Giants' Sabean not interested in Cain, Moustakas

Over the weekend, the San Francisco Giants officially ended their pursuit of reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, who was introduced by the New York Yankees on Monday, and the club's contingency plan is starting to come into focus.

According to president of baseball operations Brian Sabean, it doesn't involve either Lorenzo Cain or Mike Moustakas.

Speaking with reporters on the first day of the winter meetings, Sabean effectively ruled out signing either player, both of whom rejected qualifying offers from the Kansas City Royals earlier this offseason.

"If you're asking me personally, my vote would be a no, being that we wouldn't want to get involved with somebody like that," Sabean said, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports.

If they were to sign either player, the Giants - having exceeded the luxury-tax threshold in 2017 - would forfeit their second- and fifth-round picks in next year's draft along with $1 million of their international bonus pool money. As such, in addition to Cain and Moustakas, the Giants aren't likely to pursue Eric Hosmer, Carlos Santana, Jake Arrieta, Greg Holland, Alex Cobb, Lance Lynn, or Wade Davis, either.

"That would be a huge hit in a year (we have) the second pick in every round," Sabean said. “We really have a chance to make hay in this draft and we expect to do so, so that would be a stretch."

Given their financial situation, though, the Giants will have to exercise some restraint even with unqualified free agents. After factoring in raises for their arbitration-eligible players, the Giants already have more than $187 million committed to next year's payroll, leaving the front office with less than $10 million to play with if they want to avoid exceeding the luxury-tax threshold ($197 million) for a fourth successive season.