San Francisco Giants: Zaidi Wants Versatility, and Dietrich Could Help

Farhan Zaidi is looking for versatility to help the San Francisco Giants, and new free agent Derek Dietrich could be a quick plug-in for that.

When the San Francisco Giants introduced Farhan Zaidi as their new head of baseball operations, he stated that some of his goals were to add positional versatility and create more depth. This offseason has turned out to be as slow to develop as last year’s, so Zaidi has plenty of time to work on those goals. One name that just hit the free agent market could help him reach them.

On Monday, Derek Dietrich elected free agency a few days after the Miami Marlins designated him for assignment to clear room on their 40-man roster. He cleared waivers, and now that he’s available to all teams, he could help Zaidi make the Giants roster just a bit more flexible.

Dietrich wasn’t jettisoned from the Marlins’ roster because of a lack of production. He was actually one of Miami’s better hitters last year, finishing second on the team with a .421 slugging percentage and third with 16 home runs. He put up a 109 wRC+ (simply meaning he was nine percent better than the average hitter last season), fourth on Miami’s roster.

Instead, Dietrich was released because his salary was beginning to get a bit too high for the penny-pinching Marlins. Dietrich was projected to make $4.8 million in his second year of arbitration, a little too rich for Miami’s blood. Now, whatever team signs Dietrich will get two years of team control.

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If Zaidi is looking for players that aren’t locked into one position, Dietrich should at least catch his eye. In his six-season career, Dietrich has taken substantial reps at four positions. Second base has been his most frequent spot, playing there 192 times, but he’s also played a lot of left field (156 games), third base (145 games), and first base (61 games).

Defensive metrics haven’t been kind to Dietrich at any of those positions, but for a team that shouldn’t expect to compete in 2019 anyway, that shouldn’t be a problem. He would give the Giants more of the versatility that Zaidi’s teams have had in the past, and would allow others to get more regular rest days so they don’t wear down, like they seemingly did last season.

If the Giants were to bring Dietrich in, he would also help the team’s problems with getting on base. Though he doesn’t take many walks (6.8% career walk-rate, 5.3% in 2018), he has a very unique skill that helps boost his on-base percentage. Dietrich has consistently been among the league’s leaders in getting hit by pitches.

He has finished top-10 in the MLB in HBPs in each of the last three years, including a pair of runner-up finishes despite rarely being a full-time player. He led the National League in 2016 with 24 HBPs, and was tied for second last season with 21. Since entering the league in 2013, Dietrich’s 93 HBP are the second-most in baseball, right behind Anthony Rizzo (111). Dietrich has taken nearly 2,000 fewer plate appearances than Rizzo in that time frame.

Those extra trips to first base have helped Dietrich’s OBP take a turn upward. His .335 career OBP is over 80 points higher than his average, and is much higher than someone with his career walk rate should have. That would help a team that finished with a .300 on-base percentage last season, second-worst in the National League.

Dietrich ticks a lot of the boxes for the Giants. It wouldn’t take a huge sum of money to sign him, and he can actually hit. He gets on base, has some power, and can play multiple positions. He seems like a fit for the new Zaidi-led Giants.