How San Francisco Giants Signing Cy Young Winner Impacts Pitching Staff

The San Francisco Giants pulled off a major move on Tuesday night by signing a future Hall of Fame pitcher, but what does it mean for their staff as a whole?

Sep 20, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander (35) motions to the crowd while walking to the dugout after a pitching change in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants made a massive move on Tuesday night in signing Justin Verlander to a one-year, $15 million deal.

Buster Posey and the Giants front office had been in on most of the top pitchers this offseason, but had yet to bring any of them in.

Now, in Verlander, they have a three-time Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer. He is coming off of a career-worst season, but is just a year removed from a still great showing.

The 41-year-old battled injuries all season and finished with a 5.48 ERA. San Francisco is clearly banking on the fact that he just never got going and can get back to the combined 2.45 ERA that he had in the two campaigns prior.

Here is a quick look at what the starting rotation could look like next year with Verlander now in town:

1. Logan Webb
2. Robbie Ray
3. Jordan Hicks
4. Kyle Harrison
5. Justin Verlander

While the future Hall of Fame pitcher may step in and potentially be effective, there is not a great chance that he returns to that Cy Young form. The most likely scenario is that he slots in to the bottom of the rotation rather than being a 'Blake Snell replacement' that people went into the offseason looking for.

The signing does push a youngster like Hayden Birdsong back out of the rotation and likely into the bullpen or down to Triple-A again.

It looks as though Logan Webb will indeed enter the year as San Francisco's ace. With how often Snell was injured, it was that case for much of the year anyway in 2024.

Webb has become a consistently solid starter that has finished at least sixth in Cy Young voting over the last two seasons.

He is a career 3.42 ERA hurler that rarely walks batters and eats innings with the best of them. The 28-year-old has led the NL in innings pitched in each of the last two seasons.

At this point, it would be shocking to see the Giants go after a big fish like Corbin Burnes to take the top spot in the rotation. Signing Verlander signals that they are content to enter the year with their staff as-is and are rather focused on supplementing it rather than replacing guys.

The only pitcher in the rotation that it would make sense to replace is Hicks, if they feel that the starter-conversion has no chance of working out. He was already sent back to the bullpen down the stretch last year.

There is still the hope that Roki Sasaki joins the staff as well, but San Francisco is not currently a favorite landing spot.

If they do indeed do nothing else, this should be a solid group of pitchers that is at least around the middle of the league.