The San Francisco Giants need more pitching and seem to want to trade one of their sluggers — and they may be able to accomplish two tasks with one move.

With Buster Posey seemingly wanting to move on from LaMonte Wade Jr. while he still holds a bit of trade value, he will need to consider what they to get back in return.

One team that could be desperate to bring Wade in is the Houston Astros, long plagued by poor play at the plate from their first basemen. While most of their pitchers were injured last season, they do have a slight surplus of starting caliber players on their roster. They might just be the perfect trade partner.

A potential deal between the two squads could see the Giants ship Wade off to the Astros in exchange for right-handed starter J.P. France and pitching prospect Jackson Nezuh.

France is an interesting case, and would certainly be a risk, but does have the potential to be an impactful arm in the backend for the rotation.

He is a long way from someone that could replace Blake Snell, but could be an interesting innings eating starter or long-reliever depending on how he comes back from injury.

That is something that San Francisco wished they had last year during their flurry of pitching injuries.

The Houston righty struggled last year, but it was just a small sample size of five starts. The Giants would need him to find a way back to his surprisingly solid rookie campaign.

In 2023, he made 24 appearances (23 starts) and finished with a 3.83 ERA across 136.1 innings pitched.

France has a great breaking balls that helped him soar in the minor leagues. HIs changeup is especially effective.

Given that he is coming off of a shoulder injury, though, the Astros could need to add a mid-tier prospect as a bit of insurance.

Nezuh was a 14th-round selection in the 2023 MLB draft out of the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns.

He has always been more of potential guy than actual results, but he had a great first year in the Houston farm system. He had a 3.89 ERA with 11.3 K/9 across Single and High-A.

Wade was red-hot to start last season, but fell off hard. As he enters the final year of his career, Posey could be looking to maximize his trade value and help the roster out in a bigger spot of need.

Lee Farley, 36, was convicted Friday of shooting and killing four men in the Hayes Valley neighborhood in 2015.

In a statement, prosecutors said that Farley was found guilty of using a rental car from Walnut Creek to perform a drive-by shooting on an idle Honda Civic, firing 18 shots into the vehicle before fleeing.

All four victims died on the scene.

Farley, who initially plead not guilty, was serving time for unrelated charges in 2016 when authorities connected him to the shootings, according to reporting from SFGATE.

“Our strong legal team fought hard, understanding that while nothing we do can bring back their loved ones, that hopefully this verdict brings them some comfort,” said District Attroney Brooke Jenkins in the statement.

Farley is set to be sentenced on Dec. 16.

Photo via X

The San Francisco Giants are heading into free agency and the offseason as a very interesting team to watch. 

It was another disappointing season for the Giants in 2024, as they finished under .500 once again and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. 

The struggles in San Francisco resulted in a change in the front office, as Buster Posey took over as the President of Baseball Operations. 

With the decision to add Posey to the front office, the hope is that he will be able to lure in some of the top caliber free agents that they have been missing out on in recent years. 

The Giants haven’t been shy about spending money, but that money hasn’t always went to the right places. 

Recently, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report ranked teams in different tiers based on what they will spend this offseason. For San Francisco, he placed them in the tier that will be spending this winter. 

“Perhaps the most interesting team on this list is the Giants, with former NL MVP Buster Posey now serving as their president of baseball operations. He’s talked about wanting to figure the shortstop position out, which is why we’ve projected the Giants as the landing spot for Adames. But San Francisco has had a hard time getting star players to sign on the dotted line in recent years, probably due in large part to Oracle Park being seen as a bad place to hit at 81 times a season.”

While the Giants have the desire to sign a superstar and the next face of the franchise, there have been some indications that they might not break the bank this offseason. However, at the same time, they have been linked to some of the top free agents this winter. 

Currently, the biggest need for San Francisco is in their lineup. While Juan Soto would be a great addition, him going to the Bay Area seems unlikely. However, a player like Willy Adames or Alex Bregman might be a more realistic target. Neither one of those players would be cheap, but both would instantly upgrade the lineup. 

In addition to trying to upgrade the lineup, the Giants also saw Blake Snell decline his player option to become a free agent. Considering how good Snell was in the second half of the season, it will be interesting to see what the plan is to either bring him back or replace him. 

While San Francisco will certainly be spending this offseason, the real question will be how much the organization is willing to invest.