The San Francisco Giants have had a busy offseason preparing for 2024. Their offense is likely to be much improved with the additions of Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman and Jorge Soler. However, their rotation has more questions than answers. Could that lead to the Giants getting involved in the Max Fried sweepstakes next winter?
Eric Cole of FanSided’s House That Hank Built thinks San Francisco is a team that could “steal away” Fried from the Atlanta Braves in free agency.
“While the Giants would probably prefer to add a big-time bat, Fried is certainly going to be on their radar next offseason as one of the top free agents available,” he said. “Their current roster doesn’t exactly scream World Series contender at the moment, but what the Giants do have going for them is having very deep pockets and a willingness to reach into them. If Fried is only seeking top dollar for his services, San Francisco is going to be one of the teams can and probably would give it to him.”
The Giants tried to reel in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in separate pursuits this winter. While they both signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a combined $1 billion, money wasn’t the issue for San Francisco. Fried will make $15 million in 2024. According to Spotrac, the lefty’s market value for his next deal is six years and $162 million.
A Look at the Giants’ Rotation
The offense wasn’t the only part of the Giants’ roster that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi supplemented this winter. However, the rotation additions may not inspire as much confidence.
San Francisco acquired Robbie Ray via trade with the Seattle Mariners. He’s rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and won’t be back on a big-league mound until at least the summer. The Giants also signed Jordan Hicks via free agency with plans to convert him back into the rotation. He’s started just eight games during his MLB career, all of which came in 2022 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
FanGraphs’ Roster Resource has Hicks, Logan Webb, Kyle Harrison, Keaton Winn and Mason Black as the Opening Day starting rotation. In addition to Ray, fellow veteran hurler Alex Cobb is also working back from hip surgery.
The Giants could use another pitcher for the rotation right now, but Zaidi was adamant that their offseason was done after landing Chapman to play third base. Unless multiple young hurlers break out in 2024, it’s not outrageous to think San Francisco wouldn’t be interested in getting another top-of-the-rotation arm next winter.
Fried’s Game Would Translate Well to Oracle Park
Although Fried hasn’t been much of a fly-ball pitcher throughout his MLB career, just about every pitcher would benefit from calling Oracle Park their home stadium. According to Statcast’s three-year park factors, Oracle is the 10th-toughest place to score runs. They’re also the fifth-toughest place for home runs.
Fried has always generated ground balls at a high rate, but it went into overdrive in 77.2 innings during 2023. His ground-ball rate settled in at 57.7%, which is the highest it’s ever been. This number has also never finished below 50.0%. On the flip side, his fly-ball rate dipped down to 25.5%, per FanGraphs.
Fried has been dominant since the start of 2020. Across 484.2 innings (83 starts), he’s posted a 43-15 record with a 2.66 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 458 strikeouts. Pairing him with Webb at the top of San Francisco’s rotation for the foreseeable future is surely a tantalizing thought.
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