San Francisco Giants Could Look To Acquire Former Free Agent Target via Trade
The San Francisco Giants suffered a huge loss this offseason when starting pitcher Blake Snell decided to decline the option on his contract and become a free agent.
It was hard enough watching him depart after the stellar performance he put together from July on through the remainder of the season. The intensity of that hurt increased even more when he decided to join their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
World Series champions in July, they poached the talented lefty away from the Giants agreeing to a five-year, $182 million deal. Now instead of having the former Cy Young Award winner pitching for them, they have to face off against him for the foreseeable future as a division rival.
Looking to fill that void in the rotation, San Francisco was heavily linked to Baltimore Orioles ace, Corbin Burnes.
Alas, nothing came to fruition there as he, too, spurned them for an NL West team; the Arizona Diamondbacks. The two sides agreed to a massive six-year, $210 million deal.
Looking to not come away empty-handed on the pitching market this offseason, new president of baseball operations Buster Posey did land one free agent; future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander.
Coming off the worst season of his career, it is fair to question how much the veteran has left in the tank as he enters his age-42 campaign.
The Giants believe that he has something to offer still, as some of his troubles from 2024 could be attributed to bad luck and poor health. As a back-end rotation arm, they could have certainly done worse than the grizzled veteran.
While the team’s starting pitching depth is deep and there is some real upside with younger players who could ascend, teams can never have too much pitching.
Given some of the uncertainties behind their ace, Logan Webb, it wouldn’t hurt San Francisco to add to the mix. One player who could pique their interest is Marcus Stroman of the New York Yankees.
As shared by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, the Giants were one of the teams who pursued Stroman as a free agent last offseason before he signed a two-year, $37 million contract that includes a conditional player option for 2026.
Should he throw 140 innings during the 2025 season, he will be owed another $18 million next year.
That is a contract the Yankees are trying hard to move as they look to avoid the harshest luxury tax penalty if possible. Motivated to save money, San Francisco should get on the phone and inquire about bringing Stroman to the Bay Area.
In what would amount to a salary dump by New York, the Giants could get a look at Stroman for an incredibly affordable price. It won’t cost much in the way of prospects, especially if they are willing to take on a larger chunk of the money he is owed.
While he isn’t an ace at this stage of his career, Stroman is a very solid middle of the rotation arm. He started off the 2024 campaign performing very well and most importantly he was healthy, making 29 starts and 30 apperances overall.
Health and reliability have been an issue at times in the Giants’ rotation beyond Webb, as no one else made at least 25 starts for the team in 2024.