Giants Rumors

Giants Out Of Bidding For Yoshinobu Yamamoto

By Anthony Franco | December 21, 2023 at 9:06pm CDT

9:06pm: Yamamoto could make his decision within the next 48 hours, tweets Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

7:55pm: MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets that Yamamoto has at least one offer of $300MM or more in hand.

6:59pm: The Giants have been informed they’re out of the running for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, reports Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area (X link). While there’s no indication that Yamamoto has made his final decision, Pavlovic adds the Giants expect he’ll sign with the Dodgers or one of the New York clubs.

Andy Martino of SNY tweets that the Mets have not received any indication they’re out of the running. That’s also true of the Yankees, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (X link). Heyman indicates the Yankees have put a “significant bid” on the table.

Crossing San Francisco off the list technically leaves six known finalists. In addition to the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees, the Blue Jays, Phillies and Red Sox have been involved. Philadelphia has made an offer this week. That said, reports have cast the Phils, Jays, and (to a lesser extent) the Sox as longer shots.

Yamamoto has been weighing offers throughout the week. While he technically has until the evening of January 4 to sign, the expectation is that he won’t take things to the wire. That his camp is now in the process of whittling the field lends credence to the idea that a decision might not be far off.

The bidding seems as if it’ll surpass $250MM, before accounting for a posting fee owed to the Orix Buffaloes that could tack on another $45-50MM. That fee is in proportion to the contract size, calculated as 20% of the deal’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of additional spending. That reflects Yamamoto’s atypical youth for a free agent pitcher (25) and his sheer dominance in Japan. Named NPB’s best pitcher three years running, he’s coming off a 1.21 ERA while striking out nearly 27% of opponents in 164 innings.

It’s a tough blow for the Giants, who come up short on another top-tier free agent. The Giants have missed on pursuits of Aaron Judge, Trea Turner and Shohei Ohtani within the past two offseasons alone, while their deal with Carlos Correa fell through because of the physical. Yamamoto will join that list. San Francisco did land KBO star Jung Hoo Lee on a six-year, $113MM pact — the largest deal of Farhan Zaidi’s tenure as baseball operations president — but they haven’t gotten a truly elite free agent in some time.

San Francisco still has plenty of spending capacity as they decide on their next steps. Roster Resource projects their 2024 spending around $158MM. That’s about $30MM below this year’s Opening Day figure. From a luxury tax perspective, they’re almost $45MM south of the base threshold. That opens the possibility for a run at any of the top remaining free agent talents. Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery headline the rotation class, while Matt Chapman was on the radar earlier in the offseason. So was the top available hitter, Cody Bellinger, although the Lee signing seems to rule out a pursuit of another lefty-swinging center fielder.

MLBTR Podcast: Tyler Glasnow, Jung Hoo Lee, D-Backs’ Signings and the Braves’ Confusing Moves

By Darragh McDonald | December 20, 2023 at 11:59pm CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Dodgers acquire and extend Tyler Glasnow (0:30)
The Giants signed outfielder Jung Hoo Lee (7:15)
Diamondbacks sign Eduardo Rodriguez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (13:05)

Plus, Steve Adams joins to answer your questions, including…

What’s going on with Atlanta shuffling all these contracts around? (21:25)
Will the Mariners do anything with the payroll they jettisoned? (30:15)

Check out our past episodes!

Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and Deferred Money – listen here
Winter Meetings, Ohtani Secrecy, and the Mariners Shedding Salary – listen here
Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Offseason Questions – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Giants Exploring Trade Market For Shortstops

By Steve Adams | December 19, 2023 at 12:09pm CDT

The Giants have been exploring the trade market for a potential shortstop upgrade, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, who adds that the team’s recent signing of Tom Murphy to a two-year deal could lead to former top catching prospect Joey Bart being moved Some combination of Bart, young pitching and/or outfield talent could conceivably be used to add the desired help at shortstop.

With Brandon Crawford becoming a free agent for the first time in his career, top prospect Marco Luciano currently resides atop the Giants’ depth chart at shortstop. Casey Schmitt, who made his MLB debut this past season at age 24, is another option at the position, as is 26-year-old Tyler Fitzgerald, who also made his debut in 2023. The Giants have begun to use Fitzgerald more frequently at other positions in the minors, however.

Suffice it to say, it’s an inexperienced group. Luciano has the highest ceiling of the group, but the 22-year-old hit just .231/.333/.308 with 17 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances during last year’s MLB debut and struggled in Triple-A, too, where he slashed .309/.321/.418 with a 36% strikeout rate. Luciano only turned 22 in September, so some struggles at the top minor league level and especially in the big leagues aren’t exactly cause for full-scale alarm bells to sound.

That said, those struggles also suggest that Luciano could benefit from some further development time in Triple-A. Giants president Farhan Zaidi said last month that organization was hopeful Luciano could seize the role but also noted the importance of having some insurance. Considering Schmitt hit just .206/.255/.324 through 90 games in his own debut while Fitzgerald has just 34 MLB plate appearances, a more established option would be a sensible acquisition.

Slusser speculatively lists Ha-Seong Kim of the division-rival Padres and Milwaukee’s Willy Adames as options, though it’s not clear the Giants have had meaningful discussions on either. Both would be one-year stopgaps; Kim has a mutual option for the 2025 season, and Adames is entering his final year of arbitration.

Mutual options, it should be noted, are almost never exercised by both parties. Kim won’t have six years of MLB service even if/when he declines his end of the 2025 option, but MLBTR confirmed at the time of his signing that he’ll still be a free agent when the contract is up. Adames, meanwhile, is hardly a lock to be moved at all. Even as his free agency draws near, the Brewers are still planning to contend in 2024 and would likely only move him if it meant acquiring MLB-ready talent in return.

There are other options to consider. The Twins seem likely to trade Kyle Farmer this offseason, given their crowded infield mix. Zaidi is plenty familiar with Farmer, who was drafted by the Dodgers, where Zaidi previously served as general manager. The Reds, Guardians, Cardinals and Rays all have ample infield talent as well. Not all of those teams are in need of a catcher specifically, although including Bart (and perhaps others) is of course just one of many paths the Giants could take to addressing the issue.

The 27-year-old Bart was the No. 2 overall draft pick back in 2018. He’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons but posted an anemic .219/.288/.335 batting line with a 35.4% strikeout rate. Bart, who’ll be out of options in 2024, is a .274/.357/.434 hitter in 554 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s been leapfrogged on the depth chart by another former first-rounder, Patrick Bailey, who batted just .233/.285/.359 as a rookie but also graded out as arguably the best defensive catcher in MLB.

Reds Trade TJ Hopkins To Giants

By Steve Adams | December 19, 2023 at 11:20am CDT

The Giants announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired outfielder TJ Hopkins from the Reds in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. Cincinnati designated Hopkins for assignment last week.

Hopkins, 27 next month, made his MLB debut this past season and went 7-for-41 (all singles) with a pair of walks and 17 strikeouts in 44 plate appearances. It was hardly an eye-catching debut, but the 2019 ninth-rounder’s production in Triple-A Louisville was far more intriguing. In his first full season at the top minor league level, Hopkins delivered a robust .308/.411/.514 batting line with a 14% walk rate, 23.9% strikeout rate, 16 home runs, 18 doubles, a triple and a pair of steals.

Hopkins has played primarily left field in his professional career but has plenty of experience in right field and center field as well. He’s been an average or better hitter at every minor league stop and steadily improved both his walk and strikeout rates as he’s climbed the minor league ladder. Hopkins was in the first of three minor league option years this past season, so he has two more remaining. He’ll give the Giants a right-handed depth bat to add to a heavily left-handed outfield mix.

Presently, the Giants project to have lefties Michael Conforto and Mike Yastrzemski in the outfield corners, where they’ll flank newly signed center fielder Jung Hoo Lee. The KBO star — another lefty bat — signed a six-year deal that’ll pay him $113MM just last week. Also in the outfield mix in San Francisco are righties Mitch Haniger, Austin Slater, Luis Matos, Heliot Ramos and lefties Blake Sabol and Wade Meckler. Haniger, who’s entering the second season of a three-year contract, could see a fair bit of time at designated hitter. Sabol could see big league time as a reserve catcher and outfielder.

Latest On Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Market

By Steve Adams | December 19, 2023 at 9:53am CDT

There’s been ample speculation about the eventual price tag of a Yoshinobu Yamamoto contract, but until early this week, the right-hander hadn’t discussed specific years and dollars with clubs, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.

Teams eyeing the NPB ace’s services were asked to submit a “preliminary” bid early in the process to gauge the seriousness of their interest, per Passan, but a follow-up round of more concrete bidding hadn’t taken place prior to this week. Yamamoto has met with several teams recently, presumably to familiarize himself with each organization and the systems and personnel in place at each potential landing spot. Entering the week, no teams had made a formal offer of $300MM or more, despite speculation to the contrary; none, in fact, had submitted a formal offer even beyond that preliminary bid. Passan wrote that some clubs have tried to broach the subject of years and dollars, but Yamamoto’s camp preferred to hold off until this week.

The Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Giants, Red Sox, Phillies and perhaps the Blue Jays among the teams reported to have met with Yamamoto over the past 14 days. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic characterized both the Phillies and Blue Jays as teams more on the periphery of the bidding as of this morning, however (video link). It takes only one aggressive bid to change that perception, of course, but it’s notable that they’re being framed in that manner at present.

The two New York clubs have long been known to be serious bidders for Yamamoto, though the manner in which he fits into each club’s landscape of potential offseason moves is quite different. The Yankees, for instance, have no intention of easing up even if they miss on Yamamoto. If they can’t lure the 25-year-old righty to the Bronx, Rosenthal suggests they’ll look to bolster the roster elsewhere. Among the possibilities he lays out are a run at bringing Jordan Montgomery back to the Bronx or perhaps building a stacked bullpen with pursuits of top-tier relievers like Josh Hader, Jordan Hicks and Robert Stephenson.

That seems to be a direct contrast to how the Mets are approaching the situation. The Athletic’s Will Sammon wrote over the weekend that the Mets are focused on Yamamoto and Yamamoto alone; they’re not expected to change course and pursue other marquee additions if Yamamoto ultimately signs elsewhere. Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that the Mets will submit a formal offer to Yamamoto in the next couple of days, adding that the team’s expectation has been that Yamamoto will reach a decision before next Monday. That’s entirely dependent on the player’s mindset, of course; Yamamoto’s 45-day negotiation window with MLB clubs doesn’t draw to a close until Jan. 4.

MLBTR polled readers last week, with more than 27% indicating they believe Yamamoto will sign somewhere between $300-325MM, not including the posting/release fee owed to his former club, the Orix Buffaloes. The Yankees and Dodgers were the top predicted landing spots, with both drawing about 22% of the vote (though the Yankees technically garnered 88 more of the 17,000+ votes than the Dodgers).

Giants Claim Devin Sweet From Athletics

By Darragh McDonald | December 18, 2023 at 2:25pm CDT

The Giants have claimed right-hander Devin Sweet off waivers from the Athletics, per Grant Brisbee of The Athletic.

Sweet, 27, was an undrafted free agent but continued to raise his stock in the minors with good results, largely based on the success of his changeup. In 2023, he started at Double-A in the Mariners’ system and got selected to the big league roster in mid-July. At that point, he had a 1.54 earned run average in 35 innings over 27 appearances. He struck out 34.6% of opponents while walking just 5.9% of them, getting onto the back end of top 30 prospects lists at both Baseball America and FanGraphs.

His first bits of experience at the major league level didn’t go well. He tossed two innings for the Mariners and then 6 2/3 for the A’s after a waiver claim. He allowed a combined 10 earned runs in that time, meaning his career ERA is currently 10.38, though in an obviously tiny sample.

The A’s agreed to a deal with Trevor Gott last week and needed to open a roster spot for him. It appears they tried to pass Sweet through waivers but the Giants swooped in to make an interception, using one of their three roster spots, with this move taking their 40-man count to 38.

Sweet still has a couple of options, so he won’t be guaranteed an active roster spot in San Francisco. He can provide his new club with some roster flexibility as a depth add for their bullpen. He has just 47 days of major league service time, meaning he can be a long-term piece for the Giants as long as he continues to justify his spot on the 40-man.

Giants Reportedly Interested In Shota Imanaga

By Nick Deeds | December 16, 2023 at 6:48pm CDT

The Giants have shown interest in left-hander Shota Imanaga, according to a report from Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Morosi adds that Imanaga’s market is likely to come into further focus when the sweepstakes for right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto come to an end. A recent report connected Imanaga to the Yankees as a potential backup plan should they miss out on Yamamoto. The Giants are a suitor for the young right-hander themselves, though its unclear if their interest in Imanaga hinges on Yamamoto signing elsewhere or if they would consider pursuing both hurlers. The Tigers, Dodgers, Cubs, and Red Sox are among the other clubs that the lefty has been connected to in the weeks leading up to and following his posting late last month.

Imanaga would certainly be a solid fit for San Francisco headed into 2024. With veteran righty Alex Cobb set to miss the start of the season as he rehabs from hip surgery, right-handers Logan Webb and Anthony DeSclafani appear to be the club’s only surefire starting pitchers for 2024. Veteran Ross Stripling along with youngsters like Kyle Harrison and Keaton Winn could all plausibly start for the club next season, but the Giants seemingly preferred to use each in more flexible, multi-inning bulk roles last year rather than as regular members of the rotation. Adding another stable arm to pair with Webb at the front of the club’s rotation could be a sensible decision if that preference holds into next season, particularly if the Giants wind up dealing one of their young arms to address other areas on their roster.

The Giants have been among the more aggressive teams in the league over the past few offseasons but have come away with little to show for it after whiffing on top free agents such as Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, and Shohei Ohtani. Should that same fate befall the club in their pursuit of Yamamoto, pivoting to Imanaga would allow them to bulk up their starting rotation with a player who, though five years Yamamoto’s senior, has posted a sub-3.00 ERA in four of his past five NPB seasons, including each of the past three. Since the start of the 2021 season, Imanaga has posted a sterling 2.51 ERA across 467 innings of work. That strong track record has led to reports indicating that Imanaga’s price tag in free agency could surpass $100MM, though the Giants have made clear they’re more than comfortable working in the deeper end of free agency both through their pursuits of Ohtani and Yamamoto but also by signing KBO star Jung Hoo Lee to a $113MM guarantee this past week.

On the heels of a 79-83 season in 2023, San Francisco seems interest in upgrades all across their roster. Depending on exactly how much money the Giants have to spend this offseason, a pursuit of Imanaga could leave them with more room in the budget to make further additions to the club this offseason. Third baseman Matt Chapman, right-hander Yariel Rodriguez and outfielder Cody Bellinger are among the other notable free agents the club has expressed interest in this offseason, though it’s unclear if the club remains in on Cody Bellinger following their agreement with Lee.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/16/23

By Mark Polishuk | December 16, 2023 at 2:25pm CDT

Catching up on some minor league moves from around baseball…

The Padres signed infielder Nate Mondou to a minor league deal last week, according to Mondou’s MLB.com profile page. The 28-year-old’s big league resume consists of a single game and three plate appearances with the Athletics in 2022, and the rest of his seven-year pro career has been spent in the minors. Mondou has hit .278/.375/.433 over 1275 PA at the Triple-A level with the top affiliates of the A’s and White Sox, while playing mostly second base, a good deal of time at both corner infield spots, and a handful of games as a shortstop and left fielder.
The Giants re-signed catcher Jakson Reetz to a minor league contract last week, as per Reetz’s MLB.com profile page. A third-round pick for the Nationals in the 2014 draft, Reetz made his Major League debut by appearing in two games for Washington in 2021, and he has since been playing in the minors with the Brewers, Royals, and Giants. Reetz hit .243/.342/.500 with 17 home runs over 322 combined PA with the Giants’ and Royals’ Triple-A clubs in 2023, and while it wasn’t enough to get him another look in the majors, the Giants saw enough to bring him back into the fold as a depth option.

NL West Notes: Snell, Dodgers, Manaea, Giants, E-Rod

By Mark Polishuk | December 16, 2023 at 11:08am CDT

“The Dodgers are showing interest in seemingly every pitcher but Blake Snell,” Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes, running counter to Heyman’s own report from a month ago suggesting that Los Angeles was one of the teams in on the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. While Heyman didn’t go into specifics about why Snell may no longer be on the Dodgers’ radar, obviously much has changed for L.A. within the last month — namely the Shohei Ohtani signing and (on the more immediate pitching front) the impending trade and extension involving Tyler Glasnow.

Since Los Angeles exceeded the luxury tax last season, the Dodgers had to give up $1MM in international bonus pool money and their second- and fifth-highest picks in the 2024 draft as compensation for Ohtani, who rejected the Angels’ qualifying offer. Snell also rejected a QO from the Padres, so the thought of giving up two more picks to add Snell might simply not be palatable for the Dodgers. While Snell’s market has been a little less clear than other top pitchers on the free agent market, such clubs as the Giants, Red Sox, and Padres have all been linked to Snell at various points, and it remains to be seen what other suitors might emerge once the likes of Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Jordan Montgomery are off the board. The Dodgers continue to be involved in the hunt for Yamamoto, and could pursue other trade options beyond Glasnow in order to address the lack of proven depth in their rotation.

Giants Considering Trading From Group Of Young Pitchers

By Darragh McDonald | December 15, 2023 at 8:02pm CDT

The Giants are entertaining the idea of trading from their group of young and controllable pitching prospects, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He says that signing a veteran will make it more likely but it’s a path they are already considering. As for who is in this group that Rosenthal is referring to, he lists lefties Kyle Harrison and Carson Whisenhunt as well as righties Tristan Beck, Keaton Winn, Mason Black and Hayden Birdsong.

The rotation in San Francisco doesn’t look like a strength right now. They recently had Alex Wood and Jakob Junis reach free agency, with Sean Manaea following them by opting out of his contract. The club picked up their option on Alex Cobb, but he’s going to miss at least the first month or so of the season due to hip surgery.

That leaves the club with Logan Webb and a number of questions. Anthony DeSclafani has dealt with ankle, shoulder and elbow injuries over the past two seasons, limiting him 118 2/3 innings of fairly ineffective work. Ross Stripling posted a 5.36 ERA in his 89 innings this year. Harrison debuted in 2023 but has just 34 2/3 innings of major league experience, in which he allowed eight home runs. Winn and Beck also debuted but they also have limited workloads so far and less prospect hype than Harrison.

None of Black, Whisenhunt nor Birdsong are on the 40-man roster, but Black has reached Triple-A and the latter two have made it to the Double-A level. Baseball America currently lists Whisenhunt as the club’s #5 prospect, Black at #8 and Birdsong at #12.

There is a lot of potential in that group but very few sure things. Subtracting someone from the flock would be a risk, but Rosenthal frames it as something that might need to be considered in order to add young, athletic position players.

On the whole, the club’s defense wasn’t strong in 2023. Their collective -15 Defensive Runs Saved and -17.1 grade from Ultimate Zone Rating were both in the bottom third of the league. Outs Above Average was a bit more bullish, giving them a +15, but it’s perhaps worth pointing out that Thairo Estrada alone had a +20. Brandon Crawford, now a free agent, was second on the club with +6.

President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi stated at the start of the offseason that upgrading the outfield defense was a priority. Since then, the club signed one of the youngest free agents available in 25-year-old Jung Hoo Lee. Perhaps further outfield changes could be considered, with bat-first guys like Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger still in the mix for playing time.

Zaidi also said that Marco Luciano will have the chance to take over the shortstop position to replace Crawford, but then later said that they would still consider bringing in depth because “it makes sense for us to have some insurance.”

Generally speaking, finding young and athletic players in free agency is hard to do. Since it takes six years of service time to reach the open market, most players don’t get there until close to or after their 30th birthday. With the Giants looking to get younger and more athletic, it makes sense that they jumped at the chance to sign Lee, but he was a unique exception since he was coming over from the Korea Baseball Organization.

If the Giants are looking for another young player to help with their athleticism, free agency offers limited options. That’s particularly true of the shortstop position, where Tim Anderson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are some of the standouts. Teams like the Reds, Twins, Rays, Cardinals and Orioles have lots of position players and could be willing to make a deal, but they would all likely be looking for young and controllable pitching in return.

As with any potential trade scenarios, the chances of something getting done will ultimately depend on the offers coming the other way. It will also depend upon the other paths the Giants pursue. They have been connected to starting pitching upgrades, including reported interest in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Yariel Rodríguez. They have also had some interest in free agent position players like Matt Chapman and Cody Bellinger. There are still many moving pieces but it seems as though there’s a non-zero chance of them making some young and controllable pitchers available, which will surely intrigue many rival clubs around the league.

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