This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

In just over one week, Giants pitchers and catchers will take the field in Scottsdale, Ariz., for their first workout of the spring.

While the club’s unsuccessful pursuits for Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa left many fans disappointed, the Giants still believe they boast a deep roster that will be capable of surprising in 2023.

• What to know about Giants Spring Training

“We really want to prove people wrong again and prove to people that we’re more like the 107-win team [in 2021],” right-hander Logan Webb said. “I’m not saying we’re going to win 107 games. That was pretty special. But we’re better than the .500 team that we were last year.”

Here are three storylines to follow at Giants camp this spring:

1. How will Brandon Crawford respond to the Correa drama?

It’s been an awkward offseason for Crawford, who was expected to move to third base after the Giants agreed to a 13-year, $350 million contract with Correa in December. Crawford spent a week coming to terms with a position change, though he ended up sticking at shortstop after Correa’s megadeal fell apart due to medical concerns.

“I’m sure it was a frustrating and confusing period for him,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said in December. “I don’t think we could have prioritized that communication any higher than we did. It’s a big part of his identity, being the shortstop of this team. And I think we understood his disappointment. He wanted to understand step one for him, where he would be playing, and we tried to explain that the best that we could.

“Look, it didn’t work out and he’s our shortstop now and we want and expect to be a playoff team. We know he’s motivated to have a great season. Some of it is just understanding the reality that if we pursued shortstops, there would just be an inherent element of feeling disrespected there, no matter how we handled it. I understand that, [manager Gabe Kapler] understands that, we all understand that, because he’s been a great player and he’s been really important to this franchise.

“I’m guessing he’s happy to be back at his natural spot, and if there’s some awkward or negative feelings, hopefully, we turn the page when we get to Spring Training. We all want the same thing, which is success for this team.”

Crawford, the longest-tenured Giant and the last remaining link to the club’s championship era, is coming off a down season, but he should benefit from better health and regular access to the team’s facilities and coaches, which weren’t available to him during the lockout last winter. The Giants don’t have much shortstop depth behind him, so they’ll be counting on the 36-year-old veteran to recapture the resurgent form he showed in 2021, when he placed fourth in National League MVP voting.

2. How will the catching competition shake out?

Catcher is perhaps the Giants’ most unsettled position heading into Spring Training, as Joey Bart is currently the only true backstop on the 40-man roster. Veterans Austin Wynns and Roberto Pérez will be in camp as non-roster invitees, and the Giants are also expected to take a look at Rule 5 Draft pick Blake Sabol, who has split time between catcher and the outfield in the Minors.

The Giants still view Bart as a developing player, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them pair him with a more experienced option like Pérez, who won two Gold Glove Awards during his eight-year tenure with Cleveland.

“Physically, the reputation is strong,” Kapler said. “The catch, the throw, the block -- he has the reputation for being at the top of the league. Then the relationships he has with pitchers is excellent. Just having a veteran catcher in camp that our pitchers are going to be really excited to throw to, to learn from and be exposed to is a big deal because we really haven’t had that since Buster [Posey]. It’s meaningful.”

3. Will the Giants lock up Webb to a long-term extension?

While discussing Judge’s decision to re-sign with the Yankees, Webb mentioned that he’d “love to be a Giant for life.” Webb, 26, won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 2025 season, but Zaidi confirmed that they've had some talks about a long-term deal this offseason.

Spring Training tends to be extension season around baseball, so perhaps the two sides will be able to work out an agreement in the coming weeks.