San Francisco Giants DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said on Monday that he views infielder Tyler Fitzgerald as the team's starting second baseman going into the 2025 season and has already discussed it with the young infielder. Fitzgerald filled in nicely for the Giants at the 6 in his second year in the big leagues in 2024 and surprised everyone with a .280/.334/.497 slash line, .831 OPS, 15 home runs, 34 RBI, 17 stolen bases and 53 runs scored in 96 games after playing in only 10 games in his rookie season in 2023. With Giants bringing in Willy Adames to play shortstop, Fitzgerald will move to the keystone, where he has earned regular playing time after his strong showing. He has experience playing there (87 games in the minors) and will also have shortstop eligibility for fantasy managers. Fitzgerald has always had a high strikeout rate, so you shouldn't expect another high average, but his 20-20 potential will be intriguing as a middle-infield target later in drafts.

According to Mark Feinsand of the MLB Network, the Los Angeles Dodgers have signed free-agent outfielder Michael Conforto to a one-year, $17 million contract. The veteran outfielder enjoyed a solid campaign with the Giants last season from a power perspective, holding a .237/.309/.450 slash line with 20 home runs. This was his highest home run total since the 2019 season. Under the hood, the 31-year-old generated a strong .479 xSLG, 11.8% barrel rate, and 46.0% hard-hit rate, all well above the average marks. However, Conforto did carry a hefty 24.2% strikeout rate and a modest 8.6% walk rate. Moving to the Dodgers, fantasy managers should expect Conforto to see an uptick in his counting stats, especially in RBI. Fantasy managers should monitor his status during spring training, as he could be given an everyday role in the starting nine.

The Colorado Rockies are in the market for a second baseman this winter, and according to a source, one name to monitor is free-agent infielder Thairo Estrada. After moving on from Brendan Rodgers finally, the Rockies signed Kyle Farmer already this offseason, but he projects better as a utility infielder than an everyday starter at the keystone. Prospect Adael Amador isn't quite ready, so Colorado is looking for more of a stop-gap option. In addition to Estrada, free-agent options include Gleyber Torres, Ha-Seong Kim, Jorge Polanco, Jose Iglesias, Adam Frazier and Cavan Biggio. Estrada, 28, had 14 homers and 20-plus steals in two straight years with the Giants in 2022 and 2023 but slumped to a .217/.247/.343 line in 2024 and being sent to the minors. He could be a nice bounce-back candidate, especially in Colorado, and Estrada has a strong glove at second base.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman is open to moving to shortstop if the Giants sign free-agent infielder Ha-Seong Kim. Chapman has spent the vast majority of his professional career playing at the hot corner, as he has logged just four starts at shortstop since 2020. However, given his elite defensive ability, the 31-year-old should not have much trouble adjusting to the 6. Kim declined his mutual option with the San Diego Padres earlier in the offseason and is expected to miss at least the first month of the 2025 campaign due to shoulder surgery he underwent in October. With the Giants losing lefty Blake Snell in free agency to the Los Angeles Dodgers, they do have some salary flexibility, and seeing that Chapman is willing to switch positions could entice several infield free agents to consider signing in San Francisco. Chapman enjoyed a nice bounce-back campaign in 2024, hitting 27 long balls, a nice increase from the 17 he hit in 2023, and could enjoy a boost in his counting stats if San Francisco adds another infielder to their lineup.

Free-agent left-hander Blake Snell will stay in the National League West after agreeing to a five-year, $182 million deal on Tuesday night with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to sources. The deal is pending a physical. It's the first nine-figure deal of the MLB offseason, with the World Series-champion Dodgers locking down the two-time Cy Young winner. The 31-year-old southpaw signed with the San Francisco Giants at the end of spring training and had a rough start to the 2024 campaign while not being 100% healthy, but he eventually bounced back when he was fully healthy and went 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 145 strikeouts and 44 walks in 104 innings over his 20 starts. Snell can be wild -- career 10.9% walk rate -- but his career 30.2% strikeout rate pretty much offsets it to make him a fantasy ace who will be in another good situation in LA while joining a strong starting rotation that will include Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2025.