San Francisco Giants Still Need To Add A Slugger To Their Lineup..

This offseason, the San Francisco Giants made some fascinating player transactions and roster changes.

The team has added four key players to their roster. Those players include:

Robbie Ray-LHP-Age 32 (currently recovering from May 2023 Tommy John surgery)

Fangraphs estimates the Giants’ payroll for 2024 to be $168 million. That is a $28 million reduction in the expected payroll for the 2023 season.

Jung Hoo Lee signed a six-year contract worth $113 million.

Given their current payroll, it appears that the Giants have the financial resources to add a significant hitter or hitters to their roster.

But do they have enough faith in their own evaluation process and decision-making to invest big funds in an impact player?

Recently, the organization attempted to entice highly regarded free-agent players to San Francisco. In fact, they were prominently associated with Aaron Judge during his free agency. Judge decided to return to the New York Yankees. There have been other overtures.

The Giants’ pitching depth has improved significantly this offseason.

The Giants are hoping that Ray may return after the 2024 All-Star break to improve their rotation by trading right-handed pitcher Anthony DeSclafani and outfielder Mitch Haniger to the Seattle Mariners for Ray.

Ray, a former Cy Young Award winner with the Toronto Blue Jays, has three years and $73 million left on his contract with the Mariners, which was signed after the 2021 season.

Ray has the option to opt out of his contract following the upcoming season. That seems odd, given that he will have just returned from surgery.

Hicks, 27, is an intriguing storyline for the Giants.

Hicks spent five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals as a strong late-inning reliever before being traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in July of last year.

Hicks has had 212 major league pitching appearances. All but eight of them were relieved. He made eight starts for St. Louis in 2022.

The Giants have decided to utilize Hicks in their starting rotation.

According to brooksbaseball.net, Hicks’ fastball reached 100.68 mph in 2018. In 2023, Hicks’ four-seam fastball reached 100.43 mph.

To this scout, the choice to include Hicks in the rotation is perplexing.

In his career, Hicks has only used two-seam sinking fastballs, four-seam fastballs, and a slider in his repertoire.