Recent offseasons for the San Francisco Giants have been defined by who they couldn’t land. This year, at long last, it’s about who they were able to bring aboard.
After crashing down to earth the last two years following their 107-win season in 2021, the Giants badly needed to make moves in order to get back on track. The Dodgers are the class of MLB, and the rise of the Diamondbacks had the Giants in a precarious spot in the National League West pecking order.
But Farhan Zaidi went to work, signing KBO star Jung Hoo Lee, Jorge Soler, Matt Chapman and, most recently and notably, Blake Snell over the course of the winter.
Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young winner with a high ceiling but also a low floor, isn’t without flaws. But it certainly doesn’t hurt slotting him into a Giants rotation anchored by Logan Webb, plus they should get a midseason boost from Robbie Ray, who they traded for this offseason.
Joe Shasky lauded Zaidi on Tuesday while reacting to the Snell addition.
“Adding Blake Snell adds to your pitching,” Shasky said. “Adding Matt Chapman adds to your defense, adding Jung Hoo Lee adds to your defense – and you’ve added contact because you're getting rid of some of the strikeouts by adding a guy who puts the ball in play in Jung Hoo Lee. You’ve added power in Jorge Soler.
“Not that I’m all-in on Farhan or anything, but you have to tip your cap when the guy has an offseason like he’s had. He added a frontline starter, he added a power right-handed bat, he added a center fielder who can play defense, he added the best defensive third baseman outside of Nolan Arenado in the game. He added Soler. … Great offseason.
“Now, I know there’s the JD Davis thing and there’s a lot of other stuff – who knows what happens with (Marco) Luciano, and who knows what ends up happening with (Luis) Matos, maybe there’s a deal in the works, maybe these guys come up during the regular season. But I love where this team is at right now.”
Obviously, they have to put it all together on the field, and some things, like the back of the rotation, have to break right for San Francisco in order for it to be a true postseason contender. But Zaidi undoubtedly did everything in his power to put the Giants in better position to succeed in 2024.
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