San Francisco Giants Full of Intrigue Heading Into Spring Training Despite Obstacles

The San Francisco Giants have some challenges to overcome to make the postseason but have a lot of intrigue entering spring training.

Dec 12, 2024; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey speaks during the introductory press conference for shortstop Willy Adames at Oracle Park. | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

This offseason marked the dawn of a new era for the San Francisco Giants, whose first big move was moving on from president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi.

He was replaced by the legendary Buster Posey, who helped the franchise win three World Series titles as a player. Since his retirement at the end of the 2021 season, things have not gone well for the team.

They have been the gold standard of mediocrity, winning 79, 81 and 80 games in the three years since he retired.

Looking to change that, Posey was aggressive in his first offseason leading the front office, making one major splash in free agency.

Identifying shortstop as a position that needed to be upgraded, the Giants went right to the top of the market and came away with the top option; Willy Adames, formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The two sides agreed to a seven-year, $182 million deal, the largest in franchise history, solidifying the left side of their infield in the process. He and Matt Chapman will be amongst the best duos in baseball.

A run was made at Corbin Burnes to replace Blake Snell in the rotation behind ace Logan Webb. It was unsuccessful, as he decided to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But even just pursuing him was good to see.

Given how much work needed to be done, it will take more than one offseason for Posey to get the roster to the level of prominence it reached when he was a player, but they are heading in the right direction.

So much so that Alden Gonzales of ESPN selected San Francisco as the team he is far more excited to see than he was at this point last year.

He likes the top-of-the-order duo of Adames and Jung Hoo Lee, as they can set the table for Chapman, Tyler Fitzgerald and Heliot Ramos. Adding one more run-producer to the middle of this lineup would do wonders.

Webb remains as consistent of an ace as there is in the game, but there are question marks with Robbie Ray and Justin Verlander slotting in behind him,

Making the playoffs in the National League will be incredibly challenging. 

Their division, the NL West, has the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Diamondbacks, all three of which finished at least nine games ahead of the Giants in 2024.

The NL East has three World Series contenders as well in the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.

That is six teams already with a leg up on San Francisco before taking into consideration the NL Central representatives.

Alas, the Giants aren’t as far away from playoff contention as some may think.

Another piece or two and they can move up a tier right on par with the other Wild Card contenders in the league.