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The offseason has been eerily quiet for Giants fans who are hoping for a major splash beyond the hiring of the University of Tennessee’s Tony Vitello.
The winter meetings came and went without a big name added to the roster, unlike a year ago, when the Giants snagged shortstop Willy Adames on Dec. 10. Now we’re in late December, and fans are getting impatient while waiting for the next roster move.
“I would say front offices can be impatient, too, so to some extent, I feel their pain,” Giants GM Zack Minasian said on a conference call with reporters Friday. “But I would say every offseason’s different. The ebbs and flows of player availability, when players are ready to make decisions, when agents are ready to make decisions. The way the market works, a lot of players work off each other — one domino falls leads to other dominoes falling. So the timing is always difficult to put your finger on.
“I do feel comfortable saying we’re continuing to explore as many options as possible, trying to see what makes sense for us, trying to see who is interested in the Giants and at what level.”
Make no mistake: Plenty of top-end free agents are unsigned, including some who could pitch atop the rotation alongside Logan Webb, though ownership has strongly hinted against joining the market for Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai, Ranger Suarez, and Zac Gallen.
The Giants need a right fielder, someone with pop, and Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger remain unsigned. The Red Sox’s Jarren Duran, Guardians’ Steven Kwan, Twins’ Byron Buxton, and White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr. could be traded.
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If the Giants don’t find another outfield bat, they could upgrade the lineup at second base, but Minasian said Casey Schmitt “is definitely the favored player. He showed nice improvement over the course of the year, over the course of the last three years. … It doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t explore other options because we’re never going to be overloaded with just too many good players. We’re going to keep looking.”
If the Giants decide to find another second baseman, free-agent shortstop Bo Bichette has made it known he’d move to second, and perhaps third baseman Alex Bregman would too. A much cheaper option is high-average Luis Arraez.
There’s also the trade market, with plenty of options, including the Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte, and Cubs’ Nico Hoerner. A three-way trade is in the works (opens in new tab) sending the Rays’ Brandon Lowe to Pittsburgh.
“It’s our job to always look and see where we can upgrade and see what the cost would be,” Minasian said.
The Giants on Friday made official starter Adrian Houser’s two-year, $22 million contract, which includes a third-year option for 2028. Houser, 33, posted a 3.31 ERA in 22 starts last year with the White Sox and Rays.
In 135 innings, the 6-3, 242-pounder struck out 92 batters and walked 38 and was much better with Chicago (2.10 ERA) before getting traded to Tampa Bay (4.79 ERA). The Giants were among the teams considering him at the deadline, Minasian said.
“We really believe in the mechanical changes he made,” said Minasian, noting the right-hander was able to increase his velocity and spin rate while improving his command. “He was able to widen his mix of usable pitches. He’s a very athletic pitcher to begin with. When things got synced up with him for him last year, that’s when we really saw him take off.”
Houser will pitch in the rotation behind Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Landen Roupp. Minasian said the Giants “will continue to look outside” for the final starter.
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But …
“I don’t think I would characterize it quite as a need at this point given the group of younger starters,” said Minasian, referring to Carson Whisenhunt, Hayden Birdsong, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald, Carson Seymour, and Blade Tidwell.
“If we can’t develop a couple of those, several of those, shame on us. I believe in our developing system and our pitching group. But there’s also something to be said for these pitchers being allowed to go through this natural maturation. … Building the depth and getting another starter would be great, but is it a total necessity? I don’t think it’s a failure if we don’t get another starter, but we’ll continue to look.”
Webb to represent Team USA
Webb will miss part of spring training to compete in the World Baseball Classic in early March, which was widely expected.
It’s comforting to the Giants that their longtime trainer, Dave Groeschner, will serve as Team USA’s trainer, where he’ll be able to monitor the Giants ace’s reps and health.
“Certainly excited for Webby. It’s a great opportunity, something he’s earned,” Minasian said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to be holding my breath watching him pitch. It’s obviously a super competitive atmosphere very early in the season, but it was something Webby wanted to do, so obviously we want to be supportive of him and what he means to this organization.”
The pen (and other back-end roster churn)
Beyond Houser, the Giants have signed relievers Jason Foley ($2 million), who isn’t expected to be ready until June or July after he recovers from shoulder surgery, southpaw Sam Hentges ($1.4 million), and Gregory Santos, who returns to the organization on a minor-league deal.
The Giants also acquired backup catcher Daniel Susac in a Rule 5 transaction. Outfielder Justin Dean and reliever Reiver Sanmartin were claimed from the Dodgers and Reds, respectively, and outfielder Joey Wiemer was acquired from the Marlins.
But Wiemer was designated for assignment this week to create space on the 40-man roster for Foley. Another player needs to be taken off the roster to open a spot for Houser.
As for finding a closer and other high-leverage relievers, Minasian said, “They can come from all over.” More than any other position, closers can be created from within, a little-known reliever turning into an effective closer. An example was Ryan Walker, a 31st-round draft pick who emerged in 2023 and posted a 1.91 ERA over 76 games in 2024.
Around the NL West
As the Giants haven’t added a marquee player, their divisional rivals have doled out some big dollars.
The reigning champion Dodgers filled a hole by signing closer Edwin Diaz to three years and $69 million and brought back infielder Miguel Rojas, who hit a game-tying, ninth-inning homer in Game 7 of the World Series, for one year and $5.5 million.
The Padres, meanwhile, lost Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez to free agency, but re-signed starter Michael King for three years and $75 million.
Arizona inked starter Merrill Kelly, whom they traded to Texas in July, for two years and $40 million.
Away from the diamond
The Giants’ most expensive transaction of the offseason? Their purchase of the historic Curran Theater, which was announced Thursday and not surprisingly drove Giants fans to comment on social media. Under a Standard post sharing the news, fans weighed in with some good humor.
“At this point, the Curran Theater might be the Giants closer.”
“Can the theater play second?”
“Can it play LF and Hit?”
“Can it pitch?”
“Curran hitting clean up?”
Finishing touches on Vitello’s staff
Curiously, the Giants still haven’t announced Vitello’s coaching staff even though most every one of them is known – other than who’ll serve as the base coaches. They appeared two weeks ago at the winter meetings in Orlando, Fla.
“I give him credit, he’s very thorough,” Minasian said of Vitello. “He just wants to make sure he’s got the best group possible lined up in the best way. We’re close, but we’re not quite there just yet.”
Here’s what we can surmise as far as the names already reported: bench coach Jayce Tingler, infield coach Ron Washington, hitting coaches Hunter Mense and Oscar Bernard, pitching coaches Justin Meccage, Frank Anderson, and Christian Wonders, bullpen coach Jesse Chavez, catching coach Alex Burg, and quality control coach Taira Uematsu.
Vitello recently returned from the Dominican, where he hung with Adames and Rafael Devers, and spent time at the Giants’ Arizona facility for a pitchers’ camp. He and Minasian plan to travel to South Korea to visit with Jung Hoo Lee.