Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey isn’t dancing around the biggest offseason issue in San Francisco: the bullpen needs help.
Speaking with Tim Kawakami of The San Francisco Standard as the club closes out a rough 2026 campaign, Posey made it plain that relief pitching is the area that has to be fixed. “Yeah, we’re going to have to address the bullpen,” Posey said.
He added that, looking back, the club probably should have put more of its attention there sooner. “I think [with] hindsight, it’s pretty easy to say,” Posey said.
“We probably should have had a little bit more focus on that. … I think ideally the hope would be to try to add somebody that’s done it for a while - a veteran or two down there - that you can have some of these younger guys continue to develop and maybe look towards as a steward to help them continue to develop.”
The numbers back up the concern. Giants relievers have combined for a 4.35 ERA, which sits in the bottom third of the league. Their 9.8% K-BB% is better than only the Royals and Rockies.
That outcome was easy enough to see coming. The Giants moved on from Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers at last year’s deadline, then lost Randy Rodríguez to Tommy John surgery soon after.
That wiped out three of the team’s better bullpen arms. Their offseason additions were mostly injury bounce-back types such as Sam Hentges and Jason Foley, so the group never entered the year with much reason for optimism.
The depth chart only got thinner at this year’s deadline. Caleb Kilian went to the Phillies in one deal, while Erik Miller was sent to the Red Sox in another. So if San Francisco is serious about stabilizing the late innings, there’s more than one hole to patch.
Posey’s comments point toward experience as the priority, which fits the state of the current group. No one in the bullpen had more than four years of service time when the season began. Foley was the only reliever above the two-year mark on Opening Day, and he missed all of 2025 after shoulder surgery.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the Giants will chase the top of the market. A name like Adrián Morejón or David Bednar would seem to fit a contender looking for a finishing touch, not a team that is likely to lose more than 90 games. More modest moves feel more realistic, though the Giants would still need to be more aggressive than they were last winter.
There should be options. The trade market always has relievers available, and this winter’s free-agent class includes veterans such as Enyel De Los Santos, Kevin Ginkel, Andrew Kittredge, Jonathan Loáisiga and Paul Sewald.
The bigger picture in San Francisco is still murky. The Giants aren’t really rebuilding, but they’ve finished above .500 only once in the last decade.
They also have several large contracts on the books that would be difficult to move. Last offseason was a quiet one, even though the organization has shown some willingness to swing bigger in other spots.
The farm system is in good shape, but the best prospects are teenagers who are still years away.
On the position-player side, Posey sounded more comfortable with the roster, especially in the infield. His comments centered on Rafael Devers, Bryce Eldridge, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames. Casey Schmitt could also take over for Luis Arraez at second, and Marcelo Mayer, Christian Koss, Shay Whitcomb and Jonah Cox are part of the mix as well.
The outfield is less settled. The Harrison Bader move didn’t work out, as he struggled before landing on the injured list and later was involved in a scooter accident that may have caused long-term damage to his foot and strained the relationship between player and club.
Heliot Ramos was dealt at the deadline. Jung Hoo Lee has had a down year but remains under contract through 2029, with an opt-out after 2027 that he likely wouldn’t use based on his performance so far.
Drew Gilbert has put together a decent season, and Grant McCray, Turner Hill, Víctor Bericoto and others are also in the picture.
As for Posey’s own future, he is in the second season of a three-year deal. He said he has not yet had extension talks with ownership about staying beyond 2027, though Kawakami noted that Posey is part of that ownership group.
If he wants to remain in the job, it seems likely he can make that happen. The public relations side could get trickier if next year looks anything like this one.
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There is at least a brighter note in center field, where contributions from Drew Gilbert and Jonah Cox helped the team move in a better direction. The problem is that the corners remain a different story, and that is where the Giants still have work to do. With possible positional shifts on the table and more attempts to upgrade likely ahead, the front office is still staring at one outfield issue that has not gone away. [Read more 🡒]