SF Giants among the 8 teams planning to visit with superstar free agent starting this week

The recruiting is about to begin for superstar free agent Juan Soto. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the SF Giants are among the eight teams set to meet with Soto in Southern California starting this week.

SF Giants among the 8 teams planning to visit with superstar free agent starting this week

Heyman lists the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and New York Mets along with a couple of mystery teams to also be in the mix. Obviously, it is hard to fathom Soto leaving New York as it just feels like a good fit for both parties. Whether that is with the Mets or Yankees remains to be seen.

Do the Giants have a legitimate shot? Their track record for landing superstars in free agency speaks for itself. That is to say, they have not had much success in that department over the past couple of decades.

On the other hand, Soto's agent, Scott Boras, will keep the field as open as possible to maximize Soto's eventual payday. In fact, he will likely convey through the media that this team or that team has a legitimate shot to land the 26-year-old outfielder.

That is what a good agent does, and more often than not, Boras gets his clients the lucrative paydays that they desire.

On the other hand, the Giants recently signaled that they plan to shed payroll in 2024. Recruiting Soto would go against any payroll-related goal as he is expected to land a historic contract this winter. The Giants made a similar attempt at Bryce Harper before the 2019 season after being one of the quieter teams in baseball that year. He was an exception to a plan that looked like an attempt at a rebuild of sorts.

The lefty hitter is coming off of an excellent 2024 campaign in which he slashed .288/.419/.569 (180 wRC+) with 41 home runs, 109 RBI, and 128 runs in 713 plate appearances. It is difficult to time the market much better than that. Plus, Soto nearly helped the Yankees win their first World Series since 2009.

The odds of the Giants landing Soto are extremely low. That said, they are one of the big-market clubs in baseball and need to do their due diligence with a generational player like Soto.

There is certainly a debate to be had that the front office could better use its time elsewhere. For better or worse, this feels like one of the necessary motions they go through every year.