SF Giants receive adequate winter grade despite being relatively quiet

How did the SF Giants do this offseason? Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman of Yahoo Sports handed out offseason grades and gave the club a B- for their work, highlighting the lack of an impact bat still missing from the lineup.

SF Giants receive adequate winter grade despite being relatively quiet

The Giants made two notable moves this winter, adding Willy Adames and Justin Verlander. Adames agreed to a seven-year deal, so he will share the left side of the infield with Matt Chapman for a long time to come.

Verlander was limited to just 17 starts in 2024 after experiencing neck and shoulder discomfort. He pitched to a 5.48 ERA and it is fair to question whether he has anything left in the tank?

After winning just 78 games last season, are the Giants in a much better position now than they were at the end of last season?

The projections see them as pretty much the same team this season whether you look at Fangraphs or PECOTA. Given the lack of activity, they will be returning many of the same players next season.

The notable deletions include Blake Snell and Michael Conforto. Snell was arguably the best pitcher in baseball in the second half of last season, whereas Conforto finished the year on a high note to put up a respectable .759 OPS with 20 home runs and 66 RBI in 488 plate appearances.

The Giants expect Adames to replace and even exceed that production at the plate. However, it would be tough to expect Verlander to pitch to a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts like Snell did in 2024. The veteran hurler could very well replicate Snell's workload. If the rotation is going to improve, it will need to come from its younger arms.

This is an offseason where the Giants needed a roster overhaul but free agency was not ripe with realistic options who fit that description.

Perhaps, Corbin Burnes signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks is the team's biggest miss of the offseason, especially when it felt like he would have welcomed a return to Northern California.
Pete Alonso was lightly connected to the Giants but he was an imperfect fit. While he was connected to San Francisco, this was never discussed seriously internally.

The Giants checked off a couple of needs by bringing in Adames and Verlander. However, it felt like there were more needs to fill.

At the end of the day, The B- grade is largely due to needing a shortstop and adding the best option on the market. It is not a bad grade, especially when you consider that they only made two notable moves. It feels somewhat incomplete.