After shipping top prospect Christian Arroyo to the Tampa Bay Rays in a deal for third baseman Evan Longoria, the San Francisco Giants’ farm system is relatively barren.
With San Francisco unlikely to deal 18-year-old center field prospect Heliot Ramos, the Giants might be forced to address their remaining needs on the free agent market. General manager Bobby Evans has pledged to upgrade the team’s center field situation and add a corner outfielder with pop, and there are still several quality outfielders who have yet to sign with new teams.
On Friday evening, Jon Heyman of FanRag sports reported that San Francisco is ‘looking at’ former Rangers’ center fielder Carlos Gomez. The 11-year veteran is 31 years old and hasn’t made an All-Star team since 2014, but he posted an on-base percentage of .340 with Texas last season. Gomez doesn’t possess tremendous range, but he did finish 42nd among all outfielders in Outs Above Average (a new defensive metric) last year.
Carlos Gomez is another Cf giants are looking at. Jon jay and jarrod dyson also would fit in addition to the pricier Lorenzo Cain. Sf might have to go free agent route for cf since prospect list is light.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 30, 2017
The Giants are also looking to add pop to their lineup, and while Gomez has a career average of just .256, he hit 17 home runs last season and has hit at least 19 home runs in three other campaigns.
The other options Heyman mentioned include Jon Jay and Jarrod Dyson, who might both be available on one-year contracts when the free agent market clears up. If San Francisco chose to pursue Lorenzo Cain, it would likely cost the Giants a draft pick and international bonus pool funds.