Latest SF Giants buzz flies in face of entire offseason's worth of rotation rumors

All offseason long it was pretty apparent that the SF Giants were not going to be players on the high end of the free agent market when it came to starting pitchers. However, a recent report flies in the face of that as the team is connected to Framber Valdez.

MLB insider Héctor Gómez wrote on social media that the Giants are reportedly "intensifying talks to land Framber Valdez on a multi-year deal." This would be surprising since the Giants already added two starting pitchers to complete their rotation in Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle.

SF Giants connected to Framber Valdez despite rotation being full

There is no doubt that Valdez is the top remaining free agent option for the Giants. San Francisco has reportedly been interested in him this offseason, but with the Giants clearly reluctant to spend big on a free agent starting pitcher it always seemed like a long shot.

Now, it seems that Valdez's market is not materializing as expected. Perhaps the character issues surrounding him and his age have played a role in that, but whatever the reason it seems more likely that he will sign a short-term deal with opt-outs.

Jon Heyman recently listed the Giants as a team that is still interested in adding starting pitching so maybe they are seeing if they can swoop in and grab Valdez if his price has come down considerably.

Still, these are national reporters spewing these things while Giants general manager Zack Minasian has said the team is very comfortable with the five starters the team has and local reporters do not seem to be seconding these reports.

To be clear, Valdez would provide a huge boost to San Francisco's rotation. He has been a remarkably consistent pitcher since 2021 and last season with the Houston Astros he had a 3.66 ERA in 192 innings pitched.

Many think of Valdez as primarily a ground ball pitcher, and his sinker certainly does induce a lot of ground balls. But like Logan Webb, he is more of a strikeout pitcher than people realize as he struck out 187 batters last season.

The Giants would go from having a decent but shaky rotation to a strong top three with Webb, Valdez, and Robbie Ray atop the rotation. That would be a tough trio to face in a playoff series.

But it still seems unlikely that the Giants will sign him. Even on a short-term deal he would likely command something in the $30 million per year range. That seems far richer than what the Giants would be willing to commit to a starting pitcher.

It is interesting that the Giants are being linked to Valdez, but given the way they have operated this offseason it is difficult to see them signing him.