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Ranking the top 3 priorities for the SF Giants this offseason

By Jeff Young |
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San Diego Padres v Colorado Rockies / Dustin Bradford/GettyImages
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The SF Giants need a major roster overhaul for 2025. There is no denying that. However, if they cannot overhaul much of the roster, where should they prioritize?

Ranking the top 3 priorities for the SF Giants this offseason

The Giants just completed their third-straight disappointing season after winning 80 games and falling well short of the playoff picture. They cannot return much of the same roster next season and hope for better results. That is not going to sell the fans nor is it going to sell tickets.

It is difficult to project win totals for next season this early into the offseason, but the path to the playoffs does not look like it will get any easier in 2025. The Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Arizona Diamondbacks all look ahead of San Francisco in terms of talent in the NL West.

The Wild Card picture does not look any easier with teams like the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and Milwaukee Brewers being in the mix if they are not leading their respective divisions. This is a lot of talent for the Giants to overcome.

Perhaps, that gap widened on Friday with Blake Snell opting out as expected. Nevertheless, Buster Posey and new Giants general manager Zack Minasian will be tasked with positioning the roster for better results in 2025.

1. Middle infielder

It is debatable as to whether the starting rotation belongs in the top spot or not. However, I will address that shortly.

The Giants need at least one middle infielder with a shortstop being the preference. Tyler Fitzgerald handled much of the shortstop duties in the second half of the year, but he was challenged defensively at the position.

The young infielder tallied -6 DRS, -4 OAA, and -3 FRV at shortstop in 2024. Regardless of the defensive metric you use, he was a below-average shortstop and the eye test matched those results. A move to second base seems likely. Of course, the Giants need to determine what they can even expect from Fitzgerald in 2025. He very much had a breakout season but struggled down the stretch as the league adjusted.

That said, Giants' second basemen ranked as one of the worst position groups as they were worth +0.3 fWAR last season. On the other hand, they were 12th among team positional value at shortstop with +3.6 fWAR. That number was held up pretty heavily by Fitzgerald's performance.

Depending on where they stand with Fitzgerald or Casey Schmitt, they could need two middle infielders. Fortunately, second base is an easier position to fill if they go down that path.

Shortstop will be a much tougher position to fill. Willy Adames and Ha-Seong Kim are some of the obvious options in free agency. Bo Bichette of the Toronto Blue Jays is a potential trade candidate. Bichette struggled to a .598 OPS with four home runs and 31 RBI in 336 plate appearances.

Adames will be in demand with the Los Angeles Dodgers being a potential fit. This could push him out of the Giants' price range. On the other hand, Kim had shoulder surgery in October and is expected to return early in 2025. Will he be the same hitter early on next season? That remains to be seen but there will be plenty of rumors connecting him to the Giants.

Another trade target could be Willi Castro of the Minnesota Twins. Castro has one more year of team control. Either Mike Yastrzemski or LaMonte Wade Jr. could match up as position trade targets for the Twins.

San Francisco Giants v Baltimore Orioles
San Francisco Giants v Baltimore Orioles / Patrick Smith/GettyImages

Ranking the top 3 priorities for the SF Giants this offseason

2. Starting rotation

I have gone back and forth about whether this is a need or a want. On paper, the Giants have a skeleton of a rotation with Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, and Hayden Birdsong. Plus, Landen Roupp could find his way into the mix after a strong finish to the season.

The 2024 season was a disappointment in a lot of respects, but the performance of the starting rotation was arguably the biggest disappointment. That unit pitched to a 4.22 ERA last season, which was 18th in baseball. That is not terrible, but not good enough for an area of the roster that needed to be a strength for the team to compete.

Of course, those numbers are also inflated by Blake Snell's stellar second half of the year in which he was arguably the best pitcher in baseball. With the lefty ace opting out, the rotation looks worse on paper now than when the season ended.

How the front office decides to address the rotation could be an indicator of how they view the team's chances of competing for a playoff spot next season. If they do add a frontline starter, it is a sign that they plan to compete next season.

However, if they go with the status quo or tweak the rotation by adding a mid-rotation arm, it could be a sign of a team that expects a soft reset or retool. Of course, the Giants do not like using those words but this could be the litmus test for that.

Retaining Snell should be a priority. There will be plenty of connections to Corbin Burnes as well given that he grew up in California and attended Saint Mary's College. Outside of those options, Nick Pivetta, Nick Martinez, or even reuniting with Alex Cobb make sense as mid-rotation candidates.

Wild Card Series - Kansas City Royals v Baltimore Orioles - Game 2
Wild Card Series - Kansas City Royals v Baltimore Orioles - Game 2 / Greg Fiume/GettyImages

Ranking the top 3 priorities for the SF Giants this offseason

3. Power-hitting corner outfielder

The Giants realistically need to add three or four notable hitters to the lineup. The lineup slashed .239/.305/.396 (97 wRC+) with an 8.1 percent walk rate, 24.0 percent strikeout rate, and .157 ISO. That is a lineup with too many strikeouts, too few walks, and not nearly enough power.

The Giants will likely start next season with Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee as two of the three primary outfielders in the lineup. They could tender Mike Yastrzemski a contract as well, but this is an area they really should consider upgrading.

Giants outfielders posted a .720 OPS while being worth 3.8 fWAR. The defense was one of the weaker areas but should be improved with Lee in center field and Ramos correctly used as one of the corner outfielders.

Nevertheless, the 3.8 fWAR was 21st among team outfield groups in 2024, meaning that there is still plenty of room to upgrade.

Juan Soto will be the biggest free agent available. The Giants will be in the mix given that they are a big-market club but they do not have a great track record of landing the top free agents in baseball. Teoscar Hernández and Anthony Santander of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles, respectively, fit what the Giants need as well.

Tyler O'Neill of the Boston Red Sox had a surprising 2024 campaign in which he posted an. 847 OPS with 31 home runs in 473 plate appearances. However, he does not have much of a predictable track record, so there is plenty of inherent risk.

If the Giants miss out on those targets, there is a pretty notable drop off in terms of talent. They could pivot to adding more of a full-time DH such as Joc Pederson instead but that is typically a tough roster spot, especially for a team that is lacking in athleticism.

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