The Giants checked a few boxes this offseason, adding a pair of back-end starting pitchers and everyday players at second base and in the outfield. Their biggest splash might be in the manager\u2019s office, as they stayed away from the top of the free agent market.<\/p>\n
Major League Signings<\/p>\n
2026 spending: $44.95MM
Total spending: $68.78MM<\/p>\n
Trades and Claims<\/p>\n
Option Decisions<\/p>\n
Notable Minor League Signings<\/p>\n
Extensions<\/p>\n
Notable Losses<\/p>\n
Before the offseason got underway, president of baseball operations Buster Posey identified the priority. \u201cOur focus is going to be on pitching, to try to fortify our starting staff. The same goes with the bullpen,\u201d he told Alex Pavlovic and Laura Britt of NBC Sports Bay Area<\/a> in early October.<\/p>\n Posey had acted decisively in pursuing star players during his first year running baseball operations. He\u2019d signed Willy Adames<\/a>\u00a0to a franchise-record contract the previous offseason and made the biggest trade of the 2025 season when he took on the\u00a0Rafael Devers<\/a> contract from the Red Sox in June. The Giants were naturally a popular pick to land one of free agency\u2019s top arms \u2014 ranging from\u00a0Dylan Cease<\/a>,\u00a0Framber Valdez<\/a> and\u00a0Ranger Su\u00e1rez<\/a> in the rotation to\u00a0Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a> at the back of the bullpen.<\/p>\n That was not to be. Not long after Posey\u2019s comments, high-ranking team personnel began to downplay expectations. General manager Zack Minasian told John Shea of The San Francisco Standard<\/a> they\u2019d focus more on depth arms. CEO Greg Johnson made similar comments to Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>, noting that they were wary of making extended free agent commitments. None of that contradicted Posey\u2019s identification of the focus, but it pointed to the more quiet offseason that would follow.<\/p>\n Indeed, one could argue the Giants\u2019 biggest move didn\u2019t involve the roster at all. San Francisco fired manager Bob Melvin at the end of the season. That was at least moderately surprising, as the Giants had exercised their 2026 option on Melvin\u2019s services just three months earlier. The team\u2019s 29-36 record in the second half was apparently the impetus for the change, but the Giants played at the same .500 level they had for most of the season after August despite selling multiple pieces (e.g. Mike Yastrzemski<\/a>,\u00a0Trevor Rogers<\/a>,\u00a0Camilo Doval<\/a>) at the deadline.<\/p>\n In any case, the front office felt a change was necessary enough that they ate Melvin\u2019s reported $4MM salary. They\u2019d go on to make one of the boldest managerial hires in recent memory. After considering more traditional candidates like Kurt Suzuki, Nick Hundley, and Vance Wilson, the Giants wooed college baseball\u2019s best coach.<\/p>\n They hired Tony Vitello away from the University of Tennessee, paying a premium to do so. Vitello is reportedly making $3.5MM annually on a three-year contract. The Giants also paid a $3MM buyout to the university. They\u2019re committing $10.5MM to the managerial position this year all told, which is probably the most in MLB. Teams don\u2019t publicly disclose managerial salaries, but Dave Roberts\u2019 extension with the Dodgers pays an $8.1MM average annual value that is believed to be the most in the league.<\/p>\n Vitello built what had been a floundering Tennessee program into a national powerhouse during his eight years in Knoxville. It\u2019s nevertheless a virtually unheard of hire for an MLB team. Vitello made the jump directly to major league managing without any previous experience in pro ball.<\/p>\n That has some precedent in other sports but hasn\u2019t really been done in MLB, where college staffers making the move have usually begun their careers as coaches or in player development roles. He\u2019ll have the advice of some experienced voices. The Giants added Ron Washington to the coaching staff while bringing Bruce Bochy back to the organization as a special advisor (joining Dusty Baker in that regard)<\/p>\n Fascinating as the hire is, Vitello will have more constraints as an MLB manager than he did as a college coach. College coaches are also primarily responsible for putting their rosters together via recruiting and the transfer portal. That\u2019s obviously not the case in MLB, where the front office was tasked with addressing the pitching staff and fixing two obvious holes in the lineup.<\/p>\n As the aforementioned comments from Johnson and Minasian suggested, the front office seemingly didn\u2019t have much long-term payroll flexibility. They\u2019d signed three nine-figure contracts (Jung Hoo Lee<\/a>,\u00a0Matt Chapman<\/a> and Adames) in the previous two offseasons. They took on close to $215MM in future commitments on the Devers deal \u2014 including the money saved by attaching Jordan Hicks<\/a> as a salary offset. They also paid $17MM to division rival Blake Snell<\/a> in January as a deferred signing bonus from his 2024 free agent deal.<\/p>\n Although the Giants would take aim at a few high-impact trade targets, they limited themselves to the third and fourth tiers in free agency. That began with a two-year, $22MM deal for right-hander\u00a0Adrian Houser<\/a>. It\u2019s a hefty price for a pitcher who was playing on a minor league pact as recently as last May. Houser pitched very well in 11 starts for the White Sox but struggled to a near-5.00 ERA over 10 outings following a deadline trade to Tampa Bay. He slots into the back half of the rotation as an innings eating grounder specialist.<\/p>\n The Giants made a similar move with a one-year, $10MM flier for\u00a0Tyler Mahle<\/a>. There\u2019s maybe a little more upside with Mahle, who is coming off a 2.18 ERA across 16 starts for the Rangers. That\u2019s driven largely by an elevated strand rate and minimal batting average on balls in play that covered for a mediocre 19.1% strikeout rate.<\/p>\n Mahle missed bats early in his career with the Reds but hasn\u2019t had the same caliber of stuff since then due to injury. He pitched a total of 107 MLB innings from 2023-25. A May \u201923 Tommy John surgery was the most significant injury, but he also lost chunks of time in each of the past two seasons to shoulder problems. His average fastball speed has dropped two ticks from a 94 mph high back in 2021. Mahle still has excellent command and enters camp healthy, but he has back-of-the-rotation stuff despite last year\u2019s impressive earned run average.<\/p>\n Signing Houser and Mahle all but ensured the Giants wouldn\u2019t re-sign\u00a0Justin Verlander<\/a>, who\u2019d been their only free agent of much note. Verlander pitched well down the stretch, but the Giants evidently preferred the other veteran arms to betting on a player entering his age-43 season. San Francisco also traded away depth arms\u00a0Mason Black<\/a> and\u00a0Kai-Wei Teng<\/a> in minor deals.<\/p>\n The free agent pickups slot behind\u00a0Logan Webb<\/a> and Robbie Ray<\/a>. Having one of the 10 best pitchers in MLB anchor the group is an excellent start. Ray shows the ability to pitch at a legitimate #2 level at times but can also battle his command and had a rough second half. Landen Roupp<\/a> is the in-house favorite to round out the starting five. He\u2019s a quality back-end arm.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not a bad group, though it\u2019s lacking the ceiling behind Webb that\u2019d compete with the upper tier of rotations in MLB. That might need to come from an unexpected step forward from an internal arm. The Giants have some intriguing depth pieces on the 40-man roster.\u00a0Hayden Birdsong<\/a>,\u00a0Trevor McDonald<\/a>,\u00a0Carson Whisenhunt<\/a>,\u00a0Blade Tidwell<\/a>, and\u00a0Carson Seymour<\/a> are all optionable starters with modest big league experience.<\/p>\n Individually, no one from that group projects as a high-end starter. There\u2019s enough volume the Giants can hope someone takes an unexpected step forward with a velocity jump or new pitch. Birdsong has the best raw stuff but disappointed when given a rotation opportunity a year ago. He simply didn\u2019t throw enough strikes.<\/p>\n Although Birdsong enters camp as a starter, the Giants should probably focus him on a relief role this year. They\u2019re likely to need more than one of the rotation depth pieces in the bullpen \u2014 which they did puzzlingly little to address over the offseason. They not only stayed away from the D\u00edaz\/Devin Williams<\/a> price range but also opted not to bring in any middle-tier relievers (e.g.\u00a0Kyle Finnegan<\/a>,\u00a0Kenley Jansen<\/a>).<\/p>\n Free agent bullpen prices were high. The Giants may have simply thought that playing in that area was bad value. However, it leaves them with one of the thinner bullpens of any team that expects to contend. In addition to the Rogers and Doval trades, they lost breakout closer Randy Rodr\u00edguez<\/a> to Tommy John surgery as they were playing out the string.<\/p>\n San Francisco\u2019s only acquisitions were reclamation projects. They signed\u00a0Jason Foley<\/a> and\u00a0Sam Hentges<\/a> to cheap one-year deals. Both pitchers are coming off shoulder surgery and headed for season-opening injured list stints.\u00a0Rowan Wick<\/a> is essentially a 2027 version of the same idea. San Francisco brought him back from Japan for barely more than the league minimum. He\u2019ll miss the entire season after recently undergoing Tommy John surgery but could be kept around via minimal club option next year if he\u2019s recovering smoothly.<\/p>\n An already thin group has taken a couple more hits in camp. Waiver pickup\u00a0Reiver Sanmartin<\/a> tweaked his right hip in an exhibition game for Colombia in the World Baseball Classic. Hard-throwing righty\u00a0Joel Peguero<\/a> was diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain just last night<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ryan Walker<\/a> feels like the closer by default despite an up-and-down 2025 season. Righties JT Brubaker<\/a> and Jos\u00e9 Butt\u00f3<\/a> can\u2019t be optioned and will make the team.\u00a0Erik Miller<\/a> and the out-of-options\u00a0Matt Gage<\/a> lead an uninspiring group of left-handers. Minor league signees Gregory Santos<\/a> and Michael Fulmer<\/a> have a clear path to middle relief spots. Aside from the general difficulty in predicting relief pitching, there\u2019s not much reason for excitement unless someone like Birdsong or McDonald gets a bullpen job and runs with it.<\/p>\n Can the Giants outhit their pitching concerns? This was a league average lineup a year ago, a disappointing result for one that should be better than that on talent. They entered the offseason with two obvious potential problem areas: second base and right field.\u00a0Tyler Fitzgerald<\/a> floundered at the former position, leaving Casey Schmitt<\/a> to hold the job in the second half. He\u2019s a low-end regular who profiles better as a utilityman. Right field was an even bigger issue, as they got nothing out of the position after the Yastrzemski trade.<\/p>\n San Francisco addressed both positions via free agency. They added Harrison Bader<\/a> on a two-year, $20.5MM contract in their second-biggest investment of the winter. The front office successfully waited out Bader\u2019s push for a third year to add an impact defender coming off a career-best .277\/.347\/.449 showing. They\u2019ll expect some regression offensively \u2014 Bader dramatically outperformed his batted ball metrics thanks to an inflated .359 BABIP \u2014 but he\u2019s an ideal fit for the spacious Oracle Park outfield.<\/p>\n Bader will play every day in center field, pushing Lee to right. Lee is coming off a .266\/.327\/.407 season that\u2019d be fine even with the higher offensive bar to clear in a corner outfield spot. Despite above-average speed and an excellent arm, Lee occasionally had some trouble tracking balls in center field. Bader will be a notable upgrade, while Lee\u2019s athleticism should remain an asset with the amount of ground to cover in the right-center gap.<\/p>\n They\u2019ll be joined in the outfield by\u00a0Heliot Ramos<\/a>, a 2024 All-Star who underwhelmed last season. Ramos had a huge May (.347\/.407\/.600) but had a sub-.720 OPS in every other month. He batted .248\/.316\/.358 in the second half. Ramos still topped 20 homers with slightly above-average offensive numbers overall, but left field could be a position to monitor at the deadline if his late-season form carries into 2026. Former Guardian Will Brennan<\/a> could factor in there as a left-handed complement but seems likelier to begin the season in Triple-A after an offseason split deal.<\/p>\n The Giants\u2019 biggest pursuits came at second base. Bay Area native\u00a0Nico Hoerner<\/a> would have been an ideal fit, but the Cubs never had much motivation to trade him. The Giants made a run at landing\u00a0Brendan Donovan<\/a> from the Cardinals; he wound up traded to Seattle instead. Talks with the Nationals about\u00a0CJ Abrams<\/a> reportedly stalled<\/a> when Washington balked at a prospect package built around shortstop\u00a0Josuar Gonzalez<\/a>.<\/p>\n They ended up turning back to free agency. In a weak middle infield class beyond\u00a0Bo Bichette<\/a>, they opted to give Luis Arraez<\/a> another opportunity at second base. It\u2019s difficult to quibble with the price, as the three-time batting champion settled for one year and $12MM. The risk is that comes with the promise of moving Arraez back to the keystone after two years working mostly as a first baseman in San Diego.<\/p>\n Fans are familiar with Arraez\u2019s skillset. He\u2019s the most difficult player in MLB to strike out and one of a handful of hitters who can reasonably be expected to bat .300. The all-contact approach doesn\u2019t leave much room for walks or any kind of power. Last season\u2019s .292\/.327\/.392 batting line came out to roughly league average overall, by measure of wRC+.<\/p>\n Arraez\u2019s career numbers are better than that (.317\/.363\/.413), and he should certainly be an offensive upgrade over Schmitt. They\u2019ll probably need to live with well below-average defense in the process despite expressing hope that working with Washington can turn things around. Arraez doesn\u2019t move especially well and has been a below-average defender from the time he reached the majors.<\/p>\n Schmitt is a much better defensive player and should stick around as a utility piece and potential late-game substitute. Schmitt\u2019s name has been floated in trade rumors, but there probably aren\u2019t many teams that view him as a clear everyday player. If most other clubs also see him as a utility piece, he\u2019s more valuable to the Giants as an Arraez complement than netting a fairly modest trade return. Fitzgerald was a non-factor in the second half and doesn\u2019t have much of a path back to playing time in San Francisco. A change of scenery trade for a low-level prospect could make sense.<\/p>\n Chapman and Adames will play almost every game on the left side of the infield. Devers will divide his work between first base and designated hitter. Top first base prospect\u00a0Bryce Eldridge<\/a> is trying to break camp after a brief 2025 debut. He\u2019d play regularly alongside Devers if he\u2019s on the roster. If the Giants have him open the season in the minors, that\u2019d increase the odds of an out-of-options Luis Matos<\/a>\u00a0or Jerar Encarnaci\u00f3n<\/a> sticking around.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a camp battle for the backup catcher job.\u00a0Patrick Bailey<\/a> is such a good defender that he\u2019ll remain the primary catcher despite providing very little at the plate. Prospect\u00a0Jesus Rodriguez<\/a> is competing with Rule 5 selection\u00a0Daniel Susac<\/a> and minor league signee\u00a0Eric Haase<\/a> for a bench spot.<\/p>\n The Giants hit most of the obvious needs they had entering the offseason \u2014 though the bullpen stands as a curious exception. They did so mostly with moves to raise the floor rather than upside plays, seemingly because of payroll restrictions. Did they do enough to jump the Padres and Diamondbacks as the second-best team in the NL West and at least snag a Wild Card berth?<\/p>\n \t\t\tHow would you grade the Giants’ offseason?<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTotal votes: 146\n\t\t<\/p>\n Thank you for voting!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Giants checked a few boxes this offseason, adding a pair of back-end starting pitchers and everyday players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-206177","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","10":"tag-san-francisco-news","11":"tag-sf","12":"tag-sf-headlines","13":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}