Aside from dealing away Matt Moore to the Texas Rangers and acquiring Evan Longoria from the Tampa Bay Rays, it appears on the surface that the Giants haven’t done much to address their offseason needs. Nonetheless, general manager Bobby Evans reassured Gary & Larry during a Thursday appearance on KNBR that the Giants are holding more cards that those on the outside might suspect.
“We’re always with multiple options in our hands,” Evans said. “We’re one phone call away from multiple options. It’s just timing and measuring the cost and benefit.”
Evans avoided naming any names on air, so speculation of what those options could be are based solely on reported interest; such as Pirates’ outfielder Andrew McCutchen and Reds’ center fielder Billy Hamilton with free agent J.D. Martinez “not the focus, but a factor.”
The Giants have supposedly been interested in McCutchen for just about the entire offseason with initial reports stretching back to November. Once outfielder Jay Bruce decided to sign a three-year deal with the New York Mets on Wednesday, the Giants were once again reportedly in discussions with the Pirates for McCutchen, who is coming off a career-high 28 home runs last season.
The #SFGiants also made a 3-year offer for OF Jay Bruce, but their offer was about $10 million less than the 3-year, $39 million contract Bruce received from the #Mets. They remain in talks with the #Pirates for CF Andrew McCutchen
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) January 11, 2018
Similarly, Hamilton has been on the Giants’ radar as a possible trade candidate since early December. Although Hamilton, who settled with the Reds for $4.6 million to avoid arbitration on Friday, lacks the ability to hit for power, his speed gives the impression that he would excel defensively in the vast expanses of AT&T Park’s outfield.
Sources: #SFGiants, #Reds trade talks on Billy Hamilton remained ongoing as of today. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 26, 2017
Whether or not those are the options Evans was referring to, this year’s free agent class is one that is significantly untouched and loaded with proven outfield talent, such as Lorenzo Cain and Carlos Gonzalez.
“Our priority is to address our outfield, address our lineup. We look at the addition of Longoria as a middle-of-the-order hitter, which will help strength us and we want to keep doing that with our lineup and our outfield is really the area to do that,” Evans said. “With 160 free agents and we’re down to 128, there’s still a lot of options and we’re excited to find the right fit for us.”
In any case, going after any player to improve their club will cost the Giants money, which heightens the risk of them breaking the luxury tax threshold for the third straight year, or top prospects, such as Tyler Beede or Chris Shaw. Those are costs the Giants will inevitably have to pay if they hope to improve their 2018 outlook, which according to Evans they are equipped to do.
“There’s more than one or two, with so many different scenarios it gives us a lot of different choices,” Evans said. “The opportunity to improve the club is there, but it’s a matter of us making the smart choice.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and start from the beginning for Evans on the Giants.
