The San Francisco Giants find themselves with a familiar feeling heading into free agency: dissatisfaction.
After another season where the Giants' playoff hopes have been all but dashed, it's time to shift the focus to 2025, where San Francisco will again have to contend with three of the best teams in the National League in their own division.
The Giants got off to an early stuff on building their 2025 lineup when they worked out a six-year contract extension with third baseman Matt Chapman early on Thursday morning. However, there are several question marks still plaguing the lineup.
Second base is one of those question marks for San Francisco, as rookie Tyler Fitzgerald appears to have won the shortstop job moving forward. One writer believes a former All-Star in the middle of a down year could be a potential solution.
On Friday, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter predicted that the Giants' 2025 Opening Day second baseman would be Gleyber Torres, the current leadoff hitter for the New York Yankees.
"The Giants have struggled to reel in their top targets in free agency in recent years, but they look like a great fit for second baseman Gleyber Torres if the Yankees decide to move on from him this winter," Reuter said.
There was a time when Torres, now 27, looked like a candidate to sign a nine-figure contract. But things haven't gone his way this season, making the two-time All-Star an intriguing buy-low candidate.
On the season, Torres' numbers still look mediocre: A .688 OPS, 0.9 WAR, and -6 outs above average are all far below what the Yankees expected from Torres. But he's been much better of late, and the postseason is a window of opportunity to raise his stock even further.
The Yankees, however, have trade acquisition Jazz Chisholm Jr. playing third base at the moment, whereas second base is his more natural position. With Chisholm under contract for two more seasons, it makes a lot of financial sense to move on from Torres.
From the Giants' perspective, after another former Yankee (Thairo Estrada) took a big step back in 2024, there's an opening at second base without a clear solution. Torres might not be All-Star caliber anymore, but he could give the Giants some much-needed thump on the infield.
It's only one prediction, and plenty of things could change between now and the start of free agency. But the Giants and Torres are a very intriguing fit, as both will head into 2025 with something to prove to the rest of the baseball world.
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