Giants weigh external options at shortstop

SAN ANTONIO -- The Giants got a head start on the offseason by signing third baseman Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151 million extension in September, but they still have some work to do to put the finishing touches on the left side of their infield.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey said the Giants will be on the hunt this winter for a shortstop as part of their plan to prioritize pitching and defense. Tyler Fitzgerald ended the 2024 campaign as the club’s everyday shortstop, but he can play multiple positions and could profile better as a second baseman.

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“If we could find a shortstop, that’d be great,” Posey said Tuesday at the General Managers Meetings at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country. “I think Tyler Fitzgerald did a great job at short last year. I think he has value in multiple spots on the field. I do think it’s hard to play multiple spots at the same time during the season. Whether he’d be better suited to play second base long term is a discussion we’re having.”

The Giants struggled to find stability at shortstop following Brandon Crawford’s departure last year. His heir apparent, highly touted prospect Marco Luciano, lost the starting job to veteran Nick Ahmed amid concerns about his defense during Spring Training. Ahmed posted a .581 OPS over 52 games before being released in July, paving the way for Fitzgerald to get regular at-bats in the second half.

Fitzgerald, 27, batted .280 with an .831 OPS and 15 home runs in his breakout rookie campaign, but he committed 11 errors in 72 games at shortstop, yielding -4 outs above average at the spot. The 23-year-old Luciano, meanwhile, endured more defensive struggles while attempting to learn second base and now appears likely to transition from the infield to the outfield.

“We’ve had some conversations around it,” Posey said. “I’m intrigued by that. I’m just curious if that would unlock anything for him.”

With Fitzgerald and Luciano looking like better fits at other spots, the Giants will almost certainly be in the mix for a free-agent shortstop such as Willy Adames or Ha-Seong Kim.

The 29-year-old Adames, who is represented by Posey’s former agency, CAA, batted .251 with a .793 OPS and a career-high 32 home runs over 161 games for the Brewers. He took a step back defensively, with his OAA slipping from +16 in 2023 to +1 this year.

Kim won a Gold Glove at the utility spot with the Padres in 2023 and batted .233 with a .700 OPS and 11 homers over 121 games in 2024 before undergoing season-ending surgery to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder. Kim’s agent, Scott Boras, said the 29-year-old is receiving “widespread” interest from teams despite the injury.

“He knows that all the teams are aware about his return to play date, which is going to be, if not [at the] start, very early in the season,” Boras said on Wednesday. “They're all aware. They've seen the reports and are very comfortable with his medical.”

Kim has a couple of Giants connections. He played with center fielder Jung Hoo Lee in Korea and for manager Bob Melvin in San Diego. Unlike Adames, Kim did not receive a qualifying offer from the Padres, meaning the Giants wouldn’t have to give up a Draft pick to sign him. That could be an important consideration for San Francisco, which sacrificed two Draft picks to sign left-hander Blake Snell and Chapman last offseason.

Snell is back on the open market for the second straight winter after opting out of the final year of his two-year, $62 million deal last week. Snell had to wait until March to sign with the Giants this year, but Boras said he expected the two-time Cy Young winner’s market to move more quickly this offseason.

Snell, who will turn 32 next month, posted a 9.51 ERA over his first six starts of the year, but he regained his dominant form after returning in July from his second groin injury. He had a 1.23 ERA with 114 strikeouts over 80 1/3 innings over his final 14 outings.

“I think there’s no doubt that the Snelling salts have created a lot of whiffs,” Boras said. “The market has definitely awakened to Blake Snell.”

Front-office departure
The Giants recently lost another prominent member of their front office. Director of baseball analytics Michael Schwartze left to join the Braves, reuniting with former Giants general manager Pete Putila. Schwartze had been with the Giants since 2018 and was a fixture in the clubhouse in recent years. Posey said Paul Bien, the club’s vice president of baseball analytics, will lead the search for Schwartze’s replacement.