Are the SF Giants committed to re-signing Kris Bryant?

The obvious answer is, of course, the SF Giants are committed to re-signing star infielder Kris Bryant. However, that decision is more nuanced than just a simple yes or no proposition.

Are the SF Giants committed to re-signing Kris Bryant?

Robert Murray of Fansided dissected team president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi's postmortem interview last week, especially as it pertains to Bryant. Zaidi elaborated on the $100 million question:

"For us, the move at the deadline was really about pushing chips in with this team, which we thought was a special team and had a chance to do special things. But we recognize he’s a superstar talent and it’s going to be a really competitive market for his services. I’m sure we’ll have conversations there, but he’ll have a long line of suitors so we’ll just have to see how that develops."

This was a quote that created a lot of buzz. Clearly, the Giants will have interest in bringing back the star third baseman but the Giants' top executive makes a valid point that Bryant will have plenty of interested suitors. That said, the front office does not seem willing to cater their offseason strategy toward re-signing Bryant.

They recognize that Bryant's agent, Scott Boras, has a history of dragging out the free agency process in hopes of securing the best deal possible. The Giants simply cannot wait for Bryant to make a decision given that they have to rebuild the rotation on the fly again.

The right-handed bat helped the Giants down the stretch as he slashed .262/.344/.444 (113 OPS+) with seven home runs, 22 RBI, and 28 runs scored in 187 plate appearances. He was even better in the playoffs, registering eight hits in 17 at-bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS in a series that the Giants lost in five games.

The Giants traded for him because they thought he would better position them for a deep playoff run while recognizing that they will also have the spending ability to re-sign him to a long-term deal. By all accounts, he enjoyed his time with San Francisco and fit in seamlessly with the veteran clubhouse.

The Giants have plenty of priorities to accomplish before checking back in on the seven-year veteran. They know how Boras does business, so they will let free agency play out before the market concentrates on Bryant.

Interestingly, Robert Murray identified Chris Taylor as a potential fallback target if Bryant happens to sign elsewhere. Taylor is in a position to secure a nice, multi-year deal and Murray speculates that he could be in the market for at least $14 million AAV. There is another player who might fit perfectly with what the Giants do as well.

This is all to say that the Giants will likely have interest in re-signing Bryant as the offseason progresses. However, and understandably so, the front office understands the business side of it so they will prioritize the starting rotation early in the offseason.