The San Francisco Giants are in the midst of a playoff push. If successful, their fans could be in for another magical postseason run.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy is a master of motivating his players and getting the most out of them when it counts. He led the Giants to two World Series titles, even though they were usually the underdog throughout the playoffs.
Although the focus should be on the rest of this season and rightfully so, it is never too early to look at what happens after the season is concluded.
General manager Brian Sabean will have an extremely busy offseason. The Giants have five key players that will hit the free-agent market at the end of the season. These players are Pablo Sandoval, Michael Morse, Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong and Sergio Romo.
Sabean and the Giants ownership group will have some very tough decisions to make, and money could be a major issue.
According to statistics posted by baseballprospectus.com, the Giants began the 2014 season with a payroll in excess of $149 million, the seventh highest in baseball. With a few additions, this amount is now over $150 million.
If the Giants ownership group wants to give the team and its fans the best chance to win, it will need to increase that by as much as 10-15 percent in order to properly bolster the roster for the upcoming season.
Looking ahead to the 2015, season, the Giants already have roughly $127 million committed to 12 players, with several holes needing to be filled.
It will be up to the Giants ownership group if it is willing to give Sabean enough financial flexibility to address the Giants’ needs.
This increase can be temporary, as there are several large contracts coming off the books after the 2015 season. These include Tim Lincecum’s $18 million, Tim Hudson’s $12 million, Marco Scutaro’s $6.67 million and Jeremy Affeldt’s $6 million.
Let’s take a look at which players will be the Giants’ 10 biggest targets this winter.
All stats courtesy of baseball-reference.com.
All contract data courtesy of baseballprospectus.com.