{"id":323347,"date":"2025-12-01T02:14:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T02:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/323347\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T02:14:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T02:14:11","slug":"giants-focusing-more-on-modestly-priced-pitchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/323347\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants Focusing More On “Modestly Priced” Pitchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giants team chairman Greg Johnson and general manager Zack Minasian have<\/a> each<\/a> downplayed the idea that the team will be pursuing long-term (and therefore more pricier) pitching signings this offseason, due to both the risk associated with such contracts and the number of lengthy and expensive contracts already on San Francisco\u2019s books.\u00a0 As such, it probably isn\u2019t a big surprise that \u201ca lot of their market pitching inquiries have been for more modestly priced arms,\u201d according to ESPN\u2019s Buster Olney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The context of Olney\u2019s report comes in the context of speculation that the Giants could be a suitor for Tatsuya Imai<\/a>, as it would seem the Giants might not be willing to meet Imai\u2019s asking price.\u00a0 There is a widespread belief that Imai\u2019s eventual contract will run deep into the nine figures \u2014 MLB Trade Rumors projects a six-year, $150MM deal for Imai, who ranked seventh on our list of the offseason\u2019s top 50 free agents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If the Giants were going to make a longer-term commitment to a pitcher, Imai might fit the bill given his relative youth (he doesn\u2019t turn 28 until May) and naturally his excellent track record in Nippon Professional Baseball.\u00a0 Imai\u2019s recent interview<\/a> on the Hodo Station show also caught the attention of Giants fans, as Imai suggested that while he\u2019d enjoy playing with the Dodgers, \u201cwinning against a team like that and becoming a world champion would be the most valuable thing in my life.\u00a0 If anything, I\u2019d rather take them down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Imai\u2019s ability to carry his success over to Major League Baseball isn\u2019t seen as a sure thing amongst evaluators.\u00a0 If San Francisco was going to splurge on a top-end starter, spending big on a pitcher who\u2019s more proven against MLB hitters would seem to carry more appeal to a Giants organization that wants to minimize risk in its rotation investments (that is, if the Giants decided to spend big on any pitcher at all).<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s no such thing as having too much frontline pitching, the Giants are already ahead of a lot of teams by having a clearcut ace in Logan Webb<\/a>.\u00a0 Robbie Ray<\/a> also pitched well in 2025 after missing most of the 2023-24 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.\u00a0 This duo gives the Giants two starters they can count on to take the ball in a playoff series, plus homegrown starter Landen Roupp<\/a> also pitched well in his first extended taste of big league action in 2025.\u00a0 However, there isn\u2019t any proven depth beyond this group, making the rotation a priority for Buster Posey<\/a>\u2019s front office this winter.<\/p>\n

If the Giants are primarily looking at second- or third-tier options, there\u2019s still plenty of talent to be had amongst veteran arms who might be limited to shorter-term contracts based on their age alone.\u00a0 Signing Justin Verlander<\/a> to a one-year, $15MM deal last offseason worked out for the team, so re-signing Verlander or perhaps seeking out this winter\u2019s version of a \u201cVerlander contract\u201d with another pitcher is more the Giants\u2019 speed.\u00a0 Inking at least one veteran to eat innings and stabilize at least one rotation spot would allow San Francisco\u2019s younger pitchers some space to compete amongst themselves for a fifth starter\u2019s role, and ideally one could emerge as Roupp did last year.<\/p>\n

Though there\u2019s some sound reasoning behind the Giants\u2019 approach to starting pitching, the strategy probably isn\u2019t going to sit well with Bay Area fans wondering why the team isn\u2019t willing to spend at a higher level.\u00a0 The Giants have exceeded the luxury tax threshold just once in the last eight seasons, as after paying a minimal tax bill in 2024, the club ducked back under the line again in 2025.\u00a0 Johnson\u2019s non-committal stance<\/a> towards paying the tax or even exceeding $200MM in payroll space also doesn\u2019t lend itself to the idea that San Francisco is planning anything truly substantial on the spending front this winter, and certainly not on the pitching side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Giants team chairman Greg Johnson and general manager Zack Minasian have each downplayed the idea that the team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99,149619],"class_list":{"0":"post-323347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-tatsuya-imai"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}