The World Series is over. The Dodgers are champions. And the Giants don’t have a general manager.
Welcome to the offseason.
Buster Posey, the franchise icon turned new president of baseball operations, faces the task of bringing winning baseball back to San Francisco. He still needs to hire a general manager, a box he must check in the coming days given that free agents are allowed to sign with new teams five days after the end of the World Series. Once that’s squared away, the organization’s attention turns to luring top-end talent, of which there is plenty.
For the third time in the last three offseasons, the Giants will attempt to sign a superstar in the prime of his career.
They missed on Aaron Judge. They missed on Shohei Ohtani. They missed on Bryce Harper. They missed on Carlos Correa (due to a failed physical). Will they also miss on Juan Soto?
Regardless of whether they sign Soto, the Giants are a team in need of reinforcements. They got an early jump on their offseason by signing Matt Chapman to an extension in September, but they’ll need far more if they want to compete with the defending champions.
The Juan Soto of it all
There’s not much about Soto that hasn’t been said already. He’s been one of baseball’s best players since debuting as a teenager. He’s somehow lived up to being called the Dominican Ted Williams. He excels under the postseason pressure, and his career will likely end with a plaque in Cooperstown.
The calculus is simple. His .285 batting average, plus his .421 on-base percentage, plus his .532 slugging percentage, plus his 201 career home runs, plus his four All-Star appearances, plus his 26 years on this planet equal a contract that will be in excess of $500 million — if not $600 million.
If Soto wants to be a Giant, he will be a Giant. San Francisco was willing to meet Ohtani’s $700 million demands last year, and there’s no reason to think the team wouldn’t be willing to do the same with Soto.
The Giants can still roll out a fine outfield of Heliot Ramos, Jung Hoo Lee and Mike Yastrzemski if Soto chooses elsewhere. Posey and Co. likely won’t be content with fine.
Soto not only instantly improves the team, but provides them with a true box office draw that they haven’t had in years. And, for what it’s worth, he’s always excelled here, with seven homers and a 1.050 OPS in 22 games.
Who captains the infield?
The Marco Luciano Era never really began, but the Marco Luciano Era certainly feels like it has ended. In 27 games, Luciano was a net negative on both sides of the ball. He didn’t hit (.562 OPS) and he didn’t field (-6 defensive runs saved). He never got a true extended run at short, and if the 23-year-old has a role with the team going forward, it likely won’t be at shortstop.
Tyler Fitzgerald — not Luciano — ended up being the rookie to assume the starting shortstop role. While Fitzgerald enjoyed a breakout, there’s reason to be skeptical of his ability to repeat that production next season given his strikeout rate (31.7%), quality of contact (22nd percentile in average exit velocity) and poor defense at shortstop (-6 defensive runs saved), among other metrics.
The free-agent market, then, presents two enticing options: Willy Adames and Ha-Seong Kim.
Adames, tucked away from the baseball mainstream in Tampa Bay and Milwaukee, has been one of baseball’s most productive shortstops over the last half-decade. Since 2019, Adames ranks ninth among all shortstops in WAR (20.1, per Fangraphs). He enjoyed a contract-year breakout, posting career-highs in homers (32) and steals (21). A nine-figure contract is likely in his future.
Kim, by contrast, finds himself in a more ambiguous spot. The 29-year-old underwent season-ending surgery in September due to a small tear in his right shoulder labrum and finished this past season as a below-average hitter (96 OPS+), though his defense (four outs above average) remained excellent.
When healthy, Kim provides speed, defense, versatility and a bit of pop. Coming off the surgery, it’ll be interesting to see whether Kim vies for a multi-year deal or signs a one-year pillow contract to reclaim his value.
Kim would have familiarity in San Francisco, too. Not only did he play under Bob Melvin in San Diego, but Jung Hoo Lee, a teammate of Kim’s in the KBO, expressed his desire to play alongside Kim.
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So … about the rotation
Even with Logan Webb turning in another excellent season and Blake Snell’s second-half dominance, San Francisco’s rotation finished in the bottom half of baseball in innings (19th), ERA (19th) and WAR (23rd, per Fangraphs). And aside from Webb, who finished with a 3.47 ERA over 204 2/3 innings, San Francisco’s current rotation options each have question marks.
The Giants need depth, and there are plenty of options available.
This year’s free agent pool features a trifecta of top-of-the-line starters in Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and, of course, Snell.
From there, the market features middle-rotation arms such as former Giants Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana, Jack Flaherty, Yusei Kikuchi, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha and Luis Severino. Shane Bieber, the 2020 Cy Young Award winner, also hits the open market after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April.
Who’s on first?
Last season, the Giants’ first basemen had a combined .699 OPS, a number that ranked 21st among all teams. Their 14 combined home runs were tied with the Nationals for the second-fewest. That won’t play.
Pete Alonso, who turns 30 in December, would certainly provide power. Since 2019, only Judge (232) has hit more home runs than Alonso (226). He enters free agency following, by his standards, a down year, finishing with career-lows in homers (34) and OPS (.788), but he’d provide a power presence that the Giants haven’t had in years.
Cody Bellinger, 29, is far removed from his MVP form, but he can provide a bit of pop along with defensive versatility. Christian Walker, 33, has hit 95 homers over the last three seasons and is in line to win his third straight Gold Glove. Paul Goldschmidt, 37, will be on the market, but the future Hall of Famer is on the decline and coming off his first season as a below-average hitter (98 OPS+).
