Giants Notes: Sanchez, Marshall, Conforto

The Giants were unsuccessful in acquiring the marquee free agency they sought when the offseason began, but added to their roster in a different way. gave an 8-figure guarantee to Michael Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Sean Manair, Joc Pederson, Ross Stripling, taylor rogers When Luke JacksonBut they still have their sights set on further upgrades. Hector Gomez of Z101 Digital report their interest in the catcher Gary Sanchez.

The club’s level of interest is unknown, but logically it makes a lot of sense. The Giants currently have him only two catchers on a 40-man roster. Austin Winnes was appointed to duty last week. Her two remaining backstops are Blake Sabola Rule 5 Draft with no major league experience, and Joey Bart.

The latter is the No. 2 overall pick of 2018 and ranks as one of the prospects in the game, but has yet to fully establish himself in the big leagues. In his 408 at-bats in the last three seasons, he hit his 11th home run, but his batting average was 38%. His batting line is currently .222/.294/.351 with a wRC+ of 84 for him. Also, according to Defensive Runs Saved and FanGraphs, he was considered a subpar defender and framer last year. Even if the Giants believe Bart is the long-term solution behind the at-bat, it makes sense for him to consider a veteran replacement as a short-term safety net.

Sanchez, 30, hit 53 homers in 2016 and 2017, batting .284/.354/.568 with a 143 wRC+. He’s been sober at bat, and in 2022 he’s had 5 he’s had a 96 wRC+ in a season, including 89. He could also get a boost from defensive restrictions going forward, as he was shifted in more than 70% of his appearances last year despite being right-handed. Sanchez has long been considered weak on the defensive side of his game, but he was actually above average in both DRS and his FanGraphs framing metrics last year.

The Giants have been very active on waiver wire in recent years, acquiring various catchers and cycling their roster throughout the year. Signing Sanchez would be a change of strategy, but it’s understandable because he’s arguably the top catcher still available in free agency.

The club also has an interest in relief Evan Marshallreport Susan Slusser of the San Francisco ChronicleAfter several years in the league, Marshall appears to have had his breakout with the White Sox in 2019 and 2020. In this his two seasons, the right-handed Marshall appeared in his 78 games and had an ERA of 2.45. His 10.3% walk rate was certainly on the high side, but he struck out his 23.5% of the hitters he faced and scored a ground ball with a strong clip of 52.3%.

Unfortunately, things leveled off in 2021, and his ERA jumped to 5.60. He went on injured reserve in June with an elbow injury and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery in October.

The club’s interest in Marshall, who turns 33 in April, would be somewhat similar to signing Luke Jackson. it doesn’t seem to be in order. Marshall, too, is back from TJS, but had surgery about six months earlier than Jackson, so he should be further along. Regardless of his current status, the Giants seem interested in whether he can return to the strong form he showed years ago.

Elsewhere on Giant News, Conforto provided a health update to John Shea of ​​the San Francisco Chronicle. The outfielder is healthy enough to have the Giants sign his two-year $36MM guarantee, although a shoulder injury kept him out of the entire 2022 season. Conforto can opt out of the deal after his first season, but only if he reaches at least 350 plate appearances this year.

He tells Shea that he’s gearing up for 2023 and is already throwing from 200 feet. “Everything is fine. It’s fine,” he says, Mr. Conforto. “I have never had a setback. I got all my measurements today with my medical team and they are happy with how everything looks – strength, swing, run.”