If Giants get Judge, needs still plentiful

Infielders, relievers, starters and DH are spots executive Zaidi will be looking to fill

There is more to the San Francisco Giants’ offseason than the Great Aaron Judge Pursuit.

Judge, the All-Star outfielder from Linden (San Joaquin County), is certainly San Francisco’s top target, and there appears to have been a sea change in thinking about where he’ll land. After an MVP-worthy season with the Yankees, the consensus was that he’d remain in pinstripes. A rocky postseason later, including some booing from the home fans, plus clamoring from the San Joaquin Valley for their native son to return, and the betting line is shifting toward the Giants.

Fun stuff, but should San Francisco land an outfielder with 50-plus-homer power, the team still would have other needs, and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi consistently has indicated that the payroll will be robust enough to make major additions.

So far, the Zaidi Era is a fiscally conservative one, with the threeyear deals for Tommy La Stella and Anthony DeSclafani the longest allotted and DeSclafani’s $36 million total the largest on the books. ( Carlos Rodón’s would have been tops had he not opted out of the second year of what was a $44 million contract.)

That makes a $200 millionplus payroll hard to envision, but should Joc Pederson accept the Giants’ $19.65 million qualifying offer and if the team landed Judge — who is expected to make more than $30 million per year on a deal that could total $300 million or more — and a top-name middle infielder, plus a starting pitcher to replace Rodon, the outlay could be significant. The team has cracked the $200 million mark just once, in 2018.

After a disappointing 2022, the Giants could use more offense, but they were above the league average in runs and homers, and they were also better than average in the major pitching categories. Where they really dropped

the ball was ... well, that. The defense was abysmal, near the bottom of the league all season. Injuries and age played a role, and two of the team’s better defensive players, when healthy, were two of their oldest, third baseman Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt. Both are free agents.

This is where another excellent infielder would be a major plus — MLBTradeRumors.com is among the outlets to tie Carlos Correa to the Giants, but Trea Turner is also considered a nice fit — along with a superior defensive outfielder. Judge is a very good corner outfielder who was better than average in center field, but adding Brandon Nimmo or even Cody Bellinger (if he is nontendered) to play that spot would make the Giants much more formidable in the field.

The Giants love to wheel and deal, so they could look across the bay for some defensive upgrades, too, such as A’s center fielder Ramón Laureano or catcher Sean Murphy. If ever there were a good time for the teams to make a deal, it’s now, when Oakland is dismantling and San Francisco is on a mission to get back to the top of the NL West. Another team that would make for a obvious trade partner: the Tigers. Former Giants general manager Scott Harris is now the man in charge in Detroit and has relievers many clubs covet.

Should San Francisco improve the defense and if Longoria and Belt do not return and La Stella is DFA’d at some point, the Giants could add a purely offensive player. The team has enjoyed using the designated-hitter spot to cycle through older players, but with a (mostly) younger roster, might right-handed-hitting Jose Abreu be a consideration if Judge falls through? This spot says yes, but only if the defensive shortcomings are addressed.

Starting pitching is sure to be a major focus. The Giants have demonstrated such a knack for identifying good matches at relatively low costs — Drew Smyly, Kevin Gausman, DeSclafani in 2021 and Rodón — and there are so many effective starters on the market this winter, you might be able to throw a dart at the list and come up with someone whom San Francisco could sign and improve.

The Giants, like most teams, love a good strikeout-to-walk ratio, and Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi, though perceived as injury risks, stand out there. The team is intrigued by Japanese starter Kodai Senga, and Zaidi has shown a penchant for former A’s (Chris Bassitt or Sean Manaea) and Dodgers (Heaney). New GM Pete Putila was with the Astros, Correa’s former club.

“As we look at the freeagent market, we think there are opportunities there, pitchers who could improve their performance even more than what they’ve done in the past when they get into our program,” Zaidi said at the GM meetings in Las Vegas last week.

One wild card with a sparkling resume who might be looking to rejuvenate his career and who walks few batters: Corey Kluber, a potential option on a relatively low-cost one-year deal.

The bullpen was a letdown in 2022, but here again, there are many available options, including Tyler Rogers’ twin, Taylor, and K-BB marvel Chris Martin.