Buster Posey prioritizing shortstop in SF Giants’ offseason plans

Buster Posey understands the worth of an excellent shortstop.

For almost his total taking part in profession, Posey shared the sector alongside Brandon Crawford, whose elite protection made him the Giants’ finest shortstop of the trendy period. As Posey begins his tenure as San Francisco’s president of baseball operations, discovering his shortstop of the longer term is, unsurprisingly, one in all his prime priorities.

“If we could find a shortstop that’d be great,” Posey advised reporters on the GM Conferences in San Antonio this week. “Tyler Fitzgerald did a great job at short last year. I think he has value and in multiple spots on the field. I do think it’s hard to play multiple spots at the same time during the season. Whether he’d be better suited to play second base long-term is a discussion we’re having.”

Probably the most simple path to buying a shortstop is the free-agent market, the 2 largest names being Willy Adames and Ha-Seong Kim. Adames is ready as much as obtain the larger deal of the 2, possible within the neighborhood of Matt Chapman’s six-year, $151 million extension. The payday might be properly earned.

In a golden age of shortstops, Adames, 29, has quietly been one in all baseball’s finest during the last half-decade, rating ninth amongst all shortstops in WAR (20.1, per FanGraphs). Final season with the Brewers, Adames put up career-highs in video games performed (161), homers (32), RBIs (112), steals (21) and WAR (4.8). His protection rated oddly poorly final season (-16 defensive runs saved, zero outs above common), however year-to-year aberrations will not be unusual.

If Adames doesn’t signal with the Giants, there’s a robust risk he may nonetheless land within the NL West. The Dodgers, unsurprisingly, have been linked to Adames, and following a billion-dollar offseason that resulted in a World Sequence title, Los Angeles is poised to flex its monetary muscle but once more.

Whereas Adames stands to obtain 9 figures, Kim enters free company at an fascinating juncture. Kim, 29, underwent labrum surgical procedure on his proper shoulder in October that may possible sideline the previous San Diego Padre till late April or early Might, which is able to possible influence the kind of contract he will get this offseason.

Nearly all of Kim’s worth stems from his protection and baserunning. Over his four-year major-league profession, Kim has gathered 48 defensive runs saved — 24 at shortstop, 15 at second base, 9 at third base — and 78 steals. Mix his glove and velocity with a barely above-average bat (103 OPS+ from 2022-24) and Kim represents an improve.

The Giants have a number of components working of their favor so far as recruiting Kim. For one, Kim and Jung Hoo Lee had been teammates within the KBO, and Lee has voiced his want to play alongside Kim within the States. Kim performed underneath Giants supervisor Bob Melvin in 2022 and ‘23 as well.

If Posey and new general manager Zack Minasian are unable to acquire a shortstop through free agency, the next best avenue is through the trade market. But as things stand, the market for available shortstops appears very thin.

Entering the offseason, the Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette stood out as a commerce choice after being the topic of rumors throughout final season’s commerce deadline. Bichette performed simply 81 video games in 2024 because of accidents, however the 26-year-old has been one in all baseball’s higher hitting shortstops (.798 OPS) when wholesome. Bichette, although, possible gained’t be going wherever as Blue Jays’ basic supervisor Ross Atkins advised MLB Community’s Jon Morosi that his reply to any commerce inquiries on Bichette could be “an easy no.”

Further notes

Michael Schwartze, the Giants’ director of analytics underneath former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, is becoming a member of the Atlanta Braves. Pete Putila, San Francisco’s GM in 2022 and 2023, lately joined the Braves as properly.
Of Blake Snell, agent Scott Boras stated, “The Snelling salts have created a lot of whiffs. The market has definitely awakened to Blake Snell.” Snell exercised his decide out and have become a free agent after one 12 months with the Giants.

Initially Printed: November 7, 2024 at 2:26 PM PST