Giants continuing talks with Judge
SAN DIEGO — The first day of the Winter Meetings concluded with out a lot motion from the Giants, however they continue to be strongly within the combine for the most important prize on the board.
President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi mentioned the Giants are persevering with to have conversations with reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge, who spent his night taking in a Monday Night Football sport between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Zaidi declined to supply many particulars on his talks with Judge, although he confirmed that the Giants hosted the 30-year-old slugger at Oracle Park previous to Thanksgiving final month.
“Obviously, it’s kind of public knowledge that we had a visit with him,” Zaidi mentioned Monday. “We usually don’t kind of comment on free agents at all, but that’s out there. We had a good visit. Obviously, that makes our interest official. Those conversations are continuing. We’re just trying to put our best foot forward. The process continues. But obviously, we have really, really strong interest. We thought it was a really productive visit a couple of weeks ago.”
Zaidi mentioned the Giants haven’t been given a particular timeline for when Judge may signal, although a call could possibly be coming quickly, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reported that Judge is predicted to reach in San Diego on Tuesday.
The Giants are broadly seen as the most important threats to lure Judge away from the Yankees, who’ve reportedly made their franchise star a proposal price roughly $300 million over eight years. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported Saturday that Judge will doubtless find yourself commanding a nine-year deal that may take him by means of his age-39 season.
Zaidi mentioned the Giants need to add “multiple outfielders” this season, so they continue to be in touch with different free brokers as they await a call from Judge.
Upgrading the protection will probably be a giant precedence this winter, so San Francisco might goal a middle fielder similar to Brandon Nimmo, who was noticed on the Manchester Grand Hyatt on Monday, or Cody Bellinger, who was non-tendered by the Dodgers final month. Mitch Haniger, a Bay Area native who attended Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, is also match for the Giants.
“We’re kind of doing different things in parallel,” Zaidi mentioned. “For us, it hasn’t really impacted what we’re doing elsewhere. Maybe that’s true for other teams, but not for us. I think part of it for us is we’re looking to add multiple outfielders. We’re in that market, even beyond Aaron. It’s not really impacting our workflow in that way.”
The Giants may have the assets to pivot if essential, however for now, their focus stays on Judge. Zaidi mentioned San Francisco’s pitch to Judge was a “pretty big collaborative effort,” noting that over 30 members of the group supplied enter for the assembly.
“I feel good about what we’ve done process-wise,” Zaidi mentioned. “I feel good about what we’ve done. Obviously some of it is beyond our control. I just don’t want to characterize it beyond that. It’s been a lot of people in the organization that put in a lot of work. I think we’ve put ourselves in a good position, but free agency is about players getting to make these decisions.”
