SF Giants have obvious offseason need after season is sunk by blown saves

The SF Giants are officially eliminated from the playoffs. There are many reasons for this, but the back end of the bullpen is certainly one of them. The Giants have a very clear area of need at closer that they must to address in the offseason.

It was fitting in many ways that San Francisco's season was ultimately sunk thanks to a blown save from Ryan Walker on Tuesday night as the team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. Walker has been struggling as of late so it seemed only right that he was the one to cough it up ultimately.

SF Giants need to address closer role in offseason

Walker blew several games in the month of September as the team was making a late-season push for the playoffs. They needed to be nearly perfect coming down the stretch and the bullpen was anything but perfect towards the end of the year which will surely have the Giants thinking about a complete re-do.

To be fair to the bullpen, the team's relievers were put in a tough position. The Giants traded away two key bullpen arms at the deadline in Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval. They also lost Erik Miller and Randy Rodríguez to injury so by the end of the season they did not have their best four relievers.

The guys who had to fill in did well at times, and some of them likely earned a spot in next year's bullpen like Joey Lucchesi. Even Walker had some good outings down the stretch and looked like he had recaptured his old form but he has proven he is much better suited for the 6th or 7th inning rather than the 9th. Yet, the Giants had no other choice than to roll with Walker as the closer by the end of the season.

They need to address the ninth inning this offseason though, especially with Rodríguez likely to miss all of 2026 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Names like Devin Williams, Kenley Jansen, and Ryan Helsley will be available this offseason and could be options in the 9th. Williams and Helsley are coming off tough years so maybe the Giants could get them at something of a discount.

It seems the answer will have to be external because another year with Walker as the closer just does not seem like a great idea.

There are plenty of other areas for the Giants to address in the offseason, but figuring out who will get the closer role should definitely be a priority for Buster Posey.

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