Report: Giants expected to reduce payroll for 2025 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
After a lackluster 2024 MLB season that saw the Giants finish fourth in the NL West, San Francisco will reportedly take a different approach next year when it comes to the team’s coffers.
Under new president of baseball operations Buster Posey, the Giants are expected to be more frugal in spending this offseason, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly reported. in an article published Fridayciting a league source familiar with the team’s plans.
“The Giants’ adjusted payroll, which represents salary earned in a given year but not necessarily paid, is expected to regress from the $206 million spent last season, when they finished 80-82 and exceeded the luxury tax threshold for the Giants. first time since 2018,” Baggarly wrote.
According to Baggarly, even a “modest amount of belt-tightening” would leave the Giants only 30-40 million dollars to spend this offseason beyond players already under team control.
In addition to arbitration-eligible players Camilo Doval, Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Tyler Rogers, and pre-arbitration-eligible players, the Giants have another eight under contract entering 2025: Robbie Ray, Jung Hoo Lee, Logan Webb, Jordan Hicks, Taylor Rogers, Wilmer Flores, Tom Murphy and Matt Chapman, who just signed a lucrative $151 million contract.
Any budget cuts like the one reported by Baggarly would certainly leave San Francisco out of the Juan Soto sweepstakes this offseason, as well as the competition for free agent ace Blake Snell, who recently opted out of his contract with the Giants.
Baggarly reached out to Posey via text message for his story, who declined to comment, saying he “would not discuss salary matters.”
But president Greg Johnson told Baggarly via text message that the Giants “never have a set budget, just a pretty broad range. The final number depends on a lot of movement between trades and free agents. Our goal is to try to build the team more competitively. It’s too early to put a number on it. We want to make smart baseball decisions that balance the short and long term.
It’s been 10 years since the Giants’ last championship season. But after failing to meet expectations in 2024 despite exceeding the luxury tax threshold, the organization appears to believe changes are needed, especially after operating at a loss last season, according to Baggarly.
A smaller payroll in 2025 doesn’t mean the Giants can’t make some significant moves this offseason. However, it remains to be seen whether these are moves capable of putting San Francisco back in contention.
