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San Francisco Giants Veteran Makes Expected Move and Avoids Free Agency

The San Francisco Giants oft-injured veteran made the easy decision and stayed away from free agency.

Dylan Sanders

Aug 20, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray (23) pitches during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park.
Aug 20, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Robbie Ray (23) pitches during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Oracle Park. / Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
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The San Francisco Giants often injured ace made the expected move on Saturday afternoon ahead of MLB free agency opening up.

In a flurry of contract decisions around the league, ESPN's Jeff Passan shared that Giants southpaw Robbie Ray would not be opting out of his contract.

This was the deal that San Francisco inherited when they traded for Ray from the Seattle Mariners back in January of this year.

The veteran will have two years and $50 million left on his contract when including this upcoming season.

Given how this past season went for Ray, it's not shocking that he decided to just run it back and not search for new money in free agency.

The Tennessee native is just a few years removed from his Cy Young campaign with the Toronto Blue Jays. It's what landed him this massive contract in free agency with the Mariners.

He's had ups-and-downs during his career, but it's pretty much just been down since signing that deal with Seattle. He had a solid first campaign there, but made only one start in 2023 before suffering an injury that would lead to him getting Tommy John Surgery.

The Giants traded Mitch Haninger, Anthony DeSclafani and cash to the Mariners ahead of the 2024 campaign in order to bring in Ray, after which he didn't debut until July.

The 33-year-old made seven starts last year and had a 4.70 ERA before he suffered another injury that ended his campaign a couple of weeks early.

It's hard to judge him too harshly for last season after he didn't pitch for the majority of two years. San Francisco had to assume this was a possibility and will now have to hope that he can stay healthy for these next two seasons to avoid this trade looking like a huge mistake.

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Dylan Sanders
DYLAN SANDERS

Dylan Sanders graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree from the Manship School of Mass Communication in 2023. He was born in raised in Baton Rouge, LA but has also lived in Buffalo, NY. Though he is a recent graduate, he has been writing about sports since he was in high school, covering different sports from baseball to football. While in college, he wrote for the school paper The Reveille and for 247Sports. He was able cover championships in football, baseball and women's basketball during his time at LSU. He has also spent a few years covering the NFL draft and every day activities of the New Orleans Saints. He is a Senior Writer at Inside the Marlins and will also be found across Sports Illustrated's baseball sites as a contributing writer. You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @dillysanders

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