San Francisco Giants Seen As Free Agency Match for Gold Glove Shortstop

Shortstop is a position where the San Francisco Giants would like more consistent and this player, if signed, could give them just that.

David Frerker-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have some holes on the roster that must be filled to start taking steps toward contending for championships again.

With a new regime at the helm, led by new president of baseball operations Buster Posey, San Francisco enters this offseason with the mindset of aggressive pursuit of improvement.

While it's starting to feel unlikely the Giants will truly be in play for the top names of the market, there are plenty of realistic and affordable options out there.

One area that the team has openly stated they want to add is at shortstop. Tyler Fitzgerald had an admirable rookie season, but moving him over to second base feels like the most likely outcome. In fact, he's already preparing for a position change in 2025.

With some terrific shortstops available, many have linked the Giants to the top dog on the market in Milwaukee Brewers superstar Willy Adames. But he'll likely receive the biggest contract for any shotstop on the market and to some experts that could be $200 million.

If San Francisco decides they don't want to spend that, there could be another intriguing option within its own division.

Ryan Finkelstein of Just Baseball predicted San Diego Padres 2023 Gold Glove winner Ha-Seong Kim to land in the Bay Area on a five-year, $60 million deal.

Aside from cost, there are other good reasons to believe this is possible. Signing with San Francisco would allow Kim to play with Jung Ho Lee, another star from the KBO who has migrated to the U.S. He missed much of last season with an injury. In addition, San Francisco manager Bob Melvin was Kim's former boss in San Diego.

Finally, there's the intrigue of having Kim playing alongside another Gold Glove infielder, writes Finkelstein.

"The Giants could slide Fitzgerald over to second, and have an elite left side of their infield with Kim at short and Matt Chapman at third."

Chapman signed his own long-term deal with San Francisco in September.

Kim's best season came in 2023 when he had career highs in just about every offensive category, including games played, along with the Gold Glove. Having just turned 29 years old, there's reason to think he has not yet hit his peak after just four seasons in the Majors.

He wouldn't be the flashy signing that Adames would represent or likely doesn't provide the same kind of offensive pop. But he is better on defense, formidable enough on offense, and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars cheaper, allowing the Giants to make other upgrades along with him.