You can’t blame Giants fans for getting a little antsy. Two months after the hiring of new VP of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi, the Orange & Black’s offseason has been surprisingly, curiously quiet. With pitchers and catchers reporting in a little over a month, the 2019 Giants still look an awful lot like the 2018 Giants, leading to questions regarding exactly when and if the club is going to make any significant moves before spring training begins.

Zaidi joined Murph & Mac on Friday morning to discuss those questions, and provide a couple of explanations for the slow nature of the offseason. He also said he expects the team to announce a trade or signing in the next couple of days.

“There’s no doubt that has been a trend over the last few years in major league baseball, that free agency moves a little bit slower,” Zaidi began. “And because free agency is moving slower and there are a lot of options out there, that can clog up the trade market. I mean there has certainly been some activity and you know I would expect in the next three or four days here, we’re getting close on some things, so we’re hopeful to have an announcement on a signing or trade here in the next couple days.

“You know it has been slower, but we’re going to do things at our pace, make sure we’re vetting everything out and making the moves that are going to be best for us, not just in 2019, but in the long run.”

Zaidi also admitted that the Giants lack of depth in the farm system, coupled with a number of aging players on large contracts, has affected things.

“When you are trying to make trades and you’re trying to acquire talent — whether it’s younger talent or veteran types — there’s two places that you’re going to dip into: You’re either going to dip into your financial flexibility if you are talking about signing a free agent, or if you are talking about a trade target and potentially making a deal for that veteran type guy, you’re going to have to dip into your farm system. The reality is the organizational stock in both areas is not particularly high right now, and it just casts a different light on the opportunities that we have out there. I still think we’re going to have those opportunities.

“Again, we’ve made a few smaller moves, waiver claim type moves, cash transactions for players, and those are not meant to as a substitute for some of those other moves. When you sign a player, you make a waiver claim, it’s not taking up any financial obligation, it’s not something that you have to trade young talent for, so those are kind of free acquisitions. There should be a steady stream of that no matter what’s happening on the higher level in terms of big free agents or trades.”

Listen to the full interview below. To hear Farhan on the offseason, start from the beginning.