After a 97-loss season in 2026, the SF Giants enter the offseason with the kind of to-do list that leaves no room for half measures. The front office has three clear priorities sitting at the top of the board: starting pitching, bullpen help, and a right-handed-hitting outfielder.
Those needs line up almost exactly with where the club was last winter, which says plenty about how little was solved. The Giants made some moves, sure, but not enough to lift the floor of a roster that still has obvious holes.
They could also look for a starting catcher, though the current sense is that Daniel Susac and Drew Cavanaugh will get a chance to sort out that job next spring. A left-handed-hitting infielder would also make sense for balance, especially with a right-handed-heavy group that includes Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Casey Schmitt.
Schmitt is also expected to move around the diamond next year, including a return to the outfield.
The biggest issue, though, is the rotation. The Giants don’t just need a couple of arms; they need depth, too.
A solid staff usually leans on six to eight starters over the course of a season, and this group is nowhere near that right now. Buster Posey said in the post-mortem press conference that he believes the club can contend for a playoff spot next year, and that’s the bar the Giants will be working against.
If that’s the target, the pitching has to come up fast. The rotation posted a 4.48 ERA in 2026, and a team built around pitching and defense can’t afford to be mediocre in the most important part of the formula.
The top of the starting-pitching market won’t be realistic for everyone, and Tarik Skubal is expected to land the largest contract among this year’s pitchers. The Giants probably won’t be in that lane. More likely, they’ll be shopping among sturdier veteran options such as Kevin Gausman, Sonny Gray, and Clay Holmes.
The bullpen needs a reset, too. Posey didn’t sugarcoat that part when the season ended, and he told Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area that bullpen help will be where the offseason work begins.
That tracks, because the unit was shaky all year and finished with a 4.14 ERA. The Giants need a group that can protect leads and finish games, not just survive innings.
There is at least a small foundation to work with. Trent Harris and Dylan Smith pitched well enough to have a case for next season.
Camilo Doval was added in the final week of the season, and MLB Trade Rumors projects him at $6.6 million in his final trip through arbitration. Jason Foley and Sam Hentges are also arbitration-eligible.
The Giants are hoping for Randy Rodríguez back as well, and he is set to begin a rehab assignment in the Arizona Fall League. Even with that core, they still need more.
At minimum, they need one more leverage reliever and a couple of dependable arms behind him. The non-tender market could be one place to find that depth.
The third major issue is in the outfield, where the Giants still need a right-handed bat. They say Harrison Bader is expected back next season, though that comes without a lot of certainty.
Even if he returns, the group needs another upgrade. The outfield was one of the softest spots on the roster in 2026, with Giants outfielders combining for 1.3 fWAR, which ranked 27th in baseball.
The club already began reshaping that area by trading Heliot Ramos at the deadline.
If Jung Hoo Lee and Drew Gilbert are going to get regular run next season, the Giants still need someone who can handle left-handed pitching. There’s a case to be made that they need two right-handed-hitting outfielders, but one younger player may get a shot to win a job.
Victor Bericoto brings power, but his plate approach needs major improvement after a 3.4 percent walk rate in 116 plate appearances. Jonah Cox offers a more dynamic skill set, though he doesn’t directly solve the need for a right-handed platoon bat.
He should still get a chance to compete, especially in center field.
Right field looks like the cleanest place to address the problem. Lee struggled to a .613 OPS in 178 plate appearances against left-handed pitching in 2026, and the Giants were awful overall against lefties, hitting .233/.289/.369 with an 84 wRC+.
That tied the Colorado Rockies for the worst mark in baseball. If they want to be taken seriously as contenders, they can’t keep giving away those matchups.
The outfield is one of the few spots where they can fix that weakness, and they need to use it.
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There is at least a little flexibility in the margins, since San Francisco does not have a long list of looming free agents to sort through. Backup catcher Knizner and pitcher Brubaker could both make sense on low-cost returns, while the club also has a decision on Wicks 2027 option as his injury situation remains part of the equation. For the Giants, the challenge is less about chasing splash and more about clearing space without backing themselves into a corner. [Read more 🡒]
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Giants Still Have A Core Worth Believing In After 2026
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Rafael Devers is the piece that keeps the whole picture interesting. He had 37 homers before being shut down for core surgery, and the expectation is that he should be ready for 2027, which matters because his impact in San Francisco has already been unmistakable. Through his first 222 games with the Giants, he reached 48 home runs, putting himself alongside franchise legends and giving the organization a cornerstone hitter around whom the next version of the roster can still be built. [Read more 🡒]