SAN FRANCISCO -- The extended lockout led to a few frantic days once free agency was allowed to resume, and it made March 16 one of the more interesting pivot points in recent Giants history.
Farhan Zaidi and Scott Harris finalized a one-year deal with Joc Pederson that day, and at around the same time, the news leaked that Kris Bryant was signing a massive deal to join a division rival. Later that night, the main rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, snagged longtime Atlanta Braves star Freddie Freeman.
It was a day that was supposed to shake up the National League West, and it was supposed to make this homestand at Oracle Park one of the more fascinating ones of the year. The Rockies start a three-game series in San Francisco tonight and the Dodgers visit this weekend for the first time since the NLDS. Some of the sizzle is gone, though.
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Bryant missed the first Rockies series at Oracle Park because of a back injury, and he has returned to the IL, with his return not likely for another week or two. Freeman is coming to Oracle Park, though, and that still makes this a good week to step back and take stock of what really happened on March 16, and the days before and after.
This is as good a time as any to evaluate the Giants' decision to go much smaller in March with the one-year deal for Pederson, their only significant addition to the lineup. So far, it has worked out brilliantly.
Pederson has 13 homers, which ranks second to Kyle Schwarber among players who hit the open market last offseason. Schwarber got a four-year, $79 million contract from the Phillies shortly after Pederson signed with the Giants for $6 million.
While Schwarber has one more homer, Pederson has the edge in on-base percentage, slugging, wRC+ and fWAR. And that's kind of a theme when looking back at the big signings of the offseason.
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Pederson ranks third in the NL in slugging behind only Bryce Harper and Paul Goldschmidt, and that power has paced production that leads the pack for the 2021-22 free agents. He is 14th in the Majors in wRC+, well ahead of the more expensive options in the last free agent class.
Freeman, who signed for $162 million, is at 135, which is still very, very good. He's been worth 2.2 fWAR, but he has just four homers so far. With Brandon Belt at first, Freeman was never a serious option for the Giants, but they did pursue Trevor Story (six years, $140 million), who got off to an extremely slow start in Boston but is up to a 116 wRC+ with nine homers. That ranks alongside Schwarber (also at 116) and just ahead of another Giants target, Seiya Suzuki (114 wRC+, four homers).
A lot of Giants fans had Suzuki atop their offseason wish list, with Nick Castellanos not far behind. Castellanos signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Phillies and thus far has seven homers and a .302 batting average. By wRC+, he has been below league average (98) as a hitter. Marcus Semien, another option to fill the right-handed void in the lineup, has been even worse. He's 40 points below league average after signing a $175 million deal with the Texas Rangers.
It's still extremely early for players who signed five- or six-year deals, but for evaluating fits for the 2022 season, it's not that early anymore. A third of the way through the year, the Giants don't just have a steal in Pederson, they might have the most dangerous hitter available last offseason, which brings us to a couple of caveats before all involved pat themselves on the back too much.
The Pederson signing was a big one, but if he keeps hitting like this, he'll cash out this offseason, and the Giants have not shown a recent inclination to be big spenders in the offseason. They should change that with Pederson, a Bay Area native who has quickly become a fan favorite with his booming homers and interesting personality.
That brings us to the final part of all of this. The Giants are not the Tampa Bay Rays, and it's hard to watch Pederson lead the way and not wonder about where this team would be if another hitter or two had been brought in.
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Perhaps the Giants didn't see the value, but they're in danger of falling out of the NL West race, and this weekend they'll get another look at how much better the Dodgers are with Freeman in the heart of their lineup.
The Giants have seen this on the pitching side, as the correct answer in the offseason was not Carlos Rodón or Kevin Gausman, but Carlos Rodón and Kevin Gausman. Pederson was the right answer at the plate, but if Freeman continues to help the Dodgers stay atop the NL West, the Giants might wish they had done a bit more.