; the Giants are hoping he can fill the void felt at third base. For a guy with so much speed, his career .314 OBP is a problem. Not to mention his defense is only serviceable. Let’s see if Nunez can build on what was a very solid 2016 campaign and make Giant fans forget about Matt Duffy.

Last but not least is the Giants very thin outfield situation. They are gambling hard on the health of 33 year old veterans, in Spahn and Pence. Pence having had a lot of injuries over the last few season doesn't make me rest easy. Their backups are meager at best: Gorkys Hernandez, Jarrett Parker, Mac Williamson and Matt Morse. Morse and Parker seem to have the power stroke Giants will need in pinch hit or right/lefty matchup situational baseball. That said, they are far from consistent hitters and their defense is suspect at times. The Giants could be in big trouble when Hunter Pence or Denard Spahn hit the D/L, which is very likely to happen.

If my article seems too negative, it really isn’t meant to be. It’s just calling out the Giants for their deficiencies. After all, the Giants have numerous question marks but they also have a solid core in Posey(C), Crawford (SS), Belt (1B), Spahn (CF), Pence (RF), Nunez (3B) and a healthy Panik (2B). Despite the lack of a farm and backup options, the Giants stellar pitching should help win a large number of extra games.

The man, myth, legend: Madison Bumgarner will anchor one of the deepest staffs in the National League. Cueto's performance last year was all the Giants could ask for in a second Ace. If Moore can stay healthy he’s one of the best third starters in all of baseball. Samardzija is an innings eater and a stud at the number four. The only question mark is whether Crick finally proves he’s ready for the majors or perhaps Matt Cain shows us he’s ready for one last championship run as a Giant. The bullpen has a lot of young arms with solid numbers, guys like Will Smith, Derek Law, Geroge Kontos and Mark Melancon the best closer in baseball.

All of the positives outweigh the negatives of the Giants roster, and for this reason I expect the GIants to win 90 games, and finish just in front of the second place Dodgers. That always feels good to say and mean it.