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Who’s left for the Giants?
With spring training starting in three weeks, not only are the Giants running out of time to acquire players, they’re running out of options if indeed they’re still serious about upgrading a .500-ish roster.
In recent days, Kyle Tucker snagged a stunning four-year, $240 million contract from the reigning champion Dodgers. And, yes, he would have fit perfectly as the Giants’ right fielder.
Bo Bichette’s $126 million deal over three years from the Mets was enough to convince the shortstop to move to third base, which suggests he might have been willing to move to second base for the Giants, for the right price.
Either one would have been a boon for a Giants team that has done little to excite the fanbase, escalate ticket sales, or create good vibes approaching the 2026 season.
The Giants’ roster is so inferior to the rival Dodgers’ that it’s not even a debate, and the gap has widened since the Dodgers won the World Series. Not only did they sign the best hitter on the market, Tucker, but they snagged the best reliever, Edwin Díaz, also on a short-term deal.
They’ll be a popular pick to win another World Series title, the first three-peat since the early 2000s Yankees, while the Giants will be projected to be buried again in the National League West.
Unless they act quickly and decisively. But will they?
The Giants’ biggest acquisitions – aside from the purchase of the Curran Theatre, which has become a running gag because it prompted fans to sarcastically suggest they’re rooting for a real estate conglomerate more than a baseball team – are pitchers Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle. Both are proven big-league starters, but neither has the starpower that fans crave.
For a team with the resources, the capital, the history, the seventh-highest attendance in the majors last season, and an energetic new manager (Tony Vitello), far more is expected. Far more should develop. Far more is needed.
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So what’s left? Still enough to significantly upgrade the roster. But passionate yet pessimistic fans are wondering whether the Giants will finally join other big-market teams and invest top dollar on their lineup and pitching staff.
Cody Bellinger still is out there, the top remaining hitter on the market. Should the Giants somehow shock the world and land this former National League MVP – “Yeah, right” is the expected response here – fans would rejoice, give management a pass, and optimistically look forward to pitchers and catchers suiting up at Scottsdale Stadium on Feb. 10.
Bellinger would fill a hole in the outfield, a hole in the lineup, and a hole in the marketing landscape. He’d be the Giants’ best defensive outfielder and second-best left-handed hitter behind Rafael Devers. His impressive contact rate is exactly what Buster Posey desires. It’s a stretch. But fans can dream.
There’s also Framber Valdez, the best starting pitcher remaining. In fact, he was the best all along, but while Dylan Cease (seven years, $210 million, Blue Jays), Ranger Suárez (five years, $130 million, Red Sox), Michael King (three years, $75 million, Padres), and Tatsuya Imai (three years, $54 million, Astros) all signed, Valdez has remained on the sidelines.
Oracle Park, which likely would be a deterrent for the lefty-swinging, pull-hitting Bellinger, would be a benefit to Valdez. He’s an elite groundball pitcher, like Logan Webb. And he’s durable and a workhorse, like Webb. In fact, the only pitcher to throw more innings since 2022 than Valdez is Webb.
At least until Bellinger signs with the Mets or Yankees and Valdez signs somewhere outside the Bay Area, the Giants ought to step up their communication level with these players. You never know. Ownership has expressed the preference for shorter-term contracts, and that’s exactly what’s trending with the Tucker and Bichette deals.
Granted, Bellinger supposedly is seeking seven years, but Tucker and Bichette wanted longer deals, too, before the Dodgers and Mets offered annual paychecks of a whopping $60 million and $42 million, respectively. It’s about overpaying in the short term for the luxury of avoiding long-term consequences.
For the Giants, it doesn’t even have to be Bellinger or Valdez. They need more starting pitching, and Zac Gallen still is out there. So is Lucas Giolito. Even Chris Bassitt. The bullpen could use more depth, too, beyond newcomers Sam Hentges and Jason Foley, who won’t be ready until midseason.
On the hitters’ side, Harrison Bader is coming off a solid offensive year and is a supreme center fielder; the Giants still haven’t fixed their outfield problem, and Bader could be the answer. Luis Arráez isn’t a sabermetrician’s dream, but he’s a three-time batting champ with elite bat-to-ball skills and can play second base.
Trade options still linger, too. Pitcher Freddy Peralta still can be had for one year. Tarik Skubal trade talk isn’t going away, but teams would need to jump in an extremely long line. MacKenzie Gore, anyone? There’s continued talk of second baseman Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals and Nico Hoerner of the Cubs along with outfielders Steven Kwan of Cleveland and Jarren Duran of Boston.
After trading for Rafael Devers last June, the Giants’ front office hasn’t done much to supplement the team’s core. | Source: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
The Giants opened the offseason with a lot of holes and still need patching. Fans hope the team’s conservative approach won’t last. They hope June’s Devers trade isn’t the one big acquisition for 2026. They hope the underwhelming offseason isn’t about anticipating a labor shutdown in 2027. They hope a move or moves still are coming to upgrade the roster.
Adding high-end players as late as spring training is not unprecedented. Remember, the Giants added four players within weeks of the 2024 season to fill holes: Matt Chapman, Blake Snell, Jorge Soler, and Nick Ahmed. Only Chapman remains, and it was a sore point that the Giants had to pay Snell $17 million on Thursday even though he opted out, per his contract terms.
Can the Giants afford to further ante up? Of course. Again, the question is will they? The cash is there, but the Giants would suggest there are conditions that accompany most of it.
Fans love to point out that Forbes estimates the franchise value at $4 billion, fifth-richest in the majors, though that’s a lucrative bonanza for another day.
The private equity firm Sixth Street invested into ownership last March, a 10% stake, though that’s supposed to be earmarked for stadium improvements and the Mission Rock Development across the cove in Lot A.
While other teams’ regional sports networks are disintegrating, the Giants are signed with NBC Sports Bay Area through 2032, though with the cable industry on shaky ground, it’s not guaranteed the relationship will last that long.
Through it all, there’s still room to conduct business and stay under MLB’s $244 million luxury tax threshold. The Giants’ projected payroll is $227 million, ranking 11th in the majors, according to Spotrac.
Yes, they had to pay an extra $17 million to Snell and are on the hook for $10.5 million for their manager – a $3.5 million salary for Vitello, $3 million buyout at Tennessee, and $4 million still owed to Bob Melvin – but the 2026 roster is the story here.
We’ve seen a wild stretch of spending that began last weekend when Alex Bregman signed with the Cubs followed by Suárez’s deal with the Red Sox, and then came the Dodgers’ and Mets’ purchases of Tucker and Bichette.
For the Giants, time is limited. So are the options. With spring training around the corner, we shall soon learn which way they’ll go and which headlines they’ll make.