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NL Notes: D’Backs, Goldschmidt, Giants, Scherzer, McEwing

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Tyler Locklear will begin the season on the injured list while rehabbing from elbow and shoulder surgeries, leaving the Diamondbacks thin on the first base depth chart.  The left-handed hitting Pavin Smith will get at least a share of the regular at-bats, but given Smith’s struggles against southpaws, a right-handed bat would be a useful platoon partner or a candidate for DH time.  With this in mind, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7FM radio believes the D’Backs will “kick the tires on a reunion with Paul Goldschmidt” this winter.

Goldschmidt spent the first eight seasons of his outstanding career with the Snakes, making six All-Star appearances while hitting .297/.398/.532 with 209 homers over 4708 plate appearances.  Traded to the Cardinals prior to the 2019 season, Goldschmidt kept up much of that form over his six-year run in St. Louis, but he has just about been a league-average bat (102 wRC+) over his last two seasons and 1188 PA with the Cardinals and Yankees.  Playing with New York last year, Goldschmidt had a hot start but faded down the stretch, leading the Yankees to give Ben Rice an increasingly large share of the first base playing time.

Now entering his age-38 season, Goldschmidt may no longer be an ideal everyday option, but he had a .336/.411/.570 slash line in 168 PA against lefties in 2025.  These splits will get him looks from multiple teams in free agency, and returning to his original team in a timeshare with Smith seems like a pretty decent fit for all parties.

More from around the National League…

  • Joe McEwing and the Cardinals “mutually agreed to part ways,” according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.  McEwing spent the first two years of his playing career in St. Louis in 1998-99, and returned to the organization as manager Oliver Marmol’s bench coach prior to the 2023 season after over a decade on the White Sox coaching staff.  The bench coaching job lasted only one year, as McEwing spent the last two seasons as a special assistant to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.  With Chaim Bloom now taking over the PBO role, it could be that Bloom is looking to make some more organizational changes, or McEwing could be moving on to explore other coaching or front office roles.
  • The Giants seem to be nearing an unique managerial choice in Tony Vitello, as it would represent the first time that a big league team has hired a college coach who had no prior experience in any aspect of pro baseball.  The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly looks at some of the details involved in San Francisco’s pursuit, and suggests that Max Scherzer could be a free agent target if Vitello is indeed hired.  Back when Vitello was an assistant coach at the University of Missouri, he recruited Scherzer to pitch at the school, and the two have stayed great friends over the last two decades.  The Giants are known to be looking for pitching, and Scherzer could essentially replace Justin Verlander as the rotation’s seen-it-all veteran voice.  As Baggarly puts it, “who better than Scherzer to ensure that Vitello gets full buy-in from even the most skeptical veteran player in the room?”  The 41-year-old Scherzer posted only a 5.19 ERA over 85 innings in an injury-shortened regular season for the Blue Jays, but he delivered a strong start to get the win for Toronto in Game 4 of the ALCS.

Giants Close To Hiring Tony Vitello As Manager

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3:15pm: The decision on whether Vitello will be the next manager of the Giants or not is expected within the next 24 to 72 hours, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Passan adds that while Vitello is the “top target” of San Francisco at this point, the sides have yet to reach a deal.

1:56pm: The Giants’ managerial search seems to be nearing an end, with a surprising name emerging from the college ranks.  The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly, Brittany Ghiroli, and Ken Rosenthal report that “the Giants are closing in on hiring” University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello as their next skipper.  Vitello told The Athletic by text that “there is nothing to confirm” about the news, and the Giants also haven’t commented on the report.

The 47-year-old Vitello was an assistant baseball coach for Missouri (his alma mater), TCU, and Arkansas from 2003-2017 before being hired for the top job at Tennessee in June 2017.  The Volunteers have since become an elite program, with a 341-131 record under Vitello’s watch and the school’s first NCAA national championship in baseball in 2024.  Beyond that College World Series victory, the Vols also reached the World Series in both 2021 and 2023, and they were SEC regular-season and tournament champions in both 2022 and 2024.

Beyond this sterling record in NCAA baseball, however, Vitello has no experience as a player, coach, or manager in professional baseball.  There have been examples in recent years of teams reaching out to hire college coaches or assistants to big league coaching staffs, yet hiring a manager without any experience in an MLB organization is a step beyond.  Brewers skipper Pat Murphy is a notable example of a current manager with lots of college head coaching experience, but as Baggarly/Ghiroli/Rosenthal note, Murphy had many years as a minor league manager and a big league bench coach (not to mention a stint as the Padres’ interim manager) in between his NCAA work and his managerial job with the Brewers.

Vitello’s name doesn’t come out of the blue, as Baggarly mentioned him as a possible managerial candidate a little under three weeks ago, when rumors were swirling about Bob Melvin being on the way out in San Francisco.  Baggarly felt the Giants would be looking for “a younger manager who operates with a high motor” as Melvin’s replacement, and the names linked to the team’s managerial search have generally fit this description.  Former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde and Royals third base coach Vance Wilson are both 52 years old, and former catchers Kurt Suzuki and Nick Hundley are both 42 years old.

In regards to Hundley, the Athletic reporters note that he is now “expected to remain in Texas” in his current job as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Chris Young.  Past reports indicated Hundley was a big candidate and possibly the front-runner for the San Francisco job, but Hundley will now remain with the Rangers.  It isn’t known if the Giants simply preferred to go with Vitello, or if Hundley may have taken himself out of the running, as he did in 2023 when he was previously considered as a candidate for the Giants’ last managerial vacancy.

Assuming Vitello indeed ends up in San Francisco, it represents a bold move for both the coach and for the Giants organization.  Vitello would be “leaving the comfort of his fiefdom for a job that offers anything but stability,” as the Athletic trio puts it.  From the perspective of president of baseball operations Buster Posey, replacing a three-time MLB manager of the year in Melvin with someone entirely new to pro baseball is a huge swing for Posey’s very first managerial hire since taking over the Giants’ front office a year ago.

The Giants’ 107-win season in 2021 represents the team’s only playoff appearance and winning record in the last nine years, as San Francisco’s next best marks were 81-81 record in both 2022 and 2025.  This season’s .500 record wasn’t enough for Posey in the wake of some big long-term acquisitions (Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, Rafael Devers) within the last year, and Melvin’s dismissal was the latest step in Posey wanting to entirely put his stamp on the franchise’s operations.

There would be no shortage of fascinating subplots to a Vitello hire, the most pressing being simply how a college coach’s tactics can translate to motivating and leading a clubhouse of seasoned major leaguers.  Vitello’s NCAA credentials are as good as anyone’s, but as we’ve seen countless times in the NFL, NBA, or NHL, coaching the professional game is vastly different than being a success in the collegiate ranks.  The Giants have had difficulty in luring top-tier free agents in the past, and it is worth wondering how those pursuits could be impacted with Vitello in the mix — would free agents balk at playing under an inexperienced manager, or would Vitello’s recruiting methods work as well on big leaguers as they do on blue-chip college prospects?

Nick Hundley Withdrew From Giants’ Managerial Search

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Earlier today, the Giants made waves when it was reported that the club is “closing in on hiring” University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello as their next manager. While no deal is in place at this point, the news still came as a surprise. That’s not only because Vitello has no experience in professional baseball but also because Rangers special assistant (and former Giants catcher) Nick Hundley had been viewed as the favorite for the job throughout the process. Shayna Rubin and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle offered some perspective on that latter point this afternoon when they reported that Hundley actually withdrew his name from consideration “several days ago” for family reasons.

That Hundley decided to withdraw his name from consideration is not necessarily a total shock, given that he also withdrew from the Giants’ managerial hiring process two years ago due to those same family considerations. Rubin and Slusser note that Hundley and his wife have two young daughters, which naturally complicates the decision to return to the dugout and take on the rigorous schedule of an employee who travels with the team during the season.

While it’s possible that Hundley could simply opt to remain in his current role with the Rangers, which offers him far more flexibility than a managerial gig would, Rubin and Slusser do mention that Hundley has been “targeted by” the Padres in their own managerial search following Mike Shildt’s retirement. Hundley and his family live in San Diego, as Rubin and Slusser note, which could make taking a job with the Padres far more attractive from a family perspective.

The reported timelines between Shildt’s departure from the Padres and Hundley’s decision to withdraw from consideration in San Francisco line up well, but that shouldn’t be taken as an indication that the two events were necessarily linked or as a sign regarding the level of Hundley’s involvement in San Diego’s managerial search. It’s not known at this point if Hundley even accepted an interview from the Padres, much less if he’s a favorite to land the role among a field that’s already known to include Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty and San Diego pitching coach Ruben Niebla.

Aside from Hundley’s residence in San Diego, he also has deep ties to the Padres organization from his playing career. Drafted by the team in the second round of the 2005 draft, Hundley climbed the minor league ladder with the Padres until he made it to San Diego in 2008 at the age of 24. He went on to spend parts of seven seasons with the Padres before being traded to Baltimore in late May of 2014. Despite Hundley’s decade of time in the Padres organization between the major and minor leagues, it should be noted that he did not overlap with Preller, who took over baseball operations in early August of 2014.

Giants Interview Vance Wilson In Manager Search

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The Giants interviewed Royals third base coach Vance Wilson as part of their managerial search earlier this month, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Wilson is also a candidate to interview for the Twins’ position, Rogers adds.

The 52-year-old has worked as K.C.’s third base coach for the past six seasons. He’d spent the preceding two years as bullpen coach, giving him eight seasons on an MLB staff. Wilson has worked under each of Ned Yost, Mike Matheny and Matt Quatraro.

The Royals interviewed him during the hiring cycles that resulted in the Matheny and Quatraro hirings. While Wilson didn’t get the top job on either case, Kansas City has valued him enough to keep him on staff through multiple managers.

Wilson has never managed in the major leagues, but he has seven seasons of managerial experience in the K.C. farm system. He played parts of eight MLB seasons as a backup catcher with the Mets and Tigers. He’s one of a few former catchers on the radar for the Giants. Nick Hundley and Kurt Suzuki have also interviewed, with Hundley reportedly viewed as a favorite. Minnesota is known to have spoken with Nick Punto, Derek Shelton, James Rowson and Ramón Vázquez as part of their search to replace Rocco Baldelli.

Latest On Giants’ Managerial Search

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As Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey conducts his first managerial search, John Shea of the San Francisco Standard reports that he’s spoken to an intriguing name: former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. Shea does not clarify whether or not the conversation was part of Posey’s search for a new manager or even if either side has clear interest in Hyde taking over for Bob Melvin in San Francisco, but the conversation between the two is noteworthy nonetheless.

After all, Hyde would make plenty of sense as a manager for the Giants. Like Melvin before him, Hyde is a Bay Area native who has had success managing a small market team in the past. Ignoring a one-game stint as manager of the Marlins back in 2011, Hyde’s time in the manager’s chair has been spent entirely in Baltimore. He managed the club from 2019 until he was fired back in May, and in doing so led the club through a lengthy rebuild, exceeded all expectations with a surprisingly competitive 2022 season, and then build on that success to deliver a 101-win campaign to Baltimore in 2023 en route to an AL Manager of the Year award.

Hyde’s 421-492 record with the Orioles leaves much to be desired, though it must be viewed through the lens of a club that had no intentions of competing during the first three seasons he spent in the organization. The early-season disaster the Orioles suffered under Hyde this year is an undeniable blemish that can’t be excused as the trials of managing a rebuilding club, but he’s nonetheless well-respected around the game. Former Rockies manager Bud Black told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale last month that he believes Hyde will be managing again “soon,” and for his part Hyde indicated to Nightengale that he does hope to return to the dugout as soon as next season. Perhaps that opportunity could come with the Giants, his hometown team.

Of course, while there’s a plausible fit between Hyde and the Giants that doesn’t mean that he’ll be hired or even necessarily interview for the position. Shea notes that Rangers special assistant (and former Giants catcher) Nick Hundley is “fast becoming the popular choice” to replace Melvin and highlights his strong relationship with Posey, who he served as the backup for during his time as a player in San Francisco. Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic takes things a step forward and reports that Hundley is “considered the favorite” for the job in San Francisco, before adding that he’s not believed to be considering any managerial opportunities besides the Giants’ vacancy. Hundley has been a known candidate for the job for some time now, and has already interviewed for the role, but the fact that he’s considered the favorite is new information. Former All-Star catcher Kurt Suzuki and Guardians associate manager Craig Albernaz are both known to be candidates for the role in San Francisco as well.

Nick Hundley Interviews For Giants’ Managerial Opening

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October 6th: Hundley has now been interviewed by the Giants, reports Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle.

October 5th: As the Giants get their managerial search underway following Bob Melvin’s recent dismissal, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that catcher Nick Hundley is “strongly in the mix” for the job. It’s unclear whether Hundley has interviewed for the position at this point, but the fact that his name has come up so clearly is nonetheless notable.

Hundley, 42, was a big league catcher for parts of 12 seasons and served as the Giants’ primary backup to Buster Posey for the 2017 and ’18 seasons. After serving under Posey as part of the team’s catching tandem, it now appears Posey has interest in bringing Hundley in to serve as his manager now that he’s become San Francisco’s president of baseball operations. Hundley immediately jumped into an off-the-field role with the league upon announcing his retirement in 2020, as he became a senior director of baseball operations with the commissioner’s office.

He spent two years in that role before departing the league office to take up a job in the Rangers organization, where he serves as a special assistant to president of baseball operations Chris Young. Hundley won a World Series in the organization in 2023, and during that playoff run was actually a candidate to manage the Giants when then-president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi was looking to replace Gabe Kapler in the dugout. At the time, it was reported that Hundley had withdrawn himself from consideration before receiving an interview due to family considerations. He had talked to both Zaidi and Posey himself about the role before making that decision, however, indicating that he had at least some level of interest.

With no interview confirmed to have taken place, it’s not necessarily a lock that Hundley would accept the opportunity to interview if offered given his past decision to decline that invitation. With that being said, it’s entirely possible that whatever concerns Hundley had about jumping back into the grind and travel involved with a managerial role have resolved themselves in the past two years, or even that the idea of reporting directly to a former teammate like Posey holds enough appeal to get him involved in the process again. It’s also worth noting that Heyman made clear Hundley has “no guarantees” of landing the position, even in the event he has changed his mind about his desire to manage.

Whatever the case may be regarding Hundley’s candidacy, he’s far from the only person the Giants will talk to about their managerial gig. Former All-Star and longtime Oakland A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki is known to have interviewed for the position. Former Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz, now in Cleveland as Stephen Vogt’s bench coach and associate manager, is “expected to get a look” for the job as well. It’s worth noting that all three of Hundley, Suzuki, and Albernaz have connections to the Bay Area, though that may not necessarily be something Posey is looking for specifically in his next manager. Whoever next sits in the manager’s chair for the Giants will be an external hire, as Posey is not expected to interview any members of the current coaching staff for the job.

Bob Melvin Discusses Giants’ Exit, Future Plans

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It’s been less than a week since the Giants fired Bob Melvin, ending his tenure with the organization after just two seasons even in spite of the team’s decision to preemptively exercise a 2026 club option on Melvin over the summer. It was a somewhat surprising decision given that context, and today Melvin spoke about his time in San Francisco, his dismissal, and his future plans with Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle.

A Bay Area native who was born in Palo Alto and currently resides in Menlo Park, Melvin expressed gratitude for the opportunity to manage both the A’s while they were in Oakland and the Giants in San Francisco “in one lifetime,” calling the opportunity “more than I could even imagine.” Melvin had far more success in his time with the A’s, who he managed to pilot to a 823-764 record across 11 seasons that earned him six playoff appearances and two of his three Manager of the Year awards. By contrast, Melvin’s two seasons in San Francisco were generally disappointing as the club finished with an 80-82 record in 2024 before making only a token improvement to 81-81 in 2025, even after Buster Posey took over as president of baseball operations and brought in quality veterans like Justin Verlander, Willy Adames, and Rafael Devers.

That 2025 campaign is even more disappointing when one considers that the Giants were tied for the division lead in mid-June, shortly before the Devers trade. It would be easy to point to that second-half decline as the reason for Melvin’s dismissal, but Melvin told Rubin that he hadn’t received a concrete reason for his firing when he spoke to Posey about his decision the day of the announcement. Posey would later cite the club’s performance over the final months of the season as the reason for Melvin’s dismissal, but Melvin pushed back against that characterization. He correctly pointed out that Posey and the front office made the decision to sell off key pieces like Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval at the deadline in July. In that context, the club’s 27-26 record over the final two months of the season actually looks relatively impressive.

Whatever the reason for Posey’s decision to go in another direction, Rubin suggests that Melvin hasn’t closed the door on continuing his managerial career. There’s a number of vacancies all around baseball (including attractive jobs in places like Atlanta and Baltimore), and a three-time Manager of the Year with 1678 wins under his belt seems certain to be an attractive potential candidate to any club hoping to find an experienced voice in the dugout. Another stateside gig may not be his preferred destination, however, as Melvin told Rubin that he’s “always wanted to manage in Japan.” Having managed Japanese superstars like Ichiro Suzuki and Yu Darvish during his career, Melvin went on to note that he “really enjoys the style of baseball they play” in Nippon Professional Baseball.

Expatriate managers in Japan aren’t especially common, but they aren’t completely unheard of with Bobby Valentine’s time managing the Chiba Lotte Marines standing out as perhaps the most notable example of an MLB manager finding work in an NPB dugout. Perhaps Melvin will follow in those footsteps, though he acknowledged to Rubin that it’s “tough to say for sure” what his plans are so soon after being dismissed by the Giants.

Curt Casali Retires

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In a move that wasn’t publicly reported earlier this season, longtime catcher Curt Casali retired and took a job in the Reds front office, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.  Casali signed a minor league deal with the Braves last winter but was released before the end of Spring Training, and he didn’t play at all in 2025.

At age 36 and after 11 Major League seasons, it appears as though Casali decided to call it a career and move onto a new phase of his baseball life.  The nature of his duties with the Reds isn’t specified, but Slusser wonders if Casali could emerge as a future managerial candidate….even as soon as this winter as the Giants look for a new dugout boss.  That would continue the trend of catchers moving into managerial jobs, and Slusser notes that Buster Posey (obviously a former backstop himself) seems to be looking at ex-catchers in the early stages of San Francisco’s managerial search.

Casali has plenty of links to the organization, as he played with the Giants in 2021-22 and again during the 2024 season.  In the first year of Casali’s time in San Francisco, he was Posey’s backup during what ended up being Posey’s final big league campaign.

A 10th-round pick for the Tigers in the 2011 draft, Casali was dealt to the Rays in March 2013, and he made his MLB debut in a Tampa uniform in 2014.  Casali was mostly a part-timer over his four seasons with the Rays, but he received the bulk of the catching duties in 2016, playing in 84 games and making 256 plate appearances.  He didn’t hit much during that extended look, however, and Casali left the Rays organization and bounced around to a few teams on minors deals, including a return to Tampa Bay before the Rays dealt him to the Reds in May 2018.

Casali spent the next three seasons in Cincinnati, and his bat came alive to the point that he moved into a virtual timeshare with Tucker Barnhart.  Casali hit .260/.345/.440 over 485 PA during the 2018-20 seasons, but the Reds still chose to non-tender Casali during the 2020-21 offseason, paving the way for his next contract with the Giants.

At the 2022 trade deadline, San Francisco dealt Casali to the Mariners as part of a noteworthy trade that also sent Matthew Boyd to Seattle’s bullpen for the stretch run.  Casali backed up Cal Raleigh for the remainder of the 2022 campaign before entering free agency again, and his final two MLB seasons were spent revisiting old haunts in Cincinnati (in 2023) and San Francisco (in 2024).  While Casali’s big league playing time during those two seasons was spent with the Reds and Giants, he also was briefly part of the Marlins and Cubs organizations on minors deals.

Overall, Casali will finish his career with a .218/.312/.369 slash line and 48 home runs over 1579 PA and 543 games across his 11 seasons in the Show.  Beyond that modest offensive production, Casali was well-regarded for his ability to handle pitchers and call a game.  If Slusser’s report is any indication, Casali’s knowledge of the game might well develop into coaching or managerial jobs if he wishes to pursue that direction.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Casali on a fine career and wish him the best in his post-playing career.

Giants Interview Kurt Suzuki In Managerial Search

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The Giants interviewed longtime MLB catcher Kurt Suzuki as they search for a new manager. Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle first reported that Suzuki was scheduled to interview on Friday afternoon, and FanSided’s Robert Murray confirmed this evening that indeed took place.

Suzuki, 42 tomorrow, has worked as a special assistant with the Angels for the past three seasons. The longtime MLB catcher jumped right into front office work after retiring as a player following the 2022 campaign. Suzuki appeared in parts of 16 big league seasons. He was an All-Star with Minnesota in 2014 and won a World Series as a member of the 2019 Nationals. That included a go-ahead homer off Justin Verlander in Washington’s Game 2 victory over the Astros.

While Suzuki never played for the Giants, he’s plenty familiar with the Bay Area. He played more than 700 games over two stints with the A’s when they were in Oakland. Suzuki was an A’s draftee who played there between 2007-12. He was traded back for a brief stint at the end of the 2013 season as well.

Suzuki’s front office work has come under Angels’ general manager Perry Minasian, the brother of Giants’ GM and #2 executive Zack Minasian. He doesn’t have any coaching or managerial experience. He was highly respected as a player and had the added bonus of working as a catcher, a trait of many future managers.

It’s an unconventional but not unprecedented candidacy. Reigning American League Manager of the Year Stephen Vogt was hired by the Guardians going into 2024. Vogt had only retired as a player one season earlier, though he did spend the intervening year on Seattle’s coaching staff. Vogt has led the Guardians to consecutive playoff berths.

Former Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz has worked as Vogt’s bench coach and associate manager, respectively, over the past two seasons. Albernaz has long been viewed as a potential manager in his own right, and he was reportedly a finalist for both the Miami and White Sox vacancies last year. After Chicago hired Will Venable, Albernaz withdrew from consideration for the Marlins job. They subsequently hired Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough.

Given Albernaz’s previous ties to the Giants and to baseball operations president Buster Posey, he’s an expected candidate for the San Francisco job. Slusser writes that the 42-year-old is “likely to get a look” for the position, though it’s not known if he has an interview scheduled. Cleveland was bounced by the Tigers in the Wild Card Series yesterday.

Posey: Giants Focused On Pitching This Offseason

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Buster Posey’s most significant moves in his first season as president of baseball operations came on the hitting side, signing shortstop Willy Adames to a franchise-record seven-year, $182MM deal and landing third baseman Rafael Devers in a midseason trade. Posey will now turn his attention to pitching, the former catcher told Alex Pavlovic and Laura Britt of NBC Sports in an interview this week. “I think our focus is going to be on pitching, to try to fortify our starting staff. The same goes with the bullpen.”

San Francisco got solid contributions from the ever-reliable Logan Webb and a strong year from Robbie Ray in his first full season after Tommy John surgery. Behind Webb and Ray, the Giants’ rotation was largely a mess. Jordan Hicks opened the season as a starter, but posted a 6.55 ERA over nine starts and was bumped to the bullpen. He was then dealt to Boston in the Devers trade along with Kyle Harrison, a rotation mainstay in 2024.  Landen Roupp shook off a rough April to deliver decent results for a couple months, but missed the final six weeks of the season with a knee injury. Justin Verlander was the lone offseason addition, joining the team on a one-year, $15MM pact. He didn’t earn his first win as a Giant until mid-July, but ultimately delivered decent results, especially considering his advanced age. Hayden Birdsong seemed destined to lock down a rotation spot after beginning the season in the bullpen, but he found himself in Triple-A after struggling with control.

The Giants tried a handful of youngsters in the rotation, with varying results. Top prospect Carson Whisenhunt debuted in late July. He stumbled through five starts, posting a 5.01 ERA with an untenable 16:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Carson Seymour got the call in late June and made 16 appearances with the big-league club. He was tagged for nine home runs in just 36 innings. Seymour did earn his first MLB win in August, beating St. Louis in his second of three starts. Kai-Wei Teng was recalled in August and made eight big-league appearances. He notched a strong 28.1% strikeout rate over 29 2/3 innings, but was knocked around for 21 earned runs. Trevor McDonald was the last to arrive, though he offered the most intriguing results. The right-hander recorded a pair of quality starts in three outings, including a dominant 10-strikeout performance in the final series of the season.

Roupp should be healthy to begin the 2026 season. Verlander is a free agent, though Posey said he’s open to bringing him back. That still leaves at least one rotation spot up for grabs heading into the upcoming campaign. McDonald certainly made a solid case, though a 5.31 ERA at Triple-A last season casts doubt on his long-term outlook. Ray also struggled to close the season, allowing at least four earned runs in four of his final five appearances. His performance down the stretch, along with his injury history, could spur the Giants to add more depth.

Posey will have plenty of choices on the free agent market to fill out the rotation. Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez headline the 2026 starting pitching class. They’re likely to seek nine-figure deals. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly represent durable alternatives with potentially less upside. Brandon Woodruff, Michael King, and Tyler Mahle performed well when healthy in 2025, but health remains a question. Jack Flaherty and Lucas Giolito could join the fray depending on how their current contract situations pan out. There is no shortage of veteran inning-eating types like Aaron Civale and Zack Littell. The Giants could also take a swing at reviving guys like Zach Eflin, Walker Buehler, Dustin May, and Michael Soroka.

The bullpen was actually a strength for San Francisco this past season, at least until the trade deadline. The Giants ranked second in bullpen ERA through July. They were third in xFIP and fifth in SIERA. The team then sent Camilo Doval to the Yankees and Tyler Rogers to the Mets. Randy Rodriguez entered the closer role with Doval gone, but his dominant season (1.78 ERA) was cut short due to an elbow injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. San Francisco’s bullpen slipped to 13th in ERA over the final two months of the season.

Ryan Walker is currently atop the closer depth chart, which might be why Posey is searching for bullpen help. After losing the job to Doval, Walker continued to scuffle as the stopper following Rodriguez’s injury, blowing two saves and losing another game in September.

There are several high-profile closers on the market, including Devin Williams, Ryan Helsley, and Raisel Iglesias. Edwin Diaz and Robert Suarez could join them if they elect to opt out of their current deals. On the cheaper side, Kenley Jansen, Luke Weaver, Kirby Yates, Ryan Pressly, and Kyle Finnegan have plenty of closing experience. Emilio Pagan and Gregory Soto are coming off bounce-back seasons. Both of the Rogers brothers are available. It’s a robust group, giving Posey plenty of routes to reload on the reliever front.

Spending shouldn’t be an issue for the Giants in 2026. Devers’ megadeal is now on the books, and the team still has healthy commitments remaining to Adames, Ray, and Matt Chapman, but FanGraphs’ RosterResource tool has them at around $140MM for next year’s payroll. San Francisco only has a small handful of players heading to arbitration, so that payroll estimate shouldn’t budge much ahead of 2026. While they were at around $178MM in payroll last season, the Giants were up over $200MM as recently as 2024. There’s plenty of room to add multiple high-priced pitchers, whether in the starting rotation, the bullpen, or both.

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