Before diving into the cynicism surrounding the team running the hardest on baseball's mediocrity treadmill, let's at least acknowledge the good things the San Francisco Giants have accomplished this offseason.
They completely overhauled their front office, putting franchise luminary Buster Posey in charge of baseball operations. He subsequently promoted Zack Minasian — brother of Angels' general manager Perry Minasian — to the GM role.
In their first offseason together, they've notched some key victories, including finally getting a star to sign with the team when they got Willy Adames' signature on a seven-year contract.
However, they've also lost some talent, including sterling southpaw Blake Snell to the Dodgers, as well as outfielder Michael Conforto to the same division rival.
Now, they've gone and signed a veteran for their pitching staff in 2025, though he'll hardly be able to replace Snell's contributions.
BREAKING: Right-hander Justin Verlander and the San Francisco Giants are in agreement on a one-year contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. The future Hall of Famer, who turns 42 next month, will spend his 20th season with the Giants.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 7, 2025
Verlander struggled through the worst season of his career since 2005 (in which he only pitched 11 innings in a cup of coffee) last year, accruing a 5.48 ERA (4.78 FIP) and 1.384 WHIP in just 90 1/3 innings. He missed multiple months of action due to shoulder and neck injuries.
Playing in arguably baseball's best division, the Giants have not meaningfully improved this winter. Heading into the 2025 season, the team feels stuck between multiple paths.
Giants can't match NL West's best, even with Adames and Verlander
Adames was a great signing, and he should be a middle-of-the-order threat for years to come. The problem is, besides him and third baseman Matt Chapman, who are the Giants going to rely on for consistent production?
Second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald had a breakout rookie campaign in which he posted an .831 in 314 at-bats, but his strikeout rate (31.7%) was ghastly. Heliot Ramos finally found his footing in 2024 after two disastrous stints in the big leagues, but the 25-year-old All-Star still has bottom of the barrel chase and whiff rates. And first baseman Lamont Wade Jr. has been an incessant inclusion in trade rumors this offseason.
Even if they can find consistent contributions from other sources that aren't Adames and Chapman, the pitching staff appears to be the team's true weak point heading into 2025. Ace Logan Webb remains as consistent and steady as ever (2.95 FIP in 204 2/3 innings in 2024), but the rest of the starting rotation leaves a lot to be desired.
Robbie Ray was an expensive addition last winter, and he gave the team just 30 2/3 innings of 4.70 ERA ball. Jordan Hicks was far from a disaster in his transition from reliever to starter in 2024, pitching a career-high 109 2/3 innings, but his production plummeted with the increased volume, as he posted career-worst figures in FIP (4.37) and strikeout rate (20.0%). Former top prospect Kyle Harrison still offers a lot of potential, but he'll need to improve massively on his 4.56 ERA and 1.343 WHIP if he's going to be a legitimate asset for the Giants.
Even closer Camilo Doval struggled through a tough campaign, getting demoted to Triple-A in August after an All-Star season in 2023. And, of course, Verlander, fresh off his own rough season, now rounds out the gang.
The NL West is unforgiving to mediocre teams, which is what the Giants plainly are.
The Dodgers are the reigning World Series champions and have only gotten better this winter while adding Snell, Conforto, and others to the game's best roster. The Diamondbacks, 2023 World Series participants, just added Corbin Burnes to arguably baseball's best rotation. The Padres have been rather quiet thus far, but they took the Dodgers to five games in the NLDS last year, and are among the favorites for Japanese star Roki Sasaki.
The Rockies exist as fodder for the division's other contenders, but the Giants may be closer to their quality than they are to the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, and Padres. There's plenty of talent on the roster, but banking on a bounce-back by a 42-year-old starter can't be your second-biggest move of the offseason when you hope to compete with the best teams in baseball.
Unless San Francisco does something drastic in the next couple of months, they'll enter the 2025 season as the game's most directionless team.