Everything is on the table for the Giants this winter, per the Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly. It’s a different kind of offseason this year, but the constant is that teams always need to build their depth, says Giants President Farhan Zaidi. Baggarly provides this quote from Zaidi, who says, “Look, we’re in a big market. We consider ourselves a signature franchise. When you look at that group of teams, there’s always an expectation for how they might act.”
Zaidi and the Giants view themselves as being in a transition phase, and many in the industry would agree. At the same time, as Zaidi points out, they’re coming off a season in which they just missed the playoffs. If a below-market opportunity jumps out at Zaidi, the Giants could end up as buyers in free agency, even at the upper levels for the right guy, it seems. But there’s not likely to be a quick-strike headline for San Francisco. Broadly speaking, Zaidi predicts a slow-moving market this winter.
The Phillies expect to be slow-movers as well, per the Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro. Team President Andy MacPhail – who for now remains the top decision-maker in the baseball ops department – said in reference to the Phillies’ plans for free agency (per Montemurro), “…the likelihood of a significant add, I think, in the short term or even midterm is not very high.” MacPhail also generally observes that teams are more concerned with subtraction than addition at this point in the offseason. Even in a normal year, trimming payroll where possible and maximizing open spots on 40-man rosters predates most additions in free agency. This year more than most, however, teams have prepped the baseball-sphere for the prospect of limited spending.
By MacPhail’s account, Philly plans on being one of the more judicious clubs this winter. That’s not great news for those hoping to see J.T. Realmuto return to the Keystone State. Still, his statement leaves some room for a bigger move down the line. As Zaidi pointed out, it’s likely to be a slow market this winter on the whole. MacPhail could simply be prepping the fanbase not to expect a big signing, as he says, in the short-or-near-term. Long-term, the Phillies could potentially jump to the buyers column. Realmuto, however, is one of the free agents likelier to sign on the earlier side, given his standing as the top catcher on the market.
#BauertoSF
Bauer would be a good addition to the Giants but don’t expect it to happen. Like Stanton and Harper the Giants will be used as leverage (pawns) to get a better deal for Bauer elsewhere. Unless Zaidi is willing to outbid Bauer will not be a Giant in 2021.
Bauer is a good addition to ALL 30 teams.
Even if Zaidi decided to get involved w Bauer , The Giants have a losing culture. Bauer has been clear he wants to play for a winner
The SFG have produced the only dynasty this century. They may not be operating a dynasty at the moment but they can hardly be called a “losing culture.” All you can say is that they are still building toward a postseason contender. Not the kind of team Bauer claims to want right now, true, but hardly a “losing culture.”
By the way, your name has to be one of the top two or three most offputting names on this entire site.
MoRivera 1999:
27rings/DubsDynasty (and probably other additional accounts) is just a troll trying to bait Giant’s fans. He’s a Yankee fan, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but for some reason, this Yankee fan is completely obsessed by the Giant’s and their fans. He doesn’t seem to know baseball very well, but acts as if he does. But his sole reason for posting comments is to get a rise out of Giant’s fans. Most of us who’ve seen his tired act have realized he is best ignored.
Are you kidding me? When was the last time the Yankees played deep into a post season? I guess that takes the yanks out of contention for Bauer, since he doesn’t want to play for a losing culture! SMH
@Balk I guess you don’t count the CS as deep into the postseason?
The Yankees have choked a lot more this decade than the Giants
THEY’VE POSTED 4 CONSECUTIVE LOSING SEASONS IN A ROW. THAT’S A LOSING CULTURE BONEHEAD
A losing culture? What are you on?
“THEY’VE POSTED 4 CONSECUTIVE LOSING SEASONS IN A ROW. THAT’S A LOSING CULTURE BONEHEAD”
For the only team to win THREE championships the past 10 years, I’d hate to think what culture you brand all other 29 teams.
Pretty sure 27rings has a second account: dubsdynasty
I’ve never been able to figure out why a Yankees/Warriors fan could hate the Giants so much
Regardless, (just like someone else I can think of) his sad trolling often brings the entire conversation into the gutter in what used to be a great place to find interesting and intelligent exchanges about baseball
At this point I’m kind of surprised the site itself hasn’t stepped in, seems like people complain about him in every comment section
Redwolves3:
Unlike Stanton and Harper, who probably factored in what effect playing in a pitcher-friendly park would do to their numbers, Bauer may see that as an advantage over some other teams.
And as to your statement that Zaidi needs to outbid other teams, let me fix that for you. Unless (fill in team name) is willing to outbid other teams, then Bauer will not be on that team in 2021.
paying that much for a SP when ur a few years away doesn’t make a lot sense, build up the offense in free agency first while waiting for Bart/Luciano/Ramos to develop and then pay for pitching
Bart looked terrible. Not sure if he pans out to be anything more than a moderately average MLB talent
To judge the Bart who hasn’t even seen a full season at AA is premature. Besides the simple fact that C’s offensively take longer to develop, let’s pump the brakes.
Bart didn’t play AAA. Bart skipped straight to The Show
Besides “moderately average” being redundant nonsense, your hot take on an AA ready prospect not being able to impress at the major league level is just ridiculous…but why would I expect anything more from expect from you?
Build up the offense in free agency?
I hope you mean supplement, because their offense was as pretty dang good this year. The last thing they need is to start spending big free agent money, especially on anything but pitching!
If they’d had any pitching they’d have been a much more serious contender
Mets owner comes in and clean house. Phillies owner doesn’t even fire the GM(he just gives him another job in the organization). While the Phillies have had zero movement in replacing said GM.
Trust the process…..
I get being loyal to employees, but Klentak shouldn’t have stayed in a lesser job (One sans a description.). He should have been shown the door. Did a lousy job. His total lack of focus on the bullpen last season is reason enough for Cigar Guy to know the job is over his head. And, btw, I was saying that very same thing on this Trade Rumors blog for three years.
It is beyond obvious that Middleton is running the whole show a la Jerry Jones. He avoids “paying off” employees like McPhail and the reassigned GM. It makes one wonder if this owner’s wealth is greatly exaggerated because he behaves more like a pauper. His farm system is bare and his inability to sign meaningful free agents leave the Phils dead in the water. Philly scribes ought to expose this guy’s lack of resources. Remember well the consecutive sell outs and alleged money that was banked while signing a zillions agreement for TV rights. Look at LA Dodgers, Cardinals, Yankees and even Padres. Middleton acts like he owns the Pirates rather than a big market Phils team. Back to the sixties for us fans. It will be sad to see the reinvigorated Mets shine while Phils limp through hot summers. Fans will stay home and battle the Marlins for poorest attendance in the Division. Harper has been lied to and will be doing his best to get out of town.
Two seasons now Zaidi has made minor additions to the Giants. It’s time for him to finally make the moves that will make the Giants competitive with the upper echelon teams and advance to the playoffs / World Series.
If the DH stays in the NL I would make a competitive offer for Springer jus like Zaidi did for Bryce, can move Dickerson to DH once Ramos is promoted
Minor additions? Zaidi is in the middle of a massive organizational rebuild. Staffing, baseball development, analytics, medical.
The Giants were a Mess before he showed up. Hex already made massive organizational changes.
That being said, the Giants still have a long way to go. And they’re in the same division as the World Champion Los Angels Dodgers and the San Diego Padres . Subsequently, the San Francisco Giants will be irrelevant for the foreseeable future.
Giants are knocking on the door for being big spenders next year if good talent arises. A lot of money coming off the books and as big of a market team the Giants are they will be in the mix on any and all relevant players next year. I see the Rox and the snakes being irrelevant for awhile but not even close for the Giants! Great prospects coming through the pipeline! Know the team before you comment.
Giants farm system is ranked 15th in MLB……That is MEDIOCRE at best. Do your homework.
Giants were ranked by many in the industry as about #10 before their draft.
15th, lol
Maybe you should do YOUR research.
@27rings I am amazed and impressed by your insightful and surprisingly unbiased view of the Giants current situation!
Did someone hack your account or something!? :)
Although, “irrelevant” is your usual over-exaggeration in terms of their future prospects, especially after this year’s performance…
Add just a bit of pitching and they’re dangerous
They may have strung together losing seasons, but they’re trending up and have legitimate playoff hopes next season.
And though they may have a good division, who knows what could happen, that’s why they play the games right?
Trust the process…..
Surprised to see so many commenters claiming the Jays overpaid for or inflated the market for starting pitching by giving Robbie Ray $8 million when there’s a team about to give Kevin Gausman $19 million.
If ur a team that can afford a QO it makes sense, he’s the 3rd best free agent SP and now they can work out a multi year deal with him a lot easier which I’m sure they will. If not then it’s a rental SP the Giants can potentially flip at the deadline
Gausman hasn’t been able to be a consistently good to above average pitcher year after year. There are multiple starters I’d take over him..
Agreed bravesfan
Bauer, Stroman, and?
Morton
You could even make a case for Tanaka
Heck, if Kluber gets ~$8-10M guaranteed (40-60% less than QO), you can make a case he is more valuable than Gausman at his presumed deal.
Kluber has to prove himself at this point; Gausman already has.
Agreed for Kluber, thus the $8-10M prove-it deal, far less than a QO. Gausman has proven himself in 10 starts facing less than one-third of MLB teams in some of the largest ballparks?
Reminder to everyone Pelfrey signed a 2 year, $16m deal not to long ago to pitch in Detroit. $8m is cheap nowadays.
This bot is about to explode…..
@daynlokki
Gee thanks. I was trying to forget that one.
Trust the process…..
ChangedName:
I agree the Jays did not overpay for Ray. It is a seller’s market. I disagree that it has anything to do with Gausman. Those are different situations.
Gausman had a good / very good season including adv stats and is trending up. Ray had a terrible season, his uptick in 20 innings for Toronto still sucked and adv stats aren’t any better. Toronto FO paid top dollar for Ray when the FA market is wide open. PP decision.
Brac2brac:
Because of a serious shortage of SPs it’s still a seller’s market. I may be wrong that the Jays didn’t overpay, but I will wait to see what other similar, and lesser SPs are getting before paid, before I’ll admit to being completely wrong.
Tad
Not sure you want to argue position scarcity for RR at his level of production. The SP market opens up a lot when all you’re looking for is an SP5 to eat innings. To pay top dollar this early in an overall down market with covid surging and huge uncertainty in fan attendance numbers is bad decision making. Add in that Toronto wont get caught short bc they have bullpen options in former SP types plus minor league SP that can eat innings as a worst case. It’s just a poor use of funds. Far better to aim for an SP3 with upside on the FA market or take the $8MM plus some prospect talent and trade with a club that’ll eat some salary to bring the final number down to $8MM to $10MM for a much better player(i.e. SP3 with 3)
Giants will need to get worse before they can get better.
This is correct. Organization Desperately needs to get younger and they lost a year of minor league development last year.
Their fanbase has ridiculously child like expectations. Regarding playoff caliber teams . This franchise needs to figure out how to book a winning record first
They just booked their 4th consecutive below .500 season.
You are obviously not following the Giants. Why do you bother commenting?
They’ve been 1 game below calm down
They have all of their old players coming off the books next season and right now.
Gotta say, you need to stop putting words in other people’s mouths
Also, the Giants are on exactly the right track…
they did
Why?
They’ve been getting better each year of their soft rebuild, for what reason would they suddenly need to take a step backward?
Yeah, but Gausman actually looked good last year, unlike Robbie “no control” Ray.
Robbie “wildman” Ross put the capital Y back into
Yips…..
As a Phillies fan, still having McPhail around as the team’s top decision maker is like being trapped in my own personal purgatory.
Trust the process…..
Nothing against the giants. But should they be spending? Adding Bauer probably helps them get 4th instead of 5th.
This is correct. They are 5 years away from having a legitimate playoff roster
The risk is to high imo. They need to show they could at least win 85 games to throw 100+ mil at a 30 year old pitcher imo
I know they offered him a QO, but that’s only a one-year commitment. He will end up signing a 3-year, 50M contract. Book it.
You obviously don’t follow the Giants. Why do you bother commenting?
No well run organization is 5 years away from competing if they do things right. And the Giants are a well run organization.
5 years?! Hahahahaha
Wow, I literally have tears in my eyes I laughed so hard at that!
And what, pray tell, gives you such foresight to be able to predict such a turn of events?
You must be a lock in Vegas huh?
MetsFan22:
How do you figure the Giants for 5th when they have been 3rd for the past 2 seasons? Adding Bauer would probably guarantee them of another 3rd place finish, which could mean a WC berth. Plus, let’s assume it would be a multiyear deal. Signing Bauer would have meaning beyond 2021.
I think the dodgers padres are clearly better than them. I think the DBacks and Rockies are probably in the same class but any of those teams could finish 3rd to 5th. None are playoff team imo.
The Giants were very close to a playoff team last season. Their record was the same as the Houston Astros who were a playoff team. They would have been a playoff team without the excess of bullpen meltdowns that they had. You can’t judge whether they’re a playoff team in 2021 by the current roster. But they were close in 2020, and a couple of big adds, plus a bolstering of the pen, could make them one. Again, they can finish 3rd and still be a playoff team.
Giants couldn’t make it in with an expanded playoff. Let’s not paint a bright picture here. Going back to the old format has the Giants meddling in mediocrity.
Just answer the question: do the Houston Astros have a losing culture? If you say no, which you should, then you can’t say the Giants have a losing culture. They are contenders by the standard of the Astros. The may need another year or two to be strong contenders, but they are contenders.
They were 3rd last year, not 4th or 5th bud. Bauer gets them to possibly compete for 2nd, though the Padres are one heck of a team so it’ll be a tough road
They were actually 3rd last year if anyone remembers…
Phillies management and the team sucks . Another season in the crapper.
Last place 2021
@bsans
The giants are a big market team? They sure resemble the A’s far more than the Yankees
jessaumodesto:
How do you figure? The Giants tried to obtain Stanton by trade and would have assumed a huge salary had they. They offered Harper $300M. They got under the CBT threshold within the last few years. They own their ballpark outright, with no debt service remaining. They have tons of money.
The A’s couldn’t have afforded either Stanton or Harper. They’ve never gotten close to paying luxury tax, and in fact have gotten revenue shared from other teams. They pay rent to play in a park designed to keep fans away in droves. They are always short of money.
Don’t get me wrong Despite being a Giant’s fan I hope for the best for the A’s. I hope they get a new park soon. But those are the facts.
Their offensive lineup
What was wrong the Giants offense last season? The Yankees play in a little league park.
jessaumodesto:
What does their offensive lineup have to do with the size of their market? It’s zero. I’m guessing you have no idea what the term big market team means.
BTW, the Giant’s team OPS+ in 2020 was 115, ranking them 6th best in MLB. Oakland ranked 14th win a 102.
they had no-names that proved that they could survive pretty well in the bigs
Make sense dude
FYI, the Giants have plenty of debt. Your forgetting about the Mission Rock Project which is a joint venture between San Francisco Giants, LLC and Tishman-Speyer. The San Francisco Giants, LLC is on the record as saying that will be paying for their portion of the construction loans with gate receipts and TV revenue. First phase is $145 million.
The Giants are absolutely a big market team, do you even watch baseball?
Yes. I’m a Giants fan. Have you seen their lineup over the years?
The Giants are terrible.
as were the warriors this year but here we are(i’m a warriors fan too)
Huh?
What point are you even trying to make?
You’re terrible
The Bay Area is the 5th largest market in the country.
The Giants will spend when they’re closer to contention, that’s not groundbreaking news. Aside from some smaller additions, I wouldn’t expect a significant portion of future payroll to be tied up this offseason. Check back in two years.
As a Giants fan, I don’t think they will spend big this year. Maybe next year, since there’s so many big shortstops and Brandon Crawford probably won’t come back. I don’t think this year’s FA market has the type of players the Giants need. One more decently competitive season, and call them big spenders.
With Covid still a huge issue I don’t see why owners will shell out huge deals and not know if anyone will be in the stands or if the next season is 162 games, 100 or 45 ?
And Phillies sink back to the basement where they historically belong.
With revenue down and the market saturated with talent, the dodgers should buy everyone they want. This year.
That’s when they’ll get the most bang for their buck.
Friedman knows this.
Sign Hendricks and Hand.
Trade Dustin May and Keibert Ruiz for Lindor.
Sign Bauer to a 1 year deal.
Please.
May and Ruiz is a massive overpay for one year of Lindor. Maybe the Dodgers will offer Ruiz, since they don’t really need a catcher, but that’s it. They’re not going to give up Dustin May in that package. Also, they probably don’t want to trade prospects for a one year rental. The Dodgers won’t have the money to extend Lindor when you consider the contracts for Betts, Kershaw, Jansen, Pollock, and the future contracts for Bellinger, Seager, and Buehler, among others.
@dan55 your logic doesn’t follow. The Dodgers trade prospects for rentals all the time. Hill, Darvish, Machado, heck even Betts was technically a rental when they traded for him.
I don’t see them making the move for Lindor because they already have a shortstop they like in-house.
My logic is pretty simple – they can’t extend him because they pay too much to the players already on the team. Also, giving up a top prospect like Ruiz for a one year rental doesn’t make sense when you consider that the Dodgers already have an elite shortstop and they could just re-sign Justin Turner to play third base again next year. The Machado deal was different because Seager was hurt that year, and the Darvish deal was different because teams can always use extra starting pitchers,
My argument is essentially that the cost of acquiring Lindor is too much for the Dodgers when they can get equivalent production from Turner and Seager without giving up a prospect. Sorry if I didn’t make myself clear in the last comment.
The Phillies are nonfunctional.
Mc “Fail” and Klentak should have been shown the door at season’s end. McPhail has been like a ghost since he was hired. Until recently, he never opened his mouth. I wonder if he even has an office at CBP. If he does, the Phillies can surely make better use of the space.
Phillies are really in a bad position. I’d have to think if there is an extended playoff format for 2021 and the Phillies are again not in contention, a rebuild needs to be considered. The roster is not deep enough to contend for the division and the farm system is bottom 6 in baseball. .
I think they would have to go over the luxury tax to be a legit contender but that is all up to middleton
The 2 biggest problems have been scouting and handing out big contracts to aging players. Bryce was always going to be good, but handing out huge money to Arrieta, a couple relievers, Cutch (who was good when healthy but aging and not necessarily worth his contract). Also, not locking up JT was a big mistake. Now if they want him they will have to spend so much. Zack Wheeler was good this year but 4 more years at a lot for someone who hasn’t been extremely consistent is worrisome. Nola was a great extension, but where is Rhys’s extension? They should really try and lock up Bohm as well.
This is a perfect setting for Bauer. He is coming off an excellent season but is he really that good. He does not have a great track record but he’s the best of a mediocre free agent class. Whoever gets Bauer will overpay.
Bauer will be with the angels imo, they need an ace to lead them to the playoffs
The Giant’s will probably add outfield depth and sign JBJ.
Why do people keep trotting out JBJ to Giants talk? That was old speculation from like two or three off-seasons ago, and there’s no fit there now..
JBJ doesn’t fill any real need for the Giants now; they need starting pitching. JBJ is probably going to get resigned to Boston.
Simple really. You traded away a stud prospect for Realmuto! If you dont resign him, all parties involved in getting him needs to be fired !!!!! Klentak is one stiff fired already, MacPhail is another that must go !