Giants add Manaea, still looking into Correa

Last week was a tough one for the Giants' in terms of their plans and outlook for the upcoming season. 

Aaron Judge, the free agent they had pegged to be that face of the franchise they build around into the next half-decade or so, chose to return to the Yankees. That decision, and lack of ability from the Giants' end to woo the premium free agent to the Bay Area yet again has set the fan base into a bit of a frenzy.

It was a wild day as the Giants went from on the verge of signing Judge, according to Jon Heyman, to losing him back to the Yankees in a matter of hours. Understandably, Giants' twitter was not happy about the cause of events that took place, and they took it out on Farhan Zaidi and the Giants' front office. However, it can't come as a surprise that Judge chose New York over San Francisco. Even if the Giants offered Judge $400M+ like the Padres supposedly did it wouldn't have mattered. He wanted to go back to NY. 

Since the false rumors of a Judge signing, the Giants did add to their outfield, in a move that went relatively under the radar in the midst of everything else at the time. The signing of Mitch Haniger to a 3 year/$43.5M deal was a solid move. It's not as headline-grabbing or flashy as a Judge signing of course, but it makes the team better. Haniger gives them a right-handed bat they can pen into the middle of their lineup on a daily basis. 

I don't want to look too much into last year were he battled injury and only had 224 at bats for Seattle but he still posted a nice OPS+ of 122. If we go back to 2021 when he actually played a full season, you can see why the Giants liked the player. Haniger slashed .253/.318/.486 to go with 39 home runs and 100 RBI and actually got some MVP votes, finishing 20th. Keep in mind, he put up those numbers playing his home games in a ballpark that is notoriously one of the least hitter friendly confines in all of baseball. 

Now the knock on Haniger and something he's going to have to prove over at least the next two seasons is his ability to stay healthy. Aside from missing over half of 2022, he missed most of 2019 and did not play in 2020. He did play a full year in 2018 and put up numbers better than the ones he posted in '21 and was 11th in the AL MVP balloting. If he can stay on the field for 140+ games and get his 500 at-bats the numbers will be there and he will be an asset to the middle of this lineup.

The Giants also inked Sean Manaea to a two-year deal late Sunday evening. I don't think any Giants' fan was surprised by this move. Farhan loves those arms that have shown ability in the past but aren't coming off the best season and Manaea fits that mold perfectly. I was still holding out hope for a Carlos Rodon reunion, but I think this signing pretty much signifies the end of that chase. Rodon will probably get 6-7 years at around $30M annually and Farhan showed last winter with Kevin Gausman that he is uneasy going that long-term with a starting pitcher, no matter the talent level.

Haniger and Manaea, while each nice players in their own right and will help contribute to this club in 2023, are not the stars that Giants' fans wanted coming into this offseason though. With Judge and Trea Turner off the market, it leaves one potential superstar left in free agency that the Giants seem to be in on, and that is Carlos Correa.

According to Alex Pavlovic, Correa was always the Giants plan B to Judge, even over Trea Turner which I thought was a little surprising. However, you mix in Correa's age, defense, clutch ability on top of his strong bat, it makes sense why they would covet him. Not to mention he has a reputable track record of being a clubhouse leader. Something this team could also use.

Correa has now become the forefront of the Giants' offseason focus and while he's not Judge, I think it would give the fan base that jolt of excitement they were hoping for this winter.

It's hard to foresee Correa coming to San Francisco, however, as we've seen over the last few years that the Giants really do have a hard time getting that free agent hitter to come aboard. With Correa though, the Giants aren't fighting an uphill battle in bidding against the team he came up with. If they want him, they probably just have to outbid everybody else. It's something they certainly have the ability to do, but Correa's history of back injuries at a young age is the factor I believe is causing some hesitation.

In this market, if you want the star, you have to pay the price. Both with dollars and years. A 10-year deal for Correa may not look great in 2029, but it's what you have to do in order to get the player for his prime. The Giants have not taken a risk like this really since they signed Barry Zito about 15 years ago. I think it's time, and so do 95% of the people who will fill that ballpark.