The San Francisco Giants are potential players to be big spenders this offseason after they’ve barely missed out on big-time stars in recent winters. The additions of Matt Chapman and Willy Adames prior to the 2024 season were great moves in the right direction, but they still lacked a few impact bats. In each of the last three seasons, they’ve been a below-average offense. Furthermore, since their 107 win season in 2021, they’ve been mediocre at best in the competitive National League West, and have failed to finish above.500 since.
Once again, the Giants have an opportunity to add some pop to the lineup with the recent slugger they’ve been linked to being Pete Alonso. Recent reports state that “the Giants like 1B prospect Bryce Eldridge a lot, though they are thought to be focused on pursuing Pete Alonso,” according to SF Chronicle’s Susan Slusser via @BOSSportsGordo on X.
Pete Alonso's market is much better than it was a year ago
Alonso is coming off of an impressive one-year, “prove-it” deal with the Mets in which he had one of his best seasons to date, posting an.871 OPS and a 141 wRC+, both of which are the highest marks of his career since his Rookie of the Year winning season in 2019. Alonso was reportedly seeking a six-to-seven year contract when he hit free agency last year and could very well finally get that this offseason given his proven track record of success.
On the other hand, the Giants already have a blooming young star at first base in Bryce Eldridge. The 21-year-old is the highest ranked prospect in San Francisco’s farm system and the 12th overall ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. The 16th-overall pick in the 2023 draft, Eldridge moved fast through the system, making his big league debut with the club late in the 2025 season.
Although he’s still regarded as one of the premier prospects in baseball, now might be as good a time as ever to sell high on Eldridge, which should yield a solid return in big league talent as well as making room for the potential addition of Pete Alonso.
Bryce Eldridge's future with the Giants may be uncertain
Eldridge has some big time power, but comes with a lot of risk as a high-strikeout hitter. During his brief cup of coffee with the Giants in 2025, he posted a.476 OPS and a 54 wRC+ while striking out 35.1% of the time. While a sample as small as that shouldn’t come with too much concern, Eldridge could be an exception given the high strikeout rates that have followed him for much of his professional career.
This is not to say that Eldridge can’t become the star he’s projected to be. However, he comes with platoon risk that Pete Alonso doesn’t. Alonso is an established major league hitter while Eldridge is still unproven at the big league level. That begs the question, should the Giants spend big on Pete Alonso knowing what kind of production they can get from him, or save the big money and grind through the growing pains with a prospect like Bryce Eldridge in hopes he can reach the level of a hitter like Pete Alonso one day?
Both options of course come with their own pros and cons. Buster Posey is still shaping his identity as an executive, so it’s still tough to predict what direction the Giants might go this winter. Regardless, if they are going to become contenders in the National League as soon as 2026, this offseason (and especially these winter meetings) presents itself as a huge opportunity for the Giants to continue moving in the right direction.