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None of the major Bay Area sports teams are set up exactly the way they want to be, nobody has won a title in a little while, and nobody seems lined up to challenge for one right now.
It’s a time of transition. It’s time to study the outlines of progress or at least an identifiable plan for the near future. It’s a time for good questions, that’s for sure.
That all was already on my mind as I culled these questions for my annual November mailbag column. Then when somebody literally just asked me about this (which I address directly at the bottom), it was impossible to ignore.
Things are in flux as we barrel toward 2026. It certainly isn’t boring, and you have to be paying close attention to get a true read on the tweaks and modulations of the Giants’ new Tony Vitello era, the 49ers in Year 1 of their jerry-rigged new three-year cycle, and so on through our local landscape.
Today
4 days ago
Tuesday, Nov. 11
This is Part 1 and will deal with the 49ers, Giants, Valkyries, and Sharks.
Part 2 will come later this week and will be singularly focused on all things Warriors.
As always, questions have been edited for length and clarity. Here we go:
We’re a little over halfway through the 49ers’ season. There is a lot that could still change, but as you’ve said, focus seems to be on building toward 2026 and ‘27. Last offseason’s focus was pretty clearly fixing the defense. What is the focus this offseason? — DJ Griff via BlueSky.
To put it as plainly as possible: The 49ers need some new stars who aren’t edging past their prime years or coming off of major injuries. They need to do some restocking.
And also quite plainly: The 49ers’ financial people need to step away from the slashing and cutting that dominated last offseason. They can’t be cheap.
Didn’t they plan this for some big moves next offseason? I think they did.
Overall, whatever happens the rest of this season, the 49ers will be in solid shape heading into 2026. Brock Purdy, George Kittle, Fred Warner, and Deommodore Lenoir are locked in as their long-term stalwarts. Nick Bosa’s contract can be adjusted to drop his cap hit. Christian McCaffrey will do everything possible to maximize his production. Mykel Williams, Dee Winters, Tatum Bethune, Alfred Collins, Malik Mustapha, and Renardo Green are rising defensive figures. They actually have a real kicker. We know they’ll stick together through adversity.
But the 49ers probably need one more star on offense (probably at wide receiver), one more star on defense (probably another pass rusher or a defensive tackle), and one or two more solid offensive linemen. And after last offseason’s salary purge and with some adjusting after this season (goodbye Brandon Aiyuk?), they should have the money to pursue top options at all of those spots.
Should the 49ers trade Mac Jones if they get good value, for example, a high third-rounder?
AND …
Why is there so much talk about the 49ers trading Aiyuk? Has the relationship between him and Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch become irreparable after all the extension nonsense? Or is the contract just viewed as poor value? — @TheFunkyGibbon via Twitter.
You’d get a “yes” from me on trading Jones. I’ve speculated for a while that, even though he signed a two-year deal with the 49ers last offseason, there might be a tacit agreement that the 49ers will try to do right by him next offseason after he played so well replacing Purdy for eight games this season.
It would be quite the luxury for the 49ers to have two starting-level quarterbacks next season, but with the league-wide shortage at this position, I think the 49ers would be best served to trade Jones to the highest bidder (which also would almost certainly be one that would give him every shot at a starting spot).
Also, I don’t think Shanahan will be lacking options if he needs a new veteran QB2 after revitalizing Sam Darnold and then Jones’ careers in that spot. Zach Wilson, anybody?
Mac Jones is 5-3 as a starter for the 49ers this season. | Source: Amber Pietz/The Standard
If I was the 49ers in a Jones market, I’d try to get a Day 2 pick (a third-rounder that could move up to a No. 2 if Jones starts most of the 2026 season for his new team), and then aim to use that extra asset to move up in the first round to target a stud receiver or defensive tackle in the middle of the first round. That’s one way to get a star.
And on Aiyuk … it’s always tricky to put a value on a player who has been hurt for so long or to evaluate his current status on the team while he’s hurt. But the 49ers have been thinking of trading Aiyuk since he staged all those weird scenes during his negotiation last year and it’s not like he’s gained value with them ever since.
In fact, if he hadn’t suffered the injury, Aiyuk might’ve already been traded. He has a $27 million guaranteed salary next season that was built for a trade — it won’t accelerate onto the 49ers’ cap if he’s traded and can be fit onto a new team’s cap pretty simply with a few alterations.
The complication for the 49ers is that unless Aiyuk comes back soon and plays great this season, he won’t be worth very much on the trade market. And because the 49ers might also lose Jauan Jennings to free agency, the 49ers’ WR ranks would be pretty thin without Aiyuk.
But certain parts of the 49ers’ front office has been all but done with Aiyuk for a while now. And I’m not sure Shanahan and Lynch are in the mood to stand up for him anymore. I think everybody else is getting ready for Aiyuk to be an ex-49er by March, even if the 49ers will probably get almost nothing in return for him.
The 49ers are trying to emulate the Rams get-younger strategy, which certainly worked for the Rams. How would you say it’s going for the 49ers? Injuries muddle the picture, but while they have added some nice players, it doesn’t feel like they have hit on stars like Jared Verse or Puka Nacua. — albabe10 via BlueSky.
I agree. They need more young stars to contend with the Rams, Eagles, and whoever else next season. I think Shanahan, Lynch, and maybe even Jed York would agree.
Any particular reason why Christian McCaffrey is still in the game late? — Brendan Adamczyk via BlueSky.
Shanahan, to many 49ers fans’ great frustration, will never forget the 2021 Week 1 game in Detroit when the 49ers were up 41-17 with under two minutes left, pulled most of the starters, then saw the Lions score two touchdowns and two two-point conversions to make it a one-score game and march inside the 30 before the 49ers’ defense finally ended it.
Also, McCaffrey never, ever asks out, even in blowouts. In fact, I’m pretty sure he gets quite mad when anybody suggests that he should come out.
Chance the Niners run the table until at least the Chicago and Seattle games? Especially with more crucial defensive injuries and Eddy Piñeiro’s injury now putting more pressure on the offense. — ninersfan4life via BlueSky.
I think it’s more realistic to think in shorter segments as this season gets into crunch time. Can the 49ers win the next two — at home Monday night against Carolina and then in Cleveland the week after that — to get to 9-4 on a three-game winning streak heading into their extremely late bye in Week 14?
Shanahan teams traditionally play great games after byes, so I’ll pencil in a victory over Tennessee in Week 15. That’d be 10-4 and a four-game winning streak. I think that’d all but clinch a wild-card spot for the 49ers.
And for everything after that … I’ll just say: shrug emoji. Let’s see.
Kicker Eddy Piñeiro’s hamstring injury forced the 49ers to hold tryouts on Tuesday. | Source: Kavin Mistry/Getty Images
You’ve covered teams in multiple sports in multiple major markets. The 49ers “road takeover” phenomenon leads me to wonder: Where in your experience does the Bay Area stack up in terms of fan ferocity, loyalty, etc.? — nobs23 via BlueSky.
Nothing will top my time in Philadelphia if you want to measure the pure passion of a fan base. I spent a few Fall months in Jacksonville, Fla., and I’ll never forget the full force of a SEC football weekend. When I covered the Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant Lakers, every road game was a carnival that would consistently nudge just up to and sometimes over the line of controllable activities.
But the 49ers’ traveling party is unique. I’ve never seen this many fans get into opponent stadiums in these kinds of numbers this often — and create miniature home-field environments for their beloved team.
I think it’s due to three factors: 1) the 49ers’ fan base is immense — definitely the largest in the Bay Area — and only growing; 2) many of its members have an apparently endless amount of spendable income; 3) everybody knows that it’s a big 49ers party for every road weekend, which pulls in anybody who’s even thinking about doing it.
Why have the Giants publicly leaned away from high-profile signings in recent years? Greg Johnson has been in front of the media and said that the Giants don’t want to spend big money on players, especially pitchers. Except their need this offseason is pitching. — Brandon Matthews via Twitter.
Well, the Giants traded for Rafael Devers and picked up the remaining $250 million-plus on his contract. They signed Willy Adames for $182 million a few months before that. They tried to sign Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Aaron Judge, among many others.
So it’s not that Johnson and Buster Posey won’t spend big money on elite position players and hitters in free agency. But they’ve missed on all the biggest ones lately. Posey openly jokes about all the failed recruiting he’s done over the years. But the Giants specifically haven’t paid huge money to 30-something starting pitchers and they’re not going to begin doing it now.
The reasons? Corbin Burnes, Stephen Strasburg, Barry Zito, and every other middle-career pitcher over the last 25 years who has signed a huge free-agent deal for past performance then almost immediately gotten hurt or delivered regrettable returns.
The Giants have a ton of money, but no teams except the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets can properly balance a payroll if they’re stuck paying out $125 million for the worst five years of a starter’s career.
Remember, the Giants definitely would’ve matched the $325 million the Dodgers paid to Yamamoto two offseasons ago — but that’s because he was 25 back then, with many prime years ahead.
Yep, the Giants definitely need a starting pitcher or two. But it’s been proven, by Farhan Zaidi recently and many others, that you can grab a very good starter for good value on a short-term deal if you know what you’re doing. And at that point you’re usually paying for future performance, not to reward past statistics.
Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey has listed pitching as the team’s top priority this offseason. | Source: Amber Pietz/The Standard
Do the Giants have a path to contention with the top teams in the league? I see a roster with some good pieces and a lot of holes, a lot of payroll commitments, and a minor-league system full of mid-tier prospects at best. I don’t know what strategy would get them there quickly. — @CayleHunter via Twitter.
Until and unless Posey gets that farm system humming, there’s no obvious path for the Giants to challenge the Dodgers for NL West supremacy, and that will always be the primary test for them in this era.
It’s definitely not humming. That’s a problem. But even while agreeing with every point you make about the Giants’ weaknesses and understanding how bad they were for about a month last season, I’m not going to call them a lost cause.
They still finished only two games out the NL’s third wild-card spot. They should be a better offensive team with a full season of Devers and without Adames free-falling through the first eight weeks. They might add strong starters alongside Logan Webb and Robbie Ray.
I don’t think the Giants are very close to taking down the Dodgers, but a good offseason might get them into the playoffs.
I’m less interested in a Giants free-agent signing and more interested in trading from some young depth. What value do our 4A players have around the league (Luis Matos, Grant McCray, Marco Luciano) and who could we package up and get? — @S49erfan via Twitter.
At this point in all of those guys’ long careers as prospects, I think if any of them had great or even good trade value, the Giants probably would’ve moved them months or years ago.
Put it this way: Why would another team give up much for Matos, McCray, or Luciano if they’re not good enough to play for a Giants team that is dying for good young talent in its lineup
Why do you think Valkyries were able to handle adversity (high roster turnover, Julie Vanloo cut, losing All-Star Kayla Thornton at midseason) better than the Giants? The Valkyries played hard and together even in losses. — thankyoucurry30 via BlueSky.
Tremendous question and something (in a non-Giants-specific way) I was wondering about all season as the Valkyries just kept rolling along throughout all the things you’ve mentioned and more.
I think it’s a credit to Natalie Nakase and her staff, of course, for making sure the players never felt sorry for themselves or lost sight of the main goals. And the amazing fans who filled every seat at Chase Center absolutely were a factor — how could you play at less than full motivation when your crowd was making that kind of noise?
But most of it was about the grit and skill of those players. I’ve joked with general manager Ohemaa Nyanin that she must’ve set up the most competitive training camp in WNBA history to start this season — and she’s laughed and nodded her head. She picked them for their toughness and intelligence, knowing they’d need those characteristics in an inaugural year. She was right. Because they proved her right.
Valkyries GM Ohemaa Nyanin was the architect of the first WNBA expansion team to make the playoffs in its inaugural season. | Source: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/The Standard
Am I crazy for thinking Macklin Celebrini might already be starting to have the same impact on the Sharks and their culture that Stephen Curry has had on the Warriors? Is it time for casual fans to start paying attention again maybe a year or two ahead of schedule? — roneface via BlueSky.
Let it play out a little while longer, I’d say, before making that comparison.
More realistically, I very much want to see what Celebrini, Will Smith, and the other youngsters can do in the playoffs. It’s not likely happening this season, but what if it did? That would turbo-charge everything.
In the short term, I’d love to see Celebrini on the Team Canada in the upcoming Olympics. He won’t be a central figure if he makes the team, but just spending some time around Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid would be invaluable. And if Celebrini fights his way to some quality ice time in that group? That might be the true launching point.
The Bay Area had a great sports renaissance in the 2010s. The 2020s has been a time of transition. Which of the Bay Area teams is currently the best positioned to return to glory? — @Danilo_exhales via Twitter.
The Sharks front office will never believe I’m saying this, but … the franchise best situated to make a big run in the future is the one that plays on ice in San Jose.
That doesn’t mean I’m predicting that the Sharks will become the most important team in the Bay Area or even go toe-to-toe with the Warriors, 49ers, and Giants for our attention. It doesn’t work that way in California. The Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014 and always have remained far behind the Dodgers, Lakers, and USC football (and maybe LAFC now with Son Heung-Min?) in the Southland.
But in the post-Curry era, a lot of Bay Area sports fans might be looking for a winner to follow. And if the Sharks put it together around Celebrini — and don’t let him slip away when he’s due to hit unrestricted free agency in 2030 — they could gain a lot of traction.