With Carlos Rodón having opted out, let’s focus on two replacement pitchers the San Francisco Giants both might have interest in and have a shot at signing. Keith Law ranked the top 50 free agents for The Athletic (subscription required) and I quickly scrolled to the bottom of the list — what sabermetricians call The Cool Zone — to find pitchers who might be at the very top of Zaidi and Pitula’s board.
Even though I dared the Giants to bring their payroll to $200 million, I never let go of my nagging suspicion that for all their caterwauling about how this season went and rumors of a big spend this offseason that it’s an elaborate ruse.