San Francisco Giants Will Be Doomed by Depth This Year in Opinion of MLB Executives

The San Francisco Giants have been one of the most pleasant surprises in baseball thus far in the 2025 MLB regular season.

Executives around the league were impressed with the hot start they got off to, remaining within reach of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the National League West race.

With a 25-18 record entering play on May 14, the Giants are still right in the thick of things in a loaded division. However, skepticism remains amongst executives around the league about whether or not they will continue to be this competitive.

There is an overwhelming amount of front office personnel who believe that the hot start will be unsustainable.

In a recent piece put together by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, he polled executives about the chances San Francisco and the Baltimore Orioles have to make some noise in their respective divisions.

For the Giants, 14 out of 17 voters believe they will finish in third or fourth in the NL West; nine votes for third and five for fourth.

A common theme amongst the votes as to why San Francisco isn’t going to move up the standings is their lack of depth compared to the Dodgers and Padres.

“Over the course of six months, I think the depth of the Dodgers and Padres will win out and will allow them to pull away from the rest of the NL West,” an NL executive said. “The Giants and Diamondbacks will still be in the mix for playoff spots, but I don’t think they can keep up with the other two at the top of the division.”

The Arizona Diamondbacks, who are currently three games behind the Giants with a 22-21 record, cannot be forgotten about.

They made some major additions this offseason to help keep the team competitive, signing ace Corbin Burnes in free agency and acquiring Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians to take over at first base.

The executives who picked the Diamondbacks to also jump the Giants in the standings cited the hot start not being sustainable throughout the marathon regular season, with Arizona and San Diego having a higher chance of succeeding.

“Walk-off Little League home runs aren’t sustainable,” an AL executive said, referencing a wild win by San Francisco over the Texas Rangers in late April. “Are they?"

If the Giants are going to continue shocking people around the league, they need more consistent production from their offense.

Their major free agent addition, Willy Adames, is beginning to show some signs of life. His living up to expectations along with Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman, Heliot Ramos, Wilmer Flores and Tyler Fitzgerald, when he is healthy, could be enough to compete in the divisional race.