The Giants have been fairly quiet through the offseason's first two months. They've added back-end starter Adrian Houser on a two-year, $22MM deal with a club option. Their only other moves have been cheap fliers on rehabbing relievers Jason Foley and Sam Hentges.
While technically in line with their offseason plan to focus on pitching, their moves to date aren't the type that'll move the needle. Chairman Greg Johnson and general manager Zack Minasian have downplayed the chance of making a long-term investment on the pitching staff. There are still a handful of players on the open market who fit on paper. Any of Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez or Zac Gallen would upgrade the rotation. Top free agent hitters Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Bo Bichette happen to fit at their respective biggest problem areas on the position player side (right field and second base, respectively).
It's possible ownership doesn't want to meet the asking prices necessary for anyone in that group. The Giants project for a $176MM payroll, as calculated by RosterResource. That's narrowly above their $173MM Opening Day mark from 2025. That doesn't include the $17MM payment they owe to Blake Snell on January 15, as they agreed to defer the signing bonus on his contract for the '24 season.
They're also on the hook for one of the most expensive managerial situations in MLB. They owe fired skipper Bob Melvin a $4MM salary. They paid a $3MM buyout to the University of Tennessee to get Tony Vitello out of his contract. Vitello is reportedly set for a $3.5MM salary, meaning they're committing $10.5MM to the position for the first season.
Even with an estimated $40MM until they hit the luxury tax threshold, the budget could be tight for a marquee free agent. However, that doesn't mean the offseason needs to be exclusively depth acquisitions. The Giants have a few ways to chase the extra wins needed to push them from their annual .500 finish to more firmly in the Wild Card picture.
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I can fix the giants. Stop acting like a broke team and start acting like the major market team they are.
Fixed.
If you aint broke, fix it!
They are. Johnson said they are willing to pay over the luxury tax. again this year. They only dipped under it for 1 year, to reset the penalties. Adding three $100+ million contracts within 1 year says they aren’t acting cheap. Farhan’s gone, there’s a new sheriff in town. Try to keep up.
Then sign Bo Bichette. Get one of Gallen or Suarez.
Grab a guy like Bader.
Sign a guy like Fairbanks.
They’ve been connected to Bichette, as of this morning. I’m hoping for Tucker. If they were in on Shcwarber, I’m sure they’ve asked about Tucker. They’ve been connected to Bader too. Either him or Tucker would solidify the OF, and lineup too. Bellinger rumors are happening, but I’m not high on him. Mike Yastrzemski had better stats over a four year period. They’ve had a visit with Framber Valdez, so obviously they’re showing interest in the top of the pitching market too.
I don’t think the Giants need Fairbanks.
“Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”
They took on the Devers’ deal so you can’t call them not acting like a big market club. It takes time to complete a rebuild. Assess after 26 or 27.
It’ll definitely take a minute for things to settle in SF. The West should be solid and competitive again this upcoming season. Except the Rockies of course.
That’s why they play the games.
Sure I can. The giants can afford to spend well above the tax line.
The Giants get like 100m a year in local tv money. They have the fan base to draw 3m+ a year. They can easily have a top 5-7 highest revenue each year if not higher.
Having a payroll in the 250-275m a year should be easy for them. Spend another 50-75m and this team would look like a real contender.
Images of a dark room with Posey threatening ownership families to get more payroll flexibility pop into my head when thinking about it.
If they can sell the movie rights, it’ll pay for a few guys.
I think we tend to associate “no signings” to teams being “cheap”. The only way these guys are signing fast is if they are bowled over with offers they want. I wouldn’t be surprised if something big gets done before Xmas tho. There’s always sometime that wants to get it done before the holidays.
Agreed.
After Christmas. No way before xmas
Simm I couldn’t agree more they need to spend on a few player’s that can make the difference
Tucker would be perfect, and I think might happen. If they were in on Schwarber, there’s no doubt they’ve asked about Tucker. They’ve already had a visit with Framber Valdez, so obviously they’re showing interest in the top of the market.
He would be a good fit though I’d probably prefer Bichette because he is right handed. That park is really hard on lefties. At least power wise.
Though they definitely need better defense in the outfield.
I understand what you’re saying. Although the all time HR king was LH and played there. Tucker has the power to hit it out there.
As for the defense, yeah, Lee left something to be desired. Signing Bader and moving Lee over to RF would probably fix SF’s OF defense. Tucker is a gold glove caliber defender, but would leave Lee still in CF. Ramos has consistently been above average defensively in LF, outside of some growing pains for a couple months this summer, when the whole team was slumping, and he was pressing, trying to do too much. It was his first full MLB season, growing pains happen and should be somewhat expected. He’ll be fine moving forward imo.
I haven’t looked up Ramos defensive stats but I’ve watched a decent amount of giants games and he looks extremely shaky.
I’d look to trade him or DH him. The issue is with Eldridge/devers 1b/dh. If that’s the duo there isn’t a lot of DH at bats available.
I’d try and trade Ramos. Maybe the royals would take him for Bubic. Bubic is probably better but less years of control.
Schmidt is also fine at second if they went with Tucker. He can give them some pop from the right side. Perhaps grab Tucker and Bader.
They need pen help but most of the good arms are gone already. Could trade for Minter.
Ramos is the worst defensive outfielder in baseball, hands down. He needs to DH, Lee needs to move to a corner, and someone from outside the organization needs to be in CF (Brenton Doyle would be my pick, but unlikely to happen).
Ramos gets to just about anything in front of him, but going back on the ball he is extremely challenged.
That’s really all he needs to fix.
Here’s a sweet trade deal SF: Davis Schneider for no return. Take him, for free.
This article was free like twenty minutes ago, at least I got to read it
If you have friends in Canada they can send you a link to the whole article
The entire concept of “upside” is inherently silly. It assumes you know something nobody else does about whatever it is you are buying. If not (which is almost certainly the case), you’re simply buying cheap goods at the market price for cheap goods and hoping to get lucky.
Never a sure thing, but the closer you get to “sure” the more you pay
Sounds like getting Conforto back.
I think a better term would be to embrace volatility. No team is chasing downside. A team like the Dodgers or Jays where most positions are set don’t need to take gambles on high-risk, high-reward players. The Giants might have to.
If a team signs a player with a league-average performance history, then league average performance is all they can reasonably expect from him. Expecting more assumes either (1) that the teams knows something about him the rest of the league does not, or (2) they are hoping to get lucky.
Further, every signing is a risk — and risk and reward are inversely related. Bigger risks come with larger potential rewards.
Lee
Adames
Devers
Chapman
Eldridge
Ramos
Bailey
Schmitt
Matos / Gilbert
Get used to it.
Most likely the 2026 lineup.
The Giants should sign Tucker so I can gain another point in the contest. Because that’s what’s important.
Sure they should chase upside? I usually prefer downside but that’s my jam
SF, where power numbers go to die. Dunno what self-respecting slugger would willingly choose the Giants instead of any other team if they care about putting up (positive) numbers.
I think the Giants and nationals match up well. Gore and Cj Abrams (to play second) for Eldridge, Kilen, Whisenhunt and Cayama or another 45 grade arm. Nats get considerable building blocks. Giants get offense and a durable mid rotation arm controllable for two years ( Gore) and three years (Abrams). Gore and CJ are both cheap, which is a huge benefit to SF.
Giants outfield has been below average for a while now.trade lee I’ve seen enough maybe Ramos to the pirates.they need the prospects anyways,they should be in on Robert jr. And bellinger, or try a trade for O’Neill Cruz maybe?
Kinda feels like Robert Jr. is just an ongoing click bait rumor. Been going on for what, three years now ? Doubt he ever moves at this point. Also not that good..
Trading Level is definitely a player id deal. The giants have 2 young athletic shortstops one J. Gonzalez and Luis Hernandez. Gonzalez is going to be a top prospect pretty soon. Trading for a player like Robert Jr who can’t stay healthy is a complete risk. I’d certainly try for Donovan definitely. The giants have prospects that teams could be interested in. Trading Schmitt is another possible solution along with a pitcher. Why would you want to trade Ray who admitted near the end of the season he wore down because he was still building up arm strength from his TJ surgery which usually takes about 2 yrs anyway to get that strength back. Why would you trade a controllable pitcher Roupp when the giants need is pitching. Trading from possible strengths to weaken another part of the team doesn’t sound like a great idea to me.