San Francisco Giants Rumors: Winter Rumor Mill Roundup

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The Winter Meetings are over (I think?), and although the San Francisco Giants didn’t make a huge splash as of today, they have set the groundwork for how the new Zaidi regime will be approaching free agency and trades.

San Francisco Giants fans are used to the Winter Meetings being over and having a majority of the teams roster already in place. Usually, they leave the meetings with just one or two major holes to plug. Then, once the Giants have fallen out of contention for good players that can actually help the team, they go ahead and panic-sign Barry Zito or Jeff Samardzija.

The new guard led by Farhan Zaidi are playing the long game as they wait for the market to play out and prices to drop.

Instead of rushing into making moves and overpaying players (e.g. the Detroit Tigers signing Tyson Ross for 1/yr at $5.75 million– are you kidding me?!) they are using analytics to identify better values and waiting for the correct moment to start striking deals. That’s not to say Farhan Zaidi isn’t doing anything.

He has signed Catcher Cameron Rupp to a minor league deal, picked up OF Mike Gerber from waivers, and in the Rule 5 draft he acquired LHP Travis Bergen, OF Drew Ferguson, 3B Peter Maris, and LHP Sam Moll. These are not exciting moves, but they are moves that indicate Zaidi’s desire to replenish a depleted minor league system and create depth at positions where the Giants have been thin. Furthermore, he’s creating competition in areas where there is no guaranteed starting job lined up. It’s a new age.

Now, these under the radar moves are not the big-time, exciting moves that some Giants fans were wishing for, but there are plenty of rumors attached to the Giants coming out of the Winter Meetings. They are not just rumors, they are substantiated rumors confirmed by multiple sources. So if you like things that maybe might happen, there’s a bunch of professional sports writers that are confirming that yes, something maybe might happen according to their sources that they are not allowed to divulge. Sounds legit!

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 28: Madison Bumgarner #40 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at AT&T Park on September 28, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) /

The biggest headline rumor is the “will they wont they” with Madison Bumgarner. There was a moment where a Madison Bumgarner trade seemed imminent, but those rumors have cooled off and now it seems that he will remain a Giant at least until the non-waiver trade deadline.

As the Paxton to the Yankees deal set the barometer for the type of return the Giants could get for Bumgarner, they probably decided they wouldn’t get enough in return at this juncture and are willing to see how the market progresses over the course of the regular season. With Bumgarner back in good health and a keane eye on not letting him pitch to Whit Merrifield this spring, Bumgarner’s performance this season will be the biggest factor in determining his future in San Francisco.

The next big rumor is Yusei Kikuchi, the Japanese LHP who was posted by NBL this offseason. He is said to “like San Francisco”. Now if that isn’t a hot little nugget of barely information, I don’t know what is. I think if you polled most people in the world they would also “like San Francisco”, but I don’t know if the Giants are going to have the budget to sign most of the people in the world.

The Giants do need more starting pitching depth and Kikuchi, a left-handed starter, would immediately slot into the middle of the rotation barring injury. According to multiple reports, the Giants will be in on the Kikuchi meetings in Los Angeles this weekend. Hey, I’m in Los Angeles. Maybe I’ll go!

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Another nice rumor is many teams showing interest in Will Smith and Tony Watson. Both left-handed relivers are coming off good seasons and could be great additions to a contending bullpen. The main rumor whirling around is the Cardinals really want to enter the new “Willenium” and add Smith to their bullpen.

The main Cardinal said to be attached to this rumor is Jose Martinez, the 31 year old designated hitter who happens to play in the National League. On paper, Martinez is said to be a First Baseman and LF/RF, but most people know his glove is more of a liability and is the price of admission for having his bat in the line up.

He is appealing, but he is 31 which is something the Giants should be weary of and would be a liability playing in the spacious AT&T outfield. According to Mark Saxon of the Athletic, the Cards might be willing to deal Tyler O’Neil and that would seem like a much more appealing and a more fair option than Martinez. O’Neil is just 23 and still on his rookie contract and has shown some serious right-handed pop at the plate as well as decent defense and young legs. If O’Neil’s “Future Stars” card in MLB the Show 18 is any indicator, he should be really good! If there was a deal for Will Smith, O’Neil might be the player that gets this deal done.

NAGOYA, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 15: Outfielder Kevin Pillar #11 of the Tronto Blue Jays hits a single in the bottom of 8th inning during the game six between Japan and MLB All Stars at Nagoya Dome on November 15, 2018 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images) /

Another rumor that has surfaced, according to multiple outlets, the Giants are interested in trading for Kevin Pillar.

He’s a premier defensive Center Fielder, but he is a pretty average hitter with limited power. The appeal here is that Pillar could conceivably move into a platoon role and step back from being an everyday player.

Being a more match up based offensive option might help boost his offensive numbers, plus the idea of potentially having him and Steven Duggar roaming the outfield at the same time is an exciting prospect. He wouldn’t be a big answer offesively, but perhaps Zaidi is thinking more about keeping runs off of the board for the other team and Pillar’s defense definitely does that.

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The last and most recent rumor I will cover is the Giants are interested in Mike Fiers. Fiers is a savvy veteran who has found some recent success pitching in some more pitcher friendly ballparks. He experienced somewhat of a renaissance in Detroit’s Comerica Park, that made him a pretty interesting trade deadline option for contending teams.

He found himself on the Oakland A’s pitching in the also spacious O.Co Coliseum, where he put up a solid second half. In my opinion, those numbers could be approached pitching at AT&T and he’s another depth option to help limit the work load of younger starters like Chris Stratton, Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez.

There are more rumors, swirling around, but these are the most substantial and seem to be the most indicitive of things to come for the 2019 San Francisco Giants. I know people really want to hear about the Bryce Harper sweepstakes, but there are no reports substantiating any rumors regarding the San Francisco Giants.

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Farhan Zaidi used patience, analytics, and unexciting moves to turn the Dodgers into a budget swollen, underperforming mess into a diamond in the rough finding, perennial contender. Zaidi’s first offseason as President of Baseball Operations hasn’t been the most exciting, but it has been one of the more interesting and optimism inspiring offseason of recent memory.

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The Winter Meetings are over (I think?), and although the San Francisco Giants didn’t make a huge splash as of today, they have set the groundwork for how the new Zaidi regime will be approaching free agency and trades.

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