How the SF Giants can show true appreciation for their fans this offseason

It is the final series and final game of the year for the SF Giants. That means that it is Fan Appreciation Day. Some players will give speeches and throw some balls in the crowd, but the front office needs to show it appreciates its fans too.

To be fair, the front office did make an effort to do this last offseason. Farhan Zaidi went out and spent big money to acquire Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman, and Blake Snell. It did not result in a trip to the postseason but it at least signaled to fans that the front office was trying to win.

Obviously, it did not work out. While their solid play to end the season against several playoff teams has been heartening, it does not change the fact that the Giants did not do enough this year to play baseball in October.

SF Giants front office needs to make moves this offseason

If the front office wants to show it truly appreciates its fans this offseason, they need to do everything in their power to ensure that 2025 is not a repeat of 2024. That means doing a couple of key things.

First, they need to shore up their defense. If they go into next season with an outfield of Heliot Ramos in left, Jung Hoo Lee in center, and Mike Yastrzemski in right, that should be a pretty solid outfield defensively.

In the infield, Matt Chapman is elite at third base, but beyond him things are less clear. To a certain extent the rest of the infield is up in the air. Tyler Fitzgerald figures to be an everyday player at either shortstop or second base at the start of next season. LaMonte Wade Jr. will probably be back at first base although that is not a certainty.

That leaves one big question mark which should be filled by Ha-Seong Kim. The speedy infielder played for manager Bob Melvin when he managed the San Diego Padres and while he is not elite offensively he is solid and is also a good shortstop defensively. If the Giants go out and sign him in free agency and end up with an infield to start the year of Chapman at third, Kim at short, Fitzgerald at second, and Wade at first that would be pretty solid. Add in one of the most elite catchers in the game behind the plate in Patrick Bailey and that is a strong defense on paper.

They also need to shore up their starting rotation. It will be costly but the Giants need to make a concerted effort to bring back Blake Snell. After a rough first half, Snell showed us all in the second half that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. The Giants need an elite rotation if they are going to be a competitive team. Signing Snell and ensuring a projected rotation of Logan Webb, Snell, Robbie Ray, Kyle Harrison, and Hayden Birdsong would go a long way towards ensuring they have a solid staff.

Ideally, the team would add one more impact bat to shore up the lineup. While the offense was not completely atrocious the entire year, it was far too inconsistent. It does not seem like that would be a priority for Farhan Zaidi if his services are retained for next year, though.

We have seen the Giants win world championships without a great offense though. We know that pitching and defense were the key to their championship run in the 2010's. That seems like the surest way to get back to being a contender.

If the front office really wants to show appreciation for Giants fans, they need to go out and at the very least sign Kim and either Snell or another top-line starter. If they do those two things they can reasonably say that 2025 will be better than 2024.