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Guardians Re-Sign Austin Hedges To One-Year Deal

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The Guardians announced that they have re-signed catcher Austin Hedges to a one-year deal. The Boras Corporation client gets the same $4MM salary that he had last year.

Hedges, 32, has carved out a decade-long career in a unique way as he’s one of the worst performers at the plate but one of the best behind it. In 2,359 career plate appearances, Hedges has hit .186/.243/.315. That production translates to a wRC+ of 50, meaning he’s been 50% worse than league average as a hitter in his career.

But he has also produced 91 Defensive Runs Saved over the past decade, the top mark of any backstop in the league for that time frame. Roberto Pérez and Buster Posey are the next two names on that list, though Posey retired years ago and Pérez hasn’t contributed in a while due to injuries. No other catcher has even 50 DRS in that time. For that same frame, Hedges is second to only Yasmani Grandal in terms of the FanGraphs framing metric. Outlets like Statcast and Baseball Prospectus also give him glowing grades for his glovework.

Teams have generally tolerated the poor offense in order to get at that strong work behind the plate. He has maybe been pushing the limits of their patience, as his offense has declined even relative to his own low standards recently. He hit .184/.234/.227 last year for a wRC+ of 23 and then .152/.203/.220 for a wRC+ of 20 this year. The latter line was with the Guardians after they signed him to a one-year, $4MM deal. Since they are bringing him back, it seems they have no buyer’s remorse and are happy to sign up for another year of poor hitting but strong work otherwise.

Hedges got essentially half as much playing time as Bo Naylor in 2024, getting 146 plate appearances over 66 games while Naylor got 389 trips to the plate in 123 games. Presumably, a similar timeshare will be the plan for 2025. Naylor also had strong defensive grades this year, although with a better performance with the bat.

The Guardians put together a successful campaign with this duo behind the plate this year, winning the American League Central and progressing as far as the American League Championship Series. The rotation was a bit of a struggle but much of the club’s success was due to having the best bullpen in the league.

Cleveland relievers had a 2.57 ERA in 2024, easily the best in the majors with only four clubs within a run of that. The Brewers were second at 3.11, then Atlanta at 3.32, the Dodgers at 3.53 and Tigers at 3.55. The pitchers are obviously a big part of that but having capable receivers undoubtedly helps.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported the Guardians and Hedges had agreed to a one-year deal. ESPN’s Buster Olney reported the $4MM salary.

Spenser Watkins Signs With CPBL’s TSG Hawks

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Right-hander Spenser Watkins has signed a one-year deal with the TSG Hawks of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today on X. The righty is a client of Gaeta Sports Management.

Watkins, 32, has appeared in 40 major league games, suiting up for the Orioles and Athletics over the 2021 to 2023 seasons. He tossed 164 1/3 innings over those appearances, allowing 5.97 earned runs per nine. He struck out 13.9% of batters faced, walked 6.9% of opponents and got grounders on 38.4% of balls in play.

He signed a minor league deal with the Nationals going into 2024 but never got the call to the big leagues. He tossed 118 1/3 Triple-A innings on the year with a 4.56 ERA, 18.1% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 45.8% ground ball rate.

If he had stayed in North America, he likely would have been looking at another minor league deal and more riding the bus while hoping to get the big league call. By heading to join the Hawks, he’ll get to explore new horizons while also likely collecting a larger paycheck than he would on the farm.

Willy Adames Reportedly Willing To Move Off Shortstop

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The best available free agent shortstop is Willy Adames but he could also expand his market by playing elsewhere. Per Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic, Adames wants to stay at short but would be willing to move to other positions for the right offer from a competitive club. On the Baseball Tonight podcast, Jorge Castillo of ESPN says the Mets have considered signing Adames and moving him to third while others have also considered second base (39:05 mark of this link at Apple Podcasts link).

Adames probably doesn’t need to make the shift based on his abilities, though he is coming off a bit of a down year in terms of his glovework. He was credited with 10 fielding errors in 2024, more than the seven he had in the previous two seasons combined. Defensive Runs Saved gave him a dismal grade of -16 for the year while Outs Above Average merely had him at par. However, DRS gave him a positive grade in each of the previous five seasons while Adames had a big +16 grade from OAA in 2023 and +10 the year prior.

Clubs could view that more as an outlier season, as opposed to Adames suddenly falling off a cliff defensively at the age of 28. Still, there’s logic to him being open to a position change. Any free agent is helped by having more suitors, as a more fervent bidding war can drive up prices, as opposed to a stagnant market that sees the player linger in free agency. Adames has no third base experience in the big leagues and only a small amount at second, but most shortstops are able to pivot elsewhere on the diamond without much issue. He has a .248/.322/.444 career batting line and hit .251/.331/.462 for a 119 wRC+ in 2024, offense that would play at any position.

There are plenty of clubs that already have shortstops but could perhaps use help at second or third, with the Mets being one of them. They have one of the best shortstops in the league in Francisco Lindor, who is under contract through 2031 and just wrapped up a strong season that might see him finish second to Shohei Ohtani in National League Most Valuable Player voting.

But second and third base are a bit more open. Jeff McNeil is arguably the best option for the keystone but his performance has wobbled in recent years and he’s also capable of playing other spots. At third, Mark Vientos just had a breakout season at the plate but with poor defense and it’s been suggested the club could look to move him to first base as a replacement for free agent Pete Alonso.

The Mets could take that approach with an existing third baseman like Alex Bregman, as he is a better hitter than Adames and already established at the position. But Adames is a couple of years younger and could secure a lesser contract just based on his track record. MLBTR recently projected Bregman for $182MM over seven years and Adames for $160MM over six seasons in our annual Top 50 Free Agents post.

For Adames, having a club like the Mets at the table can only help. They are one of the top spending clubs in the league but there would be no point in them getting involved if Adames was firmly committed to staying at short, so it’s sensible for him to express openness to moving. Clubs like the Yankees, Mariners, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Royals could also be classified as having greater needs at infield positions other than shortstop, so getting them to the table as well could further expand his market.

One of the more straightforward fits would be the Giants, with president of baseball operations Buster Posey frankly admitting yesterday that the club is on the lookout for shortstops. However, Adames has received a qualifying offer from the Brewers that he’s sure to reject, thus tying him to the associated penalties.

Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic suggests that Posey might try to avoid signing players that rejected qualifying offers so early in his tenure. The Giants just had a hamstrung draft a few months ago, as they gave up their second- and third-round picks to sign Blake Snell and Matt Chapman last offseason, both of whom had rejected qualifying offers. The Giants went on to pay the competitive balance tax in 2024, meaning that signing any QO’d players this time around would result in forfeiting their second- and fifth-best picks of the upcoming draft as well as $1MM of international bonus space.

The Giants are one of the most sensible on-paper fits for Adames as a club with a strong record of spending and a clear need at shortstop. If they were to pivot to the trade market or signing a player without a qualifying offer like Ha-Seong Kim, that would only further the importance of Adames staying open to other positions.

As for a return to Milwaukee, that never seemed especially likely since the Brewers almost never give out massive contracts like the one Adames will surely require. Looking at MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that the Christian Yelich extension is the only time the club has surpassed $105MM on any deal. As if precedent wasn’t enough, owner Mark Attanasio basically confirmed it recently. “He’s going to get an enormous free-agent contract and I’m very happy for him and his family, and we’ll give it our best shot,” Attanasio said of Adames. “But there’s a lot deeper pockets out there. That’s just the reality.”

Adames recently reflected on those comments, per another column from Sammon and Woo. He seemingly left the door open for a hometown discount, though perhaps only slightly. “I’m willing to stay here for less money, let’s say, but I just want to be fair for what I deserve in my career and whatever I’ve done,” Adames said. “We just have to wait and see where we’re at. You never know what’s going to happen and you never know who is going to be willing to make that commitment with me for a long time.”

Alex Bregman Has Bone Chip Removed From Elbow

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Agent Scott Boras spoke to the media at the general managers meetings in San Antonio today. He discussed the situations with many of his clients, noting that infielder Alex Bregman underwent a procedure to remove a bone chip from his right elbow. Per Boras, Bregman will resume swinging in a few weeks and should be fine for spring training. Chandler Rome of The Athletic was among those to relay the news on X.

The news doesn’t come out of nowhere, as Bregman dealt with some elbow soreness in August. He didn’t go on the injured list but did miss about a week and then served as the designated hitter for a few games once he returned to the lineup. He was back at third base at the end of August and through September but clearly the issue lingered enough that it needed offseason attention.

Assuming the timeline provided by Boras is accurate, it shouldn’t be a big deal for Bregman, as he will seemingly have plenty of opportunity to heal up. But it will nonetheless be something for clubs to monitor before making a sizable investment in Bregman.

He recently ranked third on MLBTR’s annual list of the Top 50 Free Agents with a prediction that he could secure a guarantee of $182MM over a seven-year deal. As clubs like the Astros, Mariners, Blue Jays, Mets, Yankees, Tigers and others consider forking over that kind of cash, any kind of health situation will be something to watch closely. The free agent market doesn’t really have another viable everyday third baseman but the trade market could feature guys like Nolan Arenado or Eugenio Suárez.

Durability has generally been a strong suit in Bregman’s career. He missed a small amount of time in 2020 due to a right hamstring discomfort then in 2021 due to a left quad strain, but he appeared in at least 155 games from 2017 to 2019, then again in 2022 and 2023 before getting into 145 this past season. He’s hit .272/.366/.483 in his career with above-average defense at third base, allowing him to produce 39.7 wins above replacement so far, in the eyes of FanGraphs.

Giants, Logan Porter Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants and catcher Logan Porter have agreed to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 on X. The backstop is represented by Gaeta Sports Management.

Porter, 29, was briefly in the Giants’ organization last year. He started 2024 in the Royals organization on a minor league pact but was flipped to the Giants in June for cash considerations. After about a month of struggles, he opted out of that deal. He then briefly landed a spot on the Mets’ 40-man roster but was kept on optional assignment and later outrighted.

He has a sliver of major league experience, hitting .194/.324/.323 in 38 plate appearances for the Royals in 2023. He has produced some interesting minor league numbers, though not consistently. He split 2022 between Double-A and Triple-A, producing a robust combined slash line of .301/.442/.476, leading to a 145 wRC+. In 2023, despite getting called up to the majors, his minor league performance fell. He hit .232/.339/.377 in Triple-A for an 83 wRC+.

His 2024 started out strong, as he had a .319/.428/.575 batting line and 159 wRC+ through his first 138 Triple-A plate appearances. But his bat wilted as soon as he was traded away from the Royals, as he slashed .224/.318/.351 the rest of the way for a 74 wRC+ between the Triple-A affiliates of the Giants and Mets. Baseball Prospectus gives him solid grades for his minor league defense, so he can be a solid contributor at the times when the bat is producing.

The Giants have Patrick Bailey as their primary catcher but the backup spot is more open. They signed Tom Murphy to a two-year deal going into 2024 but a left knee sprain limited him to just 13 games this year. His current status is unclear but he told Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle in August that he was still in pain and seemed uncertain about the path ahead. Blake Sabol is also on the 40-man roster but he was mostly kept in the minors this year despite Murphy’s injury, so perhaps the club views him more as a depth piece.

Perhaps there’s a path there for Porter to get back to the big leagues, depending on how the offseason progresses for the Giants. If he makes it onto the roster, Porter has a full slate of options and just a handful of service days, meaning he can be cheaply retained well into the future.

Braves Interested In Nathan Eovaldi

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The offseason is getting ramped up and Atlanta seems to be focused on adding to its rotation. Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, right-hander Nathan Eovaldi ranks near the top of the club’s offseason wish list.

Eovaldi, 35 in February, just declined his player option with the Rangers. He could have stayed in Texas for 2025 and made a $20MM salary but decided to head to the open market and assess his options. MLBTR recently predicted the veteran could land a guarantee of $44MM on a two-year deal as part of our annual Top 50 Free Agents list.

The righty is arguably the poster child for career success after a second Tommy John surgery. After returning from that operation, he struggled a bit in 2019 but has been quite consistent over the past five years. He has a 3.75 earned run average over those campaigns, striking out 24% of batters faced, limiting walks to a 5.6% rate and getting grounders at a 46.9% clip. His ERA finished between 3.63 and 3.87 in all five of those seasons with his other rate stats holding quite steady as well.

For Atlanta, starting pitching is a sensible target area. They just lost both Max Fried and Charlie Morton to free agency, opening two holes in the starting pitching mix. That leaves them with a core of Chris Sale, Reynaldo López and Spencer Schwellenbach but with question marks behind that threesome.

Spencer Strider will eventually be in the mix but will likely miss at least part of the season after undergoing internal brace surgery in April of last year. Griffin Canning was just acquired in the Jorge Soler deal but he is coming off a rough season in which he posted a 5.19 earned run average and his strikeout rate fell to 17.6% after being at 25.9% the year prior.

Ian Anderson is on the roster but hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022 due to poor performance and Tommy John surgery. The club also has guys like Huascar Ynoa, AJ Smith-Shawver, Hurston Waldrep, Bryce Elder and a few others, though no one in that group did much to impress in 2024.

Given that rotation picture, pursuing external additions makes plenty of sense, though the budget with naturally be a consideration. RosterResource projects the club for a $215MM payroll next year, just $20MM shy of 2024’s spending.

General manager Alex Anthopoulos has said the payroll will rise but it’s unclear by how much and there have been some recent signs that money could be tight. The aforementioned Soler deal did bring back Canning but was seen mostly as a salary dump. A few days ago, the club reworked the contracts of both López and lefty Aaron Bummer, in both cases shifting a few million bucks from the 2025 ledger to 2026. The club turned down a club option on Travis d’Arnaud even though Anthopoulos had previously suggested they would be picking that up to bring the catcher back for 2025.

The long-term books have plenty on them as well, thanks to the club’s penchant for signing incumbent players to extensions. Each of Strider, López, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Ronald Acuña Jr., Sean Murphy, Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies are likely to be on the books through 2027, either due to guaranteed contracts or club options.

In addition to the club’s finances, there is also the track record to consider. Though they have been connected to some prominent free agents over the years, that hasn’t been their modus operandi. Per MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the largest guarantee they’ve even given a free agent is the $75.3MM they gave to Melvin Upton Jr. way back in 2012. Ozuna’s $65MM deal is their top free agent deal from more recent seasons. Their largest deal for a free agent starting pitcher was $60MM for Derek Lowe back in 2009 while $18MM for Cole Hamels is the biggest of the past five years.

Taking all that into consideration, Eovaldi is a logical target for the club. He’s been quite effective on the mound but his age and injury history will put a natural cap on his earning power. While pitchers like Fried, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Jack Flaherty could require nine-figure commitments, Eovaldi will be in a different tier of free agency. Though Atlanta seems to have targeted Eovaldi, free agent starters who could command similar contracts include Yusei Kikuchi, Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, Nick Martinez, Nick Pivetta, Matthew Boyd, Andrew Heaney, Frankie Montas and others.

Shohei Ohtani Undergoes Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery, Expected To Be Ready For Spring Training

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The Dodgers announced today that Shohei Ohtani underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a labrum tear in his left shoulder that resulted from a dislocation. The club added that the two-way star is expected to be ready for spring training.

Ohtani was clearly hurt in game two of the World Series. He attempted to steal second base, sliding into the bag and wincing in pain afterwards. He left the field with the trainer though technically wasn’t replaced, as he was the designated hitter and his spot in the lineup didn’t come up again.

After the game, manager Dave Roberts said that Ohtani had suffered a “little” shoulder subluxation, or dislocation. After a day off between the second and third game of the series, Ohtani was back in the lineup but collected just one hit in the final three games of the series. Even the best hitters in the world can have a few rough games but perhaps the injury was lingering more than the club let on initially. Roberts implied as much after the series was done, per Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post on X. Whatever Ohtani’s status was during those games, it’s now clear that his labrum was torn and arthroscopic surgery was necessary.

Though the injury is to Ohtani’s non-throwing arm and he is expected to recover by spring training, it could add another bit of uncertainty heading into 2025. It’s not uncommon for injury recoveries to eventually surge past estimated timelines and this isn’t the only thing Ohtani will be working back from. He underwent UCL surgery late in 2023 and didn’t pitch at all in 2024.

Though he was limited to a designated hitter role in 2024, he still had an elite season. He hit 54 home runs and stole 59 bases, producing a .310/.390/.646 slash line and 181 wRC+ in the process. The Dodgers went on to win the World Series and Ohtani seems like a lock to earn another Most Valuable Player award soon.

Heading into 2025, Ohtani will be trying to get both his right elbow and left shoulder in game shape as he looks to return to being a two-way player. His mound work was probably going be limited anyway after missing an entire season. Whether this new operation adds further limitations or impacts his availability as a hitter remains to be seen. Ohtani has generally shown that it’s best not to doubt his abilities but his unprecedented career means he is always stepping into unknown territory, in a sense, since no player has ever managed his kind of double workload over an extended period of time before.

Depending on how the situation develops, it could impact the offseason for the Dodgers. They have plenty of talented arms in their theoretical 2025 rotation, including Ohtani but also Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Landon Knack, Ben Casparius and others. Clayton Kershaw will presumably be re-signed at some point. However, most of those guys have workload or health concerns, so the club could consider offseason additions even though there’s a large number of names in it. The free agent market features Jack Flaherty, Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and dozens of others, while the trade market could potentially have Garrett Crochet leading the pack.

Rangers Hire Skip Schumaker As Senior Advisor; Expected To Hire Luis Urueta As Bench Coach

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5:35pm: In a column at the Dallas Morning News, Grant reports that the plan would be for Ecker to focus on hitting while Urueta takes over the bench coach job.

4:55pm: The Rangers have hired former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker as a senior advisor to president of baseball operations Chris Young, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News on X. Grant adds that Luis Urueta, who was bench coach during Schumaker’s tenure in Miami, is expected to take up that job with the Rangers.

It’s unclear how this will impact Donnie Ecker, as he has been the bench coach in Texas and there’s been nothing to indicate he’s leaving the club.  Will Venable was just hired to manage the White Sox after previously being associate manager of the Rangers, so perhaps Urueta will take over some of Venable’s duties with Ecker’s title changing.

Schumaker was hired to manage the Marlins ahead of the 2023 season. His first campaign at the helm was a successful one, as the Fish defied the odds to go 84-78 and squeak into the postseason, their first appearance in the playoffs in a full season in 20 years. Schumaker earned National League Manager of the Year honors on the heels of that.

Despite the cinderella season, the Marlins decided to shake up their front office afterwards, parting ways with general manager Kim Ng and hiring Peter Bendix as president of baseball operations. Schumaker was reportedly displeased with the shift in direction, which led the Marlins to void their 2025 club option with him.

That reporting came out in April and it was expected all throughout the 2024 campaign that he would leave Miami, which is what eventually came to pass. He was speculated as a managerial fit for other clubs and did eventually get consideration for openings once the offseason rolled around. Two clubs other than the Marlins had dugout vacancies this winter, the Reds and the White Sox. Schumaker was connected to both gigs but the Reds went with Terry Francona and the Sox with Venable.

Perhaps Schumaker will return to being a skipper someday, but he will join the Rangers organization for now. It’s unclear if this is part of some long-term pivot away from the dugout to the front office or perhaps just a placeholder job. If Schumaker intends to manage again in the future, this job is perhaps a more attractive alternative than just sitting on his hands for a year. He can share some of his expertise with the Rangers while absorbing some of theirs and perhaps be ready to pursue managerial jobs next winter.

It’s also possible that his next managerial opening could be in Arlington. Many people considered Venable to be a sort of manager-in-waiting since current skipper Bruce Bochy is turning 70 years old in April. Venable has now moved on but the club will naturally want to be prepared for the possibility of Bochy deciding to retire. If that comes to pass in the next year or two, perhaps Schumaker can simply slide into that role, already being familiar with some of the inner workings of the organization.

As for Urueta, he spent the past two years working under Schumaker in Miami. It was reported last month that the Marlins would not be retaining any of their coaching staff, presumably letting Schumaker’s eventual replacement have some say over how their next staff would be composed. Urueta got some consideration for the managerial gig in Miami, which is still open, but it now seems he will be heading to Texas with Schumaker.

As mentioned, the Rangers have had both Ecker and Venable on the coaching staff in recent years. Ecker was hired as bench coach and offensive coordinator going into 2022 and Venable was hired as associate manager going into 2023. With Venable leaving and Urueta coming in as bench coach, it’s unclear how this will impact Ecker. Perhaps Ecker could shift into Venable’s role, though that’s mere speculation at this point. More details will surely emerge in the days to come.

Camilo Doval Drawing Trade Interest

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Giants right-hander Camilo Doval is drawing trade interest from multiple clubs, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle on X. The righty just crossed three years of service time in 2024, qualifying him for arbitration for the first time and putting him on pace for free agency after the 2027 season.

It was a down season for Doval but it’s understandable why clubs would still be interested, as it could be a chance to buy low on a guy with plenty of good results in previous years. Doval made 166 appearances for the Giants over the 2021-23 seasons, allowing 2.77 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 30.2% of batters faced, gave out walks to 9.6% of opponents and kept 53.4% of balls in play on the ground. He earned three saves in 2021 before taking over the closer’s role more permanently, earning 66 more saves over the next two seasons.

But as mentioned, 2024 was undeniably a rough patch for him. He struggled enough that the Giants optioned him to the minors for a couple of weeks in August to try to help him reset his head and get back on track. He ultimately finished the season with a 4.88 ERA in 59 innings pitched. His 60% ground ball rate and 28.8% strikeout rate were both strong but he gave out free passes at a huge 14.4% clip.

Ryan Walker took over the closing job in San Francisco as that was happening. Walker finished his 2024 with a 1.91 ERA, 32.1% strikeout rate, 5.8% walk rate and 46.9% ground ball rate. Given the strength of that performance, he probably has a firm grip on keeping the gig going into 2025.

If the Giants could get Doval back to his pre-2024 form, they could certainly have him in a setup role alongside Walker. It wouldn’t be ideal to trade him if this is a temporary low point and he eventually returns to form.

On the other hand, if they expect his performance to continue to slip, it would make sense to consider trades before his value drops even lower. Even dominant relievers can suddenly experience a sharp drop-off in performance, impacting trade value. David Bednar of the Pirates had his name in plenty of trade rumors while posting a 2.25 ERA over the 2021-2023 seasons but the Bucs didn’t pull the trigger on any offers. Now they might wish they had, with Bednar posting a 5.77 ERA in 2024.

It’s also possible that the shift in the Giants’ front office could impact how they view Doval. It sometimes happens where a new general manager or president of baseball operations has a different valuation of a player than the predecessor, meaning their availability changes. The Giants just replaced Farhan Zaidi with Buster Posey in the POBO role and perhaps the new regime will be less committed to Doval than the previous one.

As mentioned, Doval is just getting to arbitration for the first time. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a salary of $4.6MM next year, with Doval eligible for two more passes through the arb system after that.

There would be plenty of surplus value there for the 2021-23 version of Doval. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, the best relievers in the league have secured contracts that pay them $15-20MM annually and even solid setup guys can get eight-figure salaries. For any club with a plan for helping Doval put his 2024 behind him, his arb years would be a bargain, though that’s a bit uncertain at the moment with the way his most recent season played out.

Posey: Giants Pursuing Shortstops

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With the 2024 baseball season now complete and the offseason kicking off, the industry is currently buzzing at the general managers meetings in San Antonio. New Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey spoke with members of the media and said the club is looking for a shortstop, per Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle on X. Posey mentioned that Tyler Fitzgerald performed well in 2024 but can play other positions. Prospect Marco Luciano is seemingly ticketed for an outfield role for now, with the club hoping that can help him focus on taking a step forward at the plate.

It’s a bit surprising to see Posey be so frank in discussing a club need, as club executives are normally more cagy and vague in their statements, but it’s not a shock that he has identified this part of the roster as a target.

Brandon Crawford was a fixture at shortstop for the Giants from 2010 to through 2023, but his performance tailed off at the end of that stretch and the Giants didn’t bring him back for 2024. While Crawford got a bench job with the Cardinals this year, the Giants didn’t find an immediate replacement for him.

The aforementioned Fitzgerald got most of the playing time there this year and performed well at the plate. His 31.7% strikeout rate was on the high side but he hit 15 home runs in just 341 plate appearances, leading to a .280/.334/.497 batting line and 132 wRC+.

His defense was another story, however, as the advanced metrics weren’t keen on his work at short. Outs Above Average gave him a grade of -4 for his 594 innings at the spot while Defensive Runs Saved had him at -6. As Posey mentioned, Fitzgerald played other positions, spending some time in the outfield as well as at the three non-shortstop infield spots. Both OAA and DRS were more fond of his work at those other positions, so there’s logic in having him get bumped into a regular gig somewhere else or a super utility role.

As for Luciano, he has been considered a potential long-term solution at short for a while now but hasn’t cemented himself at the big league level. He has hit just .217/.286/.304 in the majors so far, in a small sample of just 126 plate appearances. His Triple-A performance hasn’t been great either, with a .243/.370/.386 line and 95 wRC+ at that level over the past two seasons.

His glovework has also been an issue and this isn’t the first time that the club has talked about moving him off shortstop. In September, manager Bob Melvin talked about Luciano getting more work at second base to finish the season, which was followed by then-president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi talking about Luciano getting some work in the outfield.

It seems the organization now plans to stick with that latter path. Luciano doesn’t yet have any official game action in the outfield, majors or minors, so there may be a learning curve for a while. But given how demanding the shortstop position can be, it’s possible that lining up on the grass could help him unlock his offensive potential at some point.

He hit well through the lower levels of the minors and up through Double-A, spending plenty of time on top prospect lists during that rise. Baseball America considered him the #12 prospect in the whole league as recently as 2021, giving him a 60 grade for his hitting and a 70 for his power on the 20-80 scouting scale. Getting Luciano back on track in the batter’s box is understandably a priority for the Giants, even if he won’t be in the shortstop position.

With the club viewing both Fitzgerald and Luciano as ticketed for other spots, pursuing an external shortstop candidate is a logical offseason goal. The free agent market has one clear top candidate in Willy Adames. There’s also Ha-Seong Kim, but he recently underwent shoulder surgery and has an uncertain return timeline. Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller recently gave a vague “May, June, July” answer about Kim getting back on the field.

The Giants could sign Kim and then keep Fitzgerald at short until the shoulder issue is resolved, but signing Adames is a more straightforward solution. Playing for the Rays and Brewers, Adames already has 150 career home runs, a .248/.322/.444 batting line and 109 wRC+. He just finished a season wherein he stole 21 bases, hit 32 long balls and slashed .251/.331/.462 for a 119 wRC+.

Defensively, Adames has received strong reviews in his career but is coming off a down year. He was credited with 10 fielding errors in 2024, despite having only seven over 2022 and 2023 combined. His -16 DRS for the year was dreadful but he’s still at +4 in his career, even when factoring that in. OAA had him at exactly league average this year but had him at +16 in 2023 and +10 the year before that.

It would be odd for Adames to suddenly experience a steep drop in his fielding abilities at the age of 28, so perhaps clubs will view his 2024 glovework as an odd aberration. Either way, Adames is the clear top shortstop available and MLBTR recently predicted him for a six-year, $160MM contract as part of our annual Top 50 Free Agents post. All four contributors to that post predicted Adames would indeed sign with the Giants, which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a slam dunk to happen. However, it does reflect that Adames and the Giants are a logical pairing, for the reasons laid out above.

The Giants have made more recent headlines for the top free agents they didn’t sign as opposed to the ones they did. They’ve been connected to big names like Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa and Bryce Harper in past offseasons and reportedly made some strong offers. Most notably, the club and Correa agreed to a 13-year, $350MM deal two years ago, which would have solved their shortstop situation at that time. But the deal got scuttled by the medicals and Correa eventually signed with the Twins.

As such, the largest free agent contract the Giants have given out in the past five years was to Jung Hoo Lee. He got a $113MM guarantee over six years but was an exceptional case as he was coming over to North America at the young age of 25. Apart from that, in the same five-year window, the Giants haven’t given a free agent more than the four years they gave Jordan Hicks and haven’t given a guarantee larger than the $62MM to Blake Snell. The latter deal didn’t even play out in full as Snell opted out after one year.

But perhaps Posey has a goal of flipping that narrative. He recently spoke about getting the Giants back into the “memory-making business” and was reportedly instrumental in getting third baseman Matt Chapman to sign a six-year, $151MM extension, a fairly similar pact to the deal projected for Adames.

RosterResource projects the Giants for a payroll of $155MM next year, more than $50MM south of the 2024 spending. Assuming they are willing to run a similar payroll next year, there’s plenty of room to sign Adames and pursue other goals as well.

There’s also the trade market for Posey to explore, though it’s unclear if there’s a better option than Adames available. Bo Bichette of the Blue Jays has been in plenty of rumors but that club’s general manager Ross Atkins recently threw cold water on the possibility and Bichette is coming off the worst season of his career anyway. He missed time due to injury and hit just .225/.277/.322 for a wRC+ of 71, after hitting .299/.340/.487 for a 126 wRC+ in previous seasons. A deal now would be a big sell-low move for the Jays while the Giants would be taking a big gamble on a bounceback. Bichette is also just one year away from free agency and would only be a short-term solution, unless the Giants wanted to pursue a trade-and-extend path, though that would only add to the downside if Bichette can’t quite get back on track. Bichette also has mediocre defensive grades for his career, making it fair to wonder how much longer he can stick at short. Nico Hoerner was another theoretical trade possibility but he recently underwent flexor tendon surgery and has an uncertain path forward.

Posey is only just beginning his first offseason as a top front office executive, so perhaps he will take some time exploring his options before making a decision. But for now, he has shown some refreshing candor in laying out one clear priority for the winter ahead.

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