The San Francisco Giants have a lot of work to do this winter on multiple fronts. However, with an expected budget that won’t rival the top spenders in Major League Baseball, the Giants might have a tough time signing any of the top players available.

Nearly every big-name free agent is expected to land a multi-year contract with a high AAV.

And then there’s Roki Sasaki.

Sasaki will be posted in the new year and can’t sign a big deal due to international rules. Japanese players have been attracted to the West Coast in recent offseasons, making this a potential pairing.

That doesn’t mean Sasaki will be like the rest and sign with a California team, but it’s been a selling point for teams on the West Coast.

There’s reason to believe he could want to play in San Francisco, too. The Giants are one of the most prominent brands in Major League Baseball, they seem to want to improve after the front-office moves they made, and Oracle Park is heaven for a pitcher.

Andrew Tredinnick of NorthJersey.com believes it’s a real possibility he ends up in San Francisco. He predicted the right-hander would sign with them over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who some have considered the favorites in the Sasaki sweepstakes.

“The Dodgers already made a splash to bring in Blake Snell, so Sasaki goes to the pitcher’s park to the north in California,” he wrote.

The Giants will have some work to do to persuade him. This free agency isn’t as easy as handing him a $300 million deal and walking away. Sasaki will have every other factor, aside from money, to help him decide.

There’s optimism when it comes to Oracle Park and it’s something San Francisco needs to sell. If he wants to eventually be paid like one of the top pitchers in Major League Baseball, having elite numbers at Oracle would help him with that.

Sasaki is good enough to come in and dominate, no matter where he plays, but his numbers could be drastically different depending on the park.

As of now, it remains uncertain where he’ll go. Grant Brisbee of The Athletic believes the Giants have a chance, although he added that others could have a better chance.

“A better chance than some. A much worse chance than some of the other teams who will pursue him, though. It’s easy to look at this as a Dodgers-Padres battle, but there are plenty of teams that might appeal to him,” he wrote.

Given San Francisco’s budget, he’s the top target this winter. Landing him as an international free agent would require a quality sales job by new president of baseball operations Buster Posey. But it would also be a coup for his new regime in his first offseason running the front office.

This is a list of the Bay Area’s most notable restaurant and bar openings, with new updates published once a week. Did we miss something great? Please, drop us a line.

December 3

NOPA — Geoffrey Lee, the chef behind Handroll Project and Michelin Guide-listed Ju-ni, debuts his next restaurant Hamburger Project on Wednesday, December 4, the San Francisco Standard reports. Located at 808 Divisadero, expect three styles of smash burger, a classic version with American cheese and housemade HP sauce, an Oklahoma-style onion burger with Peppadew peppers, and a Wisconsin butter burger. There are fries, of course, but the menu also gets punched up with the addition of yuzu-Tabasco sauce and a Tsar Nicoulai caviar upgrade.

OAKLAND — After a couple of months serving “Pakistani party food,” Oakland’s Gold Palm will debut the second part of the restaurant — “secret bar” Moonglow — on Wednesday, December 4. Owners Shirin Raza and Daniel Gahr also own nearby hi-fi listening bar, Bar Shiru, so expect a worthy sound system pumping music through the space alongside solid cocktails such as a 50/50 gin martini. Head to Gold Palm and find the door with a golden doorbell for entry; be warned, however, guests are prohibited from taking photos and videos inside.

OAKLAND — New “mezcal and espresso bar” Mixé is now embedded in the former Calavera space in Oakland and opens on Friday, December 6, East Bay Nosh reports. Pronounced “mee-hay,” the name references a group of indigenous people of Oaxaca. Nosh reports that during the restaurant’s first week, they’ll be open for dinner only before expanding to lunch service as of Friday, December 13.

OAKLAND — Bird-themed bar Little Bird opened in November at 435 13th Street, previously the home of Radio Bar, the Mercury News reports. Expect bold colors for the bar redesign and, surprisingly, a strong pickle selection thanks to Golden State Pickle Works. The new bar comes from Jennifer Seidman, who also owns Acme Bar & Company in Berkeley.

EMERYVILLE — Ramen Hiroshi opened its latest location at the Emeryville Public Market as of Friday, November 15, the E’ville Eye reports. It’s the restaurant’s fifth location in the Bay Area, serving Hakata-style ramen and other items.

The city charter requires the mayor to receive a specific salary rate, and Lurie will automatically donate all but $1 of those wages back to the city, according to his spokesperson, Max Szabo.

Lurie’s net worth is estimated to be up to nearly $33 million, according to the San Francisco Standard. His background represents a sharp contrast from Breed, a fellow San Francisco native who grew up in the city’s public housing. Her salary for the 2024–25 fiscal year is $383,760, according to a July report from the city’s Civil Service Commission.

Lurie will be the first San Francisco mayor in nearly a century to have never served in elected office before taking over City Hall. He previously started and ran an anti-poverty nonprofit called the Tipping Point.

A moderate Democrat, Lurie ran a campaign focused on bringing change to what he often referred to as a corrupt and dysfunctional political environment in San Francisco, and he embraced being the only leading candidate with no prior experience working in City Hall.

“Hope is alive and well in San Francisco,” Lurie told supporters at a press conference in November. “Our mandate is to show how government must deliver on its promises. Clean and safe streets for all. Tackling our drug and behavioral health crisis, shaking up the corrupt and ineffective bureaucracy, building enough housing so our neighbors can afford to live here.”

Lurie follows a small handful of wealthy elected officials who have given back all but $1 of their salary in the form of nontaxable donations. That list includes former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom Lurie has said he looks up to as a model for city leadership, as well as former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.