The San Francisco Giants agreed to terms with all five of their arbitration-eligible players on Friday afternoon, meaning each player on the team’s 40-man roster now has a set salary for the 2018 season.
Second baseman Joe Panik and relief pitchers Sam Dyson, Cory Gearrin, Will Smith and Hunter Strickland all reached deals with the Giants on Friday, and all of their salaries have now been reported.
Each offseason, MLB Trade Rumors produces estimates for arbitration awards, and the site has a reputation for creating very accurate projections. According to the estimates set for the five arbitration-eligible players on the Giants’ roster, San Francisco actually beat a few projections and paid slightly above the projection for Gearrin.
Jon Heyman of FanRagSports and Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted out the salaries each player agreed to on Friday, and Dyson wound up commanding the most money of any arbitration-eligible player on the Giants. The former Texas Rangers closer signed a deal worth $4.425 million for 2018, which is slightly under the $4.6 million figure he was projected to receive.
https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/952209417126244352
Joe Panik agreed to a contract worth $3.45 million for the 2018 season, which essentially matched the $3.5 million projection MLB Trade Rumors set. The 27-year-old won’t become a free agent until after the 2020 season, and his salary for next year is a considerable jump from the $600,000 he made in 2017.
https://twitter.com/DevanFink/status/951883220638986240
After missing the 2017 season due to Tommy John surgery, left-hander Will Smith will make $2.5 million in 2018, which is the exact same salary he was owed last year. Smith may not be ready to pitch by Opening Day, but he hasn’t faced any setbacks in his recovery process and is optimistic he’ll be back at the Major League level by May 1.
https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/951921161067048961
(Nightengale corrected his tweet to note that Kontos is now pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates).
The two other relievers the Giants signed, Strickland and Gearrin, will both make under $2 million next season. Both pitchers could be critical members of San Francisco’s middle relief brigade, especially if the Giants do not sign an additional reliever as they planned to do at the beginning of the offseason.
https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/952210228166250496
https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/951962758781665280
Gearrin was projected to receive $1.6 million, but the Giants wound up saving a bit of cash on Strickland, who was estimate to sign for $1.7 million.
