San Francisco Giants desperately need superstar outfielder in MLB free agency

The San Francisco Giants can’t afford to miss out on top free agents this winter.

Due to the disaster of the last few offseasons, the Giants missed out on several of the best players on the market who would have changed the trajectory of the baseball franchise and likely prevented them from missing the postseason for a third straight season.

On Wednesday, The Athletic published a list of all 30 MLB teams, ranked by tier based on the organization’s likelihood of landing the biggest name in free agency this winter. At the very top of the list were the Giants as the team with an excellent chance of landing the 25-year-old outfielder. The sports headquarters categorized the team as “Rich, Desperate, Aggressive.”

“Last year the Giants were finalists in the Shohei Ohtani Tournament. San Francisco also disdained Carlos Correa, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge, although this was not due to an unwillingness to spend money. The Giants are under a new regime with Buster Posey taking over as president of baseball operations. He is expected to provide a boost for the Giants, and his competitiveness could lead to an aggressive approach in his first winter as head of the franchise.”

So how can the Giants lead the draw for arguably the best hitter in all of baseball? Easy, spend the money.

Of those that describe the level the Giants were at, “despair” may be the strongest word to describe the team’s current state as it heads toward the All-Star Game this winter. With the new regime looking to put the last few offseasons behind them, the last thing they want to do is repeat the same mistakes. So expect San Francisco to be very aggressive again this time around.

After a 107-win 2021 season, the Giants find themselves relegated to the bottom of the National League West. Unless they sign a free agent (or two) this winter, the gap between them and the top of the division, which now includes the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, could quickly disappear.

Adding a power hitter in the middle of the lineup like Soto could also finally help the organization break its 20-season drought of not having the best slugger in the league. The team hasn’t had a player hit 30 home runs in a season since Barry Bonds did it in 2004. Soto surpassed that mark in his last two seasons with the San Diego Padres and New York Yankees.