Kurtenbach: 5 under-the-radar free agents that could salvage the SF Giants’ offseason
SF Giants free agency: Forget Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman, and Blake Snell — these are the free agents the Giants should pursue.
Contrary to popular belief, the Giants do not need to spend the massive pile of money they allocated for Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
In fact, the Giants would be foolish to sign a big-money free agent now that those two players are Dodgers.
No, San Francisco needs to stay nimble. With big money comes long terms — the Giants might be able to afford the pay, but they can’t afford four-plus years of a second-tier free agent.
(If those guys were sure things, they’d be signed by now.)
After going for the big play and failing — again — the Giants need to stay true to their systems (it did win 107 games one season) and remain flexible. Don’t do anything this offseason that you’ll regret next offseason.
Of course, the Giants still need to augment their whole roster, but director of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi tries to turn the organization into a self-sustaining winning machine — one that might create a big-time free agent one day.
Luckily, baseball’s free agency system is so messed up that the Giants can likely sign the same kind of play they’d receive from the mid-tier free agents for pennies on the dollar.
More of the same? Sure.
Plus, you don’t need to do anything drastic when you aim to win 85 games.
These players aren’t front-of-the-line names, but they can help the Giants win six more games in 2024:
Adam Duvall – OF
» Bringing Duvall back to the Bay would right a long-ago wrong.
And sure, the Giants already have a few players like Duvall, but none particularly as good as the power-hitter.
Duvall was mashing the ball for the Red Sox last year (130 OPS+ in his first 32 games) before a wrist injury sidelined him for a few months. He returned and hit a-OK (15 homers, .825 OPS in 60 games), but the on-base percentage didn’t follow.
This team needs some more pop. You can pay top dollar and provide out long terms or roll the dice on a player like Duvall.
Duvall isn’t a player who will be every-day — not at age 35. Does that make him redundant on this Giants’ roster? Perhaps. But he’s a bat that for a couple of weeks a year. That gives him a leg up on Mike Yastrzemski, Lamonte Wade, and Mitch Haniger. (And maybe Michael Conforto, too.)
And while he brings no on-field athleticism, he’s a fine outfielder who is likely to be no-risk with the terms of his contract.
The Giants have to lean into what they are, at least for this season, while they try to become something else for the future.
Duvall fits the mold.
Rhys Hoskins – 1B/DH
» Another thing this Giants’ front office loves is local guys looking for a mid-term deal.
Well, Rhys Hoskins is from Sacramento, and he’s looking for a get-right deal after tearing his ACL in Spring Training last year.
Before his injury, Hoskins was a sneaky member of baseball’s Top Power hitters club. In six seasons in Philadelphia, he posted an OPS of .845 and hit 148 home runs. Twice, he slugged over .500.
No one on the Giants’ roster is even close to that kind of power. If the wind and knee are just right, Hoskins could be the first Giant to hit 30 home runs in a season since Barry Bonds.
Hoskins would be a one-for-one replacement for Wade.
Like Duvall, is this move a bit risky? You bet.
A bit marginal? Perhaps, if things don’t work out.
But I see the upside, and it’s big.
And shouldn’t the Giants be making moves with big upside right now?
Marcus Stroman – SP
» I know the Giants say they like the state of their rotation going into the season, but that didn’t stop them from going after Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
So why would it preclude them from signing Marcus Stroman?
Simply put, the Giants are beggars in this free-agent market. They can’t be picky.
And they definitely can’t overlook someone who is both good and likes San Francisco.
He tweeted nice things about the city and organization — say no more and sign him up!
The consensus opinion is that Stroman had the Giants as his second option behind the Cubs when he signed with Chicago last year.
Now that he’s a free agent again, it’s time for the Giants to rebound.
With Kyle Harrison still figuring out the big leagues and Ross Stripling and Anthony DeSclafani unworthy of trust, the Giants could really use a third, reliable starter for the rotation.
Stroman is precisely what the Giants need: a mid-rotation arm for a playoff-caliber team.
The trio of Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, and Stroman might not be the sexiest, but it could be one of the most effective in baseball.
Tommy Pham – OF
» You want some risk? Here’s a risk for you.
Pham has been on seven different teams. He has a reputation for being blunt and combative. He’s been stabbed in a strip club and slapped Joc Pederson over fantasy football. He gets into it with fans during games.
It’s fair to wonder if he’s worth the possible trouble.
I say yes.
The dude can rake.
Pham was in the 80th percentile or better in expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage, and chase percentage last season.
Cody Bellinger could only imagine such prolificacy.
When he makes contact, the ball goes, and he hits to all fields.
You can do better than Pham, no doubt, but you can also do much worse.
The Giants’ outfield roster is a testament to that.
And if Bob Melvin can’t keep Pham in line, you ship him out. No harm (hopefully), no foul.
Jordan Hicks – RP
» The argument for signing Hicks is simple: his sinker averages 100 miles per hour. I want to see that paired with Camilo Doval’s 99.8 mile-per-hour cutter at the back end of games.
But Hicks is also a top-level bullpen arm who can close games.
Yes, he lost his way a bit in St. Louis — who didn’t last season? — but he found his best again in Toronto, where he struck out 22 and only walked eight in 24 innings.
Last year, Tyler Rogers, Taylor Rogers, and Luke Jackson took turns as Doval’s set-up man. No one thrived in the role.
Sure, the Giants can roll the dice with those guys again. Maybe Melvin has the touch Gabe Kapler lacked.
But if the Giants sign someone like Hicks to lock up the 8th inning — or at least provide a viable right-handed alternative to Taylor Rogers (whose splits normalized last season) — the San Francisco bullpen starts to look pretty good.
And having a plus bullpen can make an average team look pretty good, too.