I'm a Dodger fan so you choose to believe what I believe about your club's situation.
Here are the things I think are right with the Giants, and what is negative things about the Giants
1. Farhan hasn't signed guaranteed studs, but at the same time, he kept the prices down and only for like 1-3 year contracts. So there is a good amount of flexibility. Worst case scenario is that the players suck, but are gone after 1-3 seasons. Very different from what AJ Preller has done for the Padres (ouch). That was smart of Farhan.
2. Farhan has only started since the 2019 draft, therefore only in charge of 5 drafts. People that have criticized Farhan are being somewhat irrational. He's picked 10, 13, 14, 30, and16 slots in the first rounds of those drafts. He has had 2 busts thus far in Bishop and Bednar. Bailey looks like a good pick, and it's wayy too early to judge his last 2 players in Crawford and Eldridge. Crawford is doing well as a major league reliever at worst, and Eldridge has looked to have monster hitting potential. So it's not enough data to say he hasn't drafted well with his first round picks. He also picked up Kyle Harrison in 2020, who is a good prospect with middle of the rotation potential.
The reason why I bring this up is because almost every team that drafts take 3-4 years for their players to become major leaguers. I say almost, because the Angels and Padres are organizations that are super aggressive. Dodgers drafted Bobby Miller out of college in 2020, and he made the Major Leagues out of desperation after 3 years. Seager likewise in 2012, debuting in late 2015, and Bellinger in 2013, where he debuted in 2017. And Seager and Belli flew by the minor leagues succeeding practically the entire time. Therefore you can only really conclude which drafts were bad from his 2019-2020 drafts. That's not enough evidence to decide whether he was good or not.
3. Part of the reason why the Giants are not doing what the Orioles are doing is not due to Farhan himself. I recall fans in 2018 and ownership did not want to tank. This is the fastest and easiest way to get your farm system loaded with talent and being one of the top 5 farm systems in the league. So not only was he hamstrung with older legends on crap contracts, but you guys were still trying to compete. You didn't want to commit to full rebuilds by trading most of everything because some of the seasons at all star break were still giving you guys hope to compete for the Wild Card. This has also led you guys to not picking in the top 5 of the draft so it's much harder to find value in the draft.
4. Juan Soto is still up for grabs next year. You guys tried for Judge, and Ohtani. Juan Soto is surely a person you guys can still go after. This is a Friedman type move. Friedman is notorious for not going all out for top end talent, unless they are really the right player like Mookie, Ohtani, and Freeman. Juan Soto is a 5-6 WAR player just off his bat, who doesn't need to hit homers to be productive. He's only 25 years old. It is absolutely a type of player that Farhan will go gungho on.
You guys still have money left to spend especially because your payroll is lower than the Mets and Yankees, with very few long term contracts as I explained in point 1.
5. The improvement to your farm system has to come from a much needed international market. Dodgers haven't been good at this either, albeit were able to turn a few into top prospects. However, Mariners, Braves, Brewers, Nationals, Padres, etc... all got their franchise players from there. It's a needed supplement to your drafting. You guys are not ignoring this market like the Orioles used to, but hitting on one via skill or luck through attrition can be a huge boost.
6. There is also a couple of players coming from Japan in the coming years, that are at least on Seiya Suzuki level, Lee Jung Hoo level. Munetaka Murakami is the most complete hitter since Seiya Suzuki, and will be young so still has room to improve after adjusting at first to Major League velocity. Very different profiles to like Yoshi Tsutsugo (signed at age 28) , Nori Aoki (29), Shogo Akiyama (32), Mastaka Yoshida (29).
All in all, Farhan hasn't been a homerun executive thus far, but he has kept flexibility and had a lot of success in what I like to say Friedman does, "dumpster diving." Jordan Hicks looks to be a steal right now as a starter. The main improvement to make you legit competitors with the Dodgers is a continuation of talent from your farm system ala Bailey, and Harrison. This why he will succeed or get fired for.
Last edited:
