3 San Francisco Giants Who Won't Be Back in 2025
Another disappointing season is in the books for the San Francisco Giants, as they finished in 4th place in the National League West division, two games under .500 and many, many games back of a Wild Card berth.
Once again, they'll likely go looking for a big free agent splash this winter, and once again, they'll likely come up short. Though they might have already made their big move on that front, extending their own impending free agent, Matt Chapman, with a six-year, $151 million deal to continue playing his Gold Glove caliber defense at third and providing some power at the plate.
But there are many Giants who won't be back next season, largely due to free agency. Here are 3 who will be almost certainly taking their talents elsewhere:
Blake Snell
It's a lock that Snell will not opt-in to the $30 million player option he has for next season, as the two-time Cy Young Award winner finished the season on an epic Cy-like roll in his final 14 starts, posting a 1.23 ERA with 114 strikeouts over 80 1/3 innings, a run which included a no-hitter. He's now ready to cash in on the big free agent deal that he didn't land last offseason.
And while he sat on the free agent market for a painfully long stretch last winter, until just 10 days before the season began, he's figuring his performance in 2024 will have teams beating down his door this time around:
"I think what I was able to accomplish this year will make teams be more aggressive earlier, so I’ll be looking forward to that. We’ll see.”
What we likely won't see, is Snell back in a Giants uniform next season.
Michael Conforto
The Conforto experiment has had two years to click since they first signed him to a "prove it" free agent deal in 2023. But the results have been spotty at best, as he's batted just .238 with a .740 OPS over those two seasons, with a total of just 35 home runs. The former All-Star had a three-year run late last decade with the New York Mets in which he averaged just under 30 dingers per season. Going into his age-32 season next year, it doesn't seem like those days will be back.
He picked up his $18 million option for this past season, but now that he's a free agent again, the Giants will almost certainly look elsewhere.
Mark Canha
The jack-of-all-trades secondary offensive player has always filled his role nicely wherever he's been (5 different teams in his 10-year career) and owns a lifetime OPS+ of 113. He was brought in at the trade deadline and performed decently in 32 games with the Giants, though without any power. He's a free agent and will likely be leaving San Francisco.
Photo: © John Hefti-Imagn Images
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