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SF Giants Rumors: Juan Soto trade, Matt Chapman, expanding budget

The Giants are seemingly in the middle of every big name rumor this offseason.

By Eric Cole |
Nov 9, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi
Nov 9, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi / Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports
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This offseason is going to be a very consequential one for the San Francisco Giants. After failing to add a big name last offseason, the Giants collapsed in the second half of 2023 and went from competing at the top of the division to missing the playoffs entirely. The Giants cleaned house at the end of season with manager Gabe Kapler losing his job. If the front office doesn't deliver this offseason, president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi could very well be next on the chopping block.

It is no wonder that the Giants are seemingly mentioned as a potential landing spot for every big name out there. San Francisco is clearly motivated to make changes especially when it comes to their mediocre at best offense. Even if they end up losing out on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto this offseason, it is fair to guess that they will remain very active up until the beginning of spring training.

That being said, so much of what is out there is just noise leaked by agents or teams. Right now, everyone is jockeying for the best negotiating position and the Giants are one of those teams that everyone knows is looking to make moves so mentioning their involvement is only going to help drive up the price tag for guys. However, there is enough smoke out there with some of these rumors to merit a longer look.

SF Giants Rumors: Could the Giants end up trading for Juan Soto?

This is a big one as not only would Soto provide a huge boost for a Giants' offense that desperately needs an impact bat, but it would signal a real shift in the dynamics of the NL West. The Padres are in a tough position as their owner who pushed for all of their spending in recent years just passed away and they were already looking to trim their bloated payroll before that. Given that Juan Soto is expected to get north of $30 million in arbitration this year, trading him before his final season of team control makes a lot of sense.

While getting a deal done with a division rival is never easy, this rumor has some legs. The Giants have long been mentioned as a potential Soto trade partner and the chatter around such a move has only increased as the offseason has gone on. San Francisco has the young talent that the Padres are looking for in return and they certainly have the money to pay Soto this year. Ultimately, whether or a not a deal gets done could come down to how likely the Giants feel it is that they can hang on to him long-term and whether or not San Diego can stomach the idea of Soto playing in a Giants uniform in 2024.

SF Giants Rumors: Is San Francisco really targeting Matt Chapman?

Another big time bat that San Francisco has been connected to this offseason is Matt Chapman. Chapman was positioned going into the 2023 season to be one of the absolute top free agents this offseason. Unfortunately, his inconsistency at the plate hurt his stock a bit even though he remains one of the top position players available especially when you factor in his elite defense at third base.

The fit for the Giants here is fairly straightforward. The team could really use a strong defender after being one of the worst defensive teams in baseball in 2023 (-52 defensive runs saved is gross no matter how to look at it) and Chapman has never posted a wRC+ lower than 101 in his career thanks to having some pop and the ability to regularly draw walks.

There are some factors to consider with Chapman, however. One, while he is a good hitter, he isn't always an impact bat which is what the Giants really need. His defense will always provide a lot of value unless he loses a limb, but a career .240 hitter isn't exactly a guy that is going to turn an offense around especially when he is going to command north of $125 million with the Blue Jays and some other deep pocketed teams looking to add lineup help this offseason.

Secondly, Chapman is going to cost just enough that there could be some opportunity cost in signing him. The Giants aren't hurting for payroll space, but they are aiming high this offseason with targets like Ohtani and Yamamoto. If the Giants do end up signing Ohtani, they are probably out on Chapman and signing Yamamoto may make such a move tough. However, if they miss on one or both of those guys, expect San Francisco's pursuit of Chapman as well as Cody Bellinger to heat up considerably.

SF Giants Rumors: The Giants are going to spend big this offseason...really, really big

The overarching narrative this offseason is that the Giants are going to make a splash this offseason. Again, last offseason left a bad taste in everyone's mouths even if the Carlos Correa situation wasn't necessarily San Francisco's fault. The only question really was simply HOW aggressive the Giants were going to be this offseason.

The answer: very, very aggressive.

Multiple reports in recent weeks have indicated that the Giants are all-in on the free agent market and are expected to add multiple top-end free agents or trade targets. Again, it isn't surprising given some of the names that have been mentioned here so far, but it sure seems like that the Giants could end up being the most aggressive team this offseason with multiple nine figure deals getting handed out being very, very likely.

We have heard this before, of course. Everyone thought that the Giants were going to make a big splash last offseason when the Giants openly courted Aaron Judge and nearly signed Carlos Correa. However, the end result was a Giants roster made up mostly of spare parts that overperformed in the first half. However, this offseason does feel different. Zaidi and co. know that they need to deliver this offseason after struggling to attract top end talent in recent years. Expect the Giants to spare little expense in making sure they don't come up empty-handed again.

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