Predicting each NL Wild Card winner just weeks before spring training
By Curt Bishop
Spring training is now less than a week away. On Tuesday of next week, pitchers and catchers will officially report to spring camp.
The 2023 season was certainly entertaining, but it is now time to flip the page to 2024 and the excitement that awaits us. Some may say it's too early to start making predictions, but it's certainly fun to speculate on what could happen as the season progresses and who will make it to the postseason.
To continue our predictions, we will now focus on the National League Wild Card race and determine which three teams will fill those slots.
NL Wild Card No. 3: San Francisco Giants
This may come as a surprise to many people. While the San Francisco Giants aren't a World Series contender by any means, they quietly have had a very productive offseason and may not be done just yet.
The team has been in talks with Matt Chapman and Jorge Soler, two of the remaining free agent sluggers. There is no indication of deals being close, but they still have made some good moves and may not be done just yet.
After losing out on Shohei Ohtani, they pivoted to Jung Hoo Lee to bolster their lineup. On the pitching side, they signed Jordan Hicks to a four-year, $44 million deal and chose to give him a chance to crack the rotation.
If that doesn't work out, he'll do just fine in the bullpen, but they also traded for former Cy Young Robbie Ray, who can slot in next to Logan Webb in their rotation as a solid No. 2 starter when he returns from his injury.
They have an underrated, but solid mix of young stars and veterans on the offensive side. Michael Conforto, LaMonte Wade Jr, J.D. Davis, and Wilmer Flores, compliment young stars Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt quite nicely.