SF Giants News: In on all of the top talent?, Winter Meetings updates
It's day three of the 2023 Winter Meetings, and to say things have been a little underwhelming so far could be an understatement. The San Francisco Giants have been especially quiet; while many teams who have yet to make moves are still being mentioned in connection to new players, the Giants have had very few mentions. There are still two days for them to do something notable, though, and anything could happen. Here's what's been going on so far.
More SF Giants news
Right now, Giants fans find themselves in a strange in-between place where their team's name keeps coming up in regard to some of the biggest free agents and trade chips available this offseason, but they also don't hear it perhaps quite as much as the other teams, and there are absolutely zero details to give anyone a sense of how close or far they are to actually getting these players. Such is the case for the Giants with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Juan Soto, at the moment. Lots of "interest" a nothing else to go off of. So the Giants have found themselves toward the center of a swirling rumor eddy and have stayed quiet otherwise.
Getting Ohtani, Yamamoto, or Soto would undoubtedly be an or/or/or situation. Clearly, the Giants have a lot of money in reserve they are willing spend on the right person, but it seems unlikely that there could be three or even two right persons. It's unclear which of those three players the Giants are most interested in, though have been in on Ohtani for a long time now. Everything is speculation until anything other than "interest" is used to describe San Francisco's level of commitment to anyone, but it does seem like Ohtani and Yamamoto, at least, are nearing decisions.
MLB news
In league-wide trade news, the Mariners dealt left fielder Jarred Kelenic and two other players, including pitcher Marco Gonzales, to the Braves for minor leaguers. It's unclear if the Mariners have a bigger plan in the works, but speculation surrounds a potential trade with the Rays for Randy Arozarena and/or Isaac Paredes. Arozarena could help bolster Seattle's all but empty outfield, while Paredes could take over for the space left open at third by the Mariners' trade of Eugenio Suarez to the Diamondbacks earlier this month. On the other side of the trade, the Braves have been an on-again, off-again kind of active throughout the offseason. They might have plans in store too, as they reportedly do not have interest in keeping Gonzales, rather using him as a trade chip.
Coming up at Winter Meetings are the MLB Draft Lottery and the Rule 5 draft, which will take place tonight and tomorrow night respectively. In the Draft Lottery, 17 non-playoff teams will draw to determine to the order of the first six picks in next year's draft. The Giants have a 1.0% chance of picking first and slightly higher chances of picking second through sixth, but it's most likely that they will pick toward the center of the pack. In the Rule 5 draft, all teams without a full 40-man roster, including the Giants, can pick from a pool of available prospects who have been in the minor leagues for 4-5 years.