2024-25 MLB Offseason Recap: San Francisco Giants

The Giants overhauled their front office this winter, as franchise legend Buster Posey now takes over the role of president of baseball operations. His primary goal will be to build a roster that can get the Giants back to the postseason for the first time since 2021 when Posey’s team won 107 games. San Francisco didn’t add too many names this winter. But, the Giants did pick up one of the best bats available.

Notable Additions

• SS Willy Adames (3.1 bWAR in 2024)
• SP Justin Verlander (-0.3 bWAR)

After unsuccessful runs at stars Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani in consecutive offseasons, the Giants landed a big piece this winter. San Francisco signed Willy Adames to a seven-year deal in December.

Adames was one of the best home run hitters among his peers, as only two other shortstops — Corey Seager and Francisco Lindor — had more homers over the last three seasons than Adames’ 87. He was a fixture on Milwaukee’s NL Central-winning teams in 2021, 2023, & 2024, playing superb defense, as well.

San Francisco has had problems generating runs, and Adames can be a solution. It’s also worth noting that he’ll also fill a long-standing hole at short. The Giants hoped once-coveted prospect Marco Luciano would be that guy at one point, but physically, he never was a fit there. It also doesn’t help that Luciano, who will start in the Minors in 2025, has a career OPS of .590.

Tyler Fitzgerald, who broke out in 2024 and nearly posted a 20-20 season in 96 games, will slide over to second base.

The other notable pickup this winter was Justin Verlander, the active leader in bWAR (80.5) among active pitchers. It’s a move that could give Giants fans vibes of Randy Johnson from 2009. However, despite Verlander’s peripherals from 2024, the right-hander still showed good life on his stuff, as we noted back in January.

Verlander struck out 19 over 21 spring innings and posted a 3.43 ERA.

Notable Losses

• OF Michael Conforto (1.3 bWAR)
• INF Thairo Estrada (-0.5 bWAR)
• RP Taylor Rogers (1.1 bWAR)
• SP Blake Snell (2.1 bWAR)

A couple of these departures were likely heading into the winter.

Thairo Estrada, who signed with the Rockies, was demoted to Triple-A amidst a rough 2024 season. Michael Conforto was a solid power hitter for the Giants, as he hit 20 home runs last year. But with Heliot Ramos, Jung Hoo Lee, and Mike Yastrzemski set in the outfield, the Giants had depth to move on from Conforto.

Conforto, though, is primed to benefit from the protection he now has in Los Angeles. The Dodgers signed Conforto to slot in as a corner outfielder.

Joining Conforto is Blake Snell, who had the best ERA (1.45) in the second half last season. Snell signed with the Dodgers on a five-year deal that’ll make him one of the highest-paid pitchers and give the reigning World Series champions another potent arm.

San Francisco cut additional payroll in January when Taylor Rogers was traded to the Reds. Rogers posted an impressive 6.2% Barrel% last season with the Giants.

What to Expect in 2025

The Giants have quite the trio headlining their rotation in 2025, as Verlander joins former Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray, plus one of the best sinkerball pitchers in the league, Logan Webb. And offensively, the duo of Willy Adames and Matt Chapman gives the Giants not just prowess on the left side of the infield but also two impressive power hitters.

However, there’s still a lot of uncertainty for the Giants, who’ve hovered around .500 each of the last three years.

Can the Giants get more from the likes of Patrick Bailey and Jung Hoo Lee? For Lee, the goal is simple: stay healthy. Lee has some of the best bat-to-ball skills in the league and is an above-average defender in center. However, his rookie was cut short after 37 games thanks to injuries. And as for Bailey, he’s yet to post an OPS of .644 in his short MLB career.

There’s also the question as to whether Camilo Doval, who lost the closer’s role amid a total loss of the strike zone last season, can find consistency in 2025.