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LAS VEGAS — Giants officials checked out of the general manager meetings Thursday morning after several face-to-face sessions with agents and much internal brainstorming, all part of the early stages of forming the 2026 roster.

“Just a lot of feeling out agents and teams, probably more agents than teams at this point,” Giants GM Zack Minasian said before he and Buster Posey headed to the Las Vegas airport. “It was good. It’s always nice for our group to be together and talk baseball, which I enjoy as much as anything. It’s a great time to try and gather as much information as possible. You don’t get everything, but it’s a nice starting point.”

The key conversations centered around pitching. The Giants are in the market for rotation and bullpen pieces and are considering many options and salary levels. The brass met with agent Scott Boras, who represents several pitchers, the agency CAA, and others looking to pitch their free agents.

For the Giants, the meetings took a new twist as manager Tony Vitello joined some conversations.

“You’ve probably caught on that he’s a very personable guy,” Posey said Thursday. “It helps with the conversation flow, whether it’s with our group or even when he was in on some of the agent conversation as well.”

Minasian added, “I feel like he brightens the room. A lot of great insights.”

Boras represents starters Dylan Cease, Zac Gallen, Ranger Suarez, Tatsuya Imai, and swingman Nick Martinez. Also, future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, 41, who could be a fit for the Giants to take Justin Verlander’s rotation spot, in part because of Scherzer’s relationship with Vitello, who recruited him to the University of Missouri, the genesis of their longstanding friendship.

Beyond his value on the mound, Scherzer could serve as a Vitello ally and liaison to other players, if needed. If anything reaches fruition, it won’t come anytime soon.

“We literally haven’t discussed it,” Vitello told The Standard. “I think the biggest discussion is, where is he at in his career and, more importantly, where’s [his wife] Erica at? I mean, they’ve got a big family, four kids, so what’s best for him and his family? Ultimately, when he knows 100% that he’s playing and is available, maybe we have a conversation.

“But he’s going to have to initiate that. I want to win more than anything in the world, but that’s the professional side of me. The personal side of me, that can be delicate. It’s got to be for the right reasons. It’s not something where you use something to your advantage from the past.”

Scherzer had postseason success with the Blue Jays, whose quest to win their first World Series title since 1993 fell short in Game 7. The right-hander started that game and gave up one run in 4⅓ innings, outpitching opposing starter Shohei Ohtani (three runs, 2⅓ innings) long before the Dodgers pulled out the 11-inning thriller.

Scherzer was 5-5 with a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts, striking out 82 and walking 23 in 85 innings. He missed a couple of months with a thumb injury but rebounded to post a 3.47 ERA in a 10-game stretch from late June to mid-August. He dealt with neck pain late in the regular season and coughed up 25 earned runs in 25 innings over his last six starts. 

The eight-time All-Star, who had a $15.5 million salary, similar to Verlander’s, rebounded in the postseason beginning with a win over Seattle in the ALCS.

“He can be a player coach, no matter where he goes,” Vitello said. “He’s incredibly smart. People who don’t know him probably need an adjustment period to understand where he’s coming from, and then they understand in a hurry. Everything for this guy is about improvement and being as good as he could possibly be, and he wants to help others, not just himself, be in that position. It becomes a powerful force in a clubhouse.”

Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins spoke glowingly of Scherzer at the GM meetings: “The competitiveness is what everyone always talks about, and it was so rewarding to see his process for how he prepares for a start.”

Asked if he would be surprised if Scherzer came back strong next season, Atkins said, “Oh, I’d be surprised if he didn’t.”

Boras added, “It’s not about chronological age to him, it’s about what he can do for a team, what he does in a locker room, the respect he has in the game. He is a remarkably committed performer.”

Besides Boras’ stable of starters, the list includes Framber Valdez, Michael King, and Lucas Giolito, while the relief market starts with Edwin Díaz and Devin Williams. The top hitter is Kyle Tucker, followed by Boras client Cody Bellinger, both of whom would fit nicely in the Giants’ outfield, though it’s questionable whether the team would ante up for either.

Boras argued that the Giants have the resources and revenue to spend big in free agency, saying, “The city’s coming back. You’re in a goliath division with clubs that’ll spend money.”

Meantime, the Giants will give special attention to minor-league free agents. Posey knows the potential value from the championship era, when the Giants added, among others, Ryan Vogelsong, Andrés Torres, Grégor Blanco, Yusmeiro Petit, and Santiago Casilla, who all played pivotal roles in World Series runs.

Every team can lose minor-leaguers to free agency after six years. That was the case for the Giants recently with their 2019 first-round pick, Hunter Bishop.

Assistant GM Jeremy Shelley is a point man in targeting minor-league free agents.

“We take a lot of pride in it as a front office,” Minasian said, “trying to find players that maybe just haven’t gotten that opportunity yet or need one little tweak here or change of scenery or are overcoming some kind of health issue they’ve had in the past. It all goes back to: We’re going to look at getting better any way possible.”