For the briefest of moments, San Francisco Giants fans thought that their team had landed the top free agent on the market in Aaron Judge.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network had jumped the gun, but later deleted the tweet.
This morning, the American League MVP returned to the New York Yankees on a nine-year, $360 million contract.
But that doesn’t mean that the Giants are done trying to improve for 2023.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Giants have a backup plan with Judge now off the board.
Nightengale tweeted that the team now plans to pivot to the shortstop market, where options such as Dansby Swanson, Carlos Correa, and Xander Bogaerts await.
The San Francisco Giants now will jump into the shortstop free agent pool where Carlos Correa and Xander Bogaerts and Danby Swanson await
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 7, 2022
Giants Pivot To Shortstop Market
Understandably, fans in San Francisco are just a tad frustrated with Heyman for making them think Judge was headed their way.
But all of that could be put to rest if the Giants dive into the shortstop market and come out with one of the three stars still left unsigned.
Correa is most likely the best option out on the market.
The slugger had signed a three-year deal with the Minnesota Twins last offseason, but ultimately chose to opt out of the deal after year one, putting him back on the free agent market.
The former Rookie of the Year and World Series champion hit .291 with 22 home runs and 64 RBI during the regular season.
He also collected 47 extra-base hits and logged 244 total bases.
So while the Giants missed out on Judge, there is still hope for them to make some significant improvements for the 2023 season.
NEXT: Giants Rumored To Have A Shocking Offer For Aaron Judge