The San Francisco Giants might have missed out on the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes. But the National League West contender added another elite foreign-born player to the mix during MLB free agency.
According to Jon Heyman, San Francisco has signed Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee to a six-year, $113 million contract. The deal calls for a player opt-out after four seasons.
Known as the Ichiro of Korea, the 25-year-old Lee absolutely raked overseas. That included hitting a whopping .340 with a .898 OPS in parts of seven seasons. He was the KBO Rookie of the Year in 2017 and earned the league’s MVP in 2022. That latter season saw Lee hit .349 with 23 homers, 113 RBI and a .996 OPS. The youngster is also a five-time Gold Glove Award winner in the outfield.
San Francisco was said to be prioritizing fielding in the outfield this offseason. The team now gets an elite defensive outfielder with a ton of upside at the plate moving forward.
With all of that said, the Giants can’t be done here. Los Angeles’ addition of Ohtani coupled with the team making strong plays for top-end pitchers puts the onus on San Francisco to continue being active. Below, we look at three moves the team still needs to make.
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San Francisco Giants sign Cody Bellinger
Lee played exclusively at center field over the past three seasons in Korea. While Pederson has also primarily played center in recent years, you just can’t have enough hitters. It’s obviously something the Giants lacked during a down 2023 season.
The former National League MVP hit .307 with 26 homers, 97 RBI and an .881 OPS a season ago for the Chicago Cubs. It came after three down seasons in Southern California following Bellinger winning the 2019 NL MVP. He could slot in at left, giving the Giants two more players capable of hitting for high averages with 25-plus homers.
Related: San Francisco Giants seen as favorite to land top MLB free agent as Winter Meetings open
Giants land Blake Snell from the San Diego Padres
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is an obvious target of San Francisco. The team met with him over the weekend and is one of atleast a half-dozen known finalists for the Japenese sensation. However, front office head Farhan Zaidi and Co. have also been linked to the reigning National League Cy Young winner.
- Blake Snell stats (2023): 14-9 record, 2.25 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 11.7 Ks per 9
Snell would likely come in at a lot less than Yamamoto, enabling the Giants to add another big-ticket item or two in free agency and/or the MLB trade block.
San Francisco Giants go all in with Yoshinobu Yamamoto
With Ohtani off the market, Yamamoto becomes the prime prize of interested teams. The Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves are all said to be in on the dominating 25-year-old righty.
If San Francisco is intent on contending this coming season, it needs to do whatever is possible to land Yamamoto. Here’s a dude who pitched to a 1.72 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in parts of seven seasons in Japan. He has elite stuff.
Adding him to a rotation with reigning NL Cy Young winner Logan Webb would be an absolute boon for the Giants. It would also counteract the Dodgers landing Ohtani. At least, to an extent. Even if it costs $300 million, keeping the likely ace out of Dodger blue has to be a primary goal of the Giants. It really is that simple.