San Francisco Giants Divisional Rivals Praised for Excellent Offseason Work

The San Francisco Giants watched one of their division rivals upgrade their roster in a major way this offseason.

Jul 22, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (30), Michael Mays, son of Willy Mays and San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin (6) stand during a pregame ceremony to honor Mays at Dodger Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants' first offseason with Buster Posey leading the front office as the president of baseball operations got off to a bang.

He wasted no time making a splash in free agency, agreeing to a massive deal with shortstop Willy Adames. The Milwaukee Brewers star signed a seven-year, $182 million contract, the largest in franchise history.

After that, Posey made an addition to the pitching staff, signing future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander to a one-year, $15 million deal.

Those two veterans will help raise the team’s floor and fill needs.

Adames provides power to a lineup lacking proven impact talent beyond Matt Chapman. Verlander brings experience and has a chip on his shoulder with so many doubters believing he cannot deliver any longer on the mound.

The work is nowhere near done for Posey, as the Giants still have a few holes that need to be addressed. It will take more than one offseason for him to return the team to the level of prominence they reached when he was the starting catcher winning three World Series titles.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, the gap that already existed between them and the favorites in the National League West, the Los Angeles Dodgers, widened this winter.

Kiley McDaniel of ESPN recently put together his winners and losers from the offseason and the Dodgers were the first team he mentioned, which is terrible news for the Giants.

Part of the season for that is two of San Francisco’s biggest losses in free agency, starting pitcher Blake Snell and outfielder Michael Conforto, both signed with their rivals.

Los Angeles wasn’t without their losses, as Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler both departed in free agency and Gavin Lux was traded. But they were replaced by Snell, Roki Sasaki and Hyeseong Kim.

The Dodgers also re-signed outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, utilityman Kike Hernandez, starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw and relief pitcher Blake Treinen. 

Their bullpen was bolstered with the additions of Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, who closed for their respective teams last year and could share the job depending on matchups in 2025.

Tommy Edman received an extension locking him in with the team long-term.

And to cap it all off, they are getting Shohei Ohtani back as a pitcher fresh off an MVP Award-winning 2024 when he was only a designated hitter as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

The Giants have their work cut out for them to remain competitive against their rivals, who are the overwhelming favorites to repeat as champions.

With a deep farm system, it could be a few years before Posey has the franchise back on par with Los Angeles.

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