Who were the SF Giants Most and Least Valuable Players in 2023?
The SF Giants didn't have a Mookie Betts or Ronald Acuña Jr. this past year to push them into postseason glory. Still, there were more than a few success stories in the Giants' organization this past year, and they deserve to be recognized. There were, of course, just as many duds, as you'd expect from a team that failed to reach the .500 mark.
To recognize them, the Giants Baseball Insider team has put forward their votes on who deserves to wear the various crowns we're handing out this year - some made of gold, some made of thorns. With the votes tallied up, let's hand out our team MVP and LVP honors to the 2023 San Francisco Giants.
SF Giants 2023 MVP: Logan Webb
Honorable Mention: Wilmer Flores
SF Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb (62) throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks (2023).
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Webb was the undisputed ace of the Giants this season with him leading the league in innings and had the highest fWAR among all Giants players this season. It just plain sucked that the Giants could not capitalize his stellar performances a.k.a. the Matt Cain syndrome. -Wrenzie Regodon
I did give Wilmer Flores some serious consideration. He was the only consistent offensive player on the Giants' roster for the last several months of the season, and San Francisco's collapse would've began much sooner without him. However, Webb is going to have another top-10 Cy Young finish and racked up more than 200 innings pitched. Even if the Giants' didn't give him any consistent run support, Webb kept them in games consistently and also helped limit the bullpen's workload to make bullpen games possible. -Marc Delucchi
If we're going by "best player," then yes, this award should and does go to Logan Webb. If you consider who the Giants would be worse off without, though, I think Wilmer Flores deserves strong consideration. The Giants were easily the worst offense in baseball after the All-Star Break - how bad would it have been without Flores putting up .291/.369/.550 triple slash line with 15 home runs in that span? They might not have won a game. Meanwhile, San Francisco went 15-18 when Webb started, with an MLB-worst 3.09 runs/game in support, worst among any 20+ game starter. All too often, it wouldn't have made a difference whether Webb gave up 2 runs or 12. -JD Salazar
Least Valuable Player: Mitch Haniger
(Dis)honorable Mentions: Joc Pederson, Alex Wood
SF Giants outfielder Mitch Haniger (17) reacts after striking out against the Milwaukee Brewers (2023).
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
There were several holes in the Giants' lineup, but the fact that left field was one of them when Haniger had. Haniger obviously missed a huge chunk of the season to injury, but even when healthy, he was a below-average performer. The Giants need to make some big additions this offseason, but Haniger returning to a 20-30 HR producer would be a massive development as well. -Marc Delucchi
The Giants could have done a much better job with their money last offseason, but Haniger was one of their first signings and he was riddled with injuries and did not look good in general when he was on the field. -Wrenzie Regodon
There was, sadly, stiff competition for this spot. Brandon Crawford had an absolutely atrocious year by any metric, but I can't bring myself to hang the LVP crown on him. Mitch Haniger also had a terrible, no-good year, but his extended absences at least gave the Giants a chance to evaluate their young outfield options. Meanwhile, Pederson took on just about a full season's worth of appearances as a platoon-only DH while being the highest paid player on the team. It's been a long time since I've seen a player so fully write himself out of the Giants' plans like this. - JD Salazar
I know this one is wrapped - but I do want to throw in that Alex Wood had a really rough season and losing him as a starting pitcher set the rotation back considerably. Not to mention that as a leader in the clubhouse his general unhappiness and tension in my mind probably had an impact on his teammates. - Natasha Welingkar
