How does SF Giants’ offseason stack up with other National League contenders?

As the regular season ended and autumn leaves started to fall, the Giants had very clear needs around their roster: starters, relievers and an outfielder.

With February looming, Buster Posey and Zack Minasian checked all those boxes. San Francisco added Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle for the rotation; Sam Hentges and Jason Foley for the bullpen; Daniel Susac as a potential backup catcher for two-time Gold Glover Patrick Bailey; and, on Monday, Harrison Bader to strengthen the outfield defense.

It’s possible that Bader is the last significant addition before spring training. Will the moves be enough to improve a team that went 81-81 last season? FanGraphs currently projects the Giants to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight year. Breaking that streak, then, will heavily hinge on internal developement.

Compared to San Francisco, other prospective contenders around the National League have been more aggressive and ambitious in adding to their rosters. One of those teams, of course, resides in the Giants’ own division.

While the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks have been relatively tranquil this winter, the Los Angeles Dodgers added to their embarrassment of riches by signing four-time All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker and three-time All-Star closer Edwin Díaz. The back-to-back defending champions boast baseball’s most complete roster on paper, and they’re equipped to become the first team to three-peat since the New York Yankees.

“Obviously, it’s not fun for me to watch the team that won it — and the team that kicked our (butt) a lot last year — get some really good players just to make it more difficult,” said right-hander Logan Webb prior to last Saturday’s San Ramon leg of the FanFest tour. “But, at the end of the day, you just have to play better.”

Los Angeles isn’t the only coastal team that flexed its financial muscle this offseason.

The New York Mets underwent the “Mets-odus” to begin their winter, losing long-time pillars in Díaz, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil through various avenues. In their place, New York added an influx of fresh talent: Bo Bichette, Freddy Peralta, Luis Robert Jr., Marcus Semien, Jorge Polanco, Devin Williams. After barely missing the final NL Wild Card spot in 2025, New York has the blueprint of a playoff team.

New York and Los Angeles aren’t the only big-city teams backing up the Brinks Truck. The Chicago Cubs started the fall with some jabs, signing a handful of relievers to create a deeper bullpen. Then, they landed their haymakers by trading for right-hander Edward Cabrera and throwing the bag (five years, $175 million) at thre-time All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman.

The Atlanta Braves, unlike Los Angeles, New York and Chicago, haven’t had one singular headline-grabbing move, but rather a series of very solid acquisitions that accentuate a talented core.

For the bullpen, they re-signed Raisel Iglesias and added Robert Suárez. In the outfield, they inked former Giant Mike Yastrzemski to a two-year, $23 million deal. They brought in infielders Ha-Seong Kim and Mauricio Dubón, though Kim will miss the beginning of the season after slipping on ice.

Last season felt like a year-long testament to Murphy’s Law for Atlanta, but with Ronald Acuña Jr. back for a full season after mashing in his return from ACL surgery, the Braves could put last year’s awful season behind them.

Perhaps the most intriguing team in the National League is the Pittsburgh Pirates, who haven’t made the playoffs in more than a decade. Following a ninth straight year of finishing fourth or fifth in the NL Central, the Buccos spent a modest amount of money (by their standards) to surround the superlative Paul Skenes with a better roster.

Their lineup now features Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn, a pair of left-handed hitters who will provide some thump. Their bullpen added left-handers Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery. The Skenes-led rotation has tremendous upside, and No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin could make his debut next season.

On the flip side of the equation, there are those contenders who haven’t done a ton.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers each won their divisions — the latter had the best record in the majors — but each lost a top-of-the-rotation starter. The Brewers traded Peralta to the Mets for a pair of prospects, while the Phillies let left-hander Ranger Suárez walk in free agency. Both teams still have the facilities to compete, and the Brewers, in particular, always find ways to churn out starting pitchers.

Even with pitchers and catchers to report in about two weeks, there are still other avenues for the Giants to continue adding, to be sure.

San Francisco reportedly tried pursuing Washington Nationals’ shortstop CJ Abrams with the intention of moving him to second base but those plans did not materialize. The Giants have also been linked to a pair of NL Central second basemen in the Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and St. Louis Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan.

A successful offseason doesn’t guarantee a successful regular season; winning games in the summer is more important than winning headlines in the winter. If the Giants are truly done adding, the following months will determine whether their acquisitions were enough to get back to the dance.