The SF Giants still need to upgrade one key position

It has been a slow offseason for the SF Giants and much of baseball. Besides the bullpen, the Giants still need to add a right fielder.

The SF Giants still need to upgrade one key position

When the offseason began, we highlighted three areas that the Giants needed to address. To some degree, they have addressed the rotation and bullpen. They added Adrian Houser on a two-yesar, $22 million deal. This raises the floor of that unit, but may not do enough to raise the ceiling.

Giants general manager Zack Minasian conveyed that he would be comfortable with relying on an internal option to fill that final rotation spot. Hayden Birdsong, Blade Tidwell, and Trevor McDonald are among the pitchers in that group. They could go in that direction, but it would be difficult to project this unit as a strength without making another external addition.

The Giants have made a handful of additions to the bullpen, led by Sam Hentges and Jason Foley. They will continue to make additions to this unit through the remainder of the offseason. It will likely be smaller moves, but they could still use an experienced closer.

They could look to improve at second base as well, but if the season began today, they would be comfortable with Casey Schmitt seeing regular playing time.

Right field is the one position they need to find a way to upgrade. There is no one from the current group who has done enough to be penciled in for regular playing time in 2026.

Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee are slated to handle the everyday duties in left field and center field, respectively. The Giants have five other outfielders listed on the 40-man roster, including Luis Matos, Jerar Encarnación, and Drew Gilbert. Tyler Fitzgerald and Christian Koss also have experience in the outfield, but their primary positions are in the infield gress.

Gilbert was a solid defender in his rookie season, but the bat leaves a lot to be desired. If there is enough improvement offensively, he would immediately become a reliable fourth outfielder. There could be a lot of at-bats for him in that role.

Matos and Encarnación are bat-first options, but without much of a track record of success against major league pitching. Matos has had some promising moments, and Encarnación has above-average raw power, but it has not translated yet.

If the Giants are going to compete, they just cannot begin the year by relying on the internal options. That would be setting themselves up for failure.

Plus, they already have one extreme soft spot in the lineup, with Patrick Bailey. Bailey offsets that to some degree by offering elite defense behind the plate. It puts pressure on the rest of the lineup to produce. It would put even more pressure on the lineup if they did not get enough offense from right field.

The options in free agency are running thin. Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger represent some of the best free-agent outfielders. The options after that are much more affordable, such as Harrison Bader, Austin Hayes, Max Kepler, and Mike Tauchman. This is not the most promising group, but the Giants need to do something to address this spot in the lineup.