SAN DIEGO -- As Farhan Zaidi sat down with reporters for the first time at the MLB Winter Meetings, the most important piece of his offseason plan was attending a football game 2,500 miles away.
Aaron Judge spent his night in Tampa Bay, watching the Buccaneers take on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. Across the country, two of the most successful franchises in the sport continued to wait for Judge to make a decision.
The Giants and New York Yankees are viewed as being in a dead heat in the race to sign Judge to a long-term contract, and while Zaidi wouldn't provide much in the way of details, the president of baseball operations did offer that the Giants feel good about their process in this pursuit and feel Judge "had a good visit" to San Francisco before Thanksgiving.
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"Those conversations are continuing," Zaidi said. "We're just trying to put our best foot forward. The process continues, but obviously we have really, really strong interest and we thought it was a really productive visit."
Zaidi said the Giants have not been given a timeline of when Judge might make his decision, and while it certainly would help their path forward to know one way or another, they are not simply sitting back and waiting. Much of the front office's time over recent weeks has been spent discussing what a Plan B might look like, and well beyond that.
The Giants are ready to pivot if they have to, including to other outfielders. Zaidi said they plan to add multiple outfielders this offseason.
"We're in that market even beyond Aaron," Zaidi said.
The Judge market is currently led by the Giants and Yankees, and Zaidi's counterpart in New York, Brian Cashman, told reporters that his side has made multiple offers to Judge. Cashman said the Yankees have not been assured that they'll be given a chance to beat another team's best offer at the end.
The waiting game continues for two organizations and a lot of Giants employees who have spent much of their offseason focused on the reigning American League MVP. Zaidi said about 30 team employees were involved in the planning for Judge's visit and the organization's pursuit.
"It's a pretty big collaborative effort," he said.
San Francisco Giants
Asked if Barry Bonds, who came back to the Bay Area exactly 30 years ago in free agency, was part of it, Zaidi laughed and said he wouldn't be divulging what the makeup of that group was.
"No comment," he said, smiling.