The Giants have agreed to contracts with first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr., right-hander Camilo Doval and right-hander Tyler Rogers, avoiding arbitration with all three players.
Wade will make $5 million and Doval will make $4.525 million, according to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser. Rogers will make $5.25 million, per FanSided’s Jeff Young.
Last November, outfielder Mike Yastrzemski signed a one-year, $9.25 million contract to avoid arbitration as well. Rogers, Wade and Yastrzemski are set to become a free agents following the 2025 season.
Wade, who turned 31 on New Year’s Day, dealt with a left hamstring injury last season that limited him to 117 games, but he still posted a .260 batting average and .380 on-base percentage, which would’ve been tied for seventh in all of baseball if Wade qualified. Despite his ability to reach base, Wade only hit eight home runs with a .381 slugging percentage, which ranked below average for first basemen.
“I got to play with LaMonte,” said president of baseball operations Buster Posey at the Winter Meetings. “I know what he can bring to a team and his ability to get on base and play good defense. He’s a really good player.
Doval, 27, endured the worst season of his major-league career, posting a career-worst 4.88 ERA over 59 innings, losing the closer role in August when the Giants demoted him to Triple-A Sacramento. For as bad as last season went, Posey said at the Winter Meetings that he was “bullish” on Doval playing for the Giants in 2025. the one-time All-Star still maintains his elite velocity (96th percentile) and an effective slider.
“Everybody’s going to, at some point in time, go through some struggles,” said manager Bob Melvin at the Winter Meetings. “It’s how you handle it, and I think he’s handled it beautifully. He went down there and he worked on the things we asked him to. It’s very rare you find guys who throw 99 (mph) and have a wipeout slider and hitters aren’t comfortable in the box.”
Rogers, 34, maintained his status as one of the Giants’ best relievers this millenium, posting a 2.82 ERA over 70 1/3 innings while leading the National League in games pitched (77).
Giants bolster catching depth with waiver claim
The Giants bolstered their catching depth on Wednesday afternoon, claiming backstop Sam Huff off waivers from the Texas Rangers. In a corresponding move, right-hander Austin Warren was designated for assignment.
Huff, 26, is a career .258/.313/.455 hitter with 10 home runs and 20 RBIs over 78 career games. Defensively, Huff is worth -3 defensive runs saved. He’s played in parts of four major-league seasons, only appearing in three games last year.
With Huff in the mix, the Giants have four catchers on their 40-man roster: Huff, Patrick Bailey, Tom Murphy and Blake Sabol. While Bailey played 106 games en route to winning his first Gold Glove, the Giants cycled through backup catchers as Murphy missed just about all of last season due to a left knee injury. Along with Bailey and Murphy, Sabol (eight games), Curt Casali (38), Jakson Reetz (six) and Andrew Knapp (two) saw time for the Giants behind the dish.