San Francisco Giants Need To Keep Making Additions To Continue Power Ranking Climb

The San Francisco Giants are heading in the right direction, but are still short of where they want to be in the New Year power rankings.

Dec 12, 2024; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (2) holds his jersey with president of baseball operations Buster Posey during his introductory press conference at Oracle Park. / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants entered the offseason facing an uphill battle when it came to competing with their rivals in the NL West.

There is a considerable gap that exists between them, the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks. An argument could certainly be made that the gap widened in some regard this offseason.

That is part of the reason why the contributors over at MLB.com still have the Giants ranked in the bottom half of the New Year power rankings.

San Francisco is heading in the right direction, as they rose from the No. 21 spot in the previous rankings. But, they only moved up two places to No. 19, as there is still plenty of work to do.

“The new front office, headed by Buster Posey, has the Giants in a familiar spot: perhaps being short on high-end talent. Willy Adames is an excellent player and a smart addition. But how much can he -- and a soon-to-be 42-year-old Justin Verlander -- possibly move the needle?” wrote Will Leitch.

There is no denying that the addition of Willy Adames is a massive one.

More punch was needed for the lineup and he will provide it as one of the best offensive shortstops in the game. His addition also means Tyler Fitzgerald can slide over to second base, covering up another hole.

However, it will take more than one addition for this lineup to be on par with their main competition in the division.

Making another splash and signing a power hitter like New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso or Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander would certainly help close the pre-existing gap.

Adames is a nice start, but the Dodgers, who are coming off a World Series victory, poached ace Blake Snell and outfielder Michael Conforto from San Francisco along with retaining outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and reliever Blake Treinen while signing Hyeseong Kim.

The Diamondbacks beat out the Giants for the services of ace Corbin Burnes, who signed a six-year, $210 million deal. They also acquired Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians to replace Christian Walker, who signed with the Houston Astros as a free agent.

San Diego hasn’t made any significant additions, but was already 13 games better than the Giants in 2024; it is hard to envision Adames and Verlander making up that gap on their own.

It is encouraging seeing Buster Posey being willing to spend, but there is plenty of work that remains to be done if San Francisco is going to continue climbing the ladder and compete in the NL West.