The San Francisco Giants signed Arson Judge, but not Aaron Judge, the 2022 AL MVP and home run champion. With that in mind, where should they spend their money?
San Francisco already made a move for outfielder Mitch Haniger, but that wasn’t the star free agent they had in mind to bring to the Bay this offseason.
Make no mistake — losing a player of Aaron Judge’s caliber is a huge defeat for a San Francisco organization which poured all of its front office resources into signing him. Judge is a Bay area native. San Francisco was willing to pay him whatever he wanted, and it still wasn’t enough after a late push by the San Diego Padres and, eventually, a turn for the worse with Judge returning to the Yankees, the only organization he’s ever known.
But where should the Giants turn now?
Giants rumors: Pull the trigger on Carlos Correa
San Francisco has been linked to Carlos Correa the last few days, and now that they’ve failed to sign Judge, they can pool most of that money to add Correa on a long-term deal to be the face of the franchise.
Sure, adding Judge and Correa would’ve been nice, but the star shortstop does have World Series experience and, at his best, is arguably the best player at his position in baseball. To be fair to the rest of the field, however, last year was not his best.
Correa slashed 291/.366/.467 last year, and was a stable force at shortstop for the Minnesota Twins. The Twins cannot match the Giants budget, especially now that Judge is out of the picture.
Giants rumors: Trade for Bryan Reynolds
The San Francisco Giants should trade for star outfielder Bryan Reynolds.
Reynolds, who was made available by the Pittsburgh Pirates and originally sent to the Burgh in a trade to acquire Andrew McCutchen, makes far more sense as the face of the Giants outfield than wasting away in PNC Park.
This is not the say the Pirates don’t appreciate Reynolds — they do. In fact, it’s why San Francisco’s front office would likely have to part ways with a number of top prospects to acquire him. But if the Giants are serious about turning around this team now, rather than later, trading for Reynolds with three years of service time remaining on his contract is key.
Reynolds would be a force in the Giants outfield for years to come. He’s just a few seasons removed from an All-Star campaign, and with increased exposure by the Bay may get there again. He hit a career-high 27 home runs last year in a pitcher’s park.
He’d fit right in at Oracle Park.
Giants rumors: Bring back Carlos Rodon
Carlos Rodon’s market is in the stratosphere at the moment, so why can’t the Giants spend some of the money meant for Aaron Judge and bring him back down to Earth?
San Francisco’s pitching staff could use a lift, frankly. Without Rodon, the likes of Alex Wood and Logan Webb top the depth chart. Adding Rodon back to that mix gives them a solid No. 3. Had Judge signed earlier, perhaps San Francisco would’ve had a shot at Jacob deGrom or even Justin Verlander, but alas, he waited until early Wednesday morning at the Winter Meetings to make his move.
The Athletic reported as recently as Wednesday morning about the Giants interest in bringing back Rodon now that Judge had signed elsewhere. “With (Aaron) Judge set to return, the Yankees intend to accelerate other free-agent pursuits. Left-hander Carlos Rodón, outfielder Andrew Benintendi and Japanese outfielder Matsataka Yoshida are among the players in whom they have interest.”
Moves come together quickly at the Winter Meetings, which is why the majority of this list could already be completed, or fall apart, by the time I’m done writing.
Most teams were waiting on Judge. Now, the true chaos begins.