San Francisco Giants Receive Strong Re-Grade From Offseason Signing Last Year

The San Francisco Giants received a good grade from a signing last winter

San Francisco Giants pitcher Blake Snell tossed a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 2 for his first career complete game. | Katie Stratman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The San Franciso Giants have kicked off Spring Training and are hoping to be an improved team in 2025.

Coming into the winter, there was a lot of hope and optimism that the Giants were going to be able to make some significant moves and improve.

Despite making a couple of notable signings, it doesn’t seem like San Francisco will be a much better team in 2025. While the lineup should be better with the addition of Willy Adames, the starting rotation suffered a massive loss when Blake Snell signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Snell was a late signing of the Giants last offseason, and it was a bumpy start to his year in San Francisco. The former Cy Young struggled to start the season, likely due to signing late and not having a proper camp.

However, in the second half of the season, the southpaw was one of the best pitchers in baseball. He totaled a (5-0) record and 1.45 ERA. The overall numbers from the left-hander were solid for the year, but he was a superstar after the All-Star break.

Due to Snell signing a 1+1 deal with a player option for 2025, it became clear in the second half of the year that he would be declining his option to test free agency once again this winter.

That decision paid off, with Snell signing a lucrative deal with the Dodgers. However, his time in San Francisco was certainly productive, even if for just one year.

Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report recently re-graded the Giants’ decision to sign Snell last offseason. He gave them a grade of a ‘B’, making it an overall solid decision.

It was certainly a good move last winter to sign the left-hander, even if the year didn’t start great. Unfortunately, with him performing well and leaving, the Giants haven’t adequately replaced him in the starting rotation.

Despite being very much in the mix to sign Corbin Burnes, he ended up going to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who the Giants will see a fair amount of during the regular season.

The replacement for Snell is a big name in Justin Verlander, but the 42-year-old is coming off the worst year of his career.

There is going to be a lot of uncertainty in the rotation after the loss of the star lefty, especially since it’s impossible to predict what Verlander will provide.

Even though it was just for one year, the Giants certainly got their money’s worth out of Snell. Unfortunately, he will be pitching against them now for the next few years.