SF Giants enter Winter Meetings with several roster holes to fill

It was almost exactly a year ago that Buster Posey channeled his inner Nuke LaLoosh and released his presence as president of baseball operations with authority On the cusp of MLB s annual Winter Meetings the Giants agreed with shortstop Willy Adames on a seven-year million contract It was the largest deal in franchise history usurping Posey s own franchise-record eight-year million contract extension Posey s second offseason has been much more tranquil so far at least from a athlete acquisition standpoint The Giants shook up their managerial ranks by firing Bob Melvin and hiring Tony Vitello but their -man roster additions consist of left-handers Sam Hentges signing and Reiver Sanmartin waivers and outfielders Joey Wiemer agreement and Justin Dean waivers Left-hander Joey Lucchesi and catcher Andrew Knizner were also non-tendered while right-hander Mason Black was traded to the Royals for a minor-league pitcher These moves are not without chosen substance Hentges and Wiemer in particular could be on the Opening Day roster But Posey and company fly into Orlando for the Winter Meetings with several roster holes that need addressing This company s necessities are the same now as they were in October the top priority remaining pitching The Giants will add starting pitchers at selected point this winter but they won t be emerging the bank to do so Framber Valdez Ranger Su rez and Tatsuya Imai remain unsigned going into the Winter Meetings but Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic shared that the Giants will not make the nine-figure investments necessary to sign Imai or any other top pitchers Giants chairman Greg Johnson has also talked this offseason about being cautious with long-term deals to pitchers The Giants aversion to major investments in a starter is not without basis Every signing comes with vulnerability but pitchers are an especially volatile due to the probable for injury Still risks can be a necessary evil Valdez Su rez and Imai are top talents and top talents require top-talent money We re going to continue to be operational with players that have a chance to make the unit better mentioned general manager Zack Minasian on KNBR on Thursday when demanded about the description It s on us as a front office to make good decisions and we re going to continue to push ourselves to do that When it comes to how we do that we have an ownership group that s inevitably been extremely supportive A lot of those things as far as contract-wise payroll-wise it s constantly been athlete specific As a baseball operations group we just have to take that responsibility of any particular athlete we re signing and ask Is this a good decision or not ' Related Articles Ron Washington finalizing deal to join SF Giants coaching staff Why SF Giants fans shouldn t want Barry Bonds in the Hall of Fame SF Giants Schmitt has wrist surgery but expected to be ready for spring training Despite quantity of options SF Giants still in need of outfield help Japanese ace Imai wants to take down Dodgers Could he do it with SF Giants So if not Imai or Valdez or Su rez who could the Giants attain in free agency without making a long-term stake The list of options includes Zac Gallen Nick Martinez Patrick Corbin Chris Bassitt Justin Verlander Max Scherzer Zack Littell and Zach Eflin among multiple others Cody Ponce the reigning KBO MVP who previously pitched in the majors signed with the Blue Jays on a three-year million deal following Dylan Cease reached a seven-year million pact with Toronto The pact territory is also an option to acquire starters the list of potentially available names including the Milwaukee Brewers Freddy Peralta and the Minnesota Twins Joe Ryan among others Top prospect Bryce Eldridge represents an enticing business chip but the Giants seem unlikely to pact the -year-old first baseman given his combination of youth expected and years of band control I think you try to enter all these things being open-minded Minasian reported on Thursday I m not one to say that there are untouchables in any scenario You try to stay open-minded as to not limit your competitor pool of who you can potentially access but obviously there are several players that are just very formidable to move because of the fit because of their ability what you think they will be at the major-league level I m not one that s going to shut down any avenues but the likelihood varies from competitor to performer Along with starters and relievers the Giants should continue to explore the outfield territory San Francisco in the present has outfielders on its -man roster not including Tyler Fitzgerald but Wiemer is the only outfielder aside from Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee with a career WAR of at least Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger are likely out of the Giants price range given the Giants primary need for pitching and center field Cedric Mullins just signed a one-year million deal with the Tampa Bay Rays The list of available free-agent outfielders now includes the likes of Harrison Bader Mike Yastrzemski Max Kepler and JJ Bleday San Francisco s brass has done its part to surround Vitello with a variety of voices whether it be Bruce Bochy as an advisor or Ron Washington was a coach In Orlando Posey and company will have an opportunity to continue supplying Vitello with players