Inside the walls of 24 Willie Mays Plaza, Scott Harris and Farhan Zaidi’s phones are ringing off the hook.
Free agency has begun, marking the busiest time of the year for executives around baseball. The Giants, who have plenty of holes on their roster to fill, haven’t made a free agency splash quite yet — though Brandon Belt accepted his qualifying offer at Wednesday’s deadline.
But that could change soon.
When asked by KNBR’s Kerry Crowley about what’s next for the Giants, Harris was clear. With Logan Webb as the only rostered starter in the rotation, it’s time to get some arms.
“We need some pitching,” Harris said. “If you look at our roster right now, we have several open spots in our rotation. We are on the phone all day, every day, trying to improve our team. Now that we have Brandon back in the fold, we’re focused on filling out our rotation. This time of year, the ratio of calls to deals is generally pretty high. So we’re working through that call log right now. But we’re hopeful we’ll be able to push one or two of those deals across the finish line in the next week or so.”
San Francisco’s general manager added that free agency has tipped off at “a frenetic pace,” particularly the starting pitching market. Justin Verlander signed a two-year pact to return to the Astros. Noah Syndergaard signed with the Los Angeles Angels. The Blue Jays extended José Berríos. The Dodgers added Andrew Heaney and the Tigers signed former Red Sox southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez to a long-term deal.
That leaves starters like 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray, future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw and talented younger pitchers Marcus Stroman, Carlos Rodón, and Jon Gray available.
Plus, of course, the Giants’ Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani — all of whom can still return to San Francisco.
Still, so much free agency activity so early in the winter, especially with the CBA expiration looming, has surprised some pundits. Harris said the flurry of signings show how valuable starting pitching is.
“I think it shows that the old adage, ‘you can never have too much pitching,’ is true,” Harris said. “If you look at the supply and demand of the marketplace right now, pitching is in very high demand. Every single organization needs pitching right now. When you get that kind of market dynamic, you sometimes see some very aggressive bidding wars on players in free agency. I think we’re seeing that right now.
“But it’s important to remember that free agency isn’t the only market. We’re actively talking to GMs every day about potential trades that could make us better, and that’s an avenue we’re going to fully explore this winter as well.”
For the full conversation that included Harris’ thoughts on the post-Buster Posey catcher situation, Brandon Belt’s qualifying offer and exploring the Bay Area, check out the KNBR Tonight podcast.
Catch KNBR Tonight weekdays from 6 – 10 p.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.
