San Francisco Giants – Pursue Scott Kazmir and Jeff Samardzija; Sign the cheaper option
The Giants have a strong core of players and money to spend. That is a nice place to be, but with Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum serving as merely figments of our collective imagination at this point, San Francisco needs help for Madison Bumgarner.
Because Bumgarner exists, the Giants don’t have to go wild by going after Zack Greinke or David Price, but they do need another arm (or two) that will be reliable. For me, Kazmir and Samardzija seem like players in the right range, both fiscally and in terms of roster construction. Samardzija is a bit younger, but he has been more volatile in recent years, including a weird dip in strikeouts in 2015. Kazmir battled injury history seemingly forever, but the left-hander has been healthy and effective for three straight years.
The Giants could pursue both pitchers (or simply re-sign Mike Leake?) and take the cheaper of the two to move forward with an improved rotation to pair with a strong lineup.
Seattle Mariners – Bring back Hisashi Iwakuma on a short-term deal
Everything has gone wrong for the Mariners, but there are signs of life in the second half, namely in the form of Robinson Cano. Cano has bounced back nicely from a horrid first half, and Nelson Cruz keeps mashing to keep Seattle’s offense (somewhat) afloat.
The rotation is another story, though, as after Felix Hernandez and Taijuan Walker, the cupboard looks fairly bare for 2016. Iwakuma is a free agent, but at the age of 34 (turns 35 in April), his market could be bland enough that he’d seek a short-term deal in Seattle. Iwakuma has always been good when healthy, and despite a rough start (sound familiar?), he is pitching better now.
The Mariners need to do more than one thing to jump back into the fray and redeem what was a disastrous 2015, but this is a nice start.
Next: Rays and Rangers