The Giants’ offseason has been quiet thus far but that could change very soon.
San Francisco is bracing for what should be a huge offseason and reportedly is heavily pursuing top free agents like two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto in search of much-needed star power.
Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming joined The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami on the latest episode of “The TK Show” podcast, where he was asked if he felt the team will make moves at the top of the free-agent and trade markets this offseason and why the St. Louis Cardinals, not San Francisco, signing starting pitcher Sonny Gray to a three-year, $75 million contract is an indicator of what the Giants’ intentions are this offseason.
“For sure and I think it could happen pretty fast,” Flemming told Kawakami. “This week we could have some big Giants news … they’re not only in but they’re in hard. That doesn’t guarantee success, we’ve seen it over and over again where the Giants come up short on some of these big players for lots of different reasons … but they are in hard on the biggest names.
“When the Sonny Gray news popped up, to me that’s a very Giants-like contract and Sonny Gray is a guy the Giants know well … I think he was a good fit in some ways, but the Giants were not going to block themselves off from one of these bigger deals by making a preemptive deal for him. I don’t know that for a fact but that was my read of that. I was like ‘Huh, that would have been a good contract for the Giants,’ but it’s too early, they’ve prioritized a certain number of these players and they have to see those through.”
Ohtani reportedly could sign with a team before or at the MLB Winter Meetings from Dec. 4-7 in Nashville and Giants color commentator Mike Krukow believes San Francisco is deep in negotiations with Ohtani and believes the team will make a handful of moves over the next week.
“Oh, they’re serious,” Krukow told KNBR 680’s “Murph & Mac” on Tuesday. “And right now this is all reconnaissance. They’re gathering information and they’re way deep in their presentation to Ohtani and his people about San Francisco and how good it would be for him. They’re totally in on this and they’re totally in on 10 other things. Right now, Farhan [Zaidi] and Pete Putila, they’re working and they’re working hard. I think in this next 10-day period you’re going to see at least three moves from the Giants and that’s saying a lot. And I think it’s going to happen between now and the next 10 days.”
While Ohtani and Yamamoto top the Giants’ free-agent wish list, they likely will turn their attention to a handful of other top free-agent and trade targets should they not land one of the Japanese stars.
Whoever the Giants end up with this offseason, Flemming and Krukow are confident the team is doing everything in its power to make big moves this winter.
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