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During his end-of-season press conference at Oracle Park earlier this month, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said he expected to have “15 to 20” players returning to the roster of the Giants in 2024.
One of the club’s most pressing questions this offseason is whether the left-hander Sean Manaea and outfielder Michael Conforto will be among them. Manaea, Conforto and right-hander Ross Stripling each joined the Giants on two-year contracts with opt-out clauses that would allow them to test the open market again this winter.
Stripling has already indicated that he plans to stay in San Francisco, frankly admitting in September that “I did not present my argument well enough to withdraw.” The 33-year-old veteran finished the 2023 campaign with a 5.36 ERA in 22 appearances (11 starts) and landed on the injured list twice due to back pain. Assuming he returns, Stripling will owe $12.5 million next year and will likely resume his swingman role on the Giants’ pitching staff.
Manaea and Conforto’s decisions won’t be as simple, as they might have a better chance at more lucrative deals in free agency. Manaea, 31, signed the same contract as Stripling and also struggled early in the season, but he got back on track as he worked out of the bullpen and eventually record a 2.25 ERA on his last four departures of the year.
Bolstered by his offseason work at Driveline, Manaea averaged a career-best 93.6 mph on his four-seam fastball and showed he could exploit the extra zipper while thriving in various roles for the Giants. Still, that versatility could ultimately make him more attractive to other suitors, especially given the limited starting pitching options on the free agent market this winter.
Conforto, 30, was expected to serve as a key bat in the middle of the order this year, but he faced long stretches of inconsistency at the plate after missing the entire 2022 season due to shoulder surgery RIGHT. He ended up hitting .239 with a career-low .718 OPS and 15 home runs and was limited to 125 games due to hamstring issues.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Conforto said before the club’s regular-season finale. “On the baseball side, I’m proud of a lot of things. I pride myself on staying generally healthy. Keeping the shoulder healthy and showing that I can do some things that were maybe question marks following surgery. Being able to throw the ball effectively, playing some defense. But I also feel like I’m holding myself to a higher standard than how I played this year.
“I feel like I could have played better. But it’s just one of those things that can happen when you miss a season. I just didn’t have the consistency throughout the sequence.
Conforto, who is a client of Scott Boras like Manaea, said he plans to use this month to talk with his family and think about his future with the Giants, who will owe him $18 million if he decides to stay in San Francisco in 2024. said he would keep an eye on managerial research Meanwhile, the Giants’ new dugout leader could also influence his choice.
“I think that comes into play, for sure,” Conforto said. “There’s a lot of things that go into it. We’ll see how the timing works out with all of this and when our decision needs to be made. It’s going to have to be a lot of conversations before I can really comment on that.
If Conforto decides to exercise his opt-out clause, the Giants could have a clearer path toward upgrading an outfield mix that is already expected to feature holdovers like Mitch Haniger, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater, Luis Matos and Tyler Fitzgerald. For now, Zaidi said the club will move forward with the assumption that everyone will be back and adjust accordingly as the offseason progresses.
“Right now we’re kind of operating like we’re going to get all these players back,” Zaidi said. “If they choose to exercise their right to opt out, we will look to fill those slots.”
