ORLANDO, Fla. — The San Francisco Giants went into the Winter Meetings with a wide variety of needs. They’ll likely leave the meetings with a backup catcher. Check that: Their big acquisition in Orlando was a candidate for backup catcher. If there have been slower Winter Meetings for the organization, they’ve been lost to the mists of time. As they should be.

Don’t mistake inaction for an inability or unwillingness to add, though. Not yet. While there was a smattering of signings around the league, it was a slow Winter Meetings for all of baseball, with seven of the top 10 free agents still unsigned. A lot of the players who fit the Giants’ needs are still out there. If the organization wants to pay an uncomfortable asking price for them, whether in dollars or prospects, they’re still right where they left them. In the meantime, they can try to whittle down that asking price.

Let’s go through the team needs that weren’t addressed at the Winter Meetings, along with just how worried you should be about the inaction.

5. First base/DHWorry status: Lowest

It’s true that the Giants could use a right-handed complement to Rafael Devers and a buffer for Bryce Eldridge, but it’s hard to say this is a pressing need. If Jerar Encarnación didn’t have a freakishly unlucky season, he might be the incumbent at DH already, and Eldridge could take all the time he needs to develop in Triple A.

Everything that made Encarnación so intriguing a year ago is still there. He’s been keeping busy this winter, too.

If you get a chance, watch that with the auto-dubbing on. It’s especially cursed.

If Encarnación can stay healthy — and he didn’t have a problem with that before last season — he’ll fill the role just fine.

4. Second baseWorry status: Low

The Giants announced last week that Casey Schmitt underwent surgery on his left wrist, but they’re expecting him to be ready during spring training. As of now, he’s the incumbent at second, with Christian Koss (and possibly Tyler Fitzgerald) giving him competition, and the Giants are probably OK with that.

Two things can be true at the same time: (1) the easiest way to add offense to the 2026 Giants is to upgrade at second base, and (2) it’s not close to their most pressing need. For evidence of the latter assertion, here’s FanGraphs’ ZiPS projections, which are as rosy as I can remember them and suggest the Schmitt/Koss arrangement might work out just fine.

Besides, remember the golden rule of the Giants’ golden era: You can always find a championship-winning second baseman in the middle of the season. Unless that’s not an actual rule and the Giants just made it up on the fly. Only time will tell.

3. OutfieldWorry status: Medium

Harrison Bader is still out there, which is good because I’ve already prewritten a “Giants sign Harrison Bader” article, and I’d hate for it to go to waste. The oft-injured, slick-gloved center fielder probably won’t match his 117 OPS+ from last season, but he can field well enough to make him valuable when he’s hitting closer to his career numbers (96 OPS+). He has felt like the obvious fit since the offseason started.

If that’s not exciting, apologies, but if the Giants have money to spend on a multiyear contract, it’ll be earmarked for a starting pitcher. Here are the top outfielders remaining on our board, now that Mike Yastrzemski has signed a two-year deal with the Atlanta Braves:

1. Kyle Tucker
8. Cody Bellinger
32. Harrison Bader

The Giants aren’t getting the first two. That leaves Bader or a trade, although the current problem is too many outfielders. There are nine outfielders on the Giants’ 40-man roster, including two recent acquisitions (Justin Dean, Joey Wiemer). Expect some minor moves here before the end of the offseason.

2. Starting pitchingWorry status: Medium-high

If the Giants want starting pitching, and they sure do, it’s still out there. There are the fancy, high-priced pitchers who would slot in nicely behind Logan Webb in the rotation, like Tatsuya Imai. There are the sensible, underrated veterans who might be a relative bargain, like Lucas Giolito. There is a wide variety of veterans who aren’t seeking multiyear deals at all, like Max Scherzer. And, of course, there are still trades to make. You can make those suckers in April if you need to.

Here are the top pitchers still on The Athletic’s board:

5. Framber Valdez
9. Ranger Suárez
10. Tatsuya Imai
12. Michael King
20. Merrill Kelly
21. Zac Gallen
30. Lucas Giolito
31. Chris Bassitt
34. Zach Eflin
37. Zack Littell
41. Max Scherzer
42. Dustin May

That’s quite the variety, and there’s even a little quality to be found on the next tier down, too. Tyler Mahle looked excellent in his two starts off the IL in September for the Texas Rangers, and he might want a one-year deal if the impending lockout isn’t spooking him.

There are also options on the trade market. Even with the Minnesota Twins saying Joe Ryan isn’t on the block, there are all sorts of starters available at the right price. That price would most likely be Eldridge if the pitcher in question is MacKenzie Gore, but there are other options (Edward Cabrera, Mitch Keller) who might not cost nearly as much.

This position gets a medium-high worry rating, though, because every team wants starting pitchers. Yes, there are some names on the board, but this isn’t a game of musical chairs the Giants can lose. They’re probably going to have to stretch their comfort level at some point, whether it’s in terms of prospects or money. The lineup is too promising to waste on the 34th-best option.

1. BullpenWorry status: High

It’s the bullpen that should bother you at the moment. Not just because it’s the most unsettled position on the roster, but also because it’s going to be the trickiest problem to fix. And there’s an argument to make that the offseason isn’t the time to fix it at all.

Of the 50 best relievers last season, according to FanGraphs’ WAR, 10 switched teams in the prior offseason. Here’s how they were acquired:

2. Aroldis Chapman (FA — 1 year, $13.3 million)
19. Phil Maton (FA — 1 year, $2 million)
20. Steven Okert (FA — minor-league deal)
24. Devin Williams (trade)
25. Ronny Henriquez (waivers)
30. Shawn Armstrong (FA — 1 year, $1.5 million)
31. Jimmy Herget (waivers)
34. Brad Keller (FA — minor-league deal)
41. Carlos Estévez (FA — 2 years, $22 million)
44. Sean Newcomb (FA — minor-league deal)

You’ll notice there are some notable relievers acquired by teams last offseason who aren’t on this list. Jeff Hoffman, who received a three-year, $33 million deal from the Toronto Blue Jays, ranked 140th, and that’s not even considering that he broke Canada’s heart (and yours) in Game 7 of the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers spent roughly $85 million on Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates because they were out of positions to throw money at. They also did it because they could. It was a combination of gluttony, arrogance and pragmatism. Glutancematism. And it was going to win them the World Series. Which it did. In a very, very, very roundabout way. Neither reliever was on the World Series roster due to injuries and/or ineffectiveness.

I would say the lesson here is that signing free-agent relievers is a bad idea, except what did the Dodgers do a few days ago? They spent another $69 million on Edwin Díaz. They’re going to try it again because all it costs them is money.

The Giants, though, don’t have that luxury. That money is tied up with opportunity cost, meaning spending it on relievers probably means they’re not spending it on the outfield or the rotation. Especially the rotation. They can’t afford another Mark Melancon if it means a downgrade in the rotation. Also, they’re still paying the actual Melancon, if you needed another data point that high-priced relievers are a bad idea.

But if you’re not going to pay the relievers, and you’re not going to trade your best prospects for them, then … where does the bullpen come from?

It’s probably already here. The Giants are counting on Ryan Walker having a better year. Erik Miller will be ready for spring training. New signee Sam Hentges is a quality reliever when he’s healthy, and he didn’t get a major-league deal to compete for a job. José Buttó has alarming walk rates, but he’s generally been at least average as a major leaguer. Joel Peguero’s triple-digit fastball didn’t miss bats in his 22 1/3 innings with the Giants, and that’s been an oddly recurring problem over his career, but he also has a triple-digit fastball. The rest of the bullpen can be filled with internal options, minor-league free agents, waiver claims and the like.

It’s not exciting, but there’s some logic to it. If the bullpen is a Superfund site but the team is contending, the Giants will get to pick from a buffet of available relievers at the trade deadline. They’ll have the benefit of three additional months of information on each pitcher, too, so they’ll have a better idea of who’s healthy. Maybe that’s always been the smart play for contending teams. Hope the internal options have it under control and work the phones in July if they don’t.

Maybe. But it should still worry you. There’s nothing worse in baseball than a team with an ineffective bullpen. Give me the 2025 Colorado Rockies before the 2016 Giants — that’s my motto. Starting pitching is the priority, but it seems likely the Giants will fill those spots. The bullpen might be close to done, and that’s what worries me the most this offseason, even if I don’t have a better plan to fix it.