Ohtani picks Dodgers, what's next for SF?

 The question at the forefront of the baseball world for the last couple months finally came to resolution over the weekend and it was a double gut punch for Giants fans.

Shohei Ohtani will not become that superstar the Giants franchise has so desperately been in search of for the better part of the last decade. Instead of the Giants, Blue Jays, Cubs and Angels, Ohtani chose to sign a record breaking, 10-year deal worth $700 million with Dodgers. Which should have been a surprise to absolutely nobody.

Now, being a Giants fan, I held out a glimmer of hope that Shohei may want to challenge himself. Come up to the Bay Area and try to bring the Giants back to where they were in the early 2010's. But at the end of the day, we know his number one priority was winning, and the Giants just have not done enough of it over the last couple seasons.

Farhan and the front office is taking the flack for this miss, and rightfully so, but not for underbidding for Shohei. He probably offered as much as ownership let him. Where he really gets the blame though, is not making the Giants a more attractive option for someone like Ohtani. 

Their best chance at convincing Ohtani and any other big name free agent to come aboard is simply to consistently field a competitive team. They haven't done that the last couple of years and seem headed in the wrong direction. That's where their collective failures have handicapped their chances in free agency.

I could go on and on but it's time to turn the page. Last year the Giants missed out on Aaron Judge and canceled on Carlos Correa, at which time they didn't have many options to pivot to. They have some better opportunities this winter, and it's imperative they do a better job with their plan b this time.

Atop that plan b is 25 year-old Japanese right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It looks like the Giants' best chances at really building up a strength of this roster lays in the starting rotation and Yamamoto paired with Logan Webb would give them a tremendous foundation there. 

There are questions around Yamamoto, no doubt. Most people think he has the talent to transfer over to Major League Baseball seamlessly, but what if he doesn't? And I know he's only 25, but he has thrown a lot of innings early in his career already, there may be some concern about him breaking down over the second half of a potential 9-10 year contract. But that's the way free agency works and this is a risk the Giants absolutely need to be OK with. 

I would love to see Yamamoto and another upper rotation guy added to really beef up the front part of their starting rotation. Imagine nabbing Blake Snell as well. A Webb-Snell-Yamamoto-Harrison-Cobb rotation could definitely help offset their below average offense.

There's also a couple position players out there that would undoubtedly improve this team. 

The Giants have been linked to Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman. Both of those guys come with their strengths but also, come with tremendous risk.

I have my concerns about Bellinger hitting in this ballpark. Despite him having a strong rebound season in Chicago, his metrics suggest that he overachieved. I do like the fact that his splits were pretty even away from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. He's also just hitting his prime at age 28 and has an MVP award already on his resume. The talent is there, but so is the chance he reverts back to the .215 hitter he was with the Dodgers the two years prior to 2023.

He also fits the mold of getting more athletic up the middle, as he's a gold glove caliber center fielder. Is he worth the supposed $200+ million deal he's seeking? To the Giants, he might just be.

I'm less interested in Chapman as he just hasn't been the same hitter the last couple of years as he was early on in Oakland. Still, his defense is elite and he rated four wins above the Casey Schmitt/JD Davis combo last year. I'm just not sure he's worth the $150+ million he's looking for. He's an upgrade over what they currently have though so he could make some sense under the right terms. 

As far as the trade market, that's an area where Farhan and company should be exploring in depth. If they can't land a Snell and/or Yamamoto in free agency, then they'll have dip into their prospect pool and package a few of those guys for the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Corbin Burnes or Shane Bieber.

Just like the free agent class, however, the trade market for impact bats is light on any real needle pushers. I mentioned on twitter the idea of prying away Mike Trout now in response to the Dodgers getting Ohtani, but the Angels have made it clear that they won't move him yet.

Pete Alonso has been rumored to possibly be available, as his contract extension talks with the Mets have not been fruitful, but I doubt the Mets are actively trying to move him. Would he be worth trading away a package of prospects for? Again, for this Giants team at this point in time, he probably would be.

The guy I would really be interested in though is Luis Robert Jr. He's the epitome of what the Giants need. There were rumblings that the White Sox could move him as they rebuild, but looking at his palatable contract and how he's the cornerstone of that team at age 26, I have a hard time seeing that happen. If it could, he'd be worth a package headed by Marco Luciano.

Whatever way they have to do it, this offseason they have to make some noise. Again, it seems like the best way to do that right now is to make this rotation as stout as possible. Yes, they have to grab a couple of position players to bring in and help the lineup, but even if that wound up being both Bellinger and Chapman, it won't be enough to make this offense a catalyst. 

One way or another, things are going to start sorting themselves out pretty quickly though. With Ohtani done and Yamamoto meeting with suitors this week, I expect a lot to happen over the next 10 days. Farhan has to be ready to move quickly. The need to bring in both quantity and quality to this roster outweighs the potential risk of picking the wrong player. It's time for this front office to be brave and take some chances. Until they do, they'll just keep treading in mediocrity and fading in attendance and fan interest.