Even with the signing of Alex Wood last week, the Giants continue to navigate this free agency through a slow and methodical approach. None of their additions this winter have been huge signings or names that necessarily jump out at you, but if all goes well, they could be some of the biggest bargains of the winter.

Wood's one-year, $3 million guarantee, plus incentives, could line up to be one of the biggest steals on the free agent pitching market if he makes it through 2021 healthy. Just compare this deal to the one the Braves just gave Drew Smyly. Yes, Smyly was more effective in 2020, but if both guys are healthy, I'd take Wood out of the two for sure. And then you see that the Braves gave Smyly $11M guaranteed for essentially 7 pretty good outings for the Giants in '20, and Wood's $3M guaranteed for a terrific postseason with the Dodgers looks even better. Wood is a year younger, has a better career track record than Smyly and it's not like Smyly has been much healthier than Wood in recent seasons. He just happen to have the better 2020.

If your worried about the injuries/ineffectiveness that plagued him throughout the 2019-20 seasons, he did his best to alleviate that concern by throwing very well last postseason for the Dodgers. That included 2 perfect innings vs. the Rays in the decisive game 6 series clinching victory. It reminds me, granted on a much smaller scale, of how Gausman looked terrific out of the bullpen for the Reds at the end of the '19 season before the Giants signed him. We all saw how well that turned out for them last summer. I'm not saying Wood is the next Gausman, but he's got the ability to be that good, and if worse comes to worst, you slide him into the bullpen and take him the Drew Pomeranz route. 

I do really like this signing. And one way or another, I think it will look very good for them by the end of the season.

Now, on to the next order of business. With Wood and DeSclafini in tow, the rotation isn't in as much need as it was prior to those two signings, but it could still use some depth for sure. They have five starters they can pencil in to start the season, but there are question marks that surround almost all five of those guys, so adding another veteran to come in and compete would make a lot of sense. 

We've seen them linked to Cole Hammels, Julio Teheran, Anibal Sanchez and most recently, Jake Odorizzi. Of that group, Teheran and Odorizzi, I think, would offer the most potential upside. Teheran was terrible in has transition to the AL last summer, but again, it was such a wacky year that I'm willing to give players with strong track records a second chance and Teheran would be one of those guys. Odorizzi would probably have been one of the top free-agent arms of this class had he not ran into injuries last year, so you can obviously see the draw there.

They've also apparently been zeroing in on outfielders, with two in particular at the top of their list at the moment. On Sunday, Susan Slusser reported that they've kicked the tires on Jackie Bradley Jr. and Eddie Rosario, either of which I'd take on this team in a second. It really just depends on what the Giants are focusing more on this season as both these guys bring some different skills to the table. Bradley is a great defender, who could handle center field here every day, no problem. His bat could go either way through. Rosario, on the other hand, is about as sure fire as it comes from the left side in terms of run production. The guy has 30+ home run power and is a very competent run producer, even if he's not getting on base a ton. 

In this day and age, I may lean toward the sure fire offense Rosario would bring. He can play all three outfield positions adequately but I think that if the Giants brought him in we'd be seeing a ton of Yaz in center being flanked by Dickerson and Rosario on the corners. However, it's not like Bradley is a bad hitter by any stretch himself. He slashed .283/.364/.814 last summer to go along with 7 long balls in 183 at-bats. 

The Giants are absolutely going to have to hit to keep up with the Dodgers and Padres in 2021 and while their offense looked much better than we all expected last season, they need to prove that wasn't a two-month mirage. Either JBJ or Rosario would help in that area, so I'm all for it. I feel Rosario would be the more likely option on a one-year, prove it deal whereas JBJ could get a multi-year deal based on his ability to anchor center field, but it's really any ones guess as to how this market plays out down the stretch.

They also, obviously, need more pitching depth than they had last year, and that was only a 60-game season. Imagine if they had to get through another 100 games with that bunch? So they certainly have some more work to do, and they know that. And with spring training reporting on the horizon, I'm expecting the whole league to be much more active over the next 30 days.