San Francisco Giants' Winter Meetings Priority Should be Adding Bats

In a recent insider article, the San Francisco Giants were listed as a team that needs to upgrade their lineup during the Winter Meetings

Oct 1, 2024; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey addresses the media during an introductory press conference at Oracle Park. | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants are heading into the Winter Meetings next week with a lot of areas to address for the team. 

It was another poor season in 2024, and it resulted in a change in the front office with Buster Posey taking over as president of baseball operations.

This isn’t an ideal situation that Posey is walking into, as the team has been very mediocre in recent years, and while they have money to spend, their farm system is one of the weaker ones in baseball. 

San Francisco is going to be an interesting team to keep an eye on this winter, as it feels like the franchise could go in a couple of different directions. 

So far, they have already seen Blake Snell leave for the Los Angeles Dodgers in free agency. As the southpaw signed a lucrative deal to join the Giants’ rival. However, while that is a loss for the team, it was somewhat expected based on what his market value was going to be. 

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com highlighted what the needs are for the Giants heading into the Winter Meetings and highlighted them signing Max Stassi to a minor league deal so far this offseason — but it wasn't necessarily for a good reason.

Doolittle noted that Stassi has only played five minor-league games the past two years and that it was Posey's first signing. The catcher, in San Francisco on a minor-league deal, isn't going to replace the production of departing hitters like Michael Conforto and Mark Canha.

“The Giants are losing some key production with the departures of Snell, Michael Conforto and Mark Canha, and it's not clear they are willing to spend big to replace it. Whichever way Posey does it, the Giants need bats. Bad," he wrote.

Coming into the offseason, improving the lineup was certainly the No.1 goal for Posey and the Giants. This is an offense that has really struggled over the last few seasons and lacks star power. 

One of the main reasons why Posey took over is because the previous regime was unable to get deals done with players like Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Carlos Correa. While San Francisco isn’t in the Juan Soto sweepstakes, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to add an impact bat or two. 

A player like shortstop Willy Adames would be an excellent target for a team that desperately needs to add some pop into their lineup. Pairing him alongside third baseman Matt Chapman would at least be the start of something positive on the left side of the infield.