Last winter, the Giants took a gamble by signing veteran pitchers Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly to one-year contracts.
San Francisco needed arms to eat innings, but the Gausman and Smyly impressed the team so much that Farhan Zaidi said he wants to re-sign both players this offseason. The Giants extended an $18.9 million qualifying offer to Gausman, so he's likely to return next season.
While bringing Gausman and Smyly back would be a good idea for the Giants, there are two veteran lefties that might make sense on similar one-year contracts.
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SIGN UP HERE ESPN's David Schoenfield highlighted potential offseason moves for all 30 MLB teams Friday, and he predicts that the Giants will sign free agents Rich Hill and Jose Quintana.
If Zaidi brings both Gausman and Smyly back, he might not have room for both Hill and Quintana, but signing at least one, if not both, makes sense for the Giants.
Hill, if he decides to play in 2021, will be 41 years old on Opening Day. It might not seem like the Giants have much use for an aging lefty starter, but he posted a 3.03 ERA in eight starts for the Minnesota Twins this year.
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Despite his age, Hill has been an effective starter for the last five seasons. From 2016 through the 2020 season, he has a 3.01 ERA in 90 starts and one relief appearance.
The best part about possibly adding Hill is that he likely wouldn't cost much. The Twins paid him $3 million for the 2020 season, and he probably will command a similar salary in 2021. Even if he asks for $4 or $5 million, the Giants can afford that.
As for Quintana, he's a former AL All-Star coming off a couple rough seasons with the Chicago Cubs. The 31-year-old missed most of the 2020 season with a lat injury and only appeared in four games, allowing five earned runs in 10 innings.
Quintana earned $10.5 million in each of the last two seasons with the Cubs, but he might be willing to take a one-year contract with a low base salary in order to rebuild his value. The Giants believe in the organization's ability to work with pitchers to get the best out of them, so the coaching staff might feel they can get Quintana back on the right track with a few changes.
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The Giants have a lot of arms in the minors that they are excited about, like Sean Hjelle, Seth Corry and Tristan Beck, just to name a few. But it's unclear if any will be ready to contribute in 2021 since they weren't part of the Giants' alternate camp roster this year.
If they Giants need arms to eat innings next year, it would make sense to bring in veterans on one-year contracts. The financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic likely will bring down prices for free agents, so the Giants might be able to get Hill and Quintana at relatively low numbers.