For the Giants this offseason, the stove should be the hottest it’s been in over a decade.
Coming off a disappointing 81-81 season after not doing much in the winter, the pressure is on Farhan Zaidi and Co. to get back to 2021 form. That should manifest itself in making plays for some of the marquee talents on the open market, specifically a few of the best position players in the game.
Tim Kawakami of The Athletic joined Papa & Lund on Monday and said he believes this will be the case.
“I think they’re going to be very aggressive,” TK said on KNBR. “This is not anything someone has told me, but you can just kind of read it right? I mean the owner said ‘we’re very aware of that pending free agent in the Bronx.’ You can’t signal it louder than that. I don’t think it’s a faint, I don’t think it’s to make people think they’re going to try and then fall short like they’ve done on various other free agents in the past, Bryce Harper being the primary one.
“I think they realize they are in a position here where one superstar — hell two superstars if they could do it — would be a potential tipping point for them into the future, for the next five-to-seven years. They need people in the seats, it’s not just about that. Not only to stir up the interest in this team, but to just make them good for awhile.”
The Giants haven’t made a splash on a free agent position player in the Farhan Zaidi era, and well before that. In fact, Wilmer Flores’ $16.5 million, three-year deal is the most lucrative contract Zaidi has shelled out for a non-pitcher.
With the pressure on, you can expect that to end in the coming months.
“They’ve got the money,” Kawakami continued. “They saved a bunch of it last season as people are quick to point out and are right to point out. The salary drops $30-40 million from the previous years and the previous years before that. They’ve got money. They are a rich team. They are a blockbuster team, they like to have the big names. They did not have a superstar last year after Buster Posey retired. They are set up to do it wisely, not recklessly, they are not going to outbid everybody by $10 million a year. But to be in that ballpark, and if Aaron Judge, No.1 obviously, but if they don’t get him, and it’s hard to imagine ever outspending the Yankees for a superstar, I think they are ready to go for Carlos Correa. And if they don’t get Carlos Correa, I think they are ready to go for Trea Turner.
“There’s going to be this focus, it’s not going to be crazy money, it’s not going to be stupid money, it’s going to be money they can afford which is because they’re rich, and it’s a team that needs this and could be a winning team for many, many years if you just get this. And it’s better to get it in free agency than trade your farm system for somebody. You might have to do it, I don’t think they want to do it.
“Just get them as a free agent. There’s three of them, I just named ’em. I don’t know that they are going to get one of them, I think there’s a good shot that they take every, every, every swing at each one of them down the line. And I think they might end up getting one of them.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Papa & Lund weekdays from 2 – 6 p.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.