When Buster Posey took over as the Giants’ president of baseball operations last year, he expressed a desire to re-center the organization’s identity around pitching and defense, which was the backbone of the rosters that brought three World Series titles in San Francisco in 2010, ’12 and ’14.
But that vision didn’t quite coalesce in Posey’s first season as an executive.
Logan Webb and Robbie Ray emerged as All-Stars, but the Giants didn’t have enough starting depth to keep them afloat down the stretch. Their lights-out bullpen was pulled apart after Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers were moved at the Trade Deadline and Randy Rodríguez and Erik Miller went down with injuries. Their defense, meanwhile, finished tied for 23rd in the Majors with -23 outs above average.
Finding a new dugout leader will be Posey’s first order of business this offseason, but one of his other main objectives will be to stockpile more arms who can set the tone and help the Giants avoid the erratic stretches that became a hallmark of their disappointing 2025 campaign.
“What we believe is the recipe to success is great pitching and great defense, so we know we need to be better there,” Posey said last week. “I do think when that’s your formula, it can eliminate some of those tough stretches — not eliminate them, but help you get out of them a little bit quicker.
“We’re most definitely open to trying to add some arms that we think are going to help us on the starting side and the bullpen side.”
Webb and Ray will be back to anchor the starting rotation next year, and the Giants should have a third dependable option in Landen Roupp, who logged a 3.80 ERA over 22 starts before suffering a season-ending left knee injury in late August. But San Francisco will need more behind them, especially now that Justin Verlander is set to hit free agency.
The Giants could try to pursue a reunion with Verlander, who rebounded from a rough first half to record a 3.85 ERA over 29 starts this year, but there will be several other veterans on the open market who could intrigue them, including Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Ranger Suárez.
The bullpen will need to be retooled, though the Giants won’t be starting entirely from scratch. Ryan Walker, José Buttó, Spencer Bivens and Miller seem likely to be back in the fold in 2026, and the Giants saw promise from newcomers like Joey Lucchesi, Joel Peguero and Matt Gage this year.
Still, with Rodríguez expected to miss all of next season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and Walker coming off a down year, San Francisco could look to bring back Rogers or sign other back-end relievers such as Ryan Pressly, Ryan Helsley or Devin Williams this winter. Two All-Star closers — Edwin Díaz and Robert Suarez — could also be available if they exercise their opt-out clauses.
The Giants plan to evaluate their options in the forthcoming weeks, but they also know that they have a few young pitchers who could be candidates to fill holes in either the rotation or the bullpen next year, most notably Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt (San Francisco’s No. 7 prospect, per MLB Pipeline) and Trevor McDonald (No. 17).
“How they fit in, I think, remains to be seen,” general manager Zack Minasian said. “But starting pitching can kind of come out of nowhere to some extent. You look at Logan Webb in 2020 and then Logan Webb in 2021 and what he’s been. We want to keep an open mind. I think there’s a natural maturation for young pitchers at the big league level of having to go through some bumps and bruises of pitching at the Major League level against hitters like this.
“It’s a tough job. It’s not often that you see young pitchers come up and dominate right away. It doesn’t mean that they can’t be very good going forward.”
