2026

The Giants won't be signing Alex Bregman anytime soon—the ink just dried on his five-year, $170M deal with the Cubs. It may seem nutty to give a 31-year old that kind of scratch but it's actually reasonable. Figure he's a 3-WAR/yr. player and that's 15 WAR over the life of the contract or $11.3M/WAR. A little on the high side perhaps (my baseline is $10M/WAR) but certainly do-able. Projections suggest Bregman may be worth a little more than that. The consensus on FanGraphs was 5 years, $150M so he got a little more than expected although I understand a chunk of it is deferred for salary cap purposes.

Not that I wanted the Giants to sign Alex Bregman. Kyle Tucker on the other hand . . .

We know that's not going to happen. If they were going to give anyone five years and $150M I would like it to be Framber Valdez! After all, Dylan Cease got 7 years and $210M from the Blue Jays. Now THAT is a nutty contract. But Toronto is going "all-in" after just missing out last year and I can't blame them. 

The Giants? Well, they are tinkering around the edges. I don't think anyone is thrilled about beefing up the rotation with two journeymen, but that's the plan for 2026. The team is clearly counting on improvements from (1) the new manager and (2) some youngster(s). Bryce Eldridge? Carson Whisenhunt?

The 2026 Giants have talent. Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, and Logan Webb are all top-flight ballplayers. Jung Hoo Lee and Patrick Bailey are both on the cusp and it's not unreasonable to project improvements from both. And there's Heliot Ramos. It's a make-or-break year for him. I know Buster has publicly "called out" the young pitching corps and he expects someone to emerge as a legit hurler from that group. That would be great, of course. Blade Tidwell? Trevor McDonald? Our old pal Hayden Birdsong?

The Giants could fill their hole at second base by signing Bo Bichette. Sure, it would take a billion dollars, but they have plenty of money. Man, that would be some infield! But this outfit is too buttoned-down Wall Street for that sort of outlay. It's tough to compete with the more free-wheeling clubs like SD and LA but that's the way it goes.

Pitchers and catchers report in just about a month!

--M.C.