Gausman to Toronto as hot stove heats up

Bucking the trend of slower paced offseasons the MLB has gone through in recent years, this is maybe the busiest couple weeks I've seen in a while.

With teams and players both wanting clarity on their future before a potential lockout later this week, we've seen big names sign much quicker than they have in years past. 

Unfortunately for the Giants, that has included the departure of their ace over the last two seasons, Kevin Gausman. The 31 year-old inked a 5-year/$110M deal with the Blue Jays on Sunday, which got #SFGiants twitter in a frenzy

I was definitely under the impression that the Giants had Gausman as their number one priority this offseason, but I think they became skeptical on matching the length other teams were offering. He's been great since dawning a Giants uniform in 2020, but giving a guy who's on the wrong side of 30 and has just one really good full season under his belt, that kind of deal is a big risk. Gausman's style of pitching doesn't age the best either, as he throws a ton of sliders, which is probably the most taxing pitch you can throw. 

It certainly comes as a bit of a shock though. 

Marcus Semien, another supposed Giants' target, inked a deal with Texas earlier in the week and it looks like Max Scherzer is ready to sign a huge deal with the Mets. Jon Gray, who some saw as a fallback option for the rotation, also signed with Texas on Sunday. All of the sudden, potential fits with the Giants are finding homes elsewhere and quick.

This rapid movement is making that deal they signed DeSclafini to look pretty darn good right now. Hopefully the Alex Wood deal get's finalized before any lockout as well. Even if that happens though, the Giants still have two gaping holes in their starting rotation still left, preferably one of which can pitch toward the top of their rotation.

Assuming Scherzer is off the table, that would leave Marcus Stroman, Robbie Ray and Carlos Rodon as the only guys left on the free agent market that I would consider "front-end" options.

I don't really see the Giants breaking the bank for Ray. The Jays tendered him a qualifying offer, plus he's coming off the best year in his career and his value is at an all-time high. Getting those types of players aren't exactly the way Farhan does business unless he really, really sees the player as truly worth it. Maybe they do see Ray as that guy but something tells me they would have been in on him earlier if that were the case.

Rodon could be a dark-horse candidate as he's coming off a great year that ended prematurely because of injury. He very well could take a big one-year deal to come to San Francisco to potentially build his value for next offseason. I would be skeptical of going multiple years with Rodon just because of his injury history, but when he was on the mound in 2021, he was definitely one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Stroman seems like a logical fit as well. I discussed him here in our previous post as someone who wants to pitch in San Francisco. He's not necessarily on the level Gausman has been the last two seasons and doesn't have the whiff rate or FIP that Gausman's provided here, but he's well above average. The Giants could run into the same problem in terms of contract length however, as Stroman' will be able to land a four or five-year deal and the Giants don't seem to want to go past three with any pitchers.

San Francisco has been linked to lesser names on the pitching market like Alex Cobb and Michael Lorenzan, and it wouldn't surprise me if they fill out the rotation with those types of guys. Pitchers that have a decent track record and/or potential that have something to prove. The same formula they've won on Gausman, Wood, DeSclafini and even Drew Smyly with the past couple of years.

With the way things are going, I would be more inclined to go that route with the rotation and maybe try and bolster the lineup a little more heading into next season.

Nick Castellanos is still the guy I would be on-board with them going all in on. As I've said before, I consider him the best pure hitter on this market. A true superstar who you really want to be able to pencil into your lineup in October and someone worth giving up that draft pick in order to obtain, in my opinion.

Seiya Suzuki looks good, but I don't know if I see Farhan giving out a huge contract to a guy who's unproven in the big leagues.

The goal heading into this winter was to retain and "run it back" with as many pieces of the 2021 ensemble as they could. Now they're down Buster and Gausman. That being said, it's no time to panic, but they certainly have their work cut out for them. This is really where Farhan earns his money and is at his best and it's going to be very interesting to see how they answer over the coming days.