Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Tommy La Stella got a third year in exchange for an IOU.
He will get his money, but it’ll take some time.
The pact with the Giants that was announced Thursday comes with just $2 million due this season, which increases to $5.25 million in 2022 and balloons to $11.5 million in 2023, when La Stella will be 35.
Although he has gotten better as he’s aged, the Giants figure to pay him the least when he is capable of offering the most. The deal also includes $93,750 total in donations to the Giants Community Fund, which the club brought to La Stella and he said, “Absolutely.”
His is the only guaranteed money on the Giants books for 2023, while Evan Longoria has a club option. There are potential reasons for La Stella to prefer the bulk of his money later, even if it sounds more like a Giants stipulation than anything following a season that did not involve fans in stands, and during an offseason that has seen the Giants lay off about 10 percent of their full-time employees.
“I think it was trying to find some middle ground in a way that allowed for some payroll flexibility for the organization,” La Stella said on a Zoom on Thursday.
La Stella’s big pay day will not come during a season that will be threatened by the pandemic or another season in doubt — 2022 — with a war already being waged by MLB and the Players Association, whose collective-bargaining agreement expires after this season. His money will come during a season that seems most likely to be completed without hiccup.
For the Giants, the question will be whether this signals they are saving up for another piece or whether this suggests the spending is just about finished.
“I think people are still looking at 2021 as a year where we may not be running on all cylinders from a revenue standpoint,” Farhan Zaidi said. “So that kind of time horizon [with La Stella’s contract], I think it just syncs well with the organization’s economics.”
The Giants have not been major players this offseason, although they’ve spent the 10th most on free agents — about $31 million in 2021 contracts, according to Spotrac — which is more damning of the league than praising of the club. They have given short-term deals to Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood to make up a rotation, signed La Stella, Curt Casali and Jason Vosler offensively and imported John Brebbia and Matt Wisler to their bullpen through free agency. It’s a deep class if not a flashy one.
After trading for LaMonte Wade Jr. on Thursday, their large need is in the rotation, where they have five potential starters and a sixth on his way in Tyler Beede, but little depth beyond that. They have been linked to righty Jake Odorizzi, whose market is expected to be more certain now that Trevor Bauer is finally picking his destination.
Would the Giants have money in the budget for a multiyear, perhaps $30 million pact with the high-octane righty? Probably not. Does backloading La Stella’s contract hint that their biggest additions are finished and there will be only fringe major league starters brought in to camp, likely on minor league deals? Probably.
Zaidi said La Stella’s contract offers “more flexibility going on to the future.” How far off is this future?