I still have plenty from the inbox and still other things that I wish to write about soon, but before I fell too far behind, I wanted to finish this.
The San Francisco Giants biggest loss occurred after the Winter Meetings when Madison Bumgarner signed with fellow NL West member Arizona.
Bumgarner signed a five-year contract in Arizona worth 85 million choosing it over a four-year agreement to stay with the Giants that was competitive in dollars, but lacked the extra year that the Diamondbacks were willing to offer.
The Giants signed two pitchers to one-year contracts in an attempt to strike gold with pitchers that have disappointed in their chances in the majors.
Soon to be 30 year old Tyler Anderson started five games for the Rockies last season and didn't pitch well in his twenty innings as he finished with a record of 0-3 and an ERA of 11.76.
Anderson did strike out 23 in those innings if you are looking for a silver lining, but there isn't a lot of silver in those numbers.
After those five starts, Anderson was demoted to AAA Albuquerque, but his season was over, due to continuing knee problems.
Anderson was taken by Colorado 20th overall in the first round of the 2011 draft and Anderson has a career record of 18-24 with an ERA of 4.69.
Anderson will receive 1.75 million in base salary with a chance to take home another 850,000 dollars in bonuses.
Kevin Gausman will turn 29 before the season starts and the former 2012 first-rounder by Baltimore is the more interesting pitcher of the two signees.
Gausman split last season between Atlanta and Cincinnati, combining for a record of 3-9 between the two teams with an ERA of 5.72.
Gausman made 17 starts with all but one for the Braves, but also made 14 relief appearances for the Reds after he was claimed from the waiver wire.
Gausman was a disappointment for Baltimore, who took him fourth overall in 2012 from LSU, but still won 11 games in 2017 for the Orioles and combined for another ten wins between Baltimore and Atlanta in 2018.
Gausman's career numbers are 47-63 with an ERA of 4.30 and still throws in the mid-90s and if you are looking for the type of candidate for revitalization in a pitchers ballpark such as Oracle Park, Kevin Gausman could have the type of arm that might be a good fit.
Gausman is far more expensive than Anderson at nine million with a few performance bonuses, but Gausman is durable and doesn't miss starts, so I'm more comfortable at the cost for the former LSU Tiger.
There aren't many deals that are made to save "cap space" in baseball, since there isn't a true cap, just a "luxury tax", but give the Giants credit for making a trade that gained them a solid prospect for taking on salary.
The Anaheim Angels needed to save some cash for their signing of third baseman Anthony Rendon from the Nationals and considering that Rendon would be replacing Zack Cosart as the regular third baseman and Cozart was going to be making 12.6 million to sit behind Rendon, it only made sense for the Angels to try to find a place for Cozart.
The Giants became that place as they took Cozart and that 12.6 million commitment for 2020 in a trade to help the Angels out a bit.
It was not out of the goodness of their heart though as the Angels added their 2019 first-round pick in shortstop Will Wilson to the deal.
Wilson was the 15th overall pick from N.C. State, where Wilson hit .339 and 15 homers along with being named the ACC defender of the year.
Wilson was paid a signing bonus of 3.5 million by the Angels, so the Giants essentially added a first-round player for paying the final season of Cozart's overpaid contract.
The righthanded hitting Wilson hit .275 with five homers in 46 games for Orem of the Pioneer League and considering his college experience, my guess is that he'll be assigned to High A San Jose, although he could go to Low A Augusta to start the 2020 season.
As for Zack Cozart, the Angels signed him to a three year, thirty-eight million dollar contract after the 2017 season.
Cozart had his best season in 2017 for the Cincinnati Reds, hitting .297 with 24 homers, but in two seasons in Anaheim Cozart hit only .190 with five homers in 96 games and last season Cozart played only 38 games without hitting a homer with a tiny average of .124.
Cozart injured his left shoulder in 2018 and reaggravated it in 2019, undergoing surgery on the shoulder in both years.
At 34 and with injury problems, the Giants likely will either use him as a backup or could also decide that Wilson is more than enough of a return and release Cozart.
The Giants sent right-handed pitcher Garrett Williams to the Angels as the "return".
The 25-year-old Williams appeared in 29 games with 20 starts for AA Richmond last year finishing with a 7-8 record and an ERA of 3.60 in his second season with the Flying Squirrels.
Moving to the Giants in the Rule 5 Draft, the Giants took one player in the major league portion and another in the AAA portion.
In the major draft, San Francisco tabbed righthander Dany Jimenez from the Toronto Blue Jays.
Jimenez is a 26-year-old righthander that split last season between the Blue Jays High A affiliate at Dunedin and then was promoted to AA New Hampshire.
Jimenez blossomed after the promotion with tremendous numbers of 2-2 with a 1.87 ERA with six saves and striking out 46 in 33 innings.
Jimenez sits in the mid to high 90's and has an excellent slider, but there are concerns about his command.
The selection of Jimenez is the second rule five pitcher in two years that San Francisco took from Toronto after picking Travis Bergen from the Blue Jays last year.
Bergen appeared in 21 games for the Giants before they offered him back to Toronto for $50,000, which the Blue Jays paid for his return.
Jimenez will have to stay on the Giants roster all season or the Blue Jays will have the chance to return him to Toronto for that fifty thousand dollar sum.
In the AAA half, the Giants picked catcher Bryan Torres from the Brewers organization.
The 22-year-old backstop hit .283 last season for the Rocky Mountain Vibes of the Pioneer League without a homer in 67 games.
The Caguas, Puerto Rico product stole a surprising twenty-one bases for the Vibes, which is a huge number for a catcher period, let alone in 67 games.
Could the Giants be considering a position change for Torres?
It's not often that a catcher has this type of speed and staying behind the plate is a good way to lose some of that speed fairly quickly.
I would imagine that Torres would be assigned to Low A Augusta, but should the Giants decide to change his position, Torres could be left behind in extended spring training to start the 2020 season.
Still so much more to catch up on, so stay tuned and enjoy the Holiday festivities,
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