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Thus far during the MLB offseason, many of the SF Giants’ free agent targets for 2024 have not decided to come to the Bay Area. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto signing with Los Angeles and Shohei Ohtani going to the Dodgers as well, the offseason has been close to a disaster from San Francisco’s perspective. Not only have the Giants missed on some of their top targets, but the rival Dodgers have signed those players.

How Can Giants Save Their Offseason

In fairness, the Giants have signed outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and catcher Tom Murphy. They have also acquired Robbie Ray via trade, dumping Mitch Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani in the process.

There are also plenty of other SF Giants rumors swirling around, indicating that the Giants are still working to make some moves this winter. Let’s take a look at some of the remaining SF Giants free agent targets in 2024 and what San Francisco can do to salvage what has been an otherwise disappointing offseason.

Sign Shota Imanaga

The Giants may have missed out on Yamamoto, but it’s not too late to grab Shota Imanaga. Of course, Imanaga isn’t projected to be a bonafide ace like Yamamoto. But he also won’t be as expensive to sign while still improving the San Francisco rotation.

Imanaga is projected as a mid-rotation starter in the big leagues, making him a good complement to Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, and Ross Stripling. He would also be a second lefty in the rotation alongside youngster Kyle Harrison. If the Giants can make a competitive bid for Imanaga, there are plenty of reasons to believe that he’ll find San Francisco to be the best landing spot available.

Trade for Corbin Burnes

There is still every indication that the Brewers will try to trade Corbin Burnes before the season. The number of potential trade partners appears to be going down, improving San Francisco’s chances of acquiring the former Cy Young winner. Needless to say, there will still be a heavy price to pay, although the Giants have a strong enough farm system and some current MLB players to give Milwaukee an enticing offer.

Burnes would immediately give the Giants the ace they covet. Even with a solid rotation already, San Francisco knows that starting pitching will be key to the team’s success in 2024. Trading for Burnes would change the look of their rotation and perhaps give the Giants a leg up in signing him when he hits free agency.

Take a Chance on Tim Anderson

The Giants are understandably excited about Marco Luciano, but he’s far from a sure thing right now. It might be best to give the 22-year-old more seasoning in the minors, creating the need for a shortstop.

Why not take a chance on a player like Tim Anderson?

He’s surely better than he showed last season and would be willing to take a one-year deal at a reasonable price to prove himself. Such a move would give the Giants a motivated and proven shortstop in 2024 while giving Luciano another year to develop.

Sign Marcus Stroman

If the top free-agent pitchers on the market are out of San Francisco’s price range, Marcus Stroman could be the ideal fallback option. He’s not going to require as much money or years as some other pitchers but will still be a useful rotation asset in 2024.

Stroman has been durable and effective over the last several years, always pitching as if he has something to prove. That’s the kind of pitcher the Giants could use in their rotation next season.

Sign Cody Bellinger

While it might seem like a pipe dream, signing Cody Bellinger would surely salvage the offseason for the Giants. What better way to compete with the Dodgers than to sign a Los Angeles castaway? Obviously, Bellinger is going to require a long-term deal and hundreds of millions of dollars to sign.

But he’s also a former MVP who is only 28 and can play multiple positions. The Giants could certainly shift some pieces around to make room for Bellinger in either the outfield or at first base, perhaps creating some trade chips in the process. More importantly, Bellinger would give the Giants the type of power hitter they’ve been lacking in recent seasons, finally giving them someone who can anchor their lineup.

From the moment Ron Rivera named Sam Howell his starting quarterback in the summer, the coach had never flinched. He has praised Howell’s potential, even as he struggled. He lauded his growth, even as the losses mounted. He made it clear he believed the Washington Commanders had found their franchise quarterback.

Then, last Sunday, he flinched.

It wasn’t just that Rivera pulled Howell with 9:05 to go in the Commanders’ 28-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, or that the offense clicked as backup Jacoby Brissett nearly rallied Washington for the win. It’s that the benching was weeks in the making, as Howell’s struggles have mounted. 

And it was that Rivera said that if the Commanders still had any shot at the playoffs, he might not be willing to put Howell back in.

“Well, if this was about playoffs and we’re right in the middle of it, that’s something you have to most certainly consider,” Rivera said. “Do we still have that opportunity to continue to win? That’s one of the things you always consider because you have to make sure everybody’s getting the opportunity to be successful.”

That’s something the eventual new regime of the Washington Commanders will have to consider, too. And it’s no longer as easy a decision as it once might have seemed.

It’s not just that Howell has struggled mightily over the last four games — a 59.4 completion percentage, 196 passing yards per game, two touchdowns and six interceptions, including three that were returned for touchdowns. It’s that with him leading the way the Commanders (4-10) have lost five straight, seven of eight have gone 2-10 since their surprising 2-0 start.

As a result, they would currently pick fourth in the 2024 NFL Draft. They have a real shot to pick as high as second. That means whoever takes over for Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew after the season will be holding a top pick in a quarterback-rich draft and could maybe even have a shot at USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye, or perhaps LSU’s Jayden Daniels.

The new GM and coach will also have no allegiance to Howell, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft, nor will they care that Rivera once believed his legacy in Washington would be the franchise quarterback he left behind.

Of course, just because Rivera benched his 23-year-old quarterback doesn’t mean anyone in Washington has — or should — give up on Howell yet. Overall, he’s still had a surprisingly productive season. He ranks seventh in passing yards with 3,568, even though he’s thrown for just 229 total in the last two weeks. He’s completed 64.6 percent of his passes and thrown 19 touchdowns despite being sacked a ridiculous 59 times.

More often than not, he’s been a bright spot on a bad Commanders team. 

“There have been some positives and it continues to be positive,” Rivera said. “But the thing you always want to make sure is (that) we’re still seeing the growth. That’s something we have to sit down and discuss and see exactly where we all feel he is.”

Lately, it’s hard to argue there’s been much growth. The six interceptions Howell has thrown in the last four games has ballooned his season total to 15 — the most in the NFL. And it was hard not to notice how well Brissett performed after Howell was pulled on Sunday, going 8 of 10 for 124 yards and two touchdowns on his only two drives.

Yes, the Rams’ defense was sitting back a bit protecting what was a 28-7 lead with nine minutes to go. But there were little things that Brissett did that Howell hadn’t been doing. And there are bigger things, like rediscovering Terry McLaurin, the Commanders’ best receiver. He had a career-high 141 receiving yards on Sunday, including 93 on passes from Brissett. The lack of a connection between Howell and McLaurin has been disappointing all season. One game earlier, McLaurin didn’t even catch a single pass.

That has all helped the doubts creep in where there hadn’t been many before. In early November, Rivera was all but handing the keys to the franchise to Howell. He said, “This franchise has been looking for quite some time and for the first time in a while, I think that that guy might be here.” Now he’s questioning his growth, saying he needs a “reset,” wondering out loud if he’s the guy who gives his team the best chance to win.

“That’s stuff that I have to take into consideration — exactly where he is and how he’s handling these things,” Rivera said. “He’s done a really good job for us and it is a long year. It’s been a tough year. But again, this is stuff that we can hope that he understands, and he learns and he grows.”

There are certainly signs that he has, and he can. As recently as last week, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was still raving about Howell’s progress, his intelligence, his pocket presence and more.

“Do I like what he’s done? Yes, I do,” Bieniemy said. “Obviously, in this league, you’re measured by wins and losses, so we have to make sure that is reflecting in that column. But I’m very happy with his development and his growth process. Do we have a long way to go? Yes, we do, but he’s growing every single day.”

Howell’s teammates seem to sense that and still believe in him, too.

“Sam’s still doing a good job of growing and learning and giving us chance to make plays down the field,” McLaurin said. “We’re still rolling with him. We’ve just got to continue to support him and make his job a little easier.”

“He’s going to be a good player in this league for a long time,” Brissett added. “The key is just you can’t be discouraged, can’t lose confidence, and I’m sure he won’t. I’m sure he can come back and be better than this.”

Howell didn’t sound discouraged after he was benched on Sunday. He even insisted: “I know I’m not defined by this one game.” And he won’t be. Rivera has already said Howell will be the starter again when the Commanders play at the New York Jets (5-9) on Christmas Eve. It’s a good bet he’ll be the starter in the final two games, too.

After that, though, all the bets on Howell are now off, because there are just too many variables about his future. No one knows yet who’ll be in charge, let alone what they think of Howell — or even what new owner Josh Harris thinks of Howell and his potential. It’s unclear just how high the Commanders will be picking in the draft, and what the new boss’ evaluation of the quarterback class will be.

There was a time, though, when Howell seemed to be steaming towards making it an easy decision for whoever ended up in charge. Through the first eight games he had completed 66.9 percent of his passes, he had thrown for 2,146 yards and 13 touchdowns, his passer rating was 90.1, and everyone seemed to believe the best was yet to come.

But the only thing that came next were struggles and doubts, leaving many to wonder if Rivera even still believes the Commanders have their franchise quarterback. Not that it matters, since that won’t be his decision.

The legacy he hoped to leave behind is now very much up in the air.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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