The Giants and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski have avoided arbitration, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com on X. He will make $9.25MM in his final season before he is slated to become a free agent. That’s narrowly below the $9.5MM salary projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
Yastrzemski, 34, was a borderline non-tender candidate. That’s not so much a reflection of poor play on his part, simply that his salary had climbed to roughly match his value. The Giants could have considered moving on, using the savings to pursue marquee players, with the ability to sign someone roughly around Yastrzemski’s level later in the winter if they missed on the big guys.
But instead, they will stick with the proverbial bird in the hand, keeping Yas for one more go. Over the past six years, he has proven to be a fairly consistently above-average player, even if he’s something below a true star. In 694 contests, he has slashed .239/.322/.457 for a wRC+ of 112. In each full season, his wRC+ finished somewhere between 99 and 120. His home run total has always been between 15 and 25 in those full campaigns.
On top of that, his defense has been pretty steadily better than par. When combined with his solid work at the plate, he has been worth between 1.5 and 2.5 wins above replacement in each season of his career, per the calculations of FanGraphs.
A solid two-WAR player for $9.25MM is neither a bargain nor an egregious overpay. The Giants are evidently content with that equal value proposition, so Yastrzemski will stick around for one more year, barring a trade. The Giants are reportedly open to a swap, though the return won’t be massive with his salary roughly matching his expected production.
The club has Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos likely to be in the other two outfield slots next year, with Grant McCray, Jerar Encarnación, Marco Luciano, Blake Sabol, Wade Meckler and Luis Matos also in the mix. Perhaps they will pursue other players in the offseason who could make a Yastrzemski seem more possible, or perhaps the club will want to make room some of those incumbent players.
Interesting enough the $9.25 Mike Yaz will be making in 2025 is probably more than his grandfather Carl made his entire career!
Carl now could probably hit .230 like mike
Naw, maybe a little higher!
And his grandfather was once the highest paid baseball player in the game when he signed a 3/500,000 contract in 1971.
Carl Yazstrzemski made about $2mil in his career per baseball reference. Adjusting for inflation puts that somewhere in the $15mil range (+/- a few million).
His rookie salary in 1961 was $10,000. Boy how times have changed.
B-Ref says Carl Yastrzemski made just under $2M in his career. Hooray for free agency!!
Oh, boy.
Babe Ruth made less than a million in his career. Inflation is forever.
So much for being the most likely to be non-tendered…
Don’t speak too soon- the Giants did this with J.D. Davis last year, only to release him before the contract was guaranteed.
JD WON his case….that was the difference….where Yaz settled so Giants cannot do same to him
Yes! Just remembered this!
That said, I think Yaz is worth this contract. If he were a FA, he’d get a 2/20 deal without a problem.
@datashark not only that, they wouldn’t do that to Yaz. He’s loved amongst giants fans. Only team I’d rather see him on at least once I’d the bosox
Yaz’ numbers don’t jump out, but he is a near Gold Glove outfielder who doesn’t embarrass himself in CF, has a very accurate arm, runs the bases well and—despite some strikeout proclivities—hits 18 or so HRs a season.
I think he’s SF’s 4th outfielder this coming season —if he doesn’t get traded— but could start on quite a few other teams. Very good clubhouse guy.
More of the same. No other team would offer him half of that. Bummer
Pretty big overpay based on guys that should be available
Like who? Name one who they could pay less and is better
So how how many guys out there with 18 bombs that play gold glove level defense could you get for that money? Can you name one?
Casual
A 2-win player who plays plus defense in right field isn’t worth half? No team would spend just over $4M for a useful player like that? Sure…
I think plenty of contending teams would be happy to pay a consistent 2-3 bWAR player a $9.25M salary who brings performance certainty. Paying him that in his walk season isn’t a tough decision. It obviously depends on where Posey and the Giants see themselves on the win-curve for next season.
I think he will be traded. Nearly 10m for guy who is just average all around isn’t worth it. Bunch of these players add up in price and kinda hamstring your lineup because you can’t move on from them.
@holecamels35. That’s probably not to far off what Bader and kiermaier will get.
And Yaz is the better player.
So he’s gonna be traded because you can’t move on from him?
And the Orioles let him go in favor of little Joey Rickard, LMAO!
34? 34! How’d that happen?
Honestly, seems like yesterday he was progressing thru Orioles farm system.
One of the earliest moves new Os GM Mike Elias made was trading Mike to SF … favoring guys like Hays, Mullins and Santandar instead.
Mike punted on a few of Duke’s guys who had success.
Phillips and Yaz were never given a shot. Tanner Scott obviously became something after. Never thought Tanner would harness that stuff but he’s done a nice job.
That’s how it goes sometimes though. He’s brought in more gems for nothing than he gave away.
So much for a new direction under Posey. MLB’s second-most boring team (Angels #1) staying the course.
@draker, really? Posey’s first decision, which was a layup for him, gives you enough information to make that statement?
soooo, the Athletics, Chi-Sox, and Marlins are more entertaining than the Giants?!?
Actually much more. The A’s in particular have some fun players to watch. Marlins pitching was fun to watch before they all got hurt and watching the Sox break the all-time record for losses had more entertainment value than the perpetually.500 Giants, platooning everyone and pulling their starters after four innings.
I like Mike. He’s pretty solid on both sides of the ball. Part of SFGs problem though. The club has quite a few good players you’d want to keep around, but eventually they need to make room for the great players they lack. Mike should be a 4th outfielder in the best roster scenario.
Baseball Reference pegs Yaz as the fourth most valuable position player on the Giants in 2024, after Chapman, Fitzgerald and Helios. So this deal looks just fine for the team, considering their current roster. Non-tendering your fourth-best position player and watching him walk away for nothing seems like a strange way to improve your club.
By the way, Baseball Reference purely loved Chapman in 2024. 7.1 bWAR. They thought he was the second-best player in the NL, after only Ohtani. Of course, they hit Chapman’s batting numbers with a huge upward adjustment due to San Francisco’s park. But the high rank is still a little surprising. Chapman finished 11th in the NL MVP voting and got no buzz at all compared to, say, Lindor.
Beat writers have no actual clue as usual? Crazy
Not to defend sportswriters – perish the thought – but Chapman “only” put up a .790 OPS in 2024. Of course, that’s a terrific mark in the hitter’s Death Valley which is the San Fran ballpark. But the raw batting numbers were not that impressive, so Chapman slid way down in the voting. Sportswriters still don’t have much of a clue about ballpark effects.
Finishing 11th in an MVP voting is synonymous to having a pretty good season.
In 2017, Andrelton Simmons produced a 7.9 bWAR with a 102 OPS+ and +20 OAA. He was 8th in MVP voting. Writers simply don’t weigh defense that much.
Defense is more difficult to accurately measure compared to offense, so WAR with D as a big component is more questionable.
But Chapman’s defense is impeccable. Probably the best defensive 3b in MLB.
…history
Soooo…about Juan Soto?…
Refreshing to read “better than par”. Tired of seeing the standard “above par” when describing good performance from a person, place or thing.
A sensible move. The Giants have bigger needs elsewhere and creating another hole in RF seems counter productive. None of the in house replacements have proven capable of sustained production. Any of the top FA outfielders available are going to cost them at least double that plus a QO IF they would sign in SF (which is unlikely). 9 mil. seems like a reasonable price for a solid vet and a clubhouse leader.
he is worth it as if you consider his veteran leadership. they lost thairo and slater last year as leaders and they need someone to guide the young guys. Worth it, but I understand if it was tough decision
But instead, they will stick with the proverbial bird in the hand, keeping Yas for one more go.
Do I have to change my name to whyhayess?
This was Busters first misstep as the new POBO for SFG.
As built, this isn’t a competitive team. Unless they’re looking to trade Yaz and eat a little salary why not just ride with any number of their young OF? And Yaz is no spring chicken either. I’d have loved a youth movement but alas, not to be.
On another rant, why didn’t they make a play for India? SFG has the pitching Reds could use (Spencer Bivens straight up?)
I totally agree on the India part..Giants easily had better pitchers to offer than Brady Singer
India is a catchy name, but he doesn’t move the needle on the field. Outside of his debut season 4 years ago, he’s a picture of mediocrity and really not a great defender, which BP has rightly mentioned as a priority for this team. I can’t see the point in trading for a player like him.
If you do want to trade for a second baseman, please aim higher! Otherwise, let’s see if someone in the system, like Fitz or Schmitt for instance, can develop some semblance of actual excellence at the position.
good points, I feel like Fitz and Schmitt have a higher ceiling than India..However, India has proven to be a solid 2B..who are some 2B targets available to trade that are better?
The rockies released Brendan Rodgers
I don’t know who could conceivably be available in a trade. I’d defer that to the FO (if they even want to go that way, instead of just letting their home-growns compete for it). I just think that for a team that’s been mired in mediocrity for 3 straight years, that a lateral move like India would be mostly pointless. And I agree with BPs assessment that defense should be a priority.
Also not a needle-mover. I’d be happy to with him on a MiLB deal though.
Rodgers is a gold glove winner. Has power. But he’s not a speedy player and average OBP. Good and bad there.
Nevermind. Too many gidp and stinks at Oracle. Belongs in a hitters park.
and still mediocre hitting half his games at Coors..I like the Gold Glove part on a MilB deal but rather the Giants give playing time to Schmitt and Fitz..
Over paid by $5+ million dollars
Giants are not looking to compete with the Dodgers, Padres or D-Backs. They are looking to do just enough to finish with around 79-84 wins. They kept Yaz because he’s a fan favorite and doesn’t embarrass himself. I was hoping for a trade so Yaz could find some more individual success but this is a sense able although boring outcome.
Fairly consistent? He’s as consistent as they come. One more year on a rebuilding team? Seems fair enough to me.