Monday BP: The rotation is set, kind of

The San Francisco Giants agreed to a deal with Sean Manaea on Sunday. It’s not a bad move. Manaea had a 3.64 FIP from 2019 through 2021, and has sported an incredibly low walk rate for the bulk of his career.

But, similar to the Mitch Haniger signing (at least with the benefit of hindsight), the Manaea signing is less about the move they made, and more about the moves they didn’t make. The Giants sat by and watched Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, and Kodai Senga sign contracts. They claimed to be interested in a reunion with Carlos Rodón, even though we knew it wouldn’t happen.

And now, with the signing of Manaea, who had a 4.96 ERA and 4.53 FIP last year, we can close the door on a reunion with Rodón, who had a 2.88 ERA and a MLB-best 2.25 FIP last year.

The rotation is now set. Mostly. Barring any surprise moves, the Giants will begin the year with a starting rotation of Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, Manaea, Alex Wood, and Anthony DeSclafani. At some point someone will get injured and Jakob Junis or Sean Hjelle will step in. Before long Kyle Harrison will jump into the fold and we’ll have a good time.

That’s a good rotation. Probably not a great rotation like the Giants had last year, unless Harrison does something special, but it’s a good rotation.

And the Giants aren’t done making moves. The dream of Carlos Correa still lives on, and trades could be made.

But for now, with the bulk of the big offseason moves already made, the Giants took an 81-win team and made a modest upgrade in the outfield, and a massive downgrade in the rotation. You should probably be pretty disappointed.