The Giants have signed on their top free agent, once again setting fans up for disappointment

The San Francisco Giants they were a relentless team during the Hot Stove season. Almost every winter, the Giants have tried to land that elusive superstar, but have failed. Bryce Harper boosted them in 2019 in favor of the Philadelphia Phillies. Aaron Judge seemed to be headed back to California until the whole “Arson Judge” drama happened and the New YorkYankees made sure he would remain their captain. These are just a few examples.

This winter, former catcher Buster Posey will be in charge of the offseason as their new president of baseball operations. Maybe, just maybe, Posey can do what Farhan Zaidi couldn’t — land a star free agent. It should come as no surprise that they are tied for the top player available on the open market.

MLB.com senior national reporter Mark Feinsand listed his top 25 free agents this winter and their potential matches. Soto was obviously first to General de Feinsand, but he linked the Giants as a potential fit for the star outfielderalong with the Yankees and New York Mets.

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Feinsand also made an appearance on MLB Network’s “MLB Tonight” to discuss his article and Soto’s matchups. Feinsand says it’s likely Soto will stay in New York, whether it’s with the Yankees or Mets. But Feinsand mentions the Giants as a potential fit, due in part to the fact that they swing and miss free agents.

“The Giants have been looking for that big free agent for a couple of years,” Feinsand said. “Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto, they haven’t been able to sign those guys. Maybe they can make a huge play for Soto.”

For Giants fans, they heard Zaidi mention that their priority was to bring in a superstar to help contend for the World Series again. But that superstar never arrived as they opted to sign elsewhere. While Judge and Harper are the prime examples, Feinsand brings up Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as players the Giants missed last winter.

The Giants tried their best to bring Ohtani to the Bay Area. Actually, they do made a similar 10-year, $700 million offer to Ohtani which the Dodgers did. Ultimately, Ohtani decided to stay in Southern California to play for the Dodgers.

As for Yamamoto, the Japanese pitcher seriously considered the Giants as a potential landing spot, but ultimately ruled them out of the bottom three of the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees. The Dodgers won, signing him to a 12-year, $325 million contract. Losing two top targets to the rival Dodgers has to sting for the Giants.

Were they finally able to land that big fish in Soto? Well, as Feinsand notes, he’s going to be expensive, with a 10-year contract, $500 million being the minimum. Soto is coming off a regular season in which he posted a .288 batting average, .419 on-base percentage, .569 slugging percentage, 41 home runs, 109 RBI, 128 runs scored and 166 strikeouts in 576 at bats. .

We’ll see if the Giants can actually land Soto or if it will be another case of “we were close.”