The signing of Willy Adames was expected to represent a beginning to the Giants’ offseason additions. Supplementing the rotation is their top priority with Adames signed to play shortstop, but they stand to benefit by taking a look at first base and designated hitter.
Following an eventful weekend, San Francisco’s list of options has considerably dwindled.
The first domino to fall was Christian Walker, who signed a three-year, $60 million contract with the Houston Astros. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Walker’s former team, responded by acquiring Josh Naylor from the Cleveland Guardians. Shortly after trading Naylor, the Guardians replaced him with Carlos Santana on a one-year, $12 million deal.
Amidst those moves, Paul Goldschmidt signed a one-year, $12.5 million contract with the New York Yankees and the Washington Nationals acquired Nathanial Lowe from the Texas Rangers via trade.
Over three days, most of the impact first basemen on the free-agent markets evaporated. Pete Alonso, the top first baseman on the market, remains available. That said, if the Giants were to invest nine figures in a free agent, their best course of action would be to give that money to a starting pitcher. From there, the options are limited.
Anthony Rizzo is a three-time All-Star, but the 35-year-old is coming off the worst season since he was a rookie. Justin Turner turned in another solid season (114 OPS+) but recently turned 40. Ty France, 30, has a .688 OPS since being an All-Star in 2022. Joey Gallo, 31, has tremendous pop, but has been below league average over the last three seasons while striking out more than 40 percent of the time. Other options include Josh Bell and former Giants Connor Joe and Donovan Solano — none of whom represent an obvious upgrade over San Francisco’s incumbent.
LaMonte Wade Jr. would be San Francisco’s starting first baseman if the season were to start today, the pros and cons of which have been well documented.
Over the last two seasons, Wade’s .376 on-base percentage ranks 11th among all players with at least 900 plate appearances. Among first basemen, only Freddie Freeman and Bryce Harper have higher on-base percentages during that span. Wade, who turns 31 in January, finished last season in the 99th percentile of walk rate (15.5%) and 94th percentile of chase rate (20.2%). For all of Wade’s patience, he doesn’t feature exceptional pop.
Over the last two seasons, Wade has hit 25 home runs; last season, alone, 10 primary first basemen hit at least 25 home runs. Alonso has hit 80 for the Mets the past two season. Additionally, Wade’s .401 slugging percentage is below league average for the position. Wade’s glove rates out well by defensive runs saved (4) but poorly by outs above average (-4). There’s also the matter of durability, Wade having spent time on the injured list in three of the last four seasons.
Wade’s name has been floated in trade discussions, but the Giants don’t necessarily need to deal Wade, who projects to make about $5 million next season. Framed another way: At that price point, would San Francisco be able to find a different first baseman who’s about 20 percent above league average at the plate? Likely not.
Getting on base — regardless of position — never goes out of style.
“LaMonte’s a special player,” said president of baseball operations Buster Posey. “He plays solid defense. I think we’re just trying as much as anything to keep options on the table. I got to play with LaMonte. I know what he can bring to a team and his ability to get on base and play good defense. He’s a really good player.”
Along with Wade, Wilmer Flores remains on San Francisco’s 40-man roster. Flores, 33, is coming off the worst season of his career (.595 OPS), one that ended with him undergoing season-ending knee surgery. Flores exercised his $3.5 million player option, but there’s no guarantee he has a role on the Opening Day roster.
Manager Bob Melvin, though, believes there is more life in Flores’ bat.
At the Winter Meetings in Dallas, Melvin said that Flores was “not the same guy” due to his knee issue. Melvin also cited Flores’ production in 2023, a season where Flores hit a career-high 23 home runs and posted a career-high slugging percentage in a full season (.509).
“The talk about adding a hitter and so forth, vintage Wilmer would almost be like adding another guy as well,” Melvin said.
Bryce Eldridge, the Giants’ top prospect, will not factor into the Opening Day conversation, but could push his way to San Francisco later in the season. In 2024, the 20-year-old hit .291/.374/.516 with 23 homers and 92 RBIs over four levels, beginning the season with Low-A San Jose and ending it with Triple-A Sacramento. Over 10 games in the Arizona Fall League, Eldridge hit .293/.348/.512 with two homers.
For all the hype that the 2023 first-round pick generated, Posey threw a bit of cold water on the possibility of Eldridge debuting next season.
“You never want to say never, but I think it is somewhat fair to temper expectations from my end just because — whether this is right or wrong — I’m looking at it like he should be entering his sophomore year of college,” Posey said. “That doesn’t mean that we (haven’t) seen players before that could get to the big leagues at that age, but also want to make sure — we see the upside for this guy being tremendous and (want) to make sure that he gets the experience that he needs before he’s thrown into the fire.”
