SF Giants avoid arbitration with all their players

The San Francisco Giants came to salary agreements with all eight of their remaining arbitration-eligible players ahead of Friday’s deadline, the club announced.

Pitchers Logan Webb, Jakob Junis, John Brebbia and Tyler Rogers, infielders Thairo Estrada, LaMonte Wade Jr., J.D. Davis and outfielder Austin Slater all agreed to terms, allowing the Giants to avoid the often contentious hearing-room setting in which an arbiter determines a player’s salary.

Webb, in his first year eligible to earn more than the league minimum, settled at a salary of $4.6 million. While that is slightly lower than the figure projected by MLB Trade Rumors ($4.8M), with two arbitration years remaining, that number should rise steadily if Webb continues his trajectory on the mound. It also makes the homegrown hurler a prime candidate for an extension, and it’s a positive sign the sides were able to avoid arbitration their first time around.

Estrada, Wade and Rogers were also arbitration-eligible for the first time and came in slightly below their projected figures.

After establishing himself as their everyday second baseman last season, Estrada will earn $2.25 million in 2023 (projected: $2.4M), while Rogers’ agreement is worth $1.675 million (projected: $1.8M), or about $7.3 million less than the salary of his twin brother, Taylor. (But don’t worry, he says, “it’s not a competitive thing between us; it’s a support system.”)

Expected to be the Giants’ primary first baseman this season, Wade and the Giants settled at $1.375 million, right in line with his projected figure of $1.4 million.

Junis, who enjoyed a breakout 2022 season, settled at $2.8 million. While it represents a nice raise from his $1.75 million salary last season, it fell short of his projected figure of $3.3 million.

In his third and final year of arbitration eligibility, Brebbia and the Giants settled at $2.3 million (projected: $1.9M). Brebbia, who will be a free agent after this season, led the Giants in appearances last season and “opened” more games than any other reliever in the majors.

Slater and Davis were also in their third year of eligibility, but as “Super Two” players, have one more year of club control before they reach free agency.

Davis and the club settled at $4.21 million, or a little over a million dollars more than the 2023 salary of Darin Ruf, whom he was acquired for last trade deadline along with three other players, and above his MLB Trade Rumors-projected cost ($3.8M). San Francisco paid $970,550 of his $2.76 million salary last season.

Slater, who is set to reprise his role as one half of the center field platoon with Mike Yastrzemski, settled at $3.2 million, a bump up from his $1.875 salary last season and higher than his projected figure ($2.8M).

Yastrzemski, the Giants’ only other arbitration-eligible player, agreed to a one-year, $6.1 million contract in November.

Notable

• Catcher Austin Wynns, who was designated for assignment and cleared waivers, accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Sacramento, the club announced. Wynns, 32, had the option to become a free agent, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi stressed this week that the club hoped to retain him. Joey Bart and Rule 5 draft pick Blake Sabol are the only catchers on the Giants’ 40-man roster.