The San Francisco Giants are in a position where they may in fact lose their ace in left-hander Carlos Rodon.
In case that ends up happening, the team made a key move this morning, signing left-hander Sean Manaea to a two-year, $25 million contract.
But according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the team had another strong backup plan.
The Giants were reportedly heavily involved in talks with Japanese right-hander Kodai Senga.
However, San Francisco ultimately lost out in the bidding to the New York Mets, who now boast a top-heavy starting rotation that also features Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Jose Quintana.
#SFGiants were in strong on Senga. Lost out to Mets, who have an outstanding rotation but are running up the tax bill.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 11, 2022
Giants Were In On Senga
The Giants are now in a position where they will need to re-sign Rodon in order to have an ace at the top of their rotation.
They’ll of course have some stiff competition from the New York Yankees.
At the very least, signing Manaea gives them somebody to put next to young right-hander Logan Webb in their starting rotation.
If they end up retaining Rodon, that rotation could be even stronger.
But it appears that they were in the mix for Senga.
Unfortunately, outbidding Steve Cohen is often a losing battle.
Signing Senga would have given them the ace they needed without having to keep Rodon.
Now, they’ll have to prepare to make Rodon a big offer.
San Francisco finished with a .500 record, 30 games behind the 111-win Los Angeles Dodgers.
Some extra pitching certainly wouldn’t hurt them as they look to rebound in 2023.
NEXT: Sean Manaea Is Staying On The West Coast In 2023