Can San Francisco Giants Make Move at Key Position Before Spring Training?

The San Francisco Giants have a big question looming at one key area of their team given how the offseason has played out.

D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have had an interesting offseason thus far, handing out the biggest contract in team history to plug a hole at shortstop but thus far not faring well in the pitching department.

Starting out by losing Blake Snell to the arch rival Los Angeles Dodgers, it looked for a while like the Giants were going to have a great chance to upgrade from Snell by bringing in fellow Cy Young ace Corbin Burnes from the Baltimore Orioles.

Despite being seen by most as the favorite to sign Burnes, San Francisco lost out to the Arizona Diamondbacks largely because of the righty's desire to pitch in his current home state.

As MLB moves through the offseason and gets closer to pitchers and catchers reporting in the middle of February, the biggest question still facing the Giants is the starting rotation and whether or not they could add to it.

In a recent article detailing the most critical conundrum facing each team across Major League Baseball, Maria Guardado of MLB.com pointed out the unit and raised the question as to whether they're done making moves there.

"...the club still has a big hole to fill at the top of its rotation following the departure of two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell," Guardado wrote

She pointed out that the Giants' major options are down to Japanese ace Roki Sasaki, Jack Flaherty, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

While of course everyone wants to land Sasaki, it's starting to feel like a bit of a pipe dream for San Francisco. Teams like the Dodgers along with the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, and even the Chicago Cubs seem to be pulling ahead and look to be the final teams the 23-year-old sensation is going to be considering as he prepares for instant superstardom in America.

Flaherty feels like a realistic option who the team has been connected to and is certainly the most highly coveted free agent starter excluding Sasaki still available. Seemingly waiting to sign well after the international signing window opens on Jan. 15, the Giants could come in with a nice offer and lock up the righty.

Veterans like Verlander and Scherzer could prove to offer both high upside along with a level of veteran leadership the unit doesn't currently have.

Regardless of what the move is, whether or not San Francisco does something significant to the starting rotation will be the closest storyline monitored until spring training begins.