SF Giants ink 8 remaining arbitration-eligible players to contract for 2023 season

The SF Giants began the offseason with a relatively hefty arbitration class of 13 players. They began the day on Friday with eight remaining arbitration-eligible cases and came to an agreement with each of them.

SF Giants ink 8 remaining arbitration-eligible players to contract for 2023 season

They began the offseason with 13 and reliever Alex Young qualified for arbitration after meeting the criteria as a Super 2 player, giving them a total of 14 cases. They decided to cut ties with Young, Zack Littell, Jharel Cotton, and Jarlín García.

The front office quickly agreed to deals with outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and reliever Scott Alexander. However, eight were outstanding at the start of Friday with a deadline approaching to exchange salary figures for 2023.

Below are the agreed upon salaries for 2023 for each of the eight players:

Logan Webb - $4.6 million

Jakob Junis - $2.8 million

John Brebbia - $2.3 million

Austin Slater - $3.2 million

J.D. Davis - $4.2 million

Tyler Rogers - $1.675 million

LaMonte Wade Jr. - $1.375 million

Thairo Estrada - $2.250 million

A combination of service time and performance are usually factors involved in determing each player's salary for the upcoming season. It is not necessarily a fair process as players like Webb will likely perform well above his salary. Plus, it is very much a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately process. If a player does not perform, then the team can cut ties.

The good news is that the Giants have settled all of their cases. Some teams have a file-and-trial approach where if they cannot agree to a salary, then they will go to arbitration.

For the most part, the Giants have avoided arbitration with the exception of Donovan Solano, who lost his arbitration case prior to the 2021 season. There is something that feels inherently wrong about a process where a billion-dollar franchise argues why a player deserves slightly less than he is asking.

San Francisco has had some offseason missteps in recent years, but this has rarely been one of them. Hopefully, coming to agreement with Webb lays the foundation for an eventual extension.

The right-handed hurler has been one of the best pitchers in the National League since the start of 2021 and he is under team control for three more seasons. Perhaps, they can come to an agreement that buys out his remaining arbitration years as well as a couple of free-agent years.

Add in player option for the final year, and you have a deal that gives Webb and the Giants some cost certainty as well as flexibility for Webb to elect free agency if his performance merits it. A potential extension will be a topic as soon as spring training starts.