The Giants freed up some payroll house yesterday, buying and selling left-hander Taylor Rogers to the Reds. They despatched $6MM to Cincinnati within the deal but in addition freed up $6MM, with Rogers set to make $12MM this yr. For the reason that Giants have been related to a number of the massive names remaining in free company, corresponding to Pete Alonso and Jack Flaherty, some followers may need pretty puzzled if the additional money could possibly be redirected to a brand new roster addition.
Nonetheless, within the aftermath of the deal, president of baseball operations Buster Posey downplayed that risk. “We’ll hold wanting,” Posey mentioned to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. “I’ll say, we really feel fairly set with the roster the way in which it’s proper now.”
That is Posey’s first offseason in his present job, as he was simply employed on the finish of September. Not like different baseball operations leaders, there’s no actual monitor report to go off of, making it arduous to gauge how the Giants would behave this winter. There have been maybe some clues, as Posey was apparently instrumental within the Matt Chapman negotiations, even earlier than getting the POBO job. Then at his introductory press convention, he spoke of getting the Giants again into the “memory-making enterprise.” He additionally spoke fondly of valuing runs batted in as a statistic, regardless of that measure falling out of favor over time.
That led to some hope that he would are available in as an old school gunslinger kind, although it’s been a reasonably modest offseason on the entire. They did make a giant strike with the Willy Adames signing, the biggest contract in franchise historical past, however have been pretty quiet aside from that. Their most notable strikes other than Adames have been to signal Justin Verlander to a one-year deal and ship out Rogers in what looks as if a wage dump transfer.
It’s potential that this can be a bluff from Posey, because it wouldn’t assist with negotiations for him to come back out and say he’s determined to make additional additions. But when he’s being truthful that the membership is pretty content material, then they are going to be principally counting on inner enhancements.
The Giants have completed with a win complete within the 79-81 vary in three straight years now. Adames is a pleasant increase however the Giants additionally misplaced Blake Snell, Michael Conforto and Mark Canha to free company on the finish of final yr and have now taken Rogers out of the bullpen combine. Verlander may additionally assist, however there aren’t any ensures of that after he posted a 5.48 earned run common final yr. Accidents might have performed an element in these struggles however well being woes can pop up for any pitcher and Verlander is probably much more prone since he’ll flip 42 earlier than the season begins.
The inner enhancements may come from a number of locations. Jung Hoo Lee solely obtained to play 37 video games final yr earlier than requiring labrum surgical procedure, so a full and productive season from him could be nice. Wilmer Flores, Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks have been additionally held again by well being points to various extents and will maybe present extra in 2025 than final yr. Tyler Fitzgerald and Heliot Ramos had midseason breakouts in 2024, so carrying these ahead right into a full season may result in some further wins. A bounceback from Camilo Doval after a tough 2024 would definitely be welcome. Younger guys like Luis Matos and Marco Luciano may maybe get away after their progress has lagged a bit lately.
If Posey’s stance is posturing, it’s potential there’s some monetary wiggle room, at the least relative to final yr. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the membership began 2024 with a $208MM payroll they usually finally went on to pay the aggressive stability tax. RosterResource at present initiatives them for only a $176MM payroll this yr, $32MM south of final yr. Their $217MM CBT projection is $24MM beneath this yr’s $241MM base threshold.
It’s nonetheless potential for the membership to signal somebody like Flaherty or Alonso and keep underneath the tax and final yr’s payroll. Alonso may find yourself making a wage close to $24MM this yr however the Giants may offset that considerably by buying and selling LaMonte Wade Jr. and the $5MM he’s owed. Nonetheless, Baggarly has reported beforehand this winter that the Giants are planning to cut back payroll, so maybe they’ve already made their most important strikes.
