Pressure for SF Giants to land a closer is ratcheted up after Tigers land Emilio Pagan

Anyone who watched the SF Giants in 2026 knows that the team needed a closer. They didn’t have a legitimate closer all year and basically just shuffled through different non-effective ninth-inning options which is why president of baseball operations Buster Posey has said the team will prioritize getting a closer this offseason.

Well, they had better get on that because one of the few options who made sense for them is off the board after the Detroit Tigers signed Emilio Pagan to a one-year, $11 million deal. Now San Francisco’s closer options are more limited which is only going to amp up the pressure.

While there are some big-name relievers on the market like Adrian Morejon and David Bednar, they are both likely to earn lucrative multi-year deals which does not seem like something the Giants want to pursue, especially after the Mark Melancon debacle a decade ago. Plus, they were both extended a qualifying offer and Posey said that the Giants probably won’t sign any players who received a QO because under the current CBA that would cost them a draft pick and international bonus pool money.

Giants will probably go for mid-tier closer in free agency

When thinking about which closers the Giants might reasonable pursue, the three I identified as being solid but not overly expensive were Raisel Iglesias, Kenley Jansen, and Pagan. That means there are really only two more options for the Giants to get a legitimate closer before they would have to turn to less appetizing options.

After Iglesias and Jansen, who are both older and likely to sign one-year deals, the pickings get much more slim. The Giants would start having to think about guys like Pete Fairbanks if they want to land someone who has a lot of experience closing games. Fairbanks had a 6.31 in 2026 with the Miami Marlins.

That’s why they really need to act quickly and sign someone before it’s too late. I personally have a hard time seeing them lure Iglesias away from the Atlanta Braves unless they overpay for him. As for Jansen, he could probably be had on a deal similar to Pagan in the $10-12 million range.

San Francisco could also go the trade route. There has been some talk that the Milwaukee Brewers might be open to trading closer Trevor Megill and he would represent a very big upgrade for San Francisco.

My guess is they will end up signing Jansen, but whatever they decide to do on the closer front they should probably do pretty quickly because if they wait too long then all of the decent options will be gone. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow