MLB Rumors: Teams Expect Giants to Sign 'Top-End' FA After Ohtani, Yamamoto Pursuits

The frustration among San Francisco Giants fans for their team's many failed free-agent pursuits in recent years may finally give way to at least one notable addition before this offseason is over.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, opposing teams are expecting the Giants to sign "at least one top-end" player from the big four Scott Boras clients still on the market.

That group includes Cody Bellinger, Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell and Matt Chapman.

The Giants are the living embodiment of the old saying "always a bridesmaid, never a bride." In the past 13 months, they have engaged in serious talks with Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

They came out of those talks with nothing to show for it. Correa was willing to walk down the aisle with the Giants when he agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract, but the deal fell apart when the team expressed concerns with his physical.

If there's any consolation for the Giants, the New York Mets also pulled out of their 12-year, $315 million agreement with Correa for the same reason.

There was hope that this offseason would be different, especially since they were willing to meet Ohtani on his terms.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters their offer to the two-time AL MVP was "very comparable if not identical" in terms of dollars and deferrals to what he received from the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they lost out on the best player in MLB to their biggest rival.

The Dodgers also beat San Francisco for Yamamoto, whose agent said he likely would have signed with the Giants if Los Angeles wasn't interested.

That's not exactly a compliment to the Giants, but at least they were able to stay in the running for awhile. They did sign KBO star Jung Hoo Lee to a six-year, $113 million deal in the richest free-agent contract given out by the team since signing Johnny Cueto for $130 million in 2016.

Even with the addition of Lee, San Francisco remains far behind the Dodgers in the NL West and a fringe wild-card contender based on the talent it currently has.

Any of the four Boras clients would fit right in and fill a huge need for the Giants. Bellinger is an above-average defender in centerfield who hit .307/.356/.525 with 26 homers and 20 stolen bases for the Chicago Cubs last season.

Chapman remains an elite defensive third baseman, though his offensive production has started to decline recently. His .755 OPS last season was the second-worst of his career (.716 in 2021).

Snell or Montgomery would give the Giants both impact and reliable innings in the rotation. Logan Webb and Alex Cobb were the only pitchers on the staff who threw at least 100 innings and made 20 starts last season. Sean Manaea, who is a free agent, also passed 100 innings in 37 appearances (10 starts).

The Giants have only made the playoffs once since 2017. They haven't won a full postseason series since the 2014 World Series, excluding the one-game wild card against the New York Mets in 2016.