The Giants Baseball Blog

With the signing of Tim Hudson and the re-upping of Javier Lopez, the Giants have tackled two very key obstacles of their offseason over the last week. However, even with the two signings, the Giants are still in the market for at least two more additions; a fifth starter and hopefully another outfielder. Although the Giants front-four of their rotation is set with the return of Tim Lincecum and arrival of Hudson, they still need to round it out with a fifth man. More than likely, they'll hammer something out with Ryan Vogelsong and bring him back on a deal that would guarantee him a much smaller base salary than the $6.5M he was set to receive, though packed with incentives that make that number reachable. I personally would like to see them aim higher though. I was partial to Josh Johnson, who identified the Giants as one of 3 or 4 teams he wanted to pitch for before signing with San Diego Wednesday. I'm well aware of the injury risk attached there, but he's just 29 and...

If you've been following the hot-stove rumors the last couple of days, your no stranger to the fact that the Giants were very interested in Tim Hudson, and interested in getting something done quickly with him. It looks like they succeeded in both facets. Reports have just started to break that the Giants and the 38 year-old right-hander have come to terms on a two-year deal worth $23 million, landing the Giants an arm they targeted early in the offseason. The move has not yet been made official at the time of writing this, and I'm sure Huddy will have to pass some sort of physical, but it's looking like 4/5 of the Giants rotation is now secure. Hudson is coming off an injury shortened year in which he started 21 games, went 8-7 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. That ERA was inflated by two bad starts in May, which if you take away has his ERA down around 3.15. Nonetheless, the main concern for him is how he'll rebound after he went down in July with the broken ankle. ...

We know the Giants' first and foremost priority this winter is to fill out their two remaining rotation spots with arms that will help significantly improve upon last season's starting five, which posted a combined ERA north of 4.50. They still, however, must improve their offense, which also ranked amongst the league's lowest in run production. Now, we've talked extensively about some starting pitchers the Giants should, are and may be pursuing in the coming days/weeks, but we haven't really discussed some of the offensive options yet. Jacoby Ellsbury would be exciting, Nelson Cruz and Curtis Granderson would bring tons of power, and Carlos Beltran would really be the ideal fit, but none of those guys are realistic for the Giants with their pitching needs. There are some second-tier right-handed bats that would pose serviceable fall-back options as platoon partners for Blanco if the Giants run out of money, but they really should be aiming higher. Since they a...

Although there hasn't been any notable free agency signings to date, things are certain to pick up before Thanksgiving, and it may be in the Giants' best interest to strike early in their attempt to fill the void in their rotation. The reason I believe it would be wise for San Francisco to strike early, especially in the starting pitching market is because all it will take is one of the top 6-7 pitchers to sign to set the market, and the numbers I'm hearing for some guys are pretty steep. This thought was validated earlier Friday when reports broke that Ricky Nolasco has multiple 4-year offers on the table at the moment, said to be worth between $13-$15M per year annually (I really hope the Giants are not on that list). Although it could just be posturing by his agent, it's very likely this will be the case. I listed our top-10 free agent starters last post and thought a 3-year, $36 million deal would be about as far as I'd go with Nolasco, but if he ends up gett...

On Monday, we listed the top starting pitchers that are on the open market this winter, which is going to be a key area seeing as the Giants have two rotation spots to fill. Although their need in the outfield isn't quite as drastic, it's an area that must be upgraded if they're serious about making another run in 2014. Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans are aware of this though. They themselves have stated they'd like to upgrade the outfield, at least in the form of a right-handed hitting left-fielder to at least platoon with Gregor Blanco. Ideally, they can bring in someone well-rounded enough to allow Blanco to be the fourth outfielder. Last season, rolling with Blanco and Torres in left field did not work out well at all and it really shouldn't have surprised anyone. The problem is, there just aren't a lot of outfield options that pose obvious upgrades outside of the top-five free agents. Of course, those guys likely are out of the Giants' price range. The...

Monday marked the deadline in which teams could offer free agents a qualifying deal for 2014, and it's a day that very much will dictate the way the Giants go about this offseason. The Giants didn't have any significant free agents who they had to consider giving the offer to, seeing as they already got Lincecum and Pence done long before the deadline. They did, however, come to an official decision regarding Ryan Vogelsong's 2014 option of $6.5M. As expected, the Giants declined the option, though they've made it clear they'd like to bring Vogey back at a reduced price. With that news though, the Giants now officially have two open rotation spots, and if they're really planning on upgrading from 2013's sub-par performance, they're likely going to have to bring in some new blood. I wouldn't mind seeing Vogey back, but maybe as a long reliever/emergency starter, in much of the same role Chad Gaudin carried in 2013. The only way I take Vogey back ...