The first order of business after the lockout finally ended Thursday should have been for teams to do something that every one of us does throughout the year. It's time to pass out some happy birthdays.
The lockout was needlessly dramatic for a lot of reasons, including the fact that contact between the sides was so forbidden that player photos were taken off websites and social media accounts were no longer allowed to interact with the players who star on them throughout the season.
That meant the Giants could give a birthday shoutout to Dave Dravecky, but not to Alex Wood, who turned 31 in January. They could honor Gregor Blanco, but not LaMonte Wade Jr., who is now 27. Six weeks ago, the Giants' official Twitter account wished a very happy birthday to Mike Krukow, but not to fellow Jan. 21 celebrator Brandon Crawford, who only happens to be the team's best player.
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All of that is allowed again. Perhaps manager Gabe Kapler celebrated the end of the lockout by congratulating Wood, Wade, Crawford, Tyler Rogers, Joey Bart and others in the team's group chat. There is also, of course, a lot more serious work to be completed.
After three months on the sidelines, Farhan Zaidi and Scott Harris can continue building the roster and Kapler and his staff can continue working on it. The Giants are back in business, so here are five things they need to get done now that the lockout is (finally!) over:
Add Another Bat
San Francisco Giants
This is a joyful time for all Giants fans, but reality is about to set in. When the Giants start spring training in a few days, they'll do so without Buster Posey for the first time since 2009.
It's impossible to replace all that Posey brought to the organization, including his 1.051 OPS against left-handed pitching last season. Bart emerging would help, but the Giants will need more, because Posey could be joined by Kris Bryant and Donovan Solano as ex-Giants.
The clear need now that the lockout is over is to add a right-handed bat. The Giants have gone hard after Seiya Suzuki and could still explore a reunion with Bryant. They also could dive into the trade market after three months of throwing ideas around. Suzuki is probably the preferred choice for the fan base, but no matter how it gets done, Zaidi and Harris need to add someone notable to give the lineup more thump from the right side.
Fill Out The Rotation
The focus in November was -- rightfully -- on adding starting pitchers behind Logan Webb. Anthony DeSclafani and Wood are back and Alex Cobb is the newcomer, but there's more work to be done.
The Giants need a fifth starter, or perhaps a No. 2 starter if they want to aim high and try to replace Kevin Gausman's production. After that, they'll need more arms. Sammy Long, Tyler Beede and Sean Hjelle are waiting for opportunities, but this front office accrues depth and figures out the rest later. Remember, Aaron Sanchez and Scott Kazmir ended up combining for 11 starts last season.
Depth will be even more important with a shortened spring training that could limit how pitchers get ready, but the Giants should be sitting pretty when the market reopens. There are dozens of options looking to find a home quickly, and no team can offer a better pitch than the one that keeps signing veterans to one-year deals and helping them cash out a year later.
Settle Arbitration
The Giants very rarely go to arbitration hearings -- although they did with Solano last spring -- but they have four players with whom they have not yet agreed to terms. Mike Yastrzemski, Darin Ruf, Curt Casali and Dominic Leone were all tendered contracts in November, although deals were not reached back then (Austin Slater, Jarlin Garcia and John Brebbia did sign one-year contracts).
Hearings generally happen in February, so the process is already in somewhat uncharted territory. After the shortened 1994 season, arbitration hearings the following year actually happened during the season, which could lead to some awkwardness. This is, after all, a process where the team goes in and tries to convince a third party that the player is flawed and deserves less money than he wants.
The four remaining Giants include two potential starting outfielders, the backup catcher and a key setup man, with Yastrzemski looming as the most interesting case. He's coming off a down year but also hit 25 homers, and in 2020 he was eighth in MVP voting. That was a 60-game season, though, and back then a lot of players were worried about how the length would impact future arbitration arguments.
Get Whole
This one involves some specifics, but also is somewhat nebulous. Team execs and coaches haven't been able to contact players in over three months, so there's a certain amount of just "checking where everyone's at" that needs to be done.
Rehabbing players were on their own during the lockout, but the Giants only have one significant name here. Tommy La Stella had left Achilles surgery in late October and was supposed to need four months to recover, which is right about now. The Giants surely have had a way to sneakily keep tabs on him, but until they get him out on the field in front of the rehab staff and coaches they won't fully know where their leadoff hitter stands.
They also simply need to get all their players to Scottsdale. That's easier said than done, especially for those who live in foreign countries and may still be dealing with travel or visa restrictions. For instance, closer Camilo Doval is still in the Dominican Republic, per his Instagram.
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The final part of this is about team-building. The 2021 Giants massively exceeded expectations in part because of the chemistry they built in spring training. Veterans said it was one of the best and most unselfish clubhouses they had ever seen, and the push for a division title started in Scottsdale when older players made it an unlikely goal. The Giants viewed that attitude as an edge, and in a division decided by one game, every edge mattered. It's something they now need to replicate.
Make It Up To Your Fans
The last four months were dominated by reminders that for all the joy it brings, baseball is a business. MLB locked out its players, but it also locked out paying customers, the people who shelled out for season tickets after the 107-win season or saved up for a yearly trip to Scottsdale. MLB told them games were cancelled and then came back a day later with "lol jk, please buy tickets to our doubleheaders."
The league dealt a blow to small businesses near every spring training park, and did so in the aftermath of a pandemic that already wiped a lot of them out.
So, what happens now? Well, we know what will happen. You'll be expected to show up and pretend this didn't happen, to spend $50 to park and then swipe your credit card for a City Connect hoodie. That's the way the owners operate, but they shouldn't.
Giants management has been quiet throughout, but it would be nice to see an olive branch extended to fans. Maybe some ticket prices are lowered for the summer, maybe the price of the Cha-Cha Bowl is cut in half, maybe a few bobbleheads are added to the schedule or there are more days when players and coaches go out to sign autographs and take pictures?
Whatever it is, figure out some way to reward fans who sat through 100 days of Rob Manfred updates and are still willing to return to a ballpark this summer.