Buster Posey not ruling out possibility of SF Giants making more additions

With spring training looming, it’s possible that outfielder Harrison Bader represents the Giants’ last significant addition of the offseason. But during a video call with reporters on Friday morning, president of baseball operations Buster Posey didn’t rule out the possibility of continuing to add.

“There’s definitely a lot of excitement on our end,” Posey said. “We’re a couple weeks out (from spring training). We still have a couple balls in the air here, and we’ll see how it pans out. There’s nothing guaranteed but we’ll keep working.”

Bader, whose two-year, $20.5 million deal became official on Friday, is the Giants’ fifth free-agent acquisition of the offseason, joining starters Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle and relievers Sam Hentges and Jason Foley. San Francisco also acquired backup catcher Daniel Susac, the younger brother of former Giant Andrew Susac, via trade.

The Giants haven’t taken any massive swings in free agency compared to other National League contenders, but by bringing Bader into the fold, they’ve now addressed every glaring area of need. Still, Posey and general manager Zack Minasian have avenues to pursue.

San Francisco has been linked to a pair of second basemen in the Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and the St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan, who was teammates with Bader in 2022. Acquiring Donovan or Hoerner would give the Giants one of the National League’s better lineups, but the team isn’t desperate for a second baseman given it already has Casey Schmitt, Christian Koss and Tyler Fitzgerald.

“We can’t say too much about what’s going on with free agency. I don’t think it does us any good to talk about potential trades, but I’ll say blanketly we’re always going to look at ways that we think we can improve the roster,” Posey said.

If there’s an area to improve, it’s on the pitching side. Despite adding Houser and Mahle, San Francisco’s rotation is still filled with question marks aside from ace Logan Webb, who will have an abnormal preseason due to his participation in the World Baseball Classic.

The most enticing free-agent starter who’s still available is left-hander Framber Valdez, a two-time All-Star who thrives on inducing grounders. Valdez is likely still waiting for a multi-year, nine-figure deal, which is the type of contract that the Giants have been vocal about avoiding. Right-hander Zac Gallen is also available, but he (and Valdez) would cost San Francisco a draft pick since he was offered the qualifying offer.

Regardless of whether the Giants add to the rotation, they’ll have to at some point rely on their young starters, a list of arms that includes Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell and Trevor Mcdonald. Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng was part of that list, but San Francisco traded him to the Houston Astros on Thursday evening for catching prospect Jancel Villarroel and international slot money.

“We’re happy with our rotation right now,” Posey said. “Some of the adjustments that Houser made last year, we feel like Mahle’s in a good place physically. You’re never going to close doors, but we feel good about the group that we have.”