Giants' Plan C appears to be in place after losing Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell to rivals

It has been a hit-or-miss offseason for the San Francisco Giants.

On the surface, there's plenty of be excited about. Willy Adames' arrival boosts an offense in need and gives San Francisco another two-way star to pair with Matt Chapman in the infield. For a team that struggled to generate runs a season ago, Adames should prove profoundly impactful.

That said, the Giants wanted to aim higher. Juan Soto never felt especially realistic, but Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, and Max Fried were all mentioned in connection to San Francisco. The Giants were the incumbent for Snell and especially prominent in Burnes rumors — even pegged as the favorites to land him.

Now, short of signing 23-year-old Roki Sasaki out of Japan, the Giants are out of truly elite options in free agency. More than whiffing on top targets, San Francisco watched as Snell ventured down the coastline to Los Angeles, where he joined the division-rival Dodgers. Burnes, on the other hand, took an unexpected hometown discount to sign with the Diamondbacks, another NL West foe.

Not only did the Giants miss out on the best pitchers available in free agency. The Giants now have to face Snell and Burnes on a regular basis for the foreseeable future. It's pretty much the nightmare outcome. It also leaves Buster Posey and the front office scrambling to make up ground in an increasingly crowded division.

San Francisco's Plan C appears to be crystallizing in the new year.

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SF Giants could turn to Jack Flaherty to offset Blake Snell, Corbin Burnes whiffs

The Giants "remain in the mix" for free agent Jack Flaherty, per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand.

The hard-throwing righty finished last season with a 3.17 ERA across 28 starts, netting 194 strikeouts in 162.0 innings. He split his season between the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Dodgers, ending on the mountaintop with his hometown team. Flaherty made his desire to return to LA crystal clear, but the Dodgers opted for Snell instead, with Roki Sasaki also on their radar.

That puts the Giants in a prime position to swipe a division rival's best postseason pitcher. Flaherty won't reach the same heights as Snell did in his brief San Francisco tenure, but he's a durable 29-year-old with some of MLB's best punch-out stuff. As far as the remaining options are concerned, few should appeal to San Francisco more than Flaherty.

As for Flaherty, he might want to exact some revenge on the Dodgers, who spurned him for a splashier free agent after an impressive postseason run. Flaherty held together a patchwork rotation in October and was genuinely essential to the Dodgers' World Series victory. For him to basically get the boot a couple weeks into free agency was unexpected. That's the cold business of baseball for you.

The Giants can offer Flaherty a chance to remind the Dodgers of their mistake multiple times each season. San Francisco couldn't quite muster the necessary firepower to contend last season, but with Adames in the mix and Robbie Ray back in the rotation at full health, we could see Bob Melvin's club move in the right direction. Flaherty would really cement the Giants' ascent in a competitive NL West.

The Orioles, Cubs, Tigers and Blue Jays are other teams to watch, per the report.