SF Giants: Did Farhan Zaidi already hint about ownership payroll restrictions?

The SF Giants have insisted they have no spending limits, but Farhan Zaidi may have hinted at something else in a post-trade deadline interview.

The SF Giants will once again go into free agency with a lot of money coming off their payroll. But president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi may have suggested in an NBC Sports Bay Area interview last month, that the team might not be as willing to spend freely as the numbers suggest. During an interview with Laura Britt and Alex Pavlovic following the trade deadline, Zaidi gave an interesting answer when he was asked about how he reacted to trade rumors - specifically to the idea the Giants might have traded for Justin Verlander (something that was rumored leading up to the deadline).

"Well sometimes those rumors are so far from being based in fact that I have to call Greg Johnson, our other owners, and say we're not trading for a player with a $40 million salary behind your back," Zaidi said. "I mean they are super supportive, but honestly there are times that I get worried that people are going to wonder why they're not in the loop about some of these things that just aren't accurate."

San Francisco will likely have over $60 million coming off the books after the season, mainly from Tommy La Stella, Joc Pederson, Brandon Crawford, and Alex Wood's expiring contracts. In the unlikely event Michael Conforto, Sean Manaea, or Ross Stripling decline their player options, that number will climb above $70 million.

But will they be willing to spend up to the luxury tax line, which is slated to increase to $237 million?

While Zaidi's quote mainly suggests he needs ownership approval for big moves, it was telling that he mentioned Verlander's salary. Because while the Giants are often linked to big free agents - Shohei Ohtani is the next in line - the biggest contract they've given out in free agency during the Zaidi regime was a $44 million deal for Carlos Rodón. And that deal had an opt-out in the second year.

Option years are a huge part of Zaidi's strategy. Mitch Haniger's three-year, $43.5 million deal has a third-year player option. Manaea,  Stripling, and Conforto all signed two-year deals with player options for 2024. That's a way to attract a certain type of player looking for a make-good year. But it also ensures ownership does not need to make a long-term commitment and has an opportunity to save money if the opt-out is exercised.

Yes, the Giants agreed on a 13-year, $350 million deal with Carlos Correa. But they also backed out of that agreement. There were issues with his physical, though that's often a cover for a team getting cold feet about committing a lot of money.

Logan Webb got a five-year extension, but the deal bought out just two of his free-agent years. Effectively, the Webb deal settled a few arbitration years early, then made a calculated bet on a two-year, $47 million contract for 2027-28. There really hasn't been an example of the Giants opening up their checkbook - and actually signing a check - since they hired Zaidi after the 2018 season.

What else has changed since then? Principal owner Charles Johnson's son Greg, who also became chairman of the board in 2019, became the official Giants "control person." Reportedly, Charles Johnson "typically was generous in approving significant contracts proposed by the baseball executives." That may not be the case with his son.

In the last year before Greg Johnson, the Giants had the 5th-highest team payroll in baseball. In 2020, they dropped to 8th. Since then, their payroll has ranked 14th, 13th, and 14th. This year's Opening Day payroll was less than it was five years ago. It may be a matter of ownership priorities, or the pandemic, or the team simply not having the cash they expected.

The Giants have a massive real estate development in Mission Bay, which already made a "pivot" before it opened, converting some office space into life science labs. They also added "superloos" for a "premium restroom experience." That's not to say the development isn't making money, but when toilets are a big part of your real estate pivot, it doesn't inspire confidence.

We could be making too much of a throwaway comment. Perhaps the Giants are simply being fiscally prudent. Perhaps Zaidi's love of Moneyball and his history with the Oakland A's makes him inclined to cost-saving moves. Perhaps his comment merely acknowledged the reality of ownership having to sign off on big-money moves.

However, the Giants spending has not increased above its peak levels from 2015-2018. The team's multiple bets on affordable, injured players have backfired hugely, with the resulting offensive ineptitude likely to cost them a playoff spot. There will no doubt be months of stories about the SF Giants' free-agent pursuits for the next few months and all the money they're willing to spend. We'll believe it when we see it.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed Charles Johnson as the official control person of the Giants prior to his son Greg taking the position. Johnson had been the primary stakeholder since 1993, but Larry Baer was the acting control person until he was suspended following a domestic violence incident in 2019. Rob Dean replaced Baer on an interim basis and was replaced by Greg Johnson.