In Buster Posey’s first year in the front office, the Giants added two stars. The end result is the same as the league average record in the Farhan Zaidi era. That prompted bold changes in the dugout. The Giants fired three-time Manager of the Year Bob Melvin while making a big move to the college ranks with the big hire of former University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello.
guarantee contract
option decision
- The team holds 4MM options of C Tom Murphy ($250,000 buyout)
2026 Guaranteed Contract: $132.75MM
Total future commitments: $693.75MM through 2033
Arbitration-eligible players (service time in parentheses; projected salary provided by MLBTR writer Matt Swartz)
Non-tender candidates: Brubaker, Knizner, Lucchesi
free agent
After several years of fruitless star pursuits, the Giants acquired two impact hitters in Buster Posey’s first nine months on the baseball team. they signed Willie Adams A seven-year, $18MM free-agent deal, the largest in franchise history. When they achieved this, they made a greater commitment Raphael Devers June was a blockbuster. The Giants are responsible for more than $240 of Devers’ eight-and-a-half-season contract.
While these moves added much-needed star talent to San Francisco’s roster, they didn’t push the team toward a playoff spot. After another .500 record, they now emphasize strengthening their pitching staff. “I think our focus is going to be on pitching and trying to strengthen our starting lineup. The same goes for the bullpen;Posey told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovich and Laura Britt.I believe pitching and defense are going to win, so we’ll probably start looking at that this offseason when free agency does come around.“
That wouldn’t happen for another week or two, but the Giants didn’t waste any time making big changes. The day after the regular season ended, they fired head coach Bob Melvin. A few weeks later, they selected Tony Vitello as their employee. There is no precedent for a top college baseball coach with any professional baseball coaching or front office experience going directly into MLB management.
There have been instances of teams poaching college pitching coaches. There are also examples of “college to professional head coaching” transitions in the NFL, NHL and NBA. Vitello will be Major League Baseball’s first test case. It remains to be seen how many of Melvin’s employees will be retained. Bench coach Ryan Christensen and third base coach Matt Williams are also out after Melvin was fired.
The front office’s focus now turns to the roster. They should have plenty of cap space to work with. They have $132.75MM in guaranteed commitments for six high-priced players. Still, this is one of the lightest arbitration categories in the game, with MLBTR writer Matt Swartz projecting arbitration fees for this group to be just over $10. Not tendered JT Brubaker, Joey Lucchesi and Andrew Knizner will drop it below 5MM because Patrick Bailey and Ryan Walker Those are the only two locks they’ve got contracts for.
If they fill out the rest of the roster with minimum-salary players, their opening day salary projection will be in the $150-155MM range. RosterResource estimates their luxury tax amount is about $174, which is $70 below the base threshold. The Giants avoided the luxury tax this year but are over the threshold in 2024. Even if they’re not willing to go all the way to $244, they should be able to make several noteworthy additions.
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