Now that we’ve perused all the future NLDS free agents, time to turn our attention to the ALDS.
Any potential Giants in this bunch?
Toronto Blue Jays v. New York Yankees
Future Blue Jays free agents:
Shane
Bieber, SP (30 years old)
Andrew Baggarly already identified Shane Bieber as a potential target for Buster Posey’s front office. There are some practical pros here. Signing the right-handed starter won’t come with draft compensation baggage from a qualifying offer, nor is he expected to field many lengthy-contract offers due to the fact that he missed most of 2024 in Cleveland and pretty much all of 2025 in Toronto due to Tommy John surgery.
Bieber finished in the top-10 in AL Cy Young voting three times and won in 2020, a year he also claimed an ERA title with a 1.63 mark. Asterisks abound on those abbreviated season numbers, and his 41% K% that “year” was clearly an aberration. Still Bieber’s ceiling is high. Rise and arm-side run are key facets of his four-seam fastball rather than velocity, which helps serve the glove-side movement of his slider and curve (he’s also using a change-up more to neutralize lefties). In 2022 when he posted a 2.88 ERA over 200 IP, Bieber’s breaking pitches ranked in the 99th percentile, compiling a Breaking Run Value of 23.
So he’s got stuff, which is probably why the Blue Jays are giving him the nod to start Tuesday’s game 3 and potentially close out the ALDS. I imagine if he pitches well and senses his market rise, he’ll nix his $16 mil player option and elect free agency. If the Giants were to sign him, he’d slot into the middle of the rotation behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray nicely. Health is Bieber’s bugaboo. He’s thrown 200+ innings in a year twice in 8 seasons, while his next highest season total is 128 in 2023. His last three seasons have been undone by issues with his throwing elbow, which is never encouraging.
Chris Bassitt, SP (36 years old)
Bassitt doesn’t have the accolades or promise Bieber boasts, nor does he have a potential Jell-O elbow. The veteran has made at least 30 starts and thrown at least 170 innings in each of his last four seasons. None of those years has been as good as his sole All-Star year in 2021 for the Oakland A’s, but he’s been able to keep himself on the mound with a kitchen sink mix, pitching to overall average results as he marches into his late-30s.
I don’t think there’s a loud contingent of Bay Area Bassitt Hounds howling his name, nor do I think he’s the sexiest signing for Posey, who’s clearly trying to make waves, but there is something to having an arm in the rotation we know can handle a full season’s workload. Bassitt does have a Swiss Army knife practicality to him as an innings eater.
He was left off the Division Series roster because manager John Schneider said he wasn’t fully stretched out after missing some time with lower-back inflammation, but if the Blue Jays dispatch New York, we’ll probably catch him on the mound in the best-of-seven Championship Series.
Bo Bichette, SS (27 years old)
Bichette will be one of the most discussed position players on the market this winter. Despite the PCL sprain he’s still recovering from (which leaves his October hopes in doubt), he seems to have put a 2024 marred by injury in the rearview mirror and returned to form.
Bichette’s .311 batting average was the second highest in the American League, he has a .294 career average over 7 seasons, and has finished in the top-4 on the AL hits leaderboard four times since 2021. Other than a problematic 2024, his season OPS has never dropped below .800. Bichette is a high-average bat that can hit the ball hard to all fields. The Giants, like a lot of other teams, could use that kind of offensive profile in their line-up. Their sell might be hindered by the fact that they already have shortstop locked up with a much more adept and qualified Willy Adames.
If the Giants have a chance of coaxing Bichette from Toronto, it will be dependent on if he is able to come to terms with the fact that he just isn’t a shortstop anymore. His -13 OAA in 2025 was the worst in the league. His arm wasn’t that much better. Second base is a much better fit for Bichette, and the Giants would certainly love to get more offensive production out of that position.
Seranthony Dominguez, RP (30 years old)
Dominguez’s fastball averaged 98 MPH. His split-finger and sweeper fetched whiff rates flirting with 50%. That kind of swing-and-miss stuff is always worthy of consideration, but the ugly flip side of the K-coin is the garish walk totals. For the Orioles and Blue Jays in 2025, Dominguez nearly gave up as many base-on-balls as he did hits. Are we willing to stomach the maddening amount of free baserunners in high-leverage situations? Sounds like torture…but is it the good kind?
Other TOR FA:
Max Scherzer, SP (41 yrs young)
Isaiah Kiner-Falefa, 2B (30 yrs old)
Ty France, 1B (31 yrs old)
New York Yankees
Trent Grisham, OF (28 years old)
Grisham, for pretty much his entire career, has been a classic, one-dimensional, glove first centerfielder. He hit on the interstate for three consecutive seasons before 2025. During that time his OPS never cracked .700. Suddenly, in 2025, a flip was switched. Bizarro Grisham came out. In his second year in pinstripes, his defense metrics tanked while he launched 34 homers, doubling his career high up to that point. His .812 OPS eclipsed his previous .808 high in 59 games in 2020 — a season which included him launching a walk-off homer against the Giants…in the 7th inning…in San Francisco.
May Grisham never darken our doorstep again, amen.
As for this kind of production in a contract year — I’m not buying it. He’s burned us before. Don’t go near him with a ten-foot pole. But perhaps that’s a reflexive reaction. I’m festering over past slights. Forgive and forget. It’s ancient history, and the Giants could use some outfield help. Despite the sudden outburst, Grisham will still be cheaper than the likes of Kyle Tucker or his teammate Cody Bellinger (if he doesn’t pick up his $25 million player option). While the batting track record in the past makes this year suspect, there are reasons to think that Grisham’s renaissance might have some staying power. While the 34 homers might be fluky thanks to the Bronx Bandbox, the power he’s generating is the result of a higher rate of fast swings (faster than 75 MPH). Fast swings mean hard-hits balls, and hard-hit balls lead to hits. His rate jumped from an abysmal 5.7% to 11.5%, which is still a below average rate, but it’s big leap in the right direction and clearly produced some brow-raising on-field results.
Pair the improved swing and contact metrics with his already excellent eye for the zone, and Grisham might deserve some serious consideration.
Devin Williams, RP (31 years old)
Williams has one of the best change-ups in the game, and it’s been one of the best in the game for nearly half-a-decade. That kind of longevity and effectiveness is hard to find among relievers. Don’t get spooked by his bloated 4.79 ERA. It’s an illusion brought on by Yankee dysfunction. Find comfort in his pitching metrics. His 3.04 xERA ranked in the 87th percentile. His .198 xBA was in the 96th. His Chase%, Whiff%, K% — they’re all the envy of the league. Don’t overthink this one.
Austin Slater, OF (33 years old)
Anyone? Anyone?
Other NY FA:
Ryan Yarbrough, RP (33 yrs old)
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B (38 yrs young)
Luke Weaver, RP (32 yrs old)
Amed Rosario, SS (30 yrs old)
Detroit Tigers
Gleyber Torres, 2B (29 years old)
Torres has played in at least 140 games for the past four seasons. The Giants haven’t had an everyday second baseman like that since Thairo Estrada in 2022. Torres will probably hit .257 next year. He might flirt with a .400 slugging average and finish the year with a solid .750 OPS. He doesn’t chase, nor does he hit the ball hard. He’s a Thairo Estrada who will work a walk. Does this description of a future agent make you excited? Probably not. Torres fits a positional need for the Giants, sure, but if he is an improvement to Christian Koss or Casey Schmitt, it’s a nominal one that isn’t worth spending money on.
Heck, I’d play Naylor at second over Torres.
Kyle Finnegan, RP (34 years old)
Finnegan threw at least 63 innings for the Washington Nationals in four consecutive seasons from 2022 to 2024. He doesn’t dominate, nor does he really excel at anything, but he plays a split-finger off his high-90s four-seam to solid results year-after-year. Most relevant to the Giants current situation is that Finnegan is no stranger to the late-inning situations. He recorded 28 saves in 2023 and then 38 in 2024. He’s not the most exciting target by any means, but boring might be needed for the bullpen.
Alex Cobb, SP (38 years old)
Cobb has thrown 16 innings since being traded from the Giants after the 2023 season…Anyone? Anyone?
Other DET FA:
A whole mess of right-handed relievers in their mid-30s
Seattle Mariners
Josh Naylor, 1B (28 years old)
Josh Naylor’s sprint speed is in the 2nd percentile in the Major Leagues. Josh Naylor stole 30 bases in 2025. Josh Naylor, who would be out-paced by Wilmer Flores in a foot race, swiped 30 bags in 2025 and was caught only twice. Yes, he’s been a well-above average offensive contributor since 2022; and yes, he hit .295 last season with 20 homers for Arizona and Seattle while playing above average first base; but its the stolen bases that entice me. You need a cool intelligence to swipe 30 bases in a Major League uniform, no matter your physique. You need moxie. Naylor’s clearly got it oozing out of him, and the Giants could use a bit of it. But do they have the room? Naylor would end up serving a Dom Smith role on the roster — and he’d probably be over-qualified and over-paid for it.
Still…30 stolen bases! Hot damn!
Other SEA FA:
Caleb Fergueson, RP (29 years old)
Eugenio Suarez, 3B (34 years old)
