Giants must make tough decisions on arbitration-eligible players originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — A few days before he was let go, Farhan Zaidi flew to Arizona to watch the Giants take on the Diamondbacks and participate in organizational meetings. It was time to talk about major offseason decisions, with the first deadlines coming well before the biggest free agents made their decisions.
All of that is now on Buster Posey’s plate, and while he can’t do anything about the first major checkpoint – the Blake Snell opt-out, which he will take advantage of – Posey and his hand-picked general manager will soon have to decide how much of their 2025 salary they want to spend on veterans who are eligible for arbitration.
The Giants have just under a month to figure out whether to tender contracts, although the most interesting decision has already been made. Thairo Estrada wasn’t expected to be tendered anyway after a rough season, but he will be a free agent at the start of the offseason after the Giants cut him entirely from the 40-man roster in September.
That leaves four veterans, all of whom have had huge moments in orange and black. Here’s a look at what the Giants could do, with 2025 salary estimates from MLB Trade Rumors:
Mike Yastrzemski ($9.5 million):
When asked directly about Yastrzemski during that visit to Phoenix, Zaidi admitted he has a soft spot for the veteran outfielder, a sign he would definitely return for a seventh season in San Francisco. Posey figures feel the same way.
The new president of baseball operations was in the lineup when Yastrzemski broke through in 2019 and they played together again in 2021. Yastrzemski will never reach those heights of 2020 again, but he is doing all the little things right and has a good presence in the clubhouse.
He is also, despite what some on social media will tell you, still a pretty valuable right fielder.
A Gold Glove Award finalist for the second time, Yastrzemski turned his season around after a rough April to finish with a 106 wRC+ and 18 home runs. Teams generally value one win above replacement at around that projected 2025 salary, and Yastrzemski just posted a 1.6 WAR season, which followed 1.5 WAR and 1.6 WAR in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
The Giants know exactly what they are going to get from the veteran, and there is value in that. He also fits perfectly in a squad with Jung Hoo Lee in the middle and Heliot Ramos on the left. If Posey makes a splash and adds another outfielder, Yastzemski is an ideal fourth player because of his ability to play all three spots. If Marco Luciano’s Luis Matos breaks through, the same applies. And if this is the group, then the Giants will be fine if Yastrzemski is right. That’s what he wants too.
“After April I was quite frustrated and I just wanted to fight back and prove my worth because I love this place. I don’t want to go anywhere as long as I’m playing,” he said in September. “I love the group here, the staff, the front office has treated me like family and they are amazing, the fans are incredible and made it feel like home.
“The goal is to stay here as long as possible and I understand that’s usually based on performance, so I just try to keep adding value every day, whether it’s leading here (in the clubhouse), whether it’s is about playing the right way, whether it’s running hard and making some defensive plays.
“I just want to show value in every place I can and try to stay as long as I can.”
Yastrzemski would like a multi-year deal and the Giants may do that to bring the average annual value down a bit, but either way he should be back in the mix next season.
Tyler Rogers ($5.5 million)
Rogers led the NL in appearances for the second time, posting a 2.82 ERA and 3.57 FIP. Like Yastrzemski, he seems to repeat the same season over and over again, although this time there was a notable difference. Rogers walked just six batters in 77 appearances and set an MLB record by issuing zero unintentional walks in his first 35 games. He had the slowest walk speed in all of baseball and held opponents to the third-lowest average exit velocity.
Soft contact and pounding the zone. You can’t really ask for much more from a reliever.
The Giants used Rogers primarily as a setup man in 2024, but if Camilo Doval can find his old form, Rogers can really be used anywhere in the late innings. He seemingly never tires, and now that he’s returning for a seventh season, he’s set to pass some interesting names on the franchise leaderboards.
Rogers needs just four appearances to pass Matt Cain and with his normal production he would become the 15th pitcher in franchise history to reach 400 career appearances. If he equals last season’s 77 appearances, he will pass Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla.
LaMonte Wade Jr. ($4.7 million)
Going one by one, it’s easy to feel like all four players on this list should be back at their price point. But there is also a holistic aspect to it.
Even with some of their new, young contributors, the Giants need to become more athletic, and they may feel a little squeamish about bringing back both the 34-year-old Yastrzemski and the 30-year-old Wade, who has had to deal with nagging minor players . -physical injuries. They may also feel like they need more from first base.
The Giants hit just 14 home runs from the position, which ranked 28th in the Majors. Their first basemen were 21st in OPS and 29th in RBI. Posey played most of his career with a first baseman (Brandon Belt) who was more of a base player than a slugger, yet this is an area where the organization could easily find more leverage.
There have been two versions of Wade in recent years. When healthy, he gives you a bit of a Juan Soto impersonation, running deep counts and posting OBPs above .400. In the first half of this year he was hitting .438.
But if his knee is bothering him, there is a real problem. In the second half, he slashed .207/.316/.342.
Ultimately, Wade makes sense in part because of what’s coming. The Giants don’t want to lock down first base long-term because they expect Bryce Eldridge to debut in 2025, but they do need someone who can fill the position until Eldridge is ready. Wade with one year left on his contract is a pretty good option.
There are others — Carlos Santana, Paul Goldschmidt, etc. — who could make a lot of sense as bridges to Eldridge, but even if the Giants end up with one of those guys, it still makes sense to lock up Wade and either move it or make a trade.
Camilo Doval ($4.6 million)
It was a nightmare season for Doval in almost every way. He’s also 27 years old and has one of the best right arms in the world, and he could command three times this salary if he were available for a one-year deal in free agency.
This is a no-brainer, and really the only conversation with Doval is about what his first role is in 2025. The Giants now have a stress-free finish with Ryan Walker, but every postseason game they watch reminds us that you can never have enough relievers with high-octane stuff.
They have two potentially overpowering right-handed setup men in Doval and Randy Rodriguez, and while Doval certainly regrets not signing a long-term contract when he was coming off an All-Star year, he’s still young enough and talented enough to return to the ninth inning at some point and be paid out if he reaches free agency.
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