As the offseason churns along and MLB teams continue to bolster their rosters with blockbuster trades and big-name free agent acquisitions, don't expect the Giants to fit that narrative.
Should San Francisco make any further additions, they'll likely pass on anything major, ESPN's Buster Olney reported Sunday, citing sources. Instead, they'll elect for smaller acquisitions, with low-risk "bargain" signings in the free-agent market.
So far, it looks as if the National League West might boast the two best teams in the league: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the (wait for it) San Diego Padres. Fresh off a 2020 World Series championship berth, the Dodgers have won the division for eight straight years, are consistently one of the best teams in baseball and still manage to have one of the strongest Minor League systems in the sport.
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On the other hand, after an incredibly dismal decade, the Padres have emerged as one of baseball's biggest threats. San Diego clinched a playoff appearance in 2020 for the first time in 14 years, and it appears they are just getting started. The Padres have budding superstar Fernando Tatis Jr., along with Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer. They landed Mike Clevinger at the 2020 trade deadline. Still, their biggest story yet was making headlines on Sunday by trading for 2018 Cy Young award winner Blake Snell. The Padres also have baseball's top pitching prospect, Mackenzie Gore, waiting in the wings and reportedly are shopping to add Yu Darvish. Even with Clevinger sidelined for the 2021 season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery, San Diego looks poised to have one of the best starting rotations in the game.
Still, all of the above likely won't change the Giants' blueprint for the offseason.
San Francisco Giants
While plenty big-name pieces remain on the market, such as George Springer, Trevor Bauer, Marcell Ozuna and DJ LeMahieu, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi has remained true to his rebuild process -- one that involves small, solid upgrades without major spending as the team waits for heavy-duty contracts to come off the books. That will happen after the 2021 season, Olney notes, with Buster Posey, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford all approaching the final years on their contracts. It's hard to imagine Posey with any other organization, but the future for Crawford and Belt is much less clear. Hypothetically speaking, by next offseason the Giants could scrap a large amount of their payroll that has contractually tied their hands over the last few years.
That timing would coincide perfectly, as the current collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2021 season. Finagling the new working agreement would almost ensure new economic framework regarding qualifying offers and free agency.
Additionally, the 2022 free agent class is stacked with potential suitors, including Francisco Lindor, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez and 2020 National League MVP Freddie Freeman. The Giants financial flexibility should reach it's peak entering 2022, and the oft-poised and always calculating Zaidi won't prematurely jump the gun.
2022 is also the estimated time window for some of San Francisco's top prospects to make the jump to the big leagues. Just a couple of years ago, the Giants had one of the worst farm systems in baseball. Now, it showcases coveted talent in Heliot Ramos, Hunter Bishop and Seth Corry, along with one of the most alluring prospects in baseball, Marco Luciano. The core is expected to join top prospect Joey Bart in the everyday lineup in the 2022 season.
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So, should Giants fans expect to compete in 2021? It's complicated. While San Francisco has been in a rebuild process, the front office has never committed to bottoming out, instead actively engaging in short-term rentals that have helped the Giants remain (mostly) in contention. For example, in a 60-game season, a sans-Posey San Francisco wasn't eliminated from the playoffs until the very last day, even with a diminished rotation and an inconsistent offense.
Zaidi has continued to make those deals, with the Giants signing right-handers Anthony DeScalfani and Matt Wisler to one-year deals. San Francisco also re-signed Kevin Gausman, a viable arm for the team last year, who put up a 3.62 ERA over 12 games (10 starts) and a career-best 11.9 strikeout-per-nine ratio.
While those signings surely pale in comparison to Snell and (potentially) Darvish, they're exactly the type of moves Zaidi has been prone to making since taking over the helm in late 2018. Remember, when it comes to grand gestures and monster moves, the Giants aren't looking to match the Dodgers or the Padres -- at least not right now. For the time being, San Francisco will continue to plug along on their own time plan, looking to strike when it's most optimal. For a wide array of factors, that surely looks like 2022.