San Francisco Giants Named Team With Most To Lose in National League West

The San Francisco Giants have some serious pressure on them headed into next season.

Sep 10, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; General view of the San Francisco Giants equipment before the start of the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants enter the upcoming season in the midst of one of their roughest stretches in franchise history, and the pressure is beginning to ramp up.

Coming off seven missed playoffs in the last eight years after getting the 2010s started with three World Series banners in five years, the Giants are a far cry from the dominant dynasty they were as recently as just a decade ago.

Outside of an outlier 107-win season in 2021 in which San Francisco won the National League West, the franchise has simply not been all that competitive as of late with three recent fourth place finishes and even a last place finish within the downturn of mediocrity.

Ownership expressed their displeasure with the way things have gone when they fired president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi following a third consecutive year in which the Giants failed to go above .500, replacing him with franchise legend Buster Posey.

Posey was largely credited already for assisting in the Matt Chapman extension, now he gets the chance to cut his teeth as a real executive for the franchise he is so beloved by.

Though it's a wonderful opportunity and a challenge he likely relishes, Posey is stepping into a precarious situation as there is going to be immediate pressure to win from a fanbase who is beginning to understandably get a bit angsty.

In a recent article, Will Leitch of MLB.com named a team from each division with the most on the line this season, and in the National League West argued San Francisco as the team with the highest alarm.

"Bringing in Posey adds an expectation that this team is going to try to win right now," Leitch wrote. "But, well, look at this roster, and look at the rosters of those three division rivals. Does this look like a team that is going to win now?"

The fact that the Giants most hated rival Los Angeles Dodgers have won two World Series titles since 2020 only serves to increase urgency in the Bay Area. Winning - and winning big - in 2025 may not be all that realistic for San Francisco, but they absolutely need to show improvement in order for fans to be convinced things are moving in the right direction.

Thus far, it has been a fairly successful offseason for Posey in his first go around. Handing out the largest contract in franchise history and bringing in an important piece to the starting rotation are certainly a start, but none of it will mean anything if the team does not win.

Nobody is expecting a championship, but the Giants at the very least must take a leap in the standings this season. If not, the temperature from an already restless fanbase is only going to continue to rise.