Giants have difficult decisions to make 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 start talking about important offseason decisions, with the first deadlines coming well before the biggest free agents make their decisions.
All of that now is on Buster Posey’s plate, and while there’s nothing he can do about the first important checkpoint — Blake Snell’s opt-out, which he will take advantage of — Posey and his hand-picked general manager soon will have to decide how much of their 2025 payroll they want to commit to arbitration-eligible veterans.
The Giants have a little less than a month to figure out whether to tender contracts, although the most interesting decision already was made. Thairo Estrada was going to be non-tendered anyway after a rough season, but he will be a free agent at the start of the offseason after the Giants took him off the 40-man roster altogether 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 might do, with 2025 salary estimates provided by MLB Trade Rumors:
Mike Yastrzemski ($9.5 million):
Asked directly about Yastrzemski during that trip to Phoenix, Zaidi admitted he has a soft spot for the veteran outfielder, a sign that he certainly would be back for a seventh season in San Francisco. Posey figures to feel the same way.
The new president of baseball operations was in the lineup when Yastrzemski broke through in 2019 and they played together in 2021, too. Yastrzemski never will reach those 2020 heights again, but he does all the little things well and is a good presence in the clubhouse.
He also is, despite what some on social media will tell you, still a pretty valuable right fielder.
Yastrzemski is a Gold Glove Award finalist for the second time and turned his season around after a rough April, finishing with a 106 wRC+ and 18 homers. Teams generally value one Win Above Replacement at about that predicted 2025 salary, and Yastrzemski just put up 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’re going to get from the veteran, and there’s value in that. He’s also a great fit for a roster that should have Jung Hoo Lee in center and Heliot Ramos in left. If Posey makes a…