Ranking the top 4 shortstop free agents for the SF Giants

Ranking the top 4 shortstop free agents for the SF Giants

2. Trea Turner

Trea Turner can do everything on the baseball field. It is a shame that he plays for the division rivals but I will not hold that against him if he signs with San Francisco.

Oddly enough, the San Diego Padres selected turner in the first round of the 2014 draft but immediately shipped him to the Washington Nationals in a three-team deal that brought Wil Myers to San Diego. It was an odd situation as the speedy infielder was not eligible to be traded right away, so he remained in the Padres organization for about six months after the trade while knowingly being the player to be named later.

Since that trade, Turner has firmly established himself as one of the better players in the game. He has been an All-Star in each of the last two seasons and finished seventh in the NL MVP voting last year.

The 2022 campaign has been no different as he has slashed .299/.345/.472 (122 OPS+) with 20 home runs, 97 RBI, and 95 runs while being worth 4.9 bWAR in 669 plate appearances. This includes 25 stolen bases in 28 opportunities to go along with a 6.4 percent walk rate against a 17.8 percent strikeout rate.

Unlike Xander Bogaerts, Turner is excellent with the glove at shortstop as he has been worth 10 DRS and 11 OAA across eight seasons. He has experience in center field and maintains the athleticism and sprint speed to be able to handle the position in a full-time role if needed.

There is a lot to like with Turner. Perhaps, my one concern with him is how his offensive value, which is derived to some degree by speed, will age. Plus, he is not necessarily a true power hitter like some of the other top free-agent shortstops.

I have a feeling that Turner will receive a substantially larger contract than Bogaerts and he certainly deserves a contract of that nature. I like Bogaerts' offensive profile more than Turner's but you cannot go wrong with either option.

Ranking the top 4 shortstop free agents for the SF Giants

3. Carlos Correa

There really is not a good reason to rank Carlos Correa so low as potential fits for the SF Giants. He is a fit for all 30 teams.

The eight-year veteran signed an interesting contract with the Minnesota Twins this past offseason. It was a one-year, $35.1 million pact but included a $35.1 million player option for both 2023 and 2024. He will likely decline that option to earn a much larger payday in his second foray into free agency.

Correa debuted with the Houston Astros in 2015 and he has proven to be one of the better players since then. In his first season with Minnesota, the right-handed bat has been a force at the plate as he has recorded a .289/.365/.468 line (139 OPS+) with 21 home runs, 61 RBI, and 67 runs while being worth 5.0 bWAR in 556 plate appearances. This includes a 10.4 percent walk rate against a 20.5 percent strikeout rate.

The 28-year-old will likely continue to excel at the plate well into his next contract, so he is a safe bet for any team. In terms of defense, Correa is the best option by far. He received a Gold Glove award last year in a year in which he was worth 20 DRS and 12 OAA. Throughout his career, Correa has been worth 70 DRS and 25 OAA. Given his age (28), it does not seem like his glove will decline anytime soon.

The biggest issue I see with him is durability. He has appeared in over 140 games in just one of the last five full seasons. He is similar to Giancarlo Stanton in that regard because he can provide MVP-caliber value when healthy, but you never know what you can expect in terms of workload.

With that being said, the Giants have proven to have an appetite for injury risk, so his track record may not scare them off.

Ranking the top 4 shortstop free agents for the SF Giants

4. Dansby Swanson

I do not think there is much of a difference in terms of overall impact between Xander Bogaerts, Trea Turner, or Carlos Correa. You can make a case for any of them being the top option and you would not be wrong. However, Dansby Swanson is my least favorite of the free-agent shortstops.

This may date my a bit but I remember watching Erick Dampier of the Golden State Warriors during the 2003-2004 season. The team was not good, but Dampier had a career year on the floor as he recorded 12.3 points per game to go with 12.0 rebounds per game.

Of course, it was a contract year for Dampier, so he was motivated to make a good last impression before free agency. My Dad and I watched nearly every game that season and I remember my Dad yelling, "Where was this guy five seasons ago?!" The point he was making is that contract years can produce sometimes flukey results.

I am not saying that is the case with Swanson but I am skeptical of a player who happens to have their best season in a contract year. It really makes evaluating a player difficult because he does not have a reliable track record. That is what separates Bogaerts, Correa, and Turner from Swanson. There is a predictable track record with the first three but that is not necessarily the case with Swanson.

Nevertheless, he is picking the right time to flourish. The right-handed bad has tallied a .279/.331/.441 line (114 OPS+) with 22 home runs, 92 RBI, and 94 runs while being worth 5.2 bWAR in 664 plate appearances. The RBI (92), and runs (94) both represent career highs by a considerable margin.

His OPS+ is just one point below a career high that he set in a small sample of 145 plate appearances in 2016. In the five seasons prior to this one, Swanson had registered an 89 OPS+ at the plate, so I think he has the lowest offensive upside of any of the options.

That said, Swanson is an excellent fielder as he has been worth 13 DRS and 32 OAA across seven seasons. He will provide considerable value with the glove, but this may come with several seasons of below-average production at the plate.

He is in line to receive a substantial contract but I would be hesitant to hand out that type of deal for a player who has not consistently produced at an All-Star level like the other options.