San Francisco Giants Linked to Former All-Star Infielder As Free Agent Solution

The San Francisco Giants could find a creative way to fill a hole in their infield in free agency.

John Jones-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are desperate to improve their roster this offseason coming off seven missed postseasons in the last eight years, but it seems they are destined to miss out on the very top of the market type players once again.

Though the Giants have been consistently linked to Juan Soto heading into free agency, the chances San Francisco actually lands the best hitter in baseball appear to be dwindling by the day with conflicting reports of actual interest and Soto taking meetings with seemingly everyone else. If that does in fact end up being the case, it would obviously be a disappointment but wouldn't be any sort of major surprise after missing out on guys like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani in just the last two cycles alone.

If the Giants need to turn to the second tier or even the third tier of players, there are lots of possible options out there who can help the team win games. None that would bring the same level of excitement as a Soto or even a Willy Adames, but quality players who have a demonstrated ability to perform. One potential bargain bin option is New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres, who Spencer Tracy of Just Baseball named as a good fit for the team.

"What catches the Giants’ eye about Torres is the power he brings to the lineup," Tracy wrote. "He strengthened his offseason resume with a solid performance this postseason, earning him the leadoff spot. Slashing .257/.330/.378 and 15 HRs doesn’t jump off the page but Torres is capable of a 25-home run season and an OPS north of .800. If the Giants believe they can mimic what the Dodgers did with Teoscar Hernandez last season, Torres could be a strong bat in the middle of the order next season."

Torres is certainly not exactly option A, but if the Giants miss out on the top shortstops on the market - something that would likely require a migration to second from Tyler Fitzgerald - landing the two-time All-Star to be the team's new second baseman wouldn't be a horrible consolation prize.

After moving in the wrong direction over the couple of seasons prior to 2024, Torres was extremely solid this year - conveniently right ahead of hitting the open market - and still has the makings of one of the upper echelon second basemen in baseball.

If San Francisco can tap into what made Torres look like a perennial All-Star for the first two seasons of his career in 2018 and 2019, he can absolutely be a quality addition that helps the team in 2025.