We're a few weeks into the offseason, and while the return of Brandon Belt is the only thing of significance to happen on the player movement front for the Giants, things could be heating up soon.
The impending labor stoppage looming next week could slow things down for bit, but the Giants hope to get "at least one or two things done" before that happens.
They've been connected to a few marquee hitters atop this free agent class and the one that could make the most sense is all-star second basemen, Marcus Semien.
Semien fits the Giants mold of what they like to do both offensively and defensively. He has the ability to play both shortstop and second base at high-caliber levels and he finished fourth in the AL in home runs last season with 45. He'd bring a premium power bat to the Giants and is a guy that's right in the middle of his prime. The Giants have Tommy La Stella slated to head up second base as of now, but I think the idea when they signed him last winter was to be more of a role player and match-up advantage vs. tough right-handers. Ideally, that would be his role next season if they can get a guy they can pen into the lineup no matter who's on the mound. Semien more than qualifies for that role.
The 31 year-old middle infielder has always been a bit underrated throughout his career and was sort of an afterthought among this loaded free agent shortstop class coming into the year, but he lit the AL on fire in 2021. Dude hit a career-high 45 home runs paired with 102 RBI and 115 runs while hitting atop the loaded Blue Jays lineup. He also can steal bases, racking up 15 last season and that's something the Giants could look to do more of in 2022.
His terrific defense and great year at the plate led to a remarkable 7.2 WAR. Just to give you an idea how good that number is, Bryce Harper, the NL MVP, carried a 5.9 WAR. If Semien would have put up those same numbers as an NL player in '21, he would have ran away with the NL MVP tittle.
Obviously with those credentials he's not going to come cheaply, whatsoever. He's said to be seeking at least a four or five-year deal and he should land well into the 9 figures. The thing that may give the Giants an upper hand though is the possibility of a hometown discount. Semien is from San Francisco and has already been a star player in this region having played for the A's from 2015-20.
Two other big names the Giants have been linked to are outfielders Nick Castellanos and Starling Marte.
The guy that I kind of had targeted coming into this offseason was Marte. I feel like he would be the ideal fit atop this lineup, bringing some power and a ton of speed and could do for the Giants what Mookie Betts has done for the Dodgers, to an extent of course. The Giants haven't had an impact leadoff hitter like that for as long as I've been following the team, not even during their championship run. Watching Mookie dominate atop the order and on the bases in the NLDS showed how important having a dynamic leadoff man can be in October. Not to mention he may be the best center fielder in baseball, which is extremely valuable in itself.
The only thing against a potential long-term fit with Marte is that he's 33 years-old. A two-year deal like the Giants gave Crawford would be ideal, and I think they'd even be comfortable going three years with him. He's an elite outfielder though, in tremendous shape and he'll have an argument for staying at a high level over the course of a four or five-year deal. Someone will assuredly offer him one too. From what I've seen with Farhan so far though is a reluctance to offer out long-term deals unless he's confident that player will perform over the course of the whole deal. And the only one I've seen them try that with was Bryce Harper. The Giants clearly like him though, they were in on him around the deadline over the summer so we'll see if they can get creative on working out a deal here.
Castellanos is a very intriguing option as well. I mean, I don't know if there is a better pure hitter on this free agent market than the 29 year-old. He hits for average, he hits for power, he uses all fields and he really seems to just be getting better. I see a lot of J.D. Martinez similarities in his game. Martinez has been arguably the best DH in baseball during his career and Castellanos has that kind of ability. In 2021 he hit .309 with 34 home runs and 100 RBI across 138 games for a shiny 136 OPS+.
The only knock with Castellanos is his below average defense in the outfield and NL teams may want the assurance of the universal DH before investing huge money into the slugger. That being said, he's made some improvements in his outfield play and I'm sure the Giants would be fine sticking him in left field in order to use that talented bat.
Of that group, I think Semien looks like the best fit. He has the impact bat, can slot in anywhere in the top-5 spots in the batting order and gives you gold glove defense up the middle. If Crawford exits in two years after his deal is up, and Luciano isn't quite where he needs to be then Semien could easily take over short at that point. Plus the bay area connection is there.
Chris Taylor and Mark Cahna are two other names the Giants have being linked to, but I don't really see Taylor leaving LA plus he'd cost a draft pick to whatever team he signs with. I do think Taylor is a nice player and is extremely versatile and good in a lot of spots, but I would much prefer an impact bat like Castellanos or Marte if the Giants spend big in the outfield.
Cahna on the other hand, could make some sense. He would come at a cheaper price than Taylor and has a very similar skill-set. He can play all over the outfield and is a productive hitter.
Again though, I don't view Cahna as the impact bat this team should be seeking. He fits that same mold of Yaz, Wade, Flores, La Stella, Slater and Ruf as guys you can plug and play in a lot of different spots and utilize match-up advantages and we know how much Kapler and Zaidi like those type of players. This team struggled in October because they didn't have enough impact hitters though, and they have the depth to prioritize quality over quantity right now.
It's funny that the Giants primary goal early on is to rebuild their rotation, but all the buzz surrounding them right now is with the hitters. They are obviously in discussions with their own free agents like Gausman, Wood and DeSclafini, but I haven't seen them linked to anyone outside the organization yet. The token Max Scherzer interest of course is there but I think every contending team in baseball has some sort of interest in Scherzer. I just have a hard time seeing that come to fruition though.
Marcus Stroman tweeted his appreciation for Giants' fans, but I haven't seen any evidence of the Giants pursuing him at this time. He would make some sense though. He doesn't walk guys and he induces a lot of weak contact. He doesn't throw in the high-90's like a Robbie Ray or Max Scherzer, but his spin rate and movement make his low-90's heater a plus-pitch. He has a very similar repertoire to that of Logan Webb and we all saw how well that style worked out in this yard over the summer/fall.
It's definitely an exiting time of the year for the Giants, this winter perhaps more than any other since their championship run. They have a ton of money to play with, they have a pretty solid foundation they've built over the last couple of seasons and they have expectations to keep improving. And there is definitely no shortage of impact options out there. We only discussed a few of the free agents in this post, but there are more and both Farhan and Harris have mentioned they will explore trade options as well.
Whether or not they get something done over the next few days like Harris hinted at, this definitely looks like it's going to be the busiest Giants' offseason in quite a while.
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