The Giants head into the offseason in search of ways to bolster a team that has produced just one winning record in the past seven seasons. San Francisco flirted with Wild Card contention for much of the 2023 campaign, but a 9-19 finish to the season dashed any hopes of returning to the playoffs. Not only that, but the team’s late collapse doomed manager Gabe Kapler, who was dismissed after four years on the job and replaced by future Hall of Fame skipper Bob Melvin.
The Giants’ hiring of Melvin dovetailed with an extension for president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi, both of whom are now signed through 2026. Zaidi kicked off his winter with a fair bit of transparency, candidly acknowledging in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea that his team is “going to be in the starting pitching market” and that he’ll also be on the lookout for ways to augment his outfield alignment. Specifically, Zaidi hopes to improve his outfield’s glovework. “We’ll look to add a little bit more speed, a little bit more range to the outfield,” Zaidi tells Shea.
At least as far as the outfield upgrades are concerned, the trade market will present more options than free agency. Cody Bellinger is the top outfielder (and top non-Shohei Ohtani) free agent of the offseason, and the former Dodgers star is quite familiar to Zaidi, who served as the general manager in Los Angeles before being hired away by the division-rival Giants. That said, Scott Boras will surely be seeking a massive contract for Bellinger on the heels of a resurgent season, and given the dearth of quality hitters on the market, competition for him could be steep.
Other outfield options with plus gloves include Kevin Kiermaier, Harrison Bader and Michael A. Taylor (to name a few). Kiermaier and Bader come with plenty of injury concern, however, and all three have inconsistent offensive track records (at best). Perhaps for those reasons, Zaidi at least alluded to the possibility of operating on the trade market — noting that younger (and thus more athletic players) tend to come via that market rather than free agency. KBO star Jung Hoo Lee, who’ll be posted by the Kiwoom Heroes this winter, could bring some of that youth and athleticism to the table, as he’s just 25 years of age. However, his season ended early with an ankle injury, and MLB evaluators are split on the extent of his defensive value in the outfield.
The Giants’ current outfield alignment figures to include some combination of Mike Yastrzemski, Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto, who exercised an $18MM player option yesterday and will now return for a second season at Oracle Park. Alternative options on the 40-man roster include Austin Slater, Luis Matos, Heliot Ramos, Wade Meckler and Blake Sabol. That group was lackluster in the field, ranking 22nd in the Majors with -7 Defensive Runs Saved and 27th with -13 Outs Above Average.
As far as the pitching is concerned, it’s a natural and obvious need for the Giants to pursue. Ace Logan Webb will return to front the rotation, and the Giants picked up their $10MM club option on righty Alex Cobb (a net $8MM decision when factoring in the option’s $2MM buyout). Top prospect Kyle Harrison made his MLB debut in 2023 but has just seven big league starts to his name. Ross Stripling picked up a player option and will be back in the mix next year, though he’s plenty familiar working in a swingman capacity. Righty Anthony DeSclafani is signed through 2024 under a three-year, $36MM contract, but he’s pitched just 118 2/3 innings of 5.16 ERA ball during that deal due to ankle and forearm injuries — the former of which required surgery.
For much of the season’s second half, the Giants operated with only a pair of traditional starters. Bullpen games were a frequent tactic, with Stripling, Sean Manaea (who declined a player option) and Keaton Winn among the pitchers who were tasked with working long relief stints in such settings. Given the lack of established rotation talent, starting pitching is an obvious area of focus the team.
Zaidi acknowledged that he expects to talk with Manaea and his agents at the Boras Corporation about a potential return, but the starting pitching market is generally considered to be a deep one this offseason. Beyond Ohtani (who won’t pitch in 2024), 25-year-old NPB ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto headlines this year’s class. Countryman Shota Imanaga is also well-regarded and available for MLB teams to sign. More known commodities include Blake Snell, Aaron Nola, Jordan Montgomery, Sonny Gray and Eduardo Rodriguez, though as shown on yesterday’s Top 50 Free Agent List here at MLBTR, the options beyond those top tiers are plentiful.
Wonder if zahdi read mlb trade rumors FA projections ?? Lots of pressure. Will he come through this offseason or have to settle for second tier FA ??
Unless Zaidi changes his M.O. expect more of the same.
More like third tier.
Speaking of which, Bader crushes LHP and would be a platoon leadoff type, as well as a late inning defensive replacement. That’s right in the Farhan sweet-spot…
Let’s try to stay away from platooning as much as possible.
Harrison hired a British butler to call him Master Bader all the time. So there’s that
I was JUST saying this
Always enjoyed these sort of jokes. As a Cpl in the Marines I had a Sgt with the last name Major. I used to get a kick out of telling new Marines who had just arrived to go talk to Sgt Major and then see them get all nervous about it.
Sounds like Austin Slater, though Bader’s defense is superior.
*slaps Alex Verdugo*
We got a defensive upgrade for ya right here!
No thanks.
Bellinger is exactly the player SF will overpay.
I’m not sure what overpay even means anymore.
Bellinger would be and will be a great addition to any team.
His defense is excellent along with the bat seemingly back in full swing.
As a Giants longtime fan I’d be more than happy to land Bellinger.
What a mess Haniger has become and Conforto did show signs of promise, but with Bellinger out there everything gets better.
SPs we need big!
Underlying metrics give some pause to full swing. He isn’t 2019 bellinger
dennymagnet — No, Haniger was injured by a Flaherty pitch. Let’s see what happens when he’s healthy. Conforto on the other hand . . .
When has Haniger been healthy?
Zaidi could have gone after Bellinger last offseason but chose to pass. Going after Bellinger now after he rebounded will cost significantly more $$$ & long term contract. Better of trying to sign Lee.
I don’t know why, but I bet Bellinger will be this offseason’s Correa.
Just a feeling with the over inflation of him.
It seems like the entire baseball world has Lee being a Padre. Thats unlikely to be co-incidence. You might want to start preparing the post slamming Zaidi for not signing him.
Absolutely fits Zaidi’s M.O. of trying to resign all the 2015 Dodgers.
Bellinger was a rookie in 2017.
Doesn’t really change my point.
Cheap ass Giants owners don’t even PAY, they’re certainly NOT going to overpay.
1 winning season in last 7, CANNOT believe they extended Zaidi.
Once proud franchise now run by fools.
@virginia
Wait, is it “Cheap ass Giants owners don’t even PAY” or that “NOBODY wants to play in that cold ass ballpark” (per your other comment)?
Last offseason they outbid for Taylor Rogers, Conforto, Stripling, Haniger, and Manaea. You may not like all of those players, but there were other teams that would’ve paid those players, but some combination of money and choosing to play for the Giants in their “cold ass ballpark” led to their signings. And who would you have signed (realistically, not Aaron “As long as I’m playing baseball, I want to be wearing pinstripes” Judge) that would’ve pushed the team above .500?
But yeah, shame on Zaidi for only 1 winning season (which he was responsible for) in the past 7 seasons when he was only in charge for 5 of them (which included taking over a bad team)!
The once proud Giants fanbase is now overrun by fools like you.
Get rid of Heliot Ramos, that’s all I want
He was atrocious
You two don’t watch or track the Giants if you think that. Ramos looks good, deserves a longer shot. He ought to just replace Haniger as they’re similar player except ones ancient and always hurt and expensive and bad lol
He’s fat and can’t hit. I watch plenty.
Seriously?
1 winning season in 7 and THATS what you come up with
Problem is, NOBODY wants to play in that cold ass ballpark where the temp seldom gets over 70 and there’s a gale blowing all the time.
Everyone is looking for the same thing. A lot of fans are going to be disappointed. Prices in free agency will price most teams out while trade returns will be ridiculous. The rich will get richer while the poor will recycle 4a cast offs. And fans will clamor for a salary cap like the ones that keep nfl and nba interesting. And the players? Who can forget blake snell’s “i want mine” rant? Hard time to be a baseball fan.
Didn’t we just load up on free agents last offseason?
Yup. But gave them all opt outs.
I think Bellinger signs with the Giants. They need the star power, and he’s a versatile athletic power hitter that can steal bases. Plus, he’s capable of playing CF and 1B, Giants like their multi positional players. And most importantly, they have the coffers to pay for his very hefty price tag.
Don’t think his power will play all that well in that park. I wouldn’t expect him to hit 30 homers.
Good point. I had a look. 16 of the 26 leave AT&T. Very discouraging.
> 16 of the 26 leave AT&T
Yes, but he probably also picks up a few by pulling them down the short right-field line at Oracle. And he’d only play half his games there. So on balance he’d likely be pretty close to the 26 he hit with the Cubs.
Fair. Not so discouraging after all.
No one has hit 30 hr in that park since Bonds.
which says a lot about B Bonds
@acoss12. – your comment could be from the offseason in 2019, 2020, 2021….you get the idea. As was said before, lets see if Zaidi changes his stripes. Hard to imagine he will. And now we have the prospect of more of the same for 3 more years….uuuugggh
acoss13 — Too much money for a possible regression. Giants can do better spreading the money around (most of it to Yamamoto and Lee. Maybe Rhys Hoskins?
I actually love that plan Pete!
Pete,
That’s fair, Hoskins would provide a power bat, and be much cheaper. Yamamoto makes a ton of sense too.
Future Hall of Fame manager, Bob Melvin ??? What ?
Sure as long as you don’t look at his playoff record
Errrr…. Typo?
Maybe it’s his 16-23 career postseason record.
Or 59 ejections.
He’s 1517-1425 (.516 win %)
Three manager of the year awards.
I don’t see a HOF career there.
In the MLB managing game today, If you hang around long enough, you’ll most likely be headed to the HOF. If teams keep hiring you over and over and you get chance after chance to manage teams, you will almost certainly end up in the HOF, if for no other reason than the incredible number of games you’ve won, lost and just managed in general.
I would not vote Pinella, Leyland, Gaston, or Johnson into the HOF. Good managers, no question. Not HOF managers. It seems like they are tossing guys into the HOF versus do they belong. Here’s a list of 12 random guys, pick one or two to go into the HOF. Either they belong or they do not. But hey, what do I know.
Was about to ask the same question. Didn’t know doing nothing in October solidified a Cooperstown nod.
That’s what I was thinking when I read that. Steve, what are you smoking and why don’t you share the pipe with us?
The Giants have a LHP in Sacramento with Miiller for the pen. MLB.com named him the Giants organizational All-star
Steve, Welcome back from paternity leave and congratulations.
A question for you. Do you think the Giants are more likely to go after a long-term and splashy like Bellinger or sign someone shorter term like Kiermaier that is an even better fielder? Bellinger is not really the star type player that they have tried to spend money on last season.
Or do they possibly do a trade for an exceptional fielding CF like Grisham or Myles Straw that doesn’t hit as well and pick up hitting elsewhere like Ohtani? With often injured and relatively expensive players including Haniger, Conforto, and Yaz manning the corner, could a player like Grisham or Straw in CF be a better fit financially?
As far as pitching goes, Yamamoto seems like a perfect fit for the Giants even if I would rather see him sign with the Padres.
I’m a little surprised Zaidi was given a contract extension. One winning record in 7 seasons and you are the guy who signed Conforto and Haniger? Guess what? You’re fired.
There are critiques to be made about Zaidi, but you’re just cherrypicking reasons to dislike him. I know this because you’re basing him on 7 seasons when he was only PBO for 5 of them, which includes inheriting a dumpster fire when he did take over that no PBO/GM could possibly win with.
I knew he wasn’t GM during the whole last 7 seasons, but I’m still hard pressed to come up with any success stories on his watch.
But I do give him a ton of credit for backing out of the Correa deal
107 wins might be a success story
Absolutely once in a lifetime fluke lol. Yikes
Start naming how often teams win 107 games ALL the time year in year out? Your comment is yikes
Take verdugo, please
Only if you take Stripling.
With the way the market is reacting, it feels like Yamamoto might require a 10 year deal at $20M+ per year in order to win his services.
He looks like, at worst, to be a solid #2 starter if not an ace, but it’s still a huge risk coming from the NPB. You never know how certain players will do making the jump, but he certainly feels like the real deal. It will be interesting to see which team offers the largest contract for him.
I’d love to see him land in Boston but I have a feeling he ends up in either SF, Chicago (Cubs) or either team in NY.
I feel like Snell is destined to be a giant.
SanDiegoTom —Not after they sign Yamamoto.
I’m not good at feeling destiny, at least not since high school, but I sense he’s going to Philly or Seattle
Rotation help, defensive upgrades and… what about hitting? So far, more of the same, and he’s accepting the farm system is weak. I really don’t believe anything he says.
Neither does he. Buckle in. Hope you like watching the dubs win or lose at least
Prepare to be disappointed giants fans. This guys still operating as if his payroll were 70MM a year.
No he isn’t. Stop telling lies.
How did they let Gausman walk that was silly to me considering they almost eliminated the Dodgers the year before. Anywho, go blue
So Gausman walking is the sole reason you made that comparison ?
The go blue reveals everything about your lie.
Pretty used to it by now. They are over 100 games behind the Dodgers since Farhan took over. Doesn’t get any more disappointing than that.
While I’m bummed about that, too, Giants fans didn’t really have any right to expect these retooling, spare parts SF teams of the last five years to keep pace with the Dodgers. They need the farm to graduate some stars, and so far, its yield looks pretty mediocre.
The yield is as expected for this stage of their career. Evaluate this time next year.
Something needs to work out, because perpetual mediocrity isn’t the way to go.
Don’t worry. You will be validated but it will hurt. I’m convinced they pay people to go on here and other blogs and lick boots. It’s really sad. Either that or people just don’t look at reality.
I’ve learned my lesson about expecting any real effort to compete from this executive group. Happy with what we got last decade. We will never see it again. The board will continue to get filthy rich with the support of fans who won’t demand better though never wavering
@ted
Hold up, a team that was a dumpster fire with a weak farm when the current regime took over has lost more games than a team at their peak with deep pockets that does a phenomenal job drafting players in that timeframe? Shocked, I tell you!!
Seriously, though, what exactly were you expecting? If you wish they were a perennial powerhouse in just 5 years, I’d like to know how you think that would’ve been possible with another PBO.
It’s doom for sure. He will be gone after next year but ownership will still only care about profit
In other news, grass is green and the sky is blue.
Film at 11.
Kiermaier to sf
The conning of the SFG gullible begins. Throw out the big names and convince the faithful that they are serious about spending money. You have Conforto and Hanniger with zero value. If Conforto had value he would jumped for FA. You have Yaz, Matos and Slater. And you’re talking about OF? Makes no sense.
You have Stripling and Disco with no value. Add them to Webb and Kyle “Strickland” Harrison and it confuses why they are talking starters. They won’t be eating OF or P contracts. And no trade value. Let the hype begin. Let the gullible eat it up and talk about 2025 or 2026.
You shouldn’t include Haniger just yet. And Harrison is already much better than Strickland and probably more balance emotionally.
as long as Kuiper can yell at anything, literally anything, and Krukow can say “Grab some pine, Meat”, the Giants fans will think they actually have a chance at something resembling success. Seriously have never seen a fanbase as connected to their booth as the Giants “fans”…except the Mets. They’re the worst.
And that’s a bad thing ? Really ?
FMD. So weird that is seen as a negative. Hate is a horrible thing.
Wake up man… you’re doing damage to others by pretending to think how you do. It terrifies me for the future when I see how corporations just plant people online to simp for them. Those filthy rich elites don’t care about you, and they don’t care about winning. That’s for sure. They’ll own half of the city in another decade and Greg Johnson will be running for governor, and you’ll still be talking about the excitement of the detritus on the farm
Ha ha. The plant accusation makes a return !
You might be over thinking .
@hall, as someone who hates the Giants, Kruk and Kuip are great. 2nd best in business behind Don and Mud.
Oh ok…that’s the “plan”. Where have we heard this before?
This is just step one in the Giants annual dog and pony show.
Bob Melvin HOF hot take
None of the top free agents will choose to sign with the Giants. Let’s be honest folks.
giantsguy41 — Very worn narrative.
Because it happens every year. It’s not a narrative, it’s reality.
Except last year when Correa chose the Giants.
“Zaidi acknowledged that he expects to talk with Manaea and his agents at the Boras Corporation about a potential return”
Why? He should consider himself extremely lucky that Manaea opted out.
Because he knows more than you. It’s not difficult.
Scottn59c — Absolutely right!
Dude responded exactly as you would want when somebody is faced with a disastrous start. At a minimum, he earned himself a chat. Can’t see it happening though. I’d suggest there are better options for him. We have young guys to give innings too.
Manaea was the only decent one we should have kept. Strip, conforto and especially the corpse of Haniger would be better off admitting they stormed the capital so the giants can get out of their contracts.
Not understanding that Manaea was good makes me thibg you don’t pay attention lol
How many 30 HR hitters do the Giants have next year? Also, how many Giants will make the All Star game next year?
None, and Logan Webb.
@central
What point are you trying to make?
Power bats don’t really play up in Oracle, so a guy doesn’t need to hit 30 to be valuable. And HRs are great but don’t have much correlation with winning. The Giants had more homeruns than the Dbacks, but would’ve happily traded places with them. The Angels were 5th in the Majors in homeruns, and didn’t amount to much. Dodgers hit 37 more HRs and lost 11 more games compared to last year.
And while you seem skeptical, the Giants have tons of payroll flexibility and motivation to sign big names, but even before making a move, Webb and Doval are really good, Harrison and especially Bailey look like the real deal, the Rogers twins and Estrada are great, and some combination of regression and breakouts is likely among some of the other young guys and vets. So they’ll likely have a few All Star worthy players, barring a White Sox level meltdown.
Let’s see… last offseason they were in on the free agents, going younger & more athletic, hittin the trade market and midseason they were going to be aggressive at the deadline. I hope to God it’s not a revelation that they need to hit the trade market. Duh. FZ is a snake who threw Kapler under the bus (they both should have gone) who bitched himself to Melvin and got himself a sweet 3-year extension. He’s running scared and now might have to listen because he has no other choice if he wants to keep a paycheck. Melvin was a great get
Solid take.
Melvin as it stands today is not a future Hall of Famer.
Agree. Managing for a long time and doing OK isn’t HOF-worthy. Otherwise the HOF would include Gene Mauch, and Lou Piniella, and Jim Leyland. All with better cases than Melvin has right now. It changes if Melvin wins a WS.
Davey Johnson, Cito Gaston…opens the door to guys like Mike Scioscia. Anyone with a ring and 1000 wins are put in the conversation if Bob Melvin is a “future hall of famer”.
No on Belly, No on Manae,
No on Hoskins, Soler
Yes on Yamamoto, Montgomery, and Gray
Yes on Lourdes Gurriel, Justin Turner (why not), Tim Anderson
of course Yes on Ohtani (but I dont think he wants his HR count lowered),
I don’t know. I agree on some of what you say, but Hoskins might be a good get. Of course Yamamoto. Turner will be in Arizona: perfect fit. Stay far from Anderson, Manaea and Bellinger.
I don’t like Hoskins for the Giants. He’s a 1B/DH. He’s a bad defensive player. His defensive numbers are bad for 1B, and even worse for LF. I’d rather the Giants not sign a guy limited to DH. Especially if he’s then later forced to play in the field due to team injuries.
If the trade market is where the Giants will work the retooling of their outfield it would seem the Orioles would be a prime partner to consider. They’re in the process of either making room for their young rising OF prospects one way or another. Austin Hays or Cedric Mullins can both handle CF and it makes me wonder if a deal could be made where the O’s bring back bullpen help or take the opportunity to keep the farm system stocked.
Could put Joc on a diet(not a seefood diet)…call Richard Simmons? Anyone?
Nobody wants that halfassing dough boy back.
Nope.
No one.
Richard Simmons is a 75 year old recluse. I think you have confused current day with the eighties.
Wow dog. Wow.
Would love to know what was going on with Joc. Turned up in pretty good shape and just let it slip away. Disappointed this fan for sure.
If Joc is back you know things went very wrong. Guy is toast
Farhan 10000% wants Bader. Injury history, spotty offense, MASSIVE platoon splits. That’s got Farhan written all over it. I just hope he gets Yamamoto and shocks the world by getting Nola with him (I can dream).
I think Bader is way too mediocre even for Farhan. Shoot a little higher, maybe not Bellinger sure, but Rhys Hoskins has way more upside, and would be a much cheaper option. Landing Yamamoto is very realistic, that has a shot. Same with Aaron Nola, very reasonable shot at him too.
They put Blake Sabol and Joc Pederson in the outfield. Kapler was about a week from calling me on the phone to go play right. I wouldn’t put anything past them at this point.
Over the last 2 seasons Joc has -12 OAA over 858 innings in LF. Hoskins hasn’t played LF since 2018, and has -19 OAA over 1,409 innings. Hoskins is actually worse than Joc with the glove. Maybe you didn’t mean for the Giants to sign Hoskins to play the OF, but he has -11 OAA for his career at 1B (-6 last season). He’s really a DH only guy, and I don’t think that’s what the Giants want.
Jokes on you. Their entire lineup is DH only guys but they’re also bad at hitting.
Thanks for that penetrating insight.
Yes it’s quite a painful insight gained from watching a majority of the Giants games this season.
Well I was referring to the shallow aspect of your hyperbole, but whatever.
Sorry I have had to put less effort into my posts since I started working on a book for my PHD.
I’m thinking that PhD. isn’t for baseball.
You would be correct.
I don’t want to sound mean, but Joc in the outfield has got to be comical. That dude should not be fielding anything…
Chapman please!
No thanks. Not that Chapman is bad, but for what it will cost I don’t see the marginal upgrade over Davis being worth it. Over the last 3 seasons Chapman has a 108 OPS+, while Davis has a 112. Granted, that’s a little misleading because Davis got a boost from his big 2022. But Davis is way cheaper. He’ll get an arb raise to about $6-6.5M, and last season Chapman made $12.5M.
You just know right now, Zaidi is combing through the Disable List looking for the next new Giant. He has yet to go out and bring someone in that would actually help the club, that was Healthy. He’s in Love with the Disabled List and oft injured players or players way past there prime. He’ll wait til all the good players are gone, then go shopping -OR- He’ll make a Lowball Contract Offer,knowing that they will turn it down, then say he tried.