San Francisco Giants Have Shed Major Payroll With More Moves Potentially Coming
The San Francisco Giants ushered in the next era of their front office this offseason and made it clear they are willing to spend money for star players.
With that willingness, though, they have still managed to shed major payroll.
Jon Becker of FanGraphs released a graph that shows the difference in payroll from last year to this one.
So, far the Giants have dropped $26.70 million, which is equivalent to a 12.81% decrease.
That is, though, before another pitching staff addition could take place and erase some of those savings. They have also been connected to Pete Alonso, who would cost a pretty penny.
While it is likely their number grows a bit, they are still in a good spot with their payroll given the signings already made this offseason.
Willy Adames was given a large seven-year, $182 million contract this offseason, but it is backloaded. For the next two years, it is counting for just $13.14 million against the payroll.
Adames provides San Francisco a new long-term answer at shortstop. It has been a spot that has needed an answer for a long time.
He posted a .251/.331/.462 slash line with 32 home runs and 112 RBI. Perhaps he will finally be the cornerstone bat they have been searching for in free agency.
Justin Verlander's one-year, $15 million contract has been the biggest addition to the Giants' 2024 payroll. It obviously isn't a long-term deal, but is still a lot to hand over to a veteran coming off of a career-worst showing.
He made 17 starts last season with a 5.48 ERA. Pretty much every facet of his game was down.
Worst-case scenario, he continues to regress and San Francisco takes the hit on the money this year. Best-case, he returns to at least a near-Cy Young level and can be a staff ace once again.
The contracts of Blake Snell and Michael Conforto leaving the books have played a large role in the money dropping. Those two alone accounted for $41.5 million last year.
The highest-paid player overall is third baseman Matt Chapman, who felt like the real start of the new era for the Giants.
Chapman was a free agent addition who stumbled out of the gate but quickly won over the fan base and provided great team leadership.
He became a prominent figure in the clubhouse and they decided to lock him down with a massive six-year, $151 million deal to usher in the next stage for San Francisco.