How Giants plan to find outfield improvements before crucial 2026 MLB season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — If you scroll down the lists of top available outfielders this offseason, you’ll pretty quickly get to a veteran who would check a lot of boxes for the Giants.
He’s a good defender who runs the bases well and has been an above-average hitter by wRC+ throughout his career. Because he’s 35 years old, he should be available on the kind of one- or two-year deal that would appeal to a front office that already has some long-term commitments to hitters. He’s a good clubhouse guy, and as a Nashville resident, he might have even already crossed paths with new manager Tony Vitello.
If Mike Yastrzemski hadn’t already played nearly 800 games for the Giants, he might stand out as one of their most obvious free agent targets this offseason. But given how poor their outfield production was for long stretches of last season — which was one reason for the deadline sale that Yastrzemski was part of — it’s hard to see Buster Posey and Zack Minasian wanting to fully run it back.
The current plan is to do that in two of three spots, leaving an opening in right field that needs to be filled in some way this offseason. On the position player side, that’s easily the most glaring hole on the roster.
“I look at it as an open spot right now,” Posey said at the GM Meetings last week. “We’ll see how the offseason progresses as far as if there’s anything we can do additions-wise to put us in a better spot. It’s a work in progress.”
On paper, at least, the Giants have plenty of players vying for that spot. Aside from starters Jung Hoo Lee (center) and Heliot Ramos (left), their 40-man roster includes newcomer Justin Dean as well as Jerar Encarnacion, Drew Gilbert, Marco Luciano, Luis Matos, Grant McCray and Wade Meckler.
With a few of those guys, there is some urgency to figure out where they fit. Former top prospects Luciano and Matos will both be out of options next season. After a disappointing year that was spent entirely in Triple-A, the 24-year-old Luciano is playing Winter Ball. Matos, 23, was passed by others in the second half, but Posey indicated he is still in the organization’s plans.
“I’m hoping he comes into spring and is in the best shape of his life and is pushing the envelope and is playing great and makes us make a really tough decision,” he said last week.
The free agent class is top-heavy, and the best player on the market does technically fill the biggest hole in the lineup. Kyle Tucker has posted five consecutive four-WAR seasons and hit free agency at the age of 28, but he’s chasing a $400 million contract and might actually get it given the lack of star power available this offseason.
If the Giants are in that race, they have done a good job of hiding it. All of Posey’s public comments have signaled a desire to spend most of his available dollars on pitching this offseason.
Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, Harrison Bader and Cedric Mullins are also available, along with a long list of veteran outfielders likely to sign one-year deals, some of whom — Michael Conforto, Austin Slater, Andrew McCutchen — already are familiar in the Bay Area.
The Giants will also scour the trade market, but ultimately their biggest solutions in the outfield might not come from external options. Ramos is set to become the first Giant since Barry Bonds to start in left field on back-to-back opening days and Lee is locked in as the center fielder.
Ramos had an up-and-down second full season, but he might be the young player who will most benefit from a new staff. Given his background as a center fielder, it was a shock that he had so many issues in left field early last season.
Lee, entering the third season of a six-year contract, stands out as a crucial piece for Vitello and his new coaches. He dropped about 10 pounds during his first full season, leading manager Bob Melvin to give him extra rest days in the second half. Lee rated poorly defensively, but the Giants intend on having him in center field at the start of the year, not a corner spot.
Posey said there’s “meat on the bone” with Ramos and Lee, both of whom ranked well below average defensively. As a group, the Giants ranked dead last in Outs Above Average from their outfield.
When asked about the roster’s biggest needs this offseason, Posey has always at some point mentioned outfield defense. He will look for help, but on the “Giants Talk” podcast last week, he also indicated that a lot of this might be up to Vitello and his crew.
“Ultimately, my belief is that the player has to get the most out of himself,” Posey said. “But I’ve been fortunate to be around great coaches, too, and this is not a slight against our previous staff (but) sometimes a different voice makes a difference, as well.”
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