Letter to Fans Could Have Revealed San Francisco Giants Plans With Former All-Star

The future of a former All-Star with the San Francisco Giants could have been revealed in a letter to the fans.

Sep 20, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Camilo Doval (75) celebrates with catcher Patrick Bailey (14) after defeating the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Heading into the offseason, there are a lot of questions about how things could change for the San Francisco Giants now that Buster Posey is taking over the front office.

Tabbed as the replacement for Farhan Zaidi as the team’s president of baseball operations, it is anyone’s guess how the three-time World Series champion as a player will run things in the front office. Some hints could be provided based on whoever it is that is hired to be the general manager.

One of the players who the fans have shown an interest in is former All-Star closer, Camilo Doval.

Coming into the 2024 campaign, he was regarded as one of the best relievers in baseball. He had yet to record a season ERA over 3.00 and led the National League in saves and games finished with 39 and 60 in 2023.

But, his performance this past year was a disaster.

Doval appeared in 62 games and had an inflated 4.88 ERA. He struggled with command, walking 39 batters in 59 innings to go along with 78 strikeouts. A career-worst five home runs were also surrendered.

Heading toward arbitration, he is set to see his salary increase a lot for the 2025 season. It would be shocking if the team didn’t tender him a contract, but there are some people who don’t believe he will be back with the team.

That speculation will only grow since team president and CEO Larry Baer omitted Doval from his end-of-season letter to the fans.

Ace Logan Webb and new long-term building block, third baseman Matt Chapman, were both mentioned early in the letter. In a paragraph later on, Baer mentioned several players on the team but not the All-Star closer.

“Consider this range of young talent: Heliot Ramos made the All-Star team. Patrick Bailey is likely to win his first Gold Glove. Ryan Walker, who once spent his offseasons working as a locksmith, emerged as our stalwart closer. Rookie Tyler Fitzgerald rose from utility player to a solid everyday player in a few brief months. Jung Hoo Lee will return and add his impressive skills, both defensively and offensively, to the lineup,” Baer wrote in the letter. “The list of promising players goes on – Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp, Mason Black and Grant McCray along with relievers Sean Hjelle, Erik Miller and Randy Rodriguez. And waiting in the wings is 19-year-old first-round pick Bryce Eldridge," shared via Alex Simon of SF Gate.

That certainly doesn’t paint a great picture for Doval moving forward. Not only did he mention players who performed at a high level in 2024, he mentioned guys who are going to be helping down the road who have yet to debut in the Major Leagues.

As if there wasn’t enough rumors swirling around the future of Doval, this will only add fuel to the fire.