Giants’ storylines: Possible farewell tour, future core, ‘prove it’ year

In a compelling offseason that featured an arms race atop the National League West, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner while the San Diego Padres acquired the 2020 runner-up and the 2018 American League Cy Young winner via trades.

The San Francisco Giants must get acquainted with seeing Trevor Bauer in Dodger blue and facing Yu Darvish and Blake Snell in the cavernous confines of Petco Park, but there’s a lot more for the organization to focus on internally than externally this year.

The Giants made significant progress in 2020, but still finished an abbreviated 60-game season at 29-31, a fourth consecutive losing record. The franchise has never posted five straight losing seasons, and that dates all the way back to its inception when the New York Gothams took the field in 1883.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, general manager Scott Harris and manager Gabe

Kapler have been given the leeway to take their time in rebuilding the organization to create a sustainable model for success, but fans are eager to see the franchise take bigger strides.

As the pressure begins to mount, we examined three big storylines that will define the Giants’ 2021 season and help dictate the club’s outlook on the future.

1. Is this the farewell tour?

The words “Giants” and “future” will be used in the same sentence thousands of times this season, but there’s a legitimate question as to whether references to the team’s next era will include Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford or Buster Posey.

Three of the most successful position players in the organization’s history will likely become free agents next offseason, as the club is expected to decline Posey’s 2022 option while Belt and Crawford are entering the final year of their contracts.

Zaidi was asked last week whether he thought the possibility of a “farewell tour” might be a distraction for the longtime Giants and quickly dismissed the notion, but there’s no doubt the players have already pondered what their futures might look like beyond this year.

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