The San Francisco Giants are heading into an important offseason, with one of the biggest priorities this winter being to sign or trade for another elite pitcher.
Logan Webb is great, but teams can only go so far with just one clear ace. While Robbie Ray, Landen Roup, and Justin Verlander were fine for San Francisco in 2025, the need in the rotation is clear.
That's why Andy McCullough of The Athletic predicts that the Giants and Buster Posey, in a crucial offseason, would target a starter who's mastered the sinkerball just like Webb has. Except that this free agent is a left-hander, and would complement Webb well.
Giants predicted to sign free agent starter who pairs perfectly with Logan Webb
"The idea of pairing up Valdez, one of the game's best 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."
Valdez would be a quality starting option for the Giants to acquire this winter. The 32-year-old has eight seasons of MLB experience, with 188 career games and 166 career starts.
In 2025, Valdez had 31 starts with a 3.66 ERA and a 13-11 record. He pitched two complete games and was one of the better pitchers in baseball this season. He had a rough couple of starts, but is an overall high-quality starter who could be had this winter.
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Since 2021, Valdez has had a 3.20 ERA in 143 starts with nine complete games and 875 strikeouts across 902.1 innings pitched. He's not the best strikeout artist, but he can induce a lot of ground balls.
With the defense in the infield for San Francisco, especially with Matt Chapman and Willy Adames, Valdez would be a nice fit for the Giants.
Adding a pitcher who's also one of the best at throwing a sinker would be a good way to throw different, but similar looks at batters this season. Valdez would be a great addition, and is the player that McCullough names as the Giants' top free agent target.
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