Where 4 Giants stand ahead of tender deadline

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Buster Posey is only three years removed from his playing career, so it should come as no surprise that he shared a clubhouse with several players who remain on the Giants’ active roster. But his rapid ascent to president of baseball operations means he’ll soon have to make tough decisions regarding some of his old teammates.

The deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is Friday at 5 p.m. PT, meaning Posey will have to determine whether to keep four veterans he played with in the fold for next season. The group is listed below, with each of their projected 2025 salaries provided by Cot’s Contracts:

OF Mike Yastrzemski ($9.25 million)
1B/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. ($4.5 million)
RHP Camilo Doval ($4 million)
RHP Tyler Rogers ($5.25 million)

If a player is non-tendered, he is removed from the 40-man roster and becomes a free agent, though the Giants appear unlikely to take that route with any of their arbitration-eligible players this year. Yastrzemski was shaping up to be the most interesting call, but Posey recently indicated that he was leaning toward tendering the 34-year-old outfielder a contract.

“I think so,” Posey said earlier this month. “You’ve got to keep an open mind. Yaz is somebody I played with and consider a friend. That’s an interesting one for me. There’s several guys on the roster that I’ve played with. That’s something that I’ll have to navigate.”

Still, being tendered contracts doesn’t guarantee that all four players will remain in San Francisco in 2025. Per a report from The Athletic, the Giants plan to cut payroll heading into next season and could be open to moving established players like Yastrzemski, Wade and Doval to free up more financial resources this offseason.

The Giants rarely traded off the big league roster under former president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, but Posey said he would be willing to deal players under the right circumstances.

“I’m somebody that values culture, and you have to take that into consideration, too, what that particular person’s value might be to the team and how it might mess up the flow of things for the clubhouse,” Posey said. “But I’m not going to be opposed to it, either. Again, it’s about trying to put the best team on the field that you can. I think you’ve just got to look at all avenues.”

Yastrzemski, the Giants’ longest-tenured player, slashed .231/.302/.437 with 18 home runs over 140 games in 2024 and has been worth at least 2.0 wins above replacement in each of his six seasons in San Francisco, per Baseball Reference. The Giants already have several young outfielders under team control in 2025, including Heliot Ramos, Jung Hoo Lee, Grant McCray and Luis Matos, but Yastrzemski could continue to bring value through his experience and his solid defense in right field.

Wade, 30, could be one of the Giants’ most attractive trade chips, as he has elite strike zone awareness and slashed .260/.380/.381 with eight homers over 117 games this year. Still, Wade doesn’t hit for as much power as a prototypical first baseman -- he’s never crushed more than 18 homers in a single season -- and has dealt with some nagging lower-body issues in recent years.

Even with No. 1 prospect Bryce Eldridge on the way, the Giants could try to upgrade at first base by pursuing free agents such as Christian Walker, Paul Goldschmidt or Carlos Santana, which could make Wade expendable this offseason.

“LaMonte’s a great player,” Posey said “He gets on base. Versatile. I know he didn’t play a ton of outfield, but he can play in the outfield. I think we have to be open to looking to where we can improve. We’ll just have to wait and see how things unfold.”

Another player reportedly drawing trade interest is Doval, a 2023 All-Star who was briefly demoted to Triple-A Sacramento in August following a disastrous season on the mound. The 27-year-old right-hander logged a career-high 4.88 ERA over 62 appearances in 2024 and lost the closing role to Ryan Walker, who figures to retain the job heading into next year.

Doval is trying to regain his confidence by pitching in the Dominican Winter League, though he’s had a bumpy showing there, too, logging a 5.68 ERA over seven appearances for the Gigantes del Cibao. The Giants would be selling low by trading Doval now, though they have enough bullpen depth to at least entertain offers, especially with Walker and Rogers -- who posted an excellent 2.82 ERA over 77 appearances this season -- both set to return in 2025.