Buster Posey’s first major offseason at the controls has started to take shape, and the Giants’ blueprint is pretty clear: fix the pitching first, then sort out the rest.
That was the message coming out of the GM meetings in Las Vegas, where Posey spoke with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area on the Giants Talk podcast and mapped out how San Francisco plans to attack the winter. After a 97-loss season and an MLB record for players used in a year, the Giants need a cleaner, more stable path to get competitive in 2027.
The rotation is where the plan begins. Logan Webb and Landen Roupp are locked into starting roles, and Posey told Pavlovic that Adrian Houser will take the third spot as he heads into the final year of the deal he signed last offseason. That leaves two openings, but the Giants are not expected to fill both with outside additions.
Posey made it clear the club only expects to sign one free-agent starter, with the fifth spot left to an open spring training competition among the many starters the team leaned on late last season. It’s not the splashy answer some fans may have hoped for, but there are still several names in play.
Tarik Skubal appears to be out of reach, which shifts the focus to other options. One possibility is ALCS MVP Freddy Peralta, whose power fastball and profile would fit well at Oracle Park without carrying the same price tag as the biggest names on the market. Pavlovic also expects the Giants to pursue Bay Area native and Giants fan Kris Bubic, a 2025 All-Star, as a more realistic target.
If the club stays in-house for the fifth spot, there are three candidates who already got extended looks down the stretch: Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson, Yunior Marte, and Anthony Molina. Wilkinson logged 27 innings over six starts and posted a 3.58 ERA with 20 strikeouts and five walks.
Marte was the least effective of the group, finishing with a 4.44 ERA in 24 innings over three starts, though his velocity gives him a path to more work. Molina may be the most polished option of the three; acquired in the Tyler Mahle trade, he has the most big league experience and put up a 3.72 ERA in 29 innings over five starts, with 29 strikeouts and six walks.
The bullpen also needs serious attention. San Francisco is expected to look for a closer and a left-handed reliever after last season’s constant churn. Adrian Morejon looks like a strong fit for that lefty role, but Posey has essentially ruled out adding anyone attached to a qualifying offer, which could push the Giants toward the trade market instead.
That market may be where the real action happens. The Giants have a deep enough minor league system to listen on just about anyone, but any deal would need to make sense for 2027 and beyond.
Trevor Megill, the Brewers closer who finished off the World Series for Milwaukee, has come up in trade chatter and was a pitcher the Giants discussed with the Brewers last offseason. He would help, though the asking price could be steep enough to give Posey pause.
For now, the direction is obvious. The Giants have the ingredients to build a much better pitching staff in 2027. The challenge is finishing the job without turning the staff into another revolving door.
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