MLB mailbag:

This week’s mailbag ends up in the Giants’ rotation Framber Valdez still not signed, a thorough look at where Eugene Suarez could land, the Tigers and the Nationals, and more collective bargaining thoughts.

Paul asks:

Who’s excited for the Giants to expand their rotation?

Daryn asks:

Why hasn’t Framber Valdez been signed yet? He is the best starting pitcher on the market. Is it his age and asking for a lot of years, or is it the clubhouse we hear about?

Currently, the Giants’ rotation looks like this:

Like any team, they need reinforcements when injuries occur. Ray is 34 and 2025 was his first full season in three years. Houser is 33 and threw a career-high 164 1/3 innings last year (including Triple-A). Roupp missed 24 days due to elbow inflammation and saw his season end in August with a deep bone bruise in his knee. Mahle missed more than three months due to shoulder pain.

During the Mahle conference, Giants GM Zack Minasian said, “I don’t know if we’re ever done. I think we’re very comfortable with the five we have and then the bundle of arms behind it. Our depth is in a much better place than it was at the start of the offseason, so we’re happy with where we are right now. We’ll continue to work on it, but we do think this is a solid five-man rotation heading into the spring.” That quote comes through Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

That bundle behind the starting five may contain Hayden birdsong, Kai-Wei Teng, Carson Seymour, Blade TidwellAnd Carson Whisenhuntwho all made a big league start last year. Trevor McDonald And Keaton Winn are also options.

The Giants are paying $21 million in AAV for Houser and Mahle this year, but neither can be counted on for a two-war season. I don’t know Zac Gallen would be enough of an improvement over the Giants’ existing back-end options, but putting Framber Valdez behind Webb would be huge. The Giants have a good team right now, but Valdez could add three crucial wins to whoever he replaces.

In November, Giants owner Greg Johnson expressed his reluctance to sign a pitcher to a long-term contract. Just before that, MLBTR predicted a five-year contract for the 32-year-old Valdez. Ranger Suarez signed a five-year contract two weeks ago, so it is possible to get that type of contract in January. That said, we haven’t seen a free agent starter get five years on January 28 or later since Yu Darvish in 2018. As we get closer to pitchers and catchers reporting, the chances of Valdez getting a true five-year contract like Suarez become less likely.

There are several factors that likely contribute to Valdez being unsigned on January 28: