The Giants' nine free-agent contracts, graded on signing day. The biggest one is a C+

These grades were written in September from documents dated at signing. Each of the nine is graded as of the day the league logged the contract, and the argument for each cites nothing dated later than that day plus one: the signing reports at MLB Trade Rumors and NBC Sports Bay Area, the market's own predictions published before the market opened, MLB Trade Rumors' top 50 on November 6 and FanGraphs' top 50 on November 5, and each player's record through the season before. Nothing that has happened in 2026 is in a process grade. The result gets its own letter at the All-Star break and at the end of the season, and those are the grades that move.

The rubric, in order. Need: the hole on the roster that day, documented from what the club and the beat said at the time. Fit: whether this was the right player for that hole among what the market offered that winter. Price and term: against the market's dated predictions, never a number invented here; where no list priced a player, the argument says so and the letter leans on need and fit. Risk: age, the injury record, options and the years still owed. A signing that fills the biggest hole at a slight overpay grades above one that fills no hole at a fair price. The scale runs A+ to F in thirteen steps.

Where the club stood when the market opened, per MLB Trade Rumors' offseason outlook of October 24: an 81-81 season, third in the National League West, two games out of the last wild card; Justin Verlander, Wilmer Flores and Dominic Smith to free agency and Tom Murphy's option declined; a bullpen depleted, in the same site's December phrasing, by trades and by injuries to Camilo Doval and Randy Rodriguez; second basemen who finished 26th in the majors in OPS; and Buster Posey saying the focus would be pitching, the starting staff first and the bullpen with it.

Hentges, December 3: B#

One year, $1.4 million, with arbitration control through 2027, agreed on Thanksgiving morning and logged December 3. Hentges, 29, had not pitched since July 2024. Cleveland operated on his throwing shoulder that September, a capsule repair with a twelve-to-fourteen month timeline, and he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in September 2025, per MLB Trade Rumors on November 27. What the Giants were buying was the pitcher of 2022 and 2023: 114 1/3 innings at a 2.91 ERA, a 27.4 percent strikeout rate, a 7.9 percent walk rate and a 60.1 percent ground-ball rate, plus 23 2/3 innings at 3.04 in 2024 before the shoulder went.

Need: real. The bullpen had lost Doval and Rodriguez and the club had non-tendered its veteran left-hander, Joey Lucchesi; the lefties on hand were Erik Miller, Matt Gage and Reiver Sanmartin. Fit: a left-hander with a major league track record, at a salary a hundredth of the market's top. Price: neither list ranked him, so there is no benchmark; $1.4 million is within $100,000 of his 2025 arbitration salary, and two more years of control came with it. Risk: the whole price. A pitcher sixteen months removed from his last game, with a shoulder and a knee both under repair, might not be ready for April, and the deal did not pretend otherwise. B.

Foley, December 16: B-#

One year, $2 million, controllable through 2028 by arbitration, per MLB Trade Rumors that day. Foley, 30, had saved 28 games for Detroit in 2024 on a 3.15 ERA over 60 innings, with a 54.1 percent ground-ball rate and a 6.2 percent walk rate across his career, then missed most of 2025 to shoulder surgery and was non-tendered. The Giants expected him back "sometime midseason."

Need: the same bullpen hole as Hentges. Fit: a ground-ball reliever in front of Chapman and Adames is the right shape, and a closer's track record is the upside. The deduction is on the calendar: a club that said its bullpen needed arms signed one that would not be available until roughly July. Price: not listed by either market; $2 million and three years of control is cheap for the 2024 pitcher and correct for the 2025 one. Risk: a shoulder, which is the injury relievers do not reliably come back from at full velocity. B-.

Houser, December 19: C+#

Two years, $22 million: a $3 million signing bonus, $5.5 million in 2026, $9.5 million in 2027, and a $4 million buyout on a $12.5 million club option for 2028, per the Associated Press on December 19 and the contract as Cot's and Spotrac carry it; agreed December 16 and logged December 19, with MLB Trade Rumors putting the annual value at $11 million. Houser, 32 and turning 33 in February, had been released from a Triple-A contract by Texas in May 2025, signed with the White Sox, thrown 68 2/3 innings at a 2.10 ERA, been traded to Tampa Bay at the deadline and thrown 56 1/3 there at 4.79: a combined 3.31 ERA over 125 innings, with 92 strikeouts and 38 walks among 518 batters, 17.8 percent and 7.3 percent, and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate. The season before, with the Mets, he had a 5.84 ERA in 69 1/3 innings.

Need: real and stated. Verlander was gone, Webb, Ray and Roupp were the rotation, and MLB Trade Rumors reported the club "on the hunt for rotation help" with ownership preferring to avoid long-term deals for pitchers. Fit: a back-end innings starter on a short term is exactly the profile that preference produces, and MLB Trade Rumors slotted him behind Webb, Ray and Roupp the day the agreement was reported. Price and term: this is where the grade sits, because there is no benchmark. Neither market list ranked Houser or predicted a contract for him, so the price cannot be graded against the market's own number, and the argument has to say so. What can be said is that the largest guarantee of the winter went to a pitcher whose 2025 was the outlier of his career, who strikes out fewer than one batter in five, and whose second year covers his age-34 season. Risk: age, and a one-season sample split in half by a trade. The right need, an adequate fit, and a term and price nobody else in the market was reported to be offering. C+.

Mahle, January 5: B+#

One year, $10 million guaranteed, with performance bonuses that could take it near $13 million, agreed December 31 and logged January 5. MLB Trade Rumors had ranked Mahle 47th on November 6 and predicted one year and $15 million; FanGraphs had him 48th, with Ben Clemens at two years and $26 million and the crowd's median at two years and $32 million. He signed for less than every one of those, on the shortest term.

What the market knew: a 2.18 ERA over 86 2/3 innings in 16 starts for Texas in 2025, with 66 strikeouts and 29 walks among 346 batters, 19.1 percent and 8.4 percent; a rotator cuff strain that cost him about three months from mid-June to September; Tommy John surgery that limited him to five starts in 2023 and three in 2024; shoulder issues in 2022 and 2024; and a fastball at 92 mph, down two ticks, per MLB Trade Rumors' November write-up. The same site's signing post recorded that his xERA and xFIP were both above 4.00 and his SIERA at 4.62, which is to say the 2.18 was not the pitcher.

Need: the fifth rotation spot, still open after Houser. Fit: a veteran starter on a one-year deal for a club that had said it would not go long on pitchers. Price and term: below both lists and below the crowd, on one year, with the incentives shifting the risk of a lost season onto the player. Risk: a shoulder that had failed twice in four years and an elbow that had been rebuilt, priced into the guarantee. The right need, the right shape, a benchmarked below-market price. B+.

Bader, January 30: A-#

Two years, $20.5 million: a $6 million signing bonus, $4.5 million in 2026, $10 million in 2027, $500,000 in incentives, no deferrals and no opt-outs, per MLB Trade Rumors on January 30. MLB Trade Rumors had ranked him 31st with a prediction of two years and $26 million, and one of its four writers had picked the Giants as the destination; FanGraphs had him 26th, Clemens at two years and $30 million, the crowd's median at two years and $24 million. He signed under both sites' writers and at the crowd's number.

What the market knew: .277/.347/.449 with 17 home runs and 11 steals across 501 plate appearances for Minnesota and Philadelphia in 2025, 22 percent better than league average by wRC+, 136 strikeouts and 39 walks, 27.1 percent and 7.8 percent. FanGraphs' November note said the bat rested on a .359 batting average on balls in play and the largest gap between his wOBA and his expected wOBA of any hitter with 350 plate appearances. MLB Trade Rumors called him the only true plus defensive center fielder on the market, with 51 Defensive Runs Saved and 67 Outs Above Average in center for his career and a sprint speed of 28.8 feet per second, 85th percentile, at 31. He had signed one-year deals the two previous winters.

Need: MLB Trade Rumors reported the club looking for upgrades in the outfield on December 17, and Posey had said in October that pitching and defense win. Fit: the one glove-first center fielder available, with a bat that had a good year for reasons the market could see through. Price and term: two years for a 31-year-old whose value is his legs and his glove is the right term, and the price landed under both writers. Risk: the bat regressing to its 2024 shape, a .657 OPS with the Mets, and $10 million owed in his age-33 season. A-.

Arraez, February 10: B+#

One year, $12 million, agreed January 31 and logged February 10, no options and no incentives reported. MLB Trade Rumors had ranked him 34th at two years and $24 million, and its signing post said the deal "matches that in terms of annual value"; FanGraphs had him 37th, Clemens at one year and $11 million, the crowd at two years and $28 million. He had passed up multi-year offers elsewhere to play second base.

What the market knew: .292/.327/.392 for San Diego in 2025, a career-low 104 wRC+ by FanGraphs, 8 home runs, 21 strikeouts among 675 plate appearances, 3.1 percent, a 16.7 percent hard-hit rate that was last among qualified hitters, and a glove that had produced minus-26 Outs Above Average across 2023 and 2024 and minus-9 in 2025, with Defensive Runs Saved at plus-3. Giants second basemen finished 26th in the majors in OPS in 2025 per MLB Trade Rumors, 27th by wRC+ at 73 per Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs on February 2.

Need: the largest on the roster, by the club's own production. Fit: imperfect, and the deduction is here. Second base was the hole, and the player who filled it insisted on second base while carrying the worst lateral range at the position the public metrics could find. The bat fits; the glove was placed at the spot where it costs most. Price and term: one year at the annual value the market expected, $1 million over Clemens, with no 2027 obligation, is the best term in the class. Risk: a hitter whose power had not existed and whose average had just fallen 22 points, on a one-year deal that caps the loss. B+.

Wick, February 13: C#

One year, $880,000: a $780,000 salary and a $100,000 buyout on an $800,000 club option for 2027. Wick, 33, was rehabbing Tommy John surgery and was not expected to pitch in 2026; he went to the 60-day injured list two days after signing. His last major league season was 2022, and he had thrown 87 2/3 innings at a 1.75 ERA across two seasons in Japan since, per MLB Trade Rumors.

Need: none in 2026, by design. Fit: a 2027 bullpen option bought with a 2026 roster spot, the third injured reliever the club signed that winter. Price: minimal, and the option is the point. Risk: he will be 34 when he returns from an elbow reconstruction, and the 40-man spot is occupied all season by a pitcher who cannot pitch. Defensible, and cheap, and not a need. C.

Brennan, February 15: B-#

A one-year split contract, $900,000 in the majors and $400,000 in the minors, with options remaining. Brennan, 28, had a 98 wRC+ across 114 games for Cleveland in 2024, .264/.309/.388, then played six games in 2025 around Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in June and a sports hernia repair in September, and was non-tendered. Career: .267/.307/.373 in parts of four seasons.

Need: outfield depth behind Ramos, Bader and Lee, with Drew Gilbert, Luis Matos and Grant McCray already competing for the bench. Fit: a left-handed corner bat with options, which is the shape a bench needs and the club did not lack. Price: near the minimum. Risk: the elbow, and almost none in money. A fine depth signing for a need the roster already had bodies for. B-.

Borucki, March 21: C+#

A one-year major league contract, four days before opening day: $1.5 million, plus $250,000 in games-pitched bonuses at $50,000 each for 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 appearances, per the Associated Press on March 21 and the contract as Spotrac carries it. Borucki, 31 and turning 32 on March 31, had been released by the White Sox on March 20 after six scoreless spring innings with eight strikeouts and one walk, having not made their roster. His last 46 major league innings, across 2024 and 2025, carried a 5.28 ERA and a 4.32 FIP with a 10.2 percent walk rate; left-handed hitters had gone 7 for 60 against him in 2025, per NBC Sports Bay Area.

Need: a veteran left-hander beside Miller and Gage, with Hayden Birdsong going to the 60-day injured list for Tommy John surgery the same day. Fit: a lefty specialist on a spring line, which is the least reliable line in baseball. Price and term: $1.5 million on one year, about the price of a sixth reliever, with the bonuses paid only if he pitched; neither list ranked him. Risk: low in dollars; the cost was a 40-man spot four days before the roster froze. C+.

The winter as a class, at opening day: C+#

What the club needed on November 5, by its own account and the beat's: pitching first, in the rotation and the bullpen; second base; center-field defense. What it filled: two back-end starters on short terms, the second baseman, the center fielder, and four relievers, three of whom were recovering from surgery when they signed. MLB Trade Rumors' review on March 5 counted $68.78 million guaranteed across the eight signings it listed and $44.95 million of 2026 cash; Borucki's $1.5 million, signed after that review, makes it $70.28 million across the nine. The review said the club had stayed away from the top of the market, opted not to bring in any middle-tier relievers, and left the bullpen "notably neglected," with Ryan Walker the closer by default.

On opening day Foley and Hentges were both on the injured list and Wick was out for the year. The two largest holes among the position players were filled at or under the market's price on terms of one and two years, which is the good half of the winter. The stated first priority received two fifth-starter profiles and no healthy reliever who had pitched in the majors in 2025. C+ for the class, and the question the grade leaves open is whether the bullpen the club described as its problem in October was going to be anybody's problem to fix before July.

Sources: MLB Trade Rumors (Darragh McDonald, November 27, 2025, Hentges; Steve Adams, December 16, 2025, Foley and Houser; Darragh McDonald, December 17, 2025, on the club's remaining needs; Charlie Wright, December 31, 2025, Mahle; Steve Adams, January 30, 2026, Bader; AJ Eustace and Charlie Wright, January 31 and February 10, 2026, Arraez; Charlie Wright, February 13, 2026, Wick; Nick Deeds, February 15, 2026, Brennan; A.J. Eustace, March 21, 2026, Borucki; Anthony Franco, March 5, 2026, the offseason in review; Anthony Franco, October 24, 2025, the offseason outlook; the top 50 free agents with predictions, November 6, 2025); FanGraphs (Ben Clemens and staff, the top 50 free agents, November 5, 2025; Jay Jaffe, February 2, 2026, on Arraez); NBC Sports Bay Area (Eden Collier, March 21, 2026, on Borucki); Associated Press (December 19, 2025, the Houser contract terms; March 21, 2026, the Borucki contract terms); Cot's Baseball Contracts and Spotrac, the Houser and Borucki contracts as carried on September 22, 2026; MLB Stats API (transactions and injured-list placements for each player; 2024 and 2025 season lines; the 2025 standings).