The San Francisco Giants were supposed to be good in 2025.
They were supposed to be even better once they had traded for Rafael Devers, too.
Instead, they missed the playoffs, only threatening slightly to make a late-season push.
That puts a spotlight on the Giants in free agency. Yes, they'll have a lot of players back. But the onus has also been put on them to get even better.
The Athletic's Andy McCullough recognized that in a new article linking a free agent to each team, because he has the Giants lined up with one of the best free agent pitchers: Framber Valdez from the Astros.
"The idea of pairing up Valdez, one of the game’s best southpaw sinkerballers, with Logan Webb, the best right-handed sinkerballer, is too good to pass up," McCullough writes. "The Giants are expected to land one of the major free-agent pitchers this winter. The duo of Valdez and Webb could serve up plenty of grounders for elite fielders Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and others."
Valdez is a two-time All Star with a career 3.36 ERA. He put up a 3.66 ERA in 2025.
His style of pitching seems like it should age comfortably since he doesn't rely as much on velocity and instead gets his outs based on movement.
Valdez gets strikeouts, but not at the rate of some modern pitchers. His reliance on the sinker makes him a bit of a throwback, much like the aforementioned Logan Webb already is in San Francisco.
They'd form an awesome tandem at the front of the rotation, and they'd keep the Giants' talented infield plenty busy.
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