Who do you think will be the Giants’ closer in 2020?

-- Max B., Fremont, Calif.

I think the answer to this question will largely depend on whether Will Smith is still with the Giants next year. Smith is eligible for free agency, but the Giants will likely extend him a qualifying offer worth $17.8 million over one season. That’s a significant jump from Smith’s $4.225 million salary in 2019, but he could opt to decline the qualifying offer and pursue a larger guarantee on the free-agent market, so his future in San Francisco is a bit murky.

If Smith departs this offseason, the Giants will have some internal options to fill their ninth-inning void. Shaun Anderson might be the most intriguing candidate, since he spent much of his collegiate career at Florida as a closer, but it remains to be seen if he will enter next season as a starter or a reliever. Jandel Gustave and Trevor Gott each saved one game for the Giants in 2019, so I’d expect them to be in the mix in any potential closer competition next spring as well.

Given Brandon Crawford’s difficult season (both offensively and defensively) and a recent article about the Giants needing to upgrade at shortstop, can we see Craw in a utility role -- playing various infield positions similar to what Pablo Sandoval did last year?

-- Armando H.

I think the handling of Crawford and other legacy players like Buster Posey and Brandon Belt will be one of the most interesting challenges for the next Giants manager. Longtime skipper Bruce Bochy was very loyal to his core veteran players and stuck with them through their ups and downs, but it’s possible that his replacement might not be as inclined to give his vets a long leash if their performances continue to decline in 2020.

Crawford is coming off the worst offensive season of his career, so if he’s unable to return to form, I think he could be liable to lose playing time to Mauricio Dubón or Donovan Solano in 2020. Crawford has exclusively played shortstop since debuting with the Giants in '11, so it will definitely be interesting to see if he’s asked to take grounders at other spots around the infield next spring in an effort to increase his versatility.

How come there is absolutely no talk at all regarding Solano? He seemed to do well off the bench, he had the best batting average of anybody on the team -- granted he had a lot less ABs -- and he seemed to be a likable guy. Is it the organization that doesn't like him, was there a problem between him and Bochy? Why didn't he get more opportunities?

-- Mike, Boise, Idaho

I think the Giants were very pleased with Solano’s performance in 2019, though the arrival of Dubón and a right calf injury ended up limiting Solano's playing time over the final month of the season. Still, he posted a 117 OPS+, batted .402 on the road and proved to be a sure-handed defender at both middle-infield spots, allowing the Giants to occasionally sit Crawford against tough lefties. He remains under team control and has a projected arbitration salary of $1.2 million for '20, according to MLB Trade Rumors, so he should be back in the fold next season.

Do you think the Giants will re-sign Stephen Vogt?

-- Chris N., San Francisco

Vogt, who grew up a Giants fan, was an ideal fit for San Francisco, serving as a left-handed-hitting complement to Posey and quickly becoming a popular figure in the clubhouse after completing his comeback from shoulder surgery in May. While he has expressed interest in returning, Vogt said he would like to wait and see who the Giants hire as their next manager before making a decision.

“Obviously, you have to see how the winter shakes out,” Vogt said last month. “We have to see kind of what happens in that regard. But of course I’d be willing and open to coming back. I love this place. I love these guys in this room. This is a place that I can see myself in, so we’ll just have to see what happens.”