San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey speaks with members of the media during MLB’s general manager meetings Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, in Las Vegas.
John Locher/Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — The general managers meetings in Las Vegas are abuzz with a sense of urgency.
Executives’ schedules are more jam-packed than ever, their suites bustling with agent meetings end-on-end as baseball attempts to squeeze in as much offseason action before the collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, anticipating an owners lockout that would freeze hot stove league activity.
The San Francisco Giants feel that pressure, knowing they’ll need to fill gaps in the rotation and bullpen externally. There’s hope internally that, because baseball is in a bit of a rush, that they’ll make moves before November is over to shore up their pitching staff.
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And while the market heats up, the Giants’ brass is also acknowledging a reality that they won’t flip from a 97-loss team to true contender in 2027 — whenever the season begins.
While president of baseball operations Buster Posey has been decisive in shoring up the roster with big-ticket players like Willy Adames and Rafael Devers since he took over in 2025, there’s a sense the players who will star on the franchise’s next great teams are developing in the minor leagues. Prognosticators rank the farm system — once seen among the league’s worst — in the top five in baseball.
Josuar Gonzalez, Luis Hernandez, Jackson Flora, Jhonny Level and recently acquired pitcher Ramon Marquez are among the league’s top 100 prospects (per MLB Pipeline’s rankings). This offseason might be active for the Giants, but not at the expense of the future they’re anticipating with those players.
Jackson Flora, the San Francisco Giants’ 2026 first-round pick, warms up before making his pro debut with the San Jose Giants in A-Ball at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, Calif. on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.
Gary Kazanjian/For the S.F. Chronicle
“You’re trying to thread the needle, right?” Posey said. “You’re trying to thread the needle of having the big league team in the spot that they can win, but also understanding that some of our top players in our system are probably two or three years away. So, yeah, it’s a balancing act.”
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The Giants have not gone into a full rebuild in decades. This is more of a quiet retooling that has been building over the last few years. But club officials are intent on putting a winning product on the field around the veterans they’ve already invested in heavily.
The needle they’ll thread is finding free-agent pitchers that won’t demand long-term contracts as well as pitchers without qualifying offers attached. That complicates their pursuit for a true closer because free agents David Bednar and Adrian Morejon received qualifying offers, which means signing either would cost the Giants both a draft pick and signing bonus money next year. That would interfere with their objective of assembling and developing more homegrown talent.
Those who met with the Giants during the GM meetings in Nevada sensed they were in a state of surveying the field before narrowing in on how they’d pursue among the available pitchers. Industry sources indicate they’ll pursue pitchers ready to sign short-term contracts, which in essence means they won’t going after an available ace seeking a nine-figure deal, such as two-time Cy Young award-winner Tarik Skubal.
The Giants have checked in on right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta, who is close with Adames from their time together on the Milwaukee Brewers. Peralta, 30, struggled with the New York Mets last year, posting a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts, but a trade to the World Series-bound Tampa Bay Rays turned his season around.
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Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Freddy Peralta throws a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians during Game 2 of an American League Championship Series in St. Petersburg, Fla. Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026.
Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
The Rays tweaked Peralta’s mechanics, reportedly making alterations to get him back to a delivery more like what he used with the Brewers. That helped him to post a 3.25 ERA over 10 regular season starts and a 2.95 ERA over 21 ⅓ innings in the postseason — his lone blip was a five-run outing against his former team in the World Series. Overall, his 2026 strikeout rate of 21.4% between Mets and Rays was a career low.
Right-handed veteran starter Sonny Gray is also a free agent. He’s also familiar with the Bay Area having played his first five seasons with the Oakland A’s — and perhaps that familiarity would give sway to him returning to the region in a different uniform. Gray is 37, but coming off a career-best 18-win season with the Boston Red Sox working with their pitching coach Andrew Bailey, formerly with the Giants, in which he recorded a 2.72 ERA over 29 starts.
The Giants could also reunite with Kevin Gausman, coming off an off year split between the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs. The 36-year-old former Giants ace posted a 4.51 ERA over 177 ⅔ innings. His familiarity with San Francisco’s organization could benefit both sides in an offseason of uncertainty.
The Giants have always struggled against Nick Pivetta, known for induced vertical break on his four-seam fastball that flummoxes hitters. Of concern is that Pivetta spent most of the 2026 season recovering from a flexor strain in his right elbow. He made just eight starts, posting a 2.86 ERA.
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On the relief market, Sean Newcomb will be a sought-after left-hander without a QO attached. He was a key contributor for a postseason-bound Chicago White Sox bullpen, recording a 3.07 ERA over 91 ⅓ innings of his own. He increased usage of a slurve that wound up one of the more valuable off-speed pitches in the game.
They might also ponder a reunion with left-hander Steven Okert, who got his start in the Giants organization. The 35-year-old doesn’t throw hard — averaging 91 mph on his four-seamer — but misses bats and controls the strike zone. He had a standout stint with the Astros, recording a 2.58 ERA over 139 ⅓ innings over the last two seasons with Houston.
But the Giants are in the market for a closer after suffering through the late-game instability that plagued them all year — a clear result of starting the year without defined roles out of the pen or a closer ready for the responsibility.
“That would be ideal,” Posey said on Wednesday of getting a closer. “I do think the game’s different now than it was 10, 15 or 20 years ago where now there’s less defined closers that are just like, hey, you’re our ninth-inning guy for whatever reason. I think some of it is because if the 2-3-4 hitters come up in the eighth, you’re going to want to use your highest leverage arm there. But that would be ideal. Can we do it? That remains to be seen.”
Of the free agents, Bednar and Raisel Iglesias are the experienced closers on the market. Iglesias doesn’t have a qualifying offer attached and tallied 34 saves with a 2.55 ERA for the Atlanta Braves last year.
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Journeyman Paul Sewald, 37, has closer experience but has struggled with injuries of late. He logged 24 saves with the Arizona Diamondbacks last year (despite a 6.23 ERA while allowing 12 homers in just 39 IP) before he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays and has 110 career saves. Left-hander Gregory Soto has closing experience and could be a target, too.
The trade market presents areas for further intrigue for the Giants. The farm system’s improvement gives them leverage to swing an impactful swap. The front office has noticed a rising interest from other teams.
“I would generally say yes,” Posey said, asked if teams are calling more for their touted prospects. “The phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook, either. So I’ll be curious once we finish here (at the GM meetings), and everybody kind of gets their ducks in a row with free agent stuff, if it’ll pick up a little bit.”
Houston’s Josh Hader, Pittsburgh’s Luke Weaver and even San Diego’s Mason Miller are among those we’ve listed as potential targets. From the starter group for a potential deal, could the Giants pursue Joe Ryan — a Bay Area native — from the Minnesota Twins? The Giants have traded with Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto in recent years, and Mariners starter Logan Gilbert is entering his final year before free agency.
Most of those trade targets, though, stand to come at steep cost among the homegrown talent the Giants are carefully cultivating. That’s where the Giants are looking to thread the needle.