Free Agents the SF Giants should consider this offseason - not named Rodon, Judge, or Turner

Free Agents the SF Giants should consider this offseason - not named Rodon, Judge, or Turner

2. Addressing the infield

For this exercise, let's make the assumption that Brandon Crawford is the starting shortstop for the Giants for 2023, J.D. Davis is the starting third baseman, and Thairo Estrada is heavily in their plans as well. what do the Giants do to address other questions about the infield? At first base, plucking Josh Bell, might be an option, but after his subpar second half with the Padres (.192, 3 HR, 14 RBI in 53 games), could it make the Giants balk at that idea? Daniel Vogelbach is another option, for both first and designated hitter. After being traded to the Mets, he smashed 6 more home runs while batting .255, which helped his season batting average improve to .238. Lastly, there is Jose Abreu. The 2020 MVP will be 36 by the time Opening Day rolls around, but he was the most productive of the free agent first basemen crop. Abreu batted over .300, with 186 hits, with 15 of them for home runs.

Now for the second base position. Like the aforementioned-however-not-to-be-mentioned Trea Turner, would some of these shortstops be willing to switch to second for the short-term? Carlos Correa would be an interesting option that would most likely divide the fan base and also has been talked about at length, but what about Xander Bogaerts? or could the Giants even pry Dansby Swanson away from his hometown team? A cheaper, possibly shorter-term option could be Adam Frazier, who has brief experience playing in the NL West from his time with the Padres.

The search for outfielders

Before we hit the pitching market, let's dabble into another need; a rebirth of the outfield. One option, of course, is bringing back Joc Pederson. If they are looking to buy low, then old rivals Tommy Pham* (all awkwardness aside and enjoying the chaotic thought of a Pederson/Pham clubhouse) could likely be brought in to help patch up the holes in the outfield. Andrew Benintendi is another free agent the front office should consider. Benintendi, who is still only 28, hit over .300 for the Royals and Yankees, with a lot of potential power in that bat. He hit 20 home runs in 2017 and has not come close to replicating it since.

*Pham and the Red Sox share a mutual option for 2023.

If San Francisco wants to explore the trade market, I wrote down four names, plus a bonus fifth to ponder. The Cubs were rumored to be wanting to move on from Ian Happ in July, so one could guess he could be had for the right, and possibly pricey, offer. Cedric Mullins and Bryan Reynolds are two players who have been subject to various trade rumors over the past couple of years as well, and either player would help anchor an outfield that was very below average when it came to offensive production. Last, two way out there names. The first is Cody Bellinger, who has struggled mightily for the Dodgers the past couple of seasons. Bellinger is due for one more year of arbitration, so any type of acquisition would likely have to be done via trade, and the likelihood of a team trading their former MVP -- who is still 27 -- to their arch-rival, despite the player's struggles, seems slim to none. The last player I wrote down is a free agent after 2023 and was in trade rumors in July, so what would it take for the Giants to pull off a Shohei Ohtani trade? Not much needs to be said about Ohtani, even most non-traditional baseball fans know who he is, and making a move like this would help set the franchise forward.