SF Giants plan to be ‘aggressive’ this winter, act early

SAN FRANCISCO — Unlike recent winters, the Giants don’t plan to sit around and wait this offseason.

“One of our goals is going to be to be very aggressive timing wise and try to get things done early,” team president Farhan Zaidi said Thursday in his latest appearance on the club’s flagship radio network, KNBR. “I certainly think going into the offseason we’re going to try to be really aggressive trying to get things done earlier and not have things extend into the new year.”

With 15 games to go and the Giants three games under .500 entering Friday’s series opener against the Padres, Zaidi confirmed the team has shifted its focus to 2025 and is already putting plans in place for how to augment a roster that didn’t perform up to expectations in the first season under manager Bob Melvin.

One box on their offseason to-do list was checked off last week, when they agreed to terms on a six-year, $151 million extension with third baseman Matt Chapman.

While Zaidi credited both sides for wanting to get a deal done, he explained that the Giants’ motivations were rooted in the failed pursuits of previous winters.

“I think we were a little bit impacted by how the last couple of offseasons have gone for us,” Zaidi said in response to guest host Ray Ratto, who brought up the unusual timing of Chapman’s extension, just a month before he could have hit free agency. “We’ve been in these really extensive talks that have extended past the winter meetings, into January, this spring even into February. I think that kind of length of talks creates a lot of uncertainty and is a detriment to the organization.

“And as we’ve seen in some cases this year is a detriment to players playing to the best of their abilities.”

It’s no secret what the Giants’ priorities were the past two offseasons or their need to pivot when those plans didn’t work out.

They were all-in on Aaron Judge two winters ago, but eventually reallocated that money into Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto, Sean Manaea, Ross Stripling and Taylor Rogers. Last winter their white whale was Shohei Ohtani but instead wound up with Chapman, Blake Snell, Jorge Soler and Jung Hoo Lee — as well as a roster still in flux when they reported for spring training in February.

Soler didn’t sign until February 18, Chapman two weeks later March 3, and Snell the last of all of them on March 19. Soler started so poorly that the Giants moved off his contract as soon as they found a suitor, and Chapman and Snell have been much better in the second half since they’ve gotten settled.

Rather than repeat history, Zaidi said the Giants hope to “not get stuck in some of these staredown contests.”

That could mean the Giants have read the tealeaves and don’t expect to be serious suitors for Juan Soto, or it could simply be the start of a public negotiating ploy with his agent, Scott Boras. Either way, 25-year-old Triple Crown candidate is expected to demand maximum value and could lure the Giants into another protracted offseason if they decide to play at the top of the free-agent market again.

When those negotiations extend in December, January and even February, Zaidi said, “it can be paralyzing, it can sort of impact different things you’re trying to do on your shopping list.”

Another Boras client who figures to be a top priority for the Giants is Snell, whose 1.45 ERA in 10 starts since he returned from a groin strain July 9 is the lowest of any qualified starter in the majors. He is expected to opt out of his $30 million salary for 2025 and seek to cash in on his second half with the long-term deal he was seeking last winter.