On the latest episode of the Giants Talk podcast, Cole Kuiper and Alex Pavlovic discuss the Giants top priority in free agency, a right-handed bat. Would Seiya Suzuki, Kris Bryant or Nick Castellanos be a good fit?
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- As word of the Matt Olsen trade traveled through Giants camp on Monday, a few players and team officials had the same thought. Does this mean their NL West title defense will go through Los Angeles Dodger Freddie Freeman?
That's to be decided, but the market certainly continued to heat up Monday as teams across the country went through workouts for the first time.
There was a rumor that Seiya Suzuki had chosen the San Diego Padres, only for Suzuki himself to come out on social media and say he's still going through the free agency process. The Colorado Rockies are apparently going hard after Kris Bryant. The Seattle Mariners swung a blockbuster for Jesse Winker, and they might not be done.
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SIGN UP HERE As for the Giants, well the focus on Monday was on pitching. Carlos Rodon and Jakob Junis were announced before most had finished their first cup of coffee, but the Giants are still intent on adding a bat to the lineup.
As Farhan Zaidi said last week, it doesn't have to be right-handed, either. Sources told NBC Sports Bay Area that the Giants are active in their search for a left-handed bat, and former New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto is one option the organization has discussed at length internally.
Conforto is coming off a down year and has had a quiet free agency, but he has a career .824 OPS and hit at least 27 homers each season from 2017 to 2019. Conforto has a career .371 OBP and .502 slugging percentage against right-handed pitching, and the DH spot allows the Giants to slide another lefty bat in there most nights, adding to a group that's led by the Brandons, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Mike Yastrzemski. Like Rodon, Conforto is represented by Scott Boras.
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The Giants are without Buster Posey and Bryant is almost certainly headed elsewhere, but Zaidi said last week that he felt good about the lineup's options against left-handed pitching.
"I think we actually have a pretty good set of position players versus left-handed pitching," he said. "While we're still open to adding a bat, I don't think we're going to be totally fixated on that side. If there's a left-handed bat that makes sense for us, I think we can find a way to fit that, as well."
Conforto's market has likely been held down a bit by the qualifying offer attached to his name, and in past years the loss of a draft pick has loomed large for the Giants. But they probably shouldn't be as worried this offseason, as the farm system has been successfully rebuilt into one of the better ones in the game and their 107-win season will have them picking at the end of rounds anyway. Beyond that, there's the simple fact that expectations have changed.
Last year's success has the Giants in position to think about a World Series run. As camp kicked off Monday, they were still hopeful to add a big bat to that push.
