San Francisco Giants Can Save Offseason By Stealing Star From Rival

The San Francisco Giants could make a huge move by taking a star from their most hated rival in southern California.

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The San Francisco Giants are looking for an injection of excitement to the franchise after missing the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons and failing to sign the top available free agents on the market consistently in that time frame.

Ownership made its displeasure known when it fired president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and replaced him with franchise legend Buster Posey.

It's going to be up to Posey in his first offseason to attempt to bring in a big fish and put San Francisco back on a path toward contention.

Everyone has linked the Giants to the biggest name on the market in superstar Juan Soto, but in the likely event that Soto stays in New York whether it be with the Yankees or Mets, there are are still places the Giants can turn.

One possibility would be stealing a stud outfielder from their most hated rival who just won a World Series in Los Angeles Dodgers two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger Teoscar Hernández. Chris Landers of FanSided wrote this could be how San Francisco salvages the offseason after the inevitable disappointment of not landing Soto.

Hernandez is exactly the righty power bat this team so desperately needs — the Giants had no problem putting men on base in 2024 but had all sorts of problems driving them in — and Oracle Park isn't nearly as scary for right-handed hitters as it is for lefties. Hernandez offers middle-of-the-lineup punch without the commitment in both years and dollars that would stretch San Francisco's budget. If the Giants are the team willing to go above and beyond to land him — and teams like the Yankees and Dodgers are distracted by Soto — Posey could get a deal done and improve his offense exponentially.

Hernández just had the one of the best seasons of his career after a 33-home run year in which he hit .272 with an OPS of .840. Obviously, he's not going to cost anywhere near what Soto will command and taking him from the Dodgers certainly doesn't hurt. Los Angeles would love to keep Hernández and him ending up in San Francisco would be the worst case scenario for the Dodgers.

Hernández doesn't instantly make the Giants a World Series contender. But Los Angeles is the team San Francisco is chasing, and taking one of its best players would be an savvy move which would tremendously strengthen both the outfield and the lineup.