San Francisco Giants Free Agency Target Expected to Get Offers This Week

If the San Francisco Giants are in on the free agency market's top players, they'll need to get their offer ready soon.

Oct 28, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) reacts after grounding out during the third inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have been one of the teams in the mix for left-handed slugger Juan Soto, a potential franchise-changing player with one of the best bats in the game.

Soto, who recently turned 26 years old, has the potential to be one of the best baseball players in MLB history. He already has a World Series ring and he just reached the Fall Classic for the second time in his career last month.

His greatness, however, comes with a price tag. If the Giants are interested in signing him, they should expect to at least spend at least half a billion dollars.

It remains uncertain if that number could reach $700 million, which is what Shohei Ohtani signed for last offseason. But $500 million sounds like the bare minimum it would take to sign him, depending on the length of the deal.

If the Giants plan to do whatever it takes to sign him, their offer should be submitted this week.

According to Buster Olney of ESPN, teams interested in Soto will begin to give their offers to him and his agent, Scott Boras.

"Sources involved in the Juan Soto talks expect the teams will begin forwarding offers this week. To date, the process has been about Soto meeting with teams/club officials, and about those officials getting to know Soto," Olney wrote.

That doesn't mean Soto will sign with any club before the end of the week, but this should get everything moving. Baseball's winter meetings are in a litte more than two weeks in Dallas. It's possible a deal could get done shortly before then or during the meetings, especially if there are still multiple teams involved in the bidding.

At the least, this should help San Francisco and other teams interested in signing other players get going, too.

Soto is likely causing the market to be a bit slower than usual, as he's the top player and is controlling what certain teams can do. Many teams are looking for top-shelf hitters, but Soto is the only one that can truly change a franchise's direction on his own. He helped do that for the New York Yankees as he forged an offensive tandem with Aaron Judge that was one of the most formidable in Major League history in 2024.

For a Giants team that needs a superstar, there isn't a better one available at the plate. They've attempted to sign some of the top players in the league over the past few years but have failed to accomplish their goal — including a swing and miss on Judge.

The Giants hope that won't be the case this time around — or at least hope they can get clarity quickly so they can move on to their next target.