Send in Your Questions for the Next Free For All Mailbag
I know I didn’t get to all of your questions last week — you really did overstuff the post! But it’s an easier process for me to have all the questions in one place, so if you had a question you really wanted answered that I didn’t get to, it would be helpful for me if you’d repeat them in the comments here. Thanks! And thanks for all the great questions and comments and good engagement! I love There R Giants’ community!
We aficionados of Giant baseball have long looked for contributions from Luis Matos and Marco Luciano. To my eyes Drew Gilbert has passed them as outfield candidates. Could you please rate the three as outfielders?
I don’t think Gilbert has the power of the other two but seems to be a better fielder and fit the current concept of foul line to foul line hitter.
If Dever and Eldridge swap between DH and 1st, and Ramos is the LF going forward, I am not seeing much of a future for Luciano and Matos, at least as Giants. Yes developmental studies should be written about Marco but he is where he is at now.
Hi Roger! Keep fighting the good fight out there. Hopefully you'll get to interview the GOAT Dayson Croes soon (if you can manage to ask him about the 2026 WBC I'd be much obliged).
For years I've been begging the Giants FO to more seriously pursue Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) talent. Many seem to forget that the first Japanese-born player in MLB history, Masanori Murakami, debuted with US! I was a bit surprised that we didn't really bring any Japanese players in under Farhan (no disrespect to Shun Yamaguchi and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo) considering he was instrumental in the Kenta Maeda signing with the Dodgers. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Posey made a trip to Japan to take a look at some of the current NPB talent. I'm sure he remembers getting his ticket punched by Kodai Senga at the 2017 WBC.
As has been discussed, the overall 2025/2026 MLB FA class is not the greatest we've ever seen. However, there are some intriguing players likely to be available from NPB. Young slugger Munetaka Murakami will be posted by the Swallows. RHP SP Tatsuya Imai could be posted by the Lions should they want to cash in. Kazuma Okamoto will be an IFA.
Reports have already surfaced that the Giants are specifically taking a look at Okamoto. For those who don't know, Okamoto has been the captain of the Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants for several years now. Coming into the 2025 season he had hit 20 or more home runs in seven consecutive seasons and is a six-time NPB All-Star. He's missed most of the 2025 season after suffering an injury to his non-throwing arm. He's shown the ability to hit big league pitching at the 2023 WBC, taking Joe La Sorsa (ITA) and Kyle Freeland (USA) deep. Though he is obviously talented and does not require a posting fee I kind of question the fit for the Giants. He'd be another aging corner bat who I wouldn't really say I'd be happy with in the OF, but he's probably not worse than 2025 Heliot Ramos in LF.
Murakami is an even worse fit positionally than Okamoto as most seem to think he's almost certainly gonna be exclusively a DH in MLB. He's also had issues with whiff and in-zone contact since his monster year in 2022, but he'd bring the organization some extremely loud tools as well as youth (he'll be 26 in 2026).
To me, Tatsuya Imai seems like he should be the clear target for the Giants whenever he's posted (either this offseason or next). He's a legit power pitcher with a FB/SL combo that will definitely play at the MLB level. His other secondaries as well as his command have also taken a step forward in 2025 leading to a gaudy strikeout rate in contact-focused NPB. He'll be 28 in 2026 and we know pitching ages better than hitting. Giving him a year to adjust to MLB as a #3 then having him step up to fill the #2 after Ray likely leaves in FA would seem like a natural progression if he's available.
Sorry for the long post, but I thought giving some context to readers was important. What do you think of these players and their potential fit for on the Giants? Do you think Posey will aggressively pursue talent from NPB in years to come?