The Giants have already been linked to some high-profile free agents this winter, and it looks like this is the case Corbin Burnes is another name on the club's target list. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com writes that the Giants are “believed to have significant interest in Burnes” and that San Francisco is therefore joining in Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankeesand Burnes' former team, the Orioles, are clubs known to pursue the right-hander to some degree.
MLBTR Projects Burnes would sign a seven-year, $200 million contract as the top pitcher on the free agent market, and signing the hurler at that price would be an intriguing move for a Giants club supposedly wanted to reduce the wage bill. The Giants' Opening Day salaries totaled about $208.1 million last season Cot's Baseball Contracts) and they currently have around $182.2 million on the books for 2025 RosterResource's calculations. Trade any of it Mike Yastrzemski, Camilo Doval, LaMonte Wade Jr., Taylor Rogers or Tyler Rogers would free up some more cash, but as it stands now, just signing Burnes for something in the region of $28.5 million average annual value would essentially put San Francisco back on the 2024 payroll.
However, the Giants haven't necessarily behaved like a limited-spending team. San Francisco has shown interest in two of the offseason's most notable free agents Willy Adames and now Burnes and the Giants at least had a check-in Juan Soto's market. Ha Seong Kim And Tomoyuki Sugano Among the cheaper options, two other notable models are on the team's radar. And of course, the Giants spent big on retaining him even before free agency opened Matt Chapman taken from the market a six-year, $151 million extension.
Buster Posey was supposedly heavily involved was involved in negotiations with Chapman even before he became the team's new president of baseball operations, and these efforts to retain a prominent star apparently indicated that Posey's front office was willing to step in in an attempt to acquire top-notch talent win to take a more aggressive stance. Signing a Burnes or an Adames would finally dispel the narrative that the organization is incapable of attracting star free agents, although it remains to be seen whether these forays into the top of the 2024-25 free agent market will be more than that are just due diligence if Giants owners want to limit spending.
Burnes has some West Coast connections, as he is from Bakersfield, California, and played college ball at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga (about 40 minutes from San Francisco). From a pure on-field perspective, there's also a natural fit – Burnes would step in straight away Blake Snell's shoes as the new ace, team with Logan Webb to become one of the better double rotation punches in the game. Kyle Harrison And Robbie Ray would move everyone down one spot in the rotation order, and San Francisco would gain some flexibility in deciding what to do with the fifth starter's job. Any of Landen Roupp, Hayden birdsong, Mason Black, Keaton Winnor top prospect Carson Whisenhunt could apply for the job in spring training, or Jordan Hicks could get another shot at a starting role if the Giants don't just want to keep him in the bullpen.
Since San Francisco exceeded the luxury tax threshold last season, they would pay an additional penalty for signing Burnes or any free agent that rejected a qualified offer. The Giants would have to forgo $1 million from their international signing bonus pool as well as their second- and fifth-highest selections in the 2025 draft. The club already gave up two picks in the 2024 draft (the second-rounder and third-rounder) to sign Snell and Chapman last winter, as both players declined qualifying offers before entering free agency.
