SF Giants extend qualifying offers to Carlos Rodón and Joc Pederson

Giving Carlos Rodón the qualifying offer was a no-brainer, but the SF Giants offering Joc Pederson one was a surprise.

In one predictable move and one surprising one, the SF Giants extended qualifying offers to both pitcher Carlos Rodón and outfielder Joc Pederson.

SF Giants slugger Joc Pederson connects during a game against the Padres. (2022) / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The qualifying offer for the 2023 season is a one-year, $19.65 million contract. If the player rejects the QO and signs elsewhere, the Giants will get draft compensation from the team that does the signing. Because they neither exceeded the luxury tax threshold nor took revenue-sharing money, the pick will come after Competitive Round B, which happens between Rounds 2 and 7. Based on last year’s draft, that means these picks would be somewhere after pick No. 75.

Making the qualifying offer does not prevent the Giants from working out a long-term deal with Rodón or Pederson instead. Each player now has ten days to accept (Joc, probably) or reject (Rodón, undoubtedly) the offers.

During the Farhan Zaidi era, the Giants have not hesitated to use the qualifying offer. They used it on closer Will Smith and Madison Bumgarner after 2019, on Kevin Gausman after 2020, and on Brandon Belt after last season - Gausman and Belt both accepted the offers. Gausman turned out to be a bargain; Belt’s balky knee, on the other hand, prevented him from living up to expectations.

The thinking seems to be that a one-year deal, even if it seems exorbitant, is preferable than going multiple years with a free agent. Zaidi has only signed two players to contracts beyond two years, the deals for Tommy La Stella before 2021 and Anthony DeSclafini’s contract this spring.

SF Giants ace Carlos Rodón throws a pitch. (2022) / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Rodón had a fantastic year for the Giants one the first year of his free agent deal, so good that he already rejected his $22.5 million player option for 2023. He finished one strikeout behind National League leader Corbin Burnes with 237 strikeouts, and threw 188 innings with a sparkling 2.88 ERA. Rodón also led the major in Fielding Independent Pitching. Like the Yankees giving a QO to Aaron Judge, this move is a formality to protect the Giants’ draft compensation if they don’t resign their stud lefty.

Pederson is a different story. He signed a one-year deal for $6 million before this year, and got off to a fast start, hitting 17 home runs in the first half and starting the All-Star Game. While his home run power disappeared (he finished with 23 homers), Pederson actually hit better overall in the second half - splits of .308/.389/.527 after the break, compared to .252/.331/.517 in the first half.

One reason Pederson had such a strong season was manager Gabe Kapler aggressively shielding him from left-handed pitching. Just 13 percent of Pederson’s plate appearances were against southpaws, who he hit worse than righties - an OPS of .742 against lefties and .894 versus righties. His left field defense was an adventure, and you might expect Joc to take the majority of his at bats at DH next year.

Still, $19.65 million is quite a raise from the $6 million (plus a $2.5M buyout from Atlanta), and one would expect Pederson to take it. Maybe the Giants thought he had a big offer elsewhere. Or maybe they valued his power and plate discipline. And maybe they made the offer to stick it to Tommy Pham.

If nothing else, the decision to make qualifying offers to both Carlos Rodón and Joc Pederson affirms that the SF Giants really are willing to shell out money for next year. It remains to be seen if that also includes long-term deals.