San Francisco Giants Get Boost in Potential Pursuit of Free-Agent Pitcher
The San Francisco Giants suffered a major loss on their pitching staff this offseason when co-ace Blake Snell decided to opt out of his contract.
He hit free agency for the second time in as many years and this time around he was able to cash in on the lucrative long-term deal he was hoping to secure ahead of the 2024 campaign.
If it wasn’t bad enough for the Giants to lose him, it was made worse by where he elected to sign. They will now have to do battle against him regularly for the next half-decade as he agreed to a five-year, $182 million deal with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
Looking to fill that void, the team was also in on Baltimore Orioles ace Corbin Burnes. Alas, that pursuit was fruitless, too.
Unfortunately, he too will be faced off against regularly for the foreseeable future as he also joined a National League West rival, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The former Cy Young Award winner agreed to a massive six-year, $210 million deal.
Needing to add some more depth to their rotation, San Francisco did dip into free agency and come away with an established veteran.
They agreed to a one-year deal with future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander, adding some experience to the mix behind ace Logan Webb.
However, it is fair to wonder just how much he has left in the tank.
After a more than serviceable 2023 season, the wheels looked to fall off in 2024. He was unable to stay healthy, making only 17 starts. And when he was on the mound, the production was lacking as he registered a 5.48 ERA across 90.1 innings.
A one-year deal certainly isn’t the worst risk for the team to take, but that shouldn’t be the only move made with the starting rotation.
It would behoove the Giants to make another move and targeting Jack Flaherty would make a lot of sense.
The best starting pitcher left on the market, a recent update provided by Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic should work in their favor.
They shared that Flaherty and some of the other top free agents remaining on the market, such as All-Star right fielder Anthony Santander, would be open to a short-term deal that includes multiple opt-outs.
It is what Scott Boras did with his major clients last offseason and for two of them, it worked out. Coincidentally, they both signed with the Giants and made the most of those stints.
In addition to Snell, third baseman Matt Chapman also turned a short-term deal with opt-outs into a massive six-year, $151 million extension. Flaherty could certainly do something similar given the track record pitchers have at Oracle Park.
After signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent, Flaherty regained his form. The team flipped him to the Dodgers ahead of the deadline, as he helped them win a World Series.
That looked to be more than enough for him to secure a long-term deal, but nothing has materialized to this point. His willingness to take a short-term deal is something San Francisco needs to take advantage of if there are hesitancies of handing out more long-term money.
He would provide a legitimate No. 2 option behind Webb, helping close the gap with their NL West competition. If he performs well and enjoys his time with the franchise, they could try working out an extension as they did with Chapman.
If the season doesn’t go according to plan but he performs well, they would have an elite trade chip to use ahead of the deadline to bring back some more assets.