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The San Francisco Giants are looking to break through in the crowded NL West, and earlier in the offseason, they made one of the biggest signings in free agency by bringing in shortstop Willy Adames on a seven-year, $182 million contract after a few fruitful seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. Adames is expected to bring power production and above-average defense at shortstop, being one of their biggest run producers amid the team's continued bid not to lag too far behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants, however, despite their willingness in recent seasons to splurge on the best talent available in the free-agent market (they were in on Shohei Ohtani before he decided to sign with the Dodgers), have been a few steps behind their opposition, unable to attract the kind of game-changing talent that would scare their peers in the NL West. And that trend continued as they made a bargain-bin signing with the hopes of reviving the career of a former solid producer for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On Monday night, the Giants reportedly signed former All-Star third baseman Jake Lamb to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. If Lamb manages to crack the Opening Day roster, he will be making $1 million in 2025.
Lamb's prime was cut short by some persistent injury troubles; fresh off the one and only All-Star season of his career in 2017, he suffered a shoulder injury that limited him to just 59 games the following season. This was the beginning of the end of Lamb's productive days; a combination of continued injury woes and consistent underperformance meant that Lamb's days as an everyday player were over.
Lamb, however, is only 34 years of age, and the Giants are looking at perhaps giving him another shot to jumpstart his career. But for someone who has put up an OPS of .665 with 27 home runs and 101 RBIs since 2018 (for reference, he hit 30 home runs and drove in 105 runs back in 2017), fans may be better off tempering their expectations for him.
Are the Giants done making big money moves in this year's free agency?
The Giants have plenty of ground to make up in the NL West, as they are currently looking above at the Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and Diamondbacks. Thus, it's fair to expect them to be in the running for one of the best free agents left in the market.
Perhaps the Giants end up being the team that signs Jack Flaherty or Pete Alonso; they certainly have the room in their budget to do so considering their grand ambitions over the past few years.