San Francisco Giants Add Austin Jackson, Keeping with their Stated Goals

The San Francisco Giants made another key addition, bringing in Austin Jackson while keeping with their stated goals for the offseason.

There were many dissenting opinions on what the San Francisco Giants should do this offseason. The was a vocal group of the fanbase that wanted them to sell off their viable assets, getting a headstart on the inevitable rebuild the team will eventually go through. Another group wanted them to go hard for it this offseason, ignoring the luxury tax and bring in outside stars no matter the cost for one more run.

The Giants, instead, went their own route. The front office decided they weren’t ready to give up on this team, and would rather re-tool the current team than blow it up. While doing so, they wanted to stay under the luxury tax unless the right player came along (and Giancarlo Stanton never came along). With that goal in mind, the Giants have nailed it thus far this offseason.

On Monday, the Giants added Austin Jackson to their group of outfielders, and he joins fellow newcomers Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen in the lineup. He’s the third major outside acquisition since the season ended, joining those two (fourth if you count free agent Nick Hundley re-signing on a one-year deal).

Jackson seems to be the final piece to the lineup puzzle (Andrew Baggarly opines that the team isn’t done adding to the outfield, so maybe he’s not), and can fit in center field. He’s coming off his best season as a major leaguer, but the Giants got him on a bargain at $6 million spread over two seasons (with incentives that could add another couple million).

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With the Cleveland Indians last season, Jackson hit .318/.387/.482 with 19 doubles, seven home runs, and a 131 wRC+ in a part-time role. He was a southpaw killer, hitting .352/.440/.574 with 17 of his extra-base hits in only 141 plate appearances. His 2017 numbers were pumped up by an unsustainable .385 BABIP, but his career totals of .275/.336/.403 and 103 wRC+ are fine additions to the lineup.

San Francisco entered the offseason with the aim of improving their 2018 team, not the 2019 team or beyond. They wanted to give this core group of guys, Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Crawford, and Brandon Belt, one more run at the postseason. They did just that. They’ve made sizable improvements at three positions, and did so without breaking past the luxury tax or completely gutting their farm system.

The lineup is deepened with the addition of three right-handed hitters, guys who, compared to left-handed counterparts, shouldn’t be hurt too much by the dimensions of AT&T Park. Putting McCutchen and Longoria in the lineup adds protection for guys who are returning in 2018, like Posey and Belt, which gives them better pitches to hit. It takes the burden off Hunter Pence, allowing him to hit lower in the lineup and also keeping him away from the spacious right field that he just seemed unable to cover last year.

Right-handed power has long been an issue for the Giants, and in 2017, the group combined to hit just 62 home runs. McCutchen, Longoria, and Jackson alone combined for 55 home runs last year.

The defense also gets better. Longoria is coming off his third Gold Glove season, posting a 3.2 UZR and 11 defensive runs saved (third-most among qualified third basemen) in over 1,200 innings with the Tampa Bay Rays last season. Giants’ third basemen finished 18th in UZR (-1.7) and tied for 15th in DRS (-2).

The outfield was abysmal last season, finishing 28th as a group in UZR (-11.4) and dead last in DRS (-45). So much of that negative value came from center field, where the group, led by Denard Span, finished 28th in UZR (-6.5) and dead last in DRS (-32). Jackson is no longer the player that won a Fielding Bible Award in 2011, but rated closer to average in 2017 (-3 UZR, one DRS). While average isn’t what everyone wants to hear, it still represents a massive upgrade over what Span did in 2017 (-7.5 UZR, -27 DRS) or what McCutchen likely would have done in 2018 (-4.6 UZR, -16 DRS in 2017).

By bringing in Jackson, the Giants are also avoiding the need to rush center field prospect Steven Duggar. They can slow-play him if he needs more time in the minor leagues (he still has only 54 plate appearances at Triple-A), but this isn’t a move that completely blocks him from the position. If the younger player has a big Spring Training or tears it up in Triple-A to start the year, he can safely take the reins while Jackson slides to a fourth-outfielder role, where he flourished last season.

They’ve kept themselves within budget with smart fiscal moves. By getting rid of Matt Moore in a salary dump (and getting two prospects back seems almost like a miracle), offloading Span in the Longoria trade, and getting money back from the Longoria and McCutchen deals, they’ve allowed themselves to keep spending to improve other areas.

They’re still under the luxury tax, and assuming they don’t go over during the rest of the offseason or in the regular season, the penalties will reset. If that happens, they can set their sights on next offseason in what should be one of the most well-stocked free agent classes in history.

In addition, the farm system doesn’t look much worse for wear. They lost Christian Arroyo and Bryan Reynolds from the system, as well as Kyle Crick, but Arroyo would have again been blocked on the entire infield, and there are still a lot of questions surrounding Crick after his minor league career. They also kept their most major-league ready starters in Tyler Beede and Andrew Suarez, their best power hitter in Chris Shaw, and their 18-year-old with superstar potential. They even kept their draft picks by not signing anyone with a qualifying offer (namely Lorenzo Cain).

Next: Giants Acquire McCutchen from Pittsburgh

The Giants have simultaneously set themselves up for that one last run while not setting themselves too far back in 2019 and beyond. They came into the offseason with a rather bleak outlook for that future, and have done well to improve now without making that outlook that much worse. Given what they had to work with when the winter months started, they’ve done an excellent job.

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