Five questions for Giants to answer as they head to annual MLB Winter Meetings originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
ORLANDO — In at least one area, the Giants are getting solid reviews for their early offseason work.
They have put together a coaching staff that includes needed experience around first-year manager Tony Vitello, but also young coaches who have built strong reputations while coming through the ranks with other organizations. Throw in the additions of Bruce Bochy, Javier Lopez and Curt Casali to the front office, and Vitello and president of baseball operations Buster Posey will be surrounded by a group that looks well-rounded on paper.
None of that will matter, though, if the roster doesn’t get better, and on that front, the Giants have been quiet.
The only free-agent contract thus far has gone to lefty reliever Sam Hentges, who will try to join Erik Miller as bullpen lefties as he recovers from shoulder and knee surgeries. The Giants also have added some depth to their outfield, but their most notable offseason move thus far has been a departure. Marco Luciano, formerly their top prospect, was claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.
That left the Giants with an open 40-man spot as they flew to Florida for Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings. Will they use it on a big-time starter or a closer in the coming days? Is a trade already in the works? Was that simply so they can take part in Wednesday’s Rule 5 Draft?
We’ll find out over the next week. This is the busiest stretch of the offseason calendar, and Posey and general manager Zack Minasian have plenty of work left to do. Here are five questions that the organization should answer in Orlando …
Will They Spend?
This is the time of year when rumors fly and every story includes quotes from anonymous sources, but as the stove started to heat up in November, a lot of people seemed to ignore a very important piece of information.
Giants chairman Greg Johnson went on the record in October and hinted at what was to come, telling John Shea of The San Francisco Standard that the organization would be “very cautious” about $100 million deals for pitchers. Johnson also mentioned the long-term commitments the team has made in recent years to players like Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers and Jung Hoo Lee.
“I think the risk is having too many people on similar six-year-type deals that create less flexibility to the payroll,” he told Shea.
The Giants actually have been pretty transparent about where they stand financially, even though their preferences are incredibly frustrating to fans. Sources this week confirmed The Athletic’s reporting that Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai likely is out of their comfort zone, and that’s not a surprise if you go back to those quotes from Johnson. This all goes back to the regular season, though.
When the Giants traded for Devers and the roughly $260 million left on his deal in June, some high-ranking team employees were told there essentially was no wiggle room to keep adding money at the July deadline. That didn’t end up mattering because the team cratered so dramatically that Posey ended up selling, not looking to add.
Months later, the Giants head to Orlando with more than $50 million that they can spend before they start bumping up against the first tax line. But they also are concerned about items that won’t impact their 2026 40-man roster. When you combine Vitello’s salary with his buyout and the $4 million still owed to Bob Melvin, the Giants will be paying an MLB-high $10.5 million to the manager spot in 2026. They owe Blake Snell $17 million on Jan. 15 as a delayed signing bonus for a two-year deal that didn’t work out.
Posey is unique among his peers in that he is part of the ownership group and a member of the board of directors, and he has shown an ability to get his partners to shell out more than planned, particularly with the Devers deal. He also operates in silence, which is worth remembering during this Imai chase.
Even if the Giants end up out on Imai, they still should have the financial ability to add two starting pitchers. The next week will reveal how far they’re willing to go, though.
Attendance was way up in 2025 and season ticket renewal numbers were strong, so fans will be rightfully annoyed if the Giants stick to the spending plan that they have put out there publicly over the past two months and get outbid for the top free agent starters.
Can They Get Creative?
If we can step back and defend part of that plan for a moment … the truth is that many long-term, nine-figure pitching deals become disasters. And paying for high-end relievers is usually a bad idea, as well.
It’s somewhat understandable if the Giants prefer two- or three-year deals for starters and want to stay away from the closers getting $15 million-plus on the open market, but if that’s the case, they do have to find other ways to add real talent. Their position player core is strong enough to get to the MLB playoffs, and with a lockout looming, 2026 is crucial. By the time there’s labor peace, the core is going to be a bit old.
If Posey has a huge trade for a reliable starting pitcher up his sleeve, this is the time. This is a good offseason to be looking to make that kind of splash, too. The Minnesota Twins reportedly are pulling their guys off the market, but Freddy Peralta, MacKenzie Gore, Kris Bubic and others might be moved in the next week.
Making that kind of deal requires parting with good prospects, but Luciano’s path was a reminder that prospect-hoarding doesn’t always pay off. The Giants are also much better positioned to deal than they were a year ago thanks to some promising developments within their system.
Their recent international classes have been strong with another good group on the way in January, and three of their top prospects — Josuar Gonzalez, Gavin Kilen and Jhonny Level — are middle infielders at a time when their big league shortstop is on a long-term deal. There are some really intriguing arms in the low minors. Posey was a firm no when the Boston Red Sox initially asked about Bryce Eldridge, but with Devers looking comfortable at first, there’s at least some possibility that the front office could change its mind.
This would seem to be the time to take a big swing and trade a couple of younger prospects for a pitcher who could help in 2026. Years from now, that might hurt, or we might forget those names altogether. If the Giants aren’t going to fish in the deep waters in free agency, this is a risk they need to take.
What About The Other Side?
The front office’s preference is to deal mostly with minor league free agents, waiver claims and lesser-known veterans when rebuilding the bullpen, and so far that’s been the way they’ve operated. Lefty Reiver Sanmartin was claimed from the Cincinnati Reds, and Hentges got a modest $1.4 million after a solid run in Cleveland.
Throw those two in with Miller and Matt Gage and the Giants probably are fine from the left side. Miller was just about fully recovered from elbow soreness by the end of September, and the staff can wait and see who else stands out in Scottsdale.
The right side of the bullpen needs help, though, and Posey and Minasian probably need to get at least two high-leverage options for Vitello, who will be judged in large part on how he handles late-game decisions in his first year.
Devin Williams and Ryan Helsley already are off the board, and their deals seemed pretty reasonable. Edwin Diaz will be way too pricey, but Robert Suarez might end up closer to the Williams/Helsley range and Pete Fairbanks would be a nice fit on a short-term deal.
Posey said on the “Giants Talk” podcast last month that he anticipates a competition for the closer spot, indicating they won’t spend on the higher-end arms. But the Giants do need to find a favorite for that competition, and at the moment that player isn’t on their roster. They also need a good option for the eighth. A Tyler Rogers reunion would be the obvious move, but that’s not nearly as much of a slam dunk as it seemed when he was traded away.
The Giants hung around early in 2025 because they had one of the game’s best bullpens. Getting a few new right-handers to throw into the late-inning mix in 2026 is a necessity.
Who Stays, Who Goes?
It took four decades — from Chili Davis to Heliot Ramos — for the Giants to develop another homegrown MLB All-Star outfielder, a not-so-fun fact that makes the current makeup of their 40-man roster fascinating. The Giants have nine outfielders in those 40 spots, including four homegrown players. It won’t be a comfortable winter for those four, though.
With the additions of Justin Dean and Joey Wiemer, the front office is signaling that a new mix will be out on the grass next season. That’s particularly noteworthy for Luis Matos, who — like Luciano — is out of minor league options. Wade Meckler and Grant McCray also have been bumped down the depth chart by the additions of Dean, Wiemer and Drew Gilbert.
Ramos is the starting left fielder, but he could hear his name in trade rumors this month — mostly because there just aren’t a whole lot of other young Giants who could be the centerpiece of any kind of noteworthy deal.
There will be changes to this large outfield group before the spring, and possibly before the end of the Winter Meetings. The big question, though, is whether Posey and Minasian feel additions are needed.
With Ramos in left and Lee in center, the Giants could opt to go with a right-field platoon of the left-handed Gilbert and right-handed Wiemer, which would be excellent defensively and take up very little payroll space. But there still are some veterans out there who could provide more certainty.
What Does Tony Think?
At the GM Meetings last month, Posey joked that he had to schedule coaching interviews around Vitello’s many podcast and TV appearances. The new manager is good in front of the camera, and the Giants are thrilled with the way he has been able to represent them on a national stage.
Those interviews had a common theme, though. Vitello hasn’t been asked much about his current players, and it’ll be interesting to see if he gives more away in Orlando. He’ll meet with reporters multiple times, and it’s probably time for the focus to turn from how he got here to where he’s headed.
Is there a young player who really stands out to him? Will there be a notable change in the way the Giants run the bases and defend? Does this new staff have a plan to get Ramos back to his 2024 ways, or fix Hayden Birdsong’s command issues? What does he want to see from Eldridge?
The manager search took up all of the oxygen in the room when Posey and Minasian met with the media in early October, and the past month has been about finding coaches. But it’s time for everyone involved to start offering some more specifics about how 2026 will look better than 2025.
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Eric Samulski
