ESPN's Jeff Passan joined KNBR 680's "Papa & Lund" on Thursday, and said that he expects big things from the San Francisco Giants this offseason. Passan said he's be very surprised if the SF Giants don't end up as one of the top-three spending teams this winter. Giants fans may recall that analysts expected the team to be similarly active last offseason, and they did make a lot of moves in the rotation, but ultimately didn't have the kind of offseason fans were hoping for.

The stars might be aligning for the Giants to have a huge offseason this time around. They're motivated by the fact that they flopped to an 81-81 finish after winning 107 games in 2021. They have major payroll flexibility, with only about $70 million committed after Carlos Rodón opts out. There's a superstar lurking in Aaron Judge, and he actually might want to come play for the San Francisco Giants. Judge grew up in Linden, CA, just about 90 minutes away from Oracle Park. The one big question is whether the Giants will be willing to pay top dollar for a player his size who's already going to be 31 years old in year one of a deal.

If the SF Giants don't end up with Judge (or even if they do), the top four shortstops are probably the next best players available. Carlos Correa, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, and Dansby Swanson would all improve the Giants rather dramatically. Besides those four and Judge, there's Brandon Nimmo, Willson Contreras, Jose Abreu, Anthony Rizzo, and a smattering of others on the position player side who could help the Giants achieve their stated goal of looking like an obvious playoff time in Spring Training. The World Series will be over by Sunday, and then it'll finally be time for the Giants to embark on their hugely important offseason.

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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

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