SF Giants: Outlining the impending free agents

Free agency has not officially begun yet but the SF Giants will have plenty of decisions to make. Their free-agent class is headlined by Kris Bryant and Kevin Gausman but who else is hitting the open market?

SF Giants: Outlining the impending free agents

Both Bryant and Gausman are not eligible to receive a qualifying offer given that Gausman received one last offseason and accepted it whereas Bryant was a midseason trade acquisition. Midseason trade acquisitions cannot receive a qualifying offer.

On the other hand, both Anthony DeSclafani and Brandon Belt are eligible to receive the one-year, $18.4 million qualifying offer this offseason. The Giants have been aggressive with issuing the qualifying offer (Will Smith, Madison Bumgarner, and Gausman) in recent seasons so it would not be surprising to see both DeSclafani and Belt receive one as well.

If both players are issued one, they will have to make a decision within 10 days of receiving it. It would make sense for DeSclafani to reject it given that he will be in the market for a multi-year deal, whereas Belt might be more inclined to accept it due to age and durability concerns.

Outside of these four players, Alex Wood, Donovan Solano, Tony Watson, and Scott Kazmir are all set to become free agents. The Giants also hold team options on José Álvarez ($1.5 million), Wilmer Flores ($3.5 million), Buster Posey ($22 million), and Johnny Cueto ($22 million) for 2022. They will likely buy out Cueto's option for $5 million, making him a free agent as well.

On a different note, both Baseball Reference and Spotrac indicate that Dominic Leone is set to become a free agent as well. However, given that he has less than six years of service time, he likely does not qualify for free agency.

Of course, a pair of minor leaguers in Reyes Moronta and Mike Tauchman have already elected free agency.

The Giants will have some tough decisions to make as key contributors like Gausman, Bryant, DeSclafani, and Wood will likely be seeking substantial contracts this offseason. They may not be able to bring the entire band back again after winning 107 wins in the regular season and securing an NL West title for the first time since 2012.

They will have the financial flexibility to be aggressive this offseason with the chief concern being rebuilding the rotation. Logan Webb is the only rotation incumbent under team control for 2022, so they will be in the market for a handful of starters. The offseason has yet to get underway but the Giants will have plenty of questions to answer.