The SF Giants are heading into an offseason where the answer is staring them right in the face: they need pitching, and they need a lot of it. That makes Shane Bieber one of the more interesting names to watch, especially if Toronto’s offseason takes a turn that opens the door.
Bieber’s 2026 season with the Blue Jays was solid enough on paper, but the bigger story was the same one that has followed him in recent years: injuries. He made 11 starts, posted a 4.37 ERA, and struck out 44 while walking 24 across 55 and 2/3 innings.
The year before, he was more efficient. In 2025, Bieber logged a 3.57 ERA in seven starts for Toronto and allowed only seven walks over 40 and 1/3 innings. That ability to keep free passes in check is part of what makes him appealing, and it lines up with what president of baseball operations Buster Posey emphasized in his end-of-season presser.
San Francisco looks likely to target pitchers who attack the strike zone, so Bieber fits the type of arm the Giants seem built to chase. Even with the recent injury issues, he could still make sense if the price drops into bargain territory. And the Giants have never been shy about hunting value on the mound.
The catch is that Bieber may not be eager to move on from Toronto. He caught people off guard last offseason when he exercised his player option, and he’s already hinted that he’d like to stay with the Blue Jays.
Still, Toronto’s disappointing year could work in San Francisco’s favor. The Blue Jays missed the playoffs, and a rough 2026 may push them toward other directions as they try to avoid a repeat of that letdown.
If Bieber does hit the market, a one-year deal in the $10-15 million range seems plausible for the Giants. He’s a two-time All-Star and the AL Cy Young Award winner from the shortened 2020 season with the Cleveland Guardians, but his recent health history makes it hard to imagine a massive payday.
For the Giants, this has the feel of a fit that has been sitting there for a while. Maybe this is the winter they finally make it happen and add Bieber to a rotation that clearly needs help. And if they really want to get ambitious, maybe Kevin Gausman ends up in the mix too, giving San Francisco a chance to land two pitchers who were with the Blue Jays in 2026.
In Other News...
Giants Face A Tough Offseason Roster Call They Cant Dodge
The Giants already have one offseason housekeeping issue staring them in the face before the hot stove really gets going: 17 players will need to come off the 60-day injured list, and every one of those moves will ripple through a 40-man roster that never has much room to breathe. It is the kind of accounting task that can force a club to make hard choices early, especially when the roster crunch is coming from injuries rather than performance.
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 🡒]
Robbie Ray Just Reminded Giants Fans Of Their Bigger Rotation Problem
Robbie Rays first NLDS start with the Padres was a reminder of how volatile his season has been since leaving San Francisco. He lasted 2 and 2/3 innings in Game 1, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks, which fit the uneven regular-season stretch he put together after the trade. In nine starts with San Diego, he finished with a 5.02 ERA, a line that says as much about the risk the Giants moved on from as it does about Ray himself.
For San Francisco, the bigger issue is that the trade only sharpened an old concern instead of solving it. The Giants have spent recent seasons searching for reliable rotation answers, and moving Ray was part of that ongoing attempt to sort out the pitching depth chart. Even if the decision made sense at the time, his postseason appearance only adds another layer to the question of whether the Giants have done enough to stabilize a staff that has too often been forced to piece things together. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Still Have A Core Worth Believing In After 2026
The Giants 2026 season ended with a familiar mix of promise and frustration, as they finished fourth in the NL West and came up short of the Wild Card race they had hoped to chase. Still, there were reasons to keep looking ahead. Bryce Eldridge gave the lineup a real jolt in his first extended run, Jung Hoo Lee continued to take meaningful steps forward with career highs in several offensive categories, and the offense had enough young and established talent to suggest the group was not starting from scratch.
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 🡒]