Where do the San Francisco Giants Currently Stand in the National League

As we inch closer to Spring Training it’s time to start seeing how well the San Francisco Giants stack up against other National League teams for the 2018 season.

Usually by this time all of the big free agents have signed, and most of the blockbuster trades are over with. However, this is an unusual offseason and there are still a lot of very good players left on the open market.

So while this is the time of year we normally start making projections, it’s a little hard to do with so many moves left to happen.

Still, as we wrap up the month of January, we’ll see where the San Francisco Giants stand right now.

Obviously at the end of the 2017 season the Giants were the worst team in the NL, so there’s nowhere else to go but up.

While the Phillies have made several good moves this offseason and are on the rise, I think the Giants have surpassed them.

Next up are the Reds who to me seem to be in a rebuild, so I think the Giants are definitely ahead of them.

The New York Mets have also made some improvements this offseason, although minor. A lot will depend on the health of their pitching. I’m not sure the Giants have passed them, but we’ll say they have.

And then there’s the Padres. They also appear to be building to make a run pretty soon, but it won’t be in 2018 — even if they do sign Eric Hosmer. The Giants will pass them and let them have the basement of the NL West back.

The Atlanta Braves will be an interesting team in 2018. A lot will depend on how their young pitching develops, but I think they are still at least a year away, so we’ll give the Giants the nod over them.

If you’re keeping up, we are now 10th in the NL, moving five spots up.

The next team to try and overtake would be the Pirates, and that has certainly happened. Same can be said for the team above them in the Marlins.

We now enter the top eight, which includes a host of teams that all have a good shot at reaching the playoffs.

More from Around the Foghorn

• SF Giants: Reliever Reyes Moronta clears outright waivers
• SF Giants sign veteran 1B John Nogowski to minor league deal
• SF Giants call on veteran LHP Scott Kazmir for big start against Padres
• SF Giants: Update on Alex Dickerson’s rehab assignment
• Atlanta claims SF Giants C Chadwick Tromp off waivers

We’ll start from the top and say that the Nationals and Dodgers are clearly still better than the Giants. You can add the Cubs to this list if they get a frontline starter before the season begins.

That lumps the Giants in with the Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks and Rockies.

In all honestly, I would probably still put the Giants behind all of those teams.

If the Giants were somehow able to add another middle-of-the-rotation starting pitcher and either a solid reliever or primary outfielder, then I would say they’ve passed the Cardinals, Brewers and Rockies.

I still think the Diamondbacks are a very good team. So unless they do something stupid like trade Zach Greinke, they are the second best team in the NL West.

Next: The San Francisco Giants need to focus on left-handed relief for Bochy’s sake

So while the Giants have made some big improvements this offseason, I still only see them moving up seven or eight spots in the National League, which makes them a fringe playoff team.