San Francisco Giants: 5 Takeaways from the 2017 Season

5 – Fix the Center Field Defense 

Giants’ Executive Vice President of Baseball Operation Brian Sabean has already made this point clear. He mentioned the need to fix defense in the outfield in his appearance on Alex Pavlovic’s podcast, and he’s right in saying that it should be priority number one.

Denard Span simply can’t cover center field anymore. Not only was he the worst defensive center fielder in baseball last year by defensive runs saved, he was the worst defensive player at ANY position in baseball according to defensive runs saved (-27). Factor in his declining range and the complete lack of threat in his outfield arm (one assist), and that’s just not going to cut it.

The options are there for the Giants to improve in center field, whether they do it via trade (Billy Hamilton? Kevin Kiermaier? Someone else?) or with a stop-gap free agent signing (Rajai Davis? Austin Jackson?) until a prospect (Steven Duggar) is ready.

Shoring up the defense in center fielder would also improve other facets of the team. Pitching would improve, because there won’t be as many balls falling in front of the center fielder, or going over his head. The corner outfield spots would improve as well, since great range in center fielder makes their jobs easier and they can cover more space towards the line.

Next: Giants Superlative Awards in 2017

This isn’t the Giants’ only priority, nor should it be. But it does seem to be their top priority, and for good reason.