LA gives huge extension to utility player who made too much sense on SF Giants

The Los Angeles Dodgers are not slowing down. Just days after they stole Blake Snell from the SF Giants, they extended utility man Tommy Edman who always felt like he should have been a Giant. Now he will he a thorn in San Francisco's side for years.

I will admit it: I like Tommy Edman. I have always admired the way he plays the game. The fact that he is a switch-hitter who can play practically anywhere on the diamond has always been appealing. He is like a younger version of Ben Zobrist. Dating back to his days with the St. Louis Cardinals, he always seemed like a guy who could end up in a Giants uniform someday.

Last offseason I argued that the Giants should trade for the Stanford product. I argued again in July that the Giants should trade for him. Then, I bemoaned the fact that the Dodgers were able to get him at the trade deadline instead. In Part IV of my Edman Saga, when he was tearing it up in the 2024 playoffs for Los Angeles, I again expressed frustration that the Giants let him fall into enemy hands.

Dodgers extend Tommy Edman who SF Giants should have acquired

Apparently, I was never able to get through to Farhan Zaidi.

Edman turned out to be a great pickup for the Dodgers. While his regular season slash line of .237/.294/.417 with 6 home runs and 20 RBI was not all that impressive, he turned it on in the playoffs. In the 2024 postseason he hit .328/.354/.508 with 2 home runs and 13 RBI and was the NLCS MVP. It is no wonder why they rewarded him with a five-year $74 million extension.

He figures to play a lot of center field for LA next season, but he can just as easily play shortstop or second base. If the Giants had traded for Edman at any point in the last year, he would probably be the starting shortstop going into 2025 and would have stabilized the team defensively. Alas, now he is going to torture the Giants for the foreseeable future.

In this fifth and final chapter of my Tommy Edman Chronicles, I again express frustration that the Giants did not get him. He made so much sense on paper for the team and yet a deal was never made to get him. Now, the Giants have an Edman-sized hole at shortstop and it is not clear if they will be able to adequately address it this offseason.