Fantasy Baseball: Who are the San Francisco Giants?

We’re drawing closer and closer to the beginning of Spring Training, the report of pitchers and catchers and presumably we’re drawing closer and closer to your fantasy draft. We’ve gone over many of the teams around the league and showcased some of the sleeper talent and the young talent that could make an impact not only now but later on in the season as well and this time will be no different as we showcase the talent currently in the San Francisco Giants organization. Since it’s Prospects Month and all we won’t waste much time on Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija or Buster Posey as you likely already know those names and know they can all help your team out so I would rather spend the time looking at a few names you may or may not know. 

The trio of Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy are probably household names by now but some people either don’t watch West Coast baseball or they don’t watch National League baseball so I’ll touch on them briefly just in case you are one of them. Crawford is a defensive shortstop that hit 21 home runs and knocked in 84 RBI’s last year. That’s great for a shortstop but that’s phenomenal for any player inside AT&T Park in San Francisco so grab him if you can. Belt is an injury concern but when he’s healthy he’s a 30 home run guy and a pretty good first baseman as well and is likely worth the risk after a long winter to rest and rehab. Finally Duffy broke out a bit last season batting .295 with 12 home runs and 12 stolen bases and should continue to improve as he enters his prime. He’s not the best third baseman in the league but he’s adequate and sometimes it is adequate and not the super stars that win you your league. 

Those are names you likely know but unless you were watching the Giants last September you don’t know the name Jarrett Parker. Parker is an outfielder that broke out in a big way last September for the club batting an even .400 with six home runs and 14 RBI in just 40 at bats. Parker won’t hit .400 all season and he may not even break camp with the team unless an injury occurs but it’s those players that show you that the big stage doesn’t bother him that generally have the most success in fantasy and I truly believe Parker fits that mold. 

Finally you have the trio of Clayton Blackburn, Adalberto Mejia and Tyler Beede. None of these three will likely break camp with the club but at least one, if not all three, may make the Major Leagues this season if and when an injury occurs. Currently San Francisco has some combination of Jake Peavy and Matt Cain in their rotation and there are obvious concerns and question marks with both of their health and effectiveness entering 2016. Any one of these three could come up and get significant starting time if an injury occurs so keep them on your watch list. 

There you go, we went into extra innings for this post. Rather than bring you three potential players or prospects we brought you a whopping seven. Maybe they help, maybe they won’t but it doesn’t hurt to keep them bookmarked just in case. You never know when you might need someone for that second half push next season. Enjoy and tell a friend!

IBWAA SELECTS CORREA, BRYANT IN ROOKIE OF THE YEAR VOTE

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its Rookie of the Year category Monday, with the Houston Astros’ Carlos Correa winning the group’s American League award, and Kris Bryant, of the Chicago Cubs, being selected in the National League.

 

Correa received 105 first-place votes (58.66%) and 711 points while being named on 171 of 180 ballots (95%). Others receiving first-place votes include Francisco Lindor (57), Miguel Sano (7) and Billy Burns (4).

 

Bryant received 167 first-place votes (92.78%) and 864 points while being named on 178 of 180 ballots (98.89%). Others receiving first-place votes include Matt Duffy (8), Jung Ho Kang (3), Joc Pederson (1) and Noah Syndergaard (1).

 

Election results are as follows:

 

AL ROY:

 

1^st Place:                  Carlos Correa, Houston Astros – 711 points
2^nd Place:                 Francisco Lindor, Cleveland Indians – 511 
3^rd Place:                  Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins – 172

 

NL ROY:

 

1^st Place:                  Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs – 864 points
2^nd Place:                 Matt Duffy, San Francisco Giants – 368 
3^rd Place:                  Jung Ho Kang, Pittsburgh Pirates – 166

 

Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.

 

The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

 

In 2010, the IBWAA began voting in its own relief pitcher category, establishing the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards.

Among approximately 400 others, IBWAA members include Jim Bowden, Jim Caple, David Schoenfield and Mark A. Simon of ESPN.com; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, GammonsDaily.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; King Kaufman, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Orange County Register; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs; Dan Schlossberg, USA Today; Jesse Spector, Sporting News and Wendy Thurm.

 

Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a yearly fee of $20, or $35 lifetime. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:

 

Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAAbaseballsavvy@aol.com

Looking Back At My 2015 Rookie of the Year Predictions

Earlier in the season, like every season, I made a fool of myself making a pre-season prediction of who I thought would win the American League and National League Rookie of the Year Awards. I personally thought I had two legit predictions in the Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor and the Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant but almost a full season away it looks like I may once again go 0-2. HERE is the original post, or just see below.

The Rookie of the Year award is probably far and away the hardest to predict every single season, and I show that almost every single season with the wrong predictions. A ton can happen between now and the end of the 2015 season and a lot of it comes out of nowhere. There is always the Josh Harrison that comes out of nowhere that I didn’t see coming and there is always the disappointment in Billy Hamilton that, well, disappointed me. Then there is always the rookie that gets kept down in Triple-A for too long and doesn’t have enough time to showcase enough to win the award and then there is always the guy that wins a job out of camp and shocks the baseball world for three or four months to win the award. I am going to take my best shot at these predictions but I am warning you not to go all Pete Rose and bet on the game because it is very likely I will be completely off base when we revisit this post in November.

For the American League I chose Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians almost by default. I wanted to go with Rusney Castillo of the Boston Red Sox simply because Lindor is a glove first type shortstop but the Indians lineup should be deeper than last season and much improved. Lindor, even hitting near the bottom of the order, should be able to use his speed and his legs to get him a few base hits and keep a respectable average, runs scored, stolen base and RBI count. Lindor may not run away with the award but I think at the end of the day he takes it home for Cleveland.


For the National League Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs is becoming a household name after hitting an absolute ton of home runs in the Cactus League this spring. Bryant is the obvious pick and the safe pick but I honestly don’t know enough about the various farms around the league to go against him. I almost wanted to go with his teammate Jorge Soler just because it would be bold and different but then he went and swatted eight home runs in a few weeks’ time and I knew I had to go with Bryant in 2015.

Who expected Carlos Correa to come up and dominate as quickly and as well as he did in the American League? Well obviously I didn't. I had Lindor breaking camp with the Indians and using that extra couple of months of playing time to steal the award but Cleveland had other plans starting him in Triple-A. Oh well, maybe next year (not likely).

I am going to be 100% honest here I never even heard the name Matt Duffy before the 2015 season. I don't pay that close of attention to the San Francisco Giants, or all the non-Yankees teams to be honest, but Duffy has made me change that stance a bit. Duffy is quietly having a better season, in my opinion and I'm sure I'm not the only one, than Kris Bryant, Randal Grichuk, Jung-ho Kang, Joc Pederson and Kyle Schwarber.