San Francisco Giants: Could a Reunion Be in Order in Center Field?

The San Francisco Giants are still on the lookout for a center field, but could a familiar face make them better in the middle?

Even after the exciting addition of Andrew McCutchen, the San Francisco Giants still have a glaring hole in their outfield. They continue to search for someone to patrol center fielder, and have been linked to just about everyone on the free agent and trade markets. One name that hasn’t been mentioned much, either in connection with the Giants or in general, is Gregor Blanco.

You remember him, right? The swiss army knife of outfielders that was never penciled in as a starter for the Giants but always found himself in that role because of injuries or some other circumstance? He’s out there on the market after a season with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Blanco was a Good Giant in every sense of the term, and was a large part of two World Series-winning teams. His career with San Francisco ended after the 2016 season, his worst with the team, and he moved within the division to Arizona. And now he’s on the market again, waiting for things to open up so he can figure out where he plays in 2018.

The Giants’ front office has been pretty vocal about their desire to stay under the luxury tax cap this year and reset the penalties, unless the right player is available (and Blanco is no Giancarlo Stanton). That leaves very little money for them to make a more sizable addition, especially when the money could be better spent on shoring up their pitching staff. A player like Blanco probably wouldn’t take more than a minor league deal, so he wouldn’t take up much of that leftover cash.

More from Golden Gate Sports

San Francisco’s general manager Bobby Evans has stated that prospect Steven Duggar would be the opening day center field, but also said that the team wouldn’t mind having Duggar “in your back pocket” to give him a bit more developmental time. A guy like Blanco would allow them to slow-play Duggar and not push him to the starting job right away.

Obviously, this isn’t a perfect plan. Offensively, Blanco has struggled through the last two seasons (2016 was an injury-marred year). His last year as a good offensive player was 2015, when he had Norichika Aoki working as his pseudo-hitting coach. With the pointers from the well-travelled Aoki, Blanco hit .291/.368/.413 with a 117 wRC+, all the best marks of his career.

Since then, he’s hit only .234/.323/.333 with a 75 wRC+ in 530 plate appearances, and at 34 years old entering 2018, doesn’t really figure to match the numbers he produced back in 2015. HIs defense was his calling card in San Francisco, and he’ll always be remembered for one particular play in one particular game, but he hasn’t been great with the glove in recent years. 2017 was his third straight subpar year as an outfielder, according to defensive runs saved and UZR.

The Giants are mainly looking to upgrade their defense in center field, and even though Blanco has had three straight slightly below average years, he’d still offer a major upgrade over last year’s center fielder, Denard Span. That’s not an indication of how good Blanco is, but rather a testament to just how bad Span was last season.

So even though Blanco isn’t the best option available, he’d still give the Giants the time they need with Duggar. They can let Duggar go to Triple-A, which would be his first extended stay at the level, and let Blanco handle the job for a few weeks or a couple months. If Blanco isn’t playing well by the time May or June starts, or gets hurt somewhere along the line, the job can be turned over to Duggar.

That brings about a different question. Should the Giants go the veteran route and allow Duggar to play in the minor leagues, they have options currently on the roster. Most notable among that group is Gorkys Hernandez.

Hernandez’s and Blanco’s 2017 numbers were pretty similar:

Hernandez: .255/.327/.326, 77 wRC+, 12 SB, -3 DRS, 1.8 UZR
Blanco: .246/.337/.357, 82 wRC+, 15 SB, -4 DRS, -1.9 UZR

Blanco was a bit better with the bat, while Hernandez was better with the glove. Blanco occasionally hit home runs, whereas Hernandez hit exactly zero in a record-setting season for home runs. Both tick the “palatable enough to give Duggar more time” box, though.

Do the differences between the two make it worth spending money on an outside addition who is not decidedly better than current options? Probably not. If the Giants signed Blanco with the intention of bringing him in to compete for the center field job, it would basically be like adding a left-handed Hernandez.

But let’s not forget the Nostalgia Factor™. That sweet, sweet nostalgia. Hey, let’s get another hit of that. Oh man, that’s nice.

Next: Giants Acquire McCutchen from Pittsburgh

Is nostalgia worth enough to bring back Blanco despite not being a markedly better option? Probably not. But that hasn’t stopped the Giants in the past.

Home/San Francisco Giants