With Thanksgiving now in the rearview mirror, the Christmas season is officially upon us. So is Major League Baseball’s hot-stove season, and though they’ve been quiet thus far, the San Francisco Giants have a number of roster holes to fill before the new year is upon us.
Here’s what the Giants fans will be asking Brian Sabean to bring them this offseason:
1. Closer
Let’s get the obvious out of the way. The Giants’ primary roster need has been a closer since before the end of last season, and certainly before general manager Bobby Evans said it was priority number one during the club’s end of season press conference. When you blow 30 saves, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to determine where reinforcements are needed.
San Francisco’s end of game issues were one of the biggest factors holding them back last year, and led to their untimely elimination in Game 4 of the NLDS. Evans chased a number of big name closers like Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon at the trade deadline and couldn’t get a deal done, but multiple reports have Evans again targeting those two, plus a number of others like the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen in free agency. There have even been reports with someone in the organization saying point blank that that the team will be signing one of the top names on the market this season.
This should be an area where Giants fans can be confident that San Francisco will make a splash signing, and even an under the radar option like former Royals closer Greg Holland would be a step in the right direction. If Evans and Sabean for some reason fail to improve in this area, Giants fans should rightly be furious.
2. Outfielder, preferably a right-handed power hitter
Even if Angel Pagan’s likely exit wasn’t opening a hole in left-field, the Giants are sorely in need of a right-handed power bat. San Francisco finished third-to-last in home runs last year, with Buster Posey’s 14 placing as the team high amongst right-handed hitters.
While there are a handful of talented outfielders like Yoenis Cespedes (who the Giants have been linked with), Dexter Fowler and Ian Desmond, the top-heavy nature of this class means the Giants will likely have to break the bank, something we’re assuming they’re already going to do when signing a big-name closer.
The other option would be to close their eyes, cross their fingers and roll out longtime prospects Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker to fill the vacancy of Pagan (and possibly free agent Gregor Blanco) something Evans has already hinted at this offseason.
That would not be a proactive move for a team that could catapult themselves as one of the World Series favorites by adding a potent hitter to the lineup. The only other alternative would be to add power at a different position and move some pieces around, something we’ll get into in a minute.
3. Set-up man
In addition to closer Santiago Casilla’s likely exit in free agency, longtime setup men Sergio Romo and Javier Lopez are also free agents this offseason. Romo has implied that he hasn’t received a call from the Giants to return, while Lopez, 39, has said he’s open to the idea of returning to baseball if the right team reached out, implying he hasn’t heard from his former club either.
Should both leave, the Giants will need to add another member to their bullpen after acquiring a closer, especially someone who can get out left-handed hitters. KNBR’s Marty Lurie recommended former A’s and Red Sox reliever Brad Ziegler as his top target, as well as Phillies relievers Hector Nerez and Jeanmar Gomez. Derek Law and Hunter Strickland would be the in-house options to take over eighth inning duties from the right side of the slab, but neither have proven that they can capably fill that role for an entire MLB season.
4. Third baseman
On paper the Giants don’t seem to need a third baseman, something that made the now discounted Pablo Sandoval rumors seem even more bizarre, but may be targeting one with the plan of moving the recently acquired Eduardo Nunez into the outfield. As mentioned above, the Giants are in the market for a right-handed power hitter and a corner outfielder. Instead of trying to solve both problems by dropping $100 million and signing Cespedes, reports would indicate the Giants might rather sign someone like former Dodger Justin Turner, a player with excellent numbers who would come at a much cheaper price.
If the Giants pursue this route, it’s a clear indication that they are not looking to make two big signings again this offseason, after dropping $220 million for both Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija last year. If the Giants could land a player like Turner, and Nunez is comfortable moving to left, the move would make a ton of sense. Considering it would allow the versatile Nunez to fill in should Brandon Crawford or Joe Panik get injured, while leaving a power bat in the lineup, it might even be preferable.