The Giants’ path back to the postseason starts on the mound, and that’s where the hard truth sits after a rough 2026.
San Francisco didn’t just miss the playoffs. The Giants finished second-to-last in the National League and took a step back in a lot of areas, despite having some talent on the roster.
The easy move would be to pin it all on Buster Posey, and yes, he deserves blame. But the sharper indictment is how the Giants have gone about building the pitching staff - especially who they’ve added and when.
The numbers tell the story. San Francisco finished 23rd in the majors with a 4.34 team ERA.
The rotation ranked 24th at 4.48, and the bullpen wasn’t much better at 4.14, good for 19th. For a club that entered the year with expectations, that simply wasn’t close to enough.
One of the biggest issues was the lack of a true closer. The Giants made a tough call to move on from former All-Star Camilo Doval at the 2025 deadline, and after failed runs in New York and Pittsburgh, he’s back in San Francisco.
But 2027 shouldn’t automatically mean handing him the ninth inning. Given the way he struggled this season, that would be a risky bet.
A better move would be for the Giants to spend at the top of the relief market. Bryan Abreu stands out as a fit, and a setup of Abreu and Doval could give the club flexibility to decide which one handles closing duties and which one works in front of him. Doval’s track record still matters, and he’s already comfortable in San Francisco.
The rotation brings its own questions. Tyler Mahle was part of the mix in 2026, but the split was striking: a 5.13 ERA with the Giants and a 1.99 ERA with the Braves.
Logan Webb also regressed, though injury and the WBC may have played a role. Beyond that, other starters just didn’t deliver.
If the Giants want to turn things around, they also need to get better at adjusting pitchers during the season. The staff has to identify changes to a pitcher’s arsenal and use the environment to its advantage. If the Braves could get that kind of turnaround out of Mahle, the Giants should be able to do the same.
In Other News...
Mike Krukow's Farewell Became A Giants Moment Fans Won't Forget
Mike Krukow has been part of the Giants soundtrack for so long that his voice feels stitched into the franchise itself, which is why his retirement carried so much weight around the club. The longtime broadcaster stepped away in 2026, closing out a run that connected generations of San Francisco fans and gave the team a steady, familiar presence through years of change.
The farewell became a genuine Giants moment at the final game of the season, when the organization put together a tribute that included the right-field wall and a postgame ceremony with speeches. Krukows own remarks gave the night its emotional edge, as he offered a heartfelt defense of what it means to be a Giants fan and reminded everyone why his voice mattered far beyond the booth. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Face A Painful Roster Crunch Before Buster Posey Can Even Start
The Giants are already staring at one of the first hard tests of the Buster Posey era, and it has nothing to do with free agency or spring training optimism. The club has a crowded 40-man roster and a long list of injured players to sort through, which means the offseason starts with a round of uncomfortable accounting. Some names will have to come off the roster, and the front office will need to decide whether those openings come through designations for assignment, trades or non-tenders.
For Posey and his staff, the challenge is less about finding talent than making room for it without backing into a mistake. Injuries have complicated several of the decisions already, and contract status only adds another layer of difficulty as the Giants try to preserve flexibility for next season. It is the kind of roster squeeze that forces a team to weigh present pain against future depth, and in San Francisco there is already at least one particularly tricky case among the players the club must sort through. [Read more 🡒]
Casey Schmitt Trade Talk Revives A Painful Giants Memory
Buster Posey made it clear the Giants intend to shop for pitching this offseason, and that means every possible path is back on the table. For a club trying to reshape its staff, the idea of using young infield depth as trade currency naturally surfaces, especially with Casey Schmitts name floating into the conversation as the sort of player another team might value.
That kind of move also stirs up an old Giants memory that still lingers in the background of any deal involving controllable talent. San Francisco has been burned before by parting with the wrong piece at the wrong time, so even if the front office is only exploring possibilities, the stakes around any trade discussion are easy to feel. Nothing is official yet, but the winter conversation has already started to take on the familiar shape of risk versus regret. [Read more 🡒]