Giants Could Be Perfect Landing Spot for 2025 All-Star Lefty

The Giants approach to the offseason is finding ways to improve a pitching staff that was 27th in baseball last season. President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey made that vision clear in his interview with Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas.

The main focus is the starting rotation, with Posey confirming three spots for Logan Webb, Landen Roupp, and Adrian Houser and one spot open for whoever wins the spring training competition between starters already on the roster. That leaves one spot for Posey to sign a free agent, and while there are many quality arms the Giants could sign, Pavlovic seems to already know the answer.

While talking with Cole Kuiper on the Giants Talk podcast, Pavlovic, who is well connected with the Giants, indicated that a player he predicted the Giants were going to sign seems likely to be the guy Posey decides to give the fifth rotation spot to. That player is Kris Bubic.

Bubic, a 2025 All-Star with the Kansas City Royals, is well connected to the Bay Area and has a lot for the Giants to like in his profile.

Bay Area Bubic

While nothing to do with performance, Kris Bubic makes a lot of sense for the Giants as a person. From Cupertino, he grew up a Giants fan and spent his whole pre-professional baseball life pitching in the Bay Area. He attended Archbishop Mitty for high school and then Stanford, where his performance convinced the Royals to take him in the first round.

On the performance side, Bubic has been nothing short of brilliant in his career at Oracle Park. Across 19.1 innings, Bubic has allowed just three runs (all in one start) with 21 strikeouts and five walks, including six shutout innings in 2023 and seven shutout innings in his 2025 All-Star campaign. Those numbers alone should excite Buster Posey.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kris Bubic delivers a pitch — Kris Bubic in the playoffs Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Good

Bubic's career numbers will have a lot of teams, including the Giants interested in his services. His career ERA sits a 4.10 and it's been under a four every year since 2023. His All-Star season with the Royals saw a 2.55 ERA with 116 strikeouts and while brief, he does have NL West experience as he finished 2026 with the Dodgers.

The Giants see 2026 as an outlier and want to get back to the playoffs as soon as possible. Bubic will help them get there, but he also has the experience to compete in those big moments. In his career, Bubic has a 4.50 ERA in six playoff innings for the Royals and Dodgers, so not a lot, but he's seen a playoff atmosphere more than most of the Giants pitching staff.

REPORT: Kris Bubic is drawing broad interest from contenders and non-contenders alike, per Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic 👀

The Dodgers acquired the left-hander at the trade deadline.

Where do you think he ends up? pic.twitter.com/vMp8IO1iSK
— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) November 15, 2026

Reasons For Hesitation

Bubic has a lot to like. He's young, and his off-speed mix is one of the best in baseball at preventing runs. He gets good extension on his release, making his pitches harder for hitters to see. He strikes hitters out at a decent clip and he gets a lot of groundballs, something the Giants crave in pitchers. A lot of his other numbers, however, give reason for the Giants to be concerned.

First, his innings. The Giants struggled to get length out of their starters last season, which was an issue because they had to turn the ball over to one of the worst bullpens in the league. Bubic won't fix this issue. In his All-Star season, Bubic threw 116 innings, or just under six per start, and the most he's ever thrown in a season is 130. Outside of that, Bubic has been around 50 innings every other season of his career, which doesn't bode well for a team that needs its starters to go as long as possible.

Next, the injuries. One reason why Bubic hasn't thrown too many innings is his injury concerns. A Tommy John victim, Bubic has missed time throughout his career due to various injuries, many coming in his arm, which is worst-case scenario for a pitcher. The Giants struggled to keep pitchers on the field last year, so adding a pitcher who struggles with injuries is not a recipe for success.

Finally, the underlying numbers. Bubic has a career walks-per-nine rate of 3.7, a major concern for a Giants pitching staff that was sixth in baseball for walks allowed last season. His velocity is also a problem. Bubic averages just 92 MPH on his fastball while not forcing many whiffs and chases from hitters and allowing a high percentage of hard-hit balls.

It's easy to see why the Giants like Kris Bubic. He's been an All-Star, pitched in big moments, and has a ton of success at Oracle Park. They need to tread carefully before bringing him home.

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