[Mick]

It’s time to start thinking about the ‘25 thread…..

My June 1 lineup

Lee RF
Fitz. 2b
Ramos LF
Eldridge 1B
Chapman 3b
Bailey C
Kim SS
Luciano DH
McCray CF

SP Burnes

Bench

Wade (LF/1b/DH)
Murphy
Matos
Schmitt/Wisely (utility) 

One can dream….

Funnily enough, with slight variations (I'd switch Fitz & Lee), I actually think that will happen. The free agent market outside of Soto next year will be mediocre at best. I like the idea of Kim at SS. He made $8 mms. last year and is having a mediocre year this year (2.4 oWAR and 0.9 dWAR compared with 4.2 and 2.1 in 2023). He'll be 29 next year, and he was a gold glove last year. I'm sure he'd like to be reunited with Kim. SI theorized in January that a seven year extension between $130 mms. and $150 mms. would do the trick. Assume the lower end given his year and we're at $18 mms. per year. I think it's doable.

Make a run at Soto? Why not...the Mets and Yankees will have a bidding war for him. He's a 4x all star including the last two years, and he'll only be 26. Corner outfielder and DH. 1.012 OPS this year.

I suspect Johnson may be exhausted by the recent free agent signings, and frankly, Farhan's best bet to keep his job is to point to all those young players and say "see? it's working..."  The payroll will be $139 million for 30 players. My operating assumptions are that Ray opts in and Snell opts out, that Chapman signs long-term for $21 mms. next year, that we get Kim for $18 mms. next year, and we lose both Canha and Yaz. Yaz's OPS numbers have declined three of the last four years, he'll be 34 next year, his walks and OBP are down considerably...pretty expensive to keep, tbh, although he is leading the Giants and is fourth in MLB in triples with 9. Just an oddity. I made a few arbitrations on the low end. Still, a manageable number, and if we finally score a big free agent like Soto, still affordable. And given the likely attendance shortfall, we might need to go lower on the payroll.

How does this look?

Catchers
Bailey C $760,000
Casali C $1,000,000
Murphy C $4,000,000

Infielders
Chapman INF $21,000,000
Fitzgerald INF $760,000
Flores INF $3,500,000
Kim INF $16,833,333
Schmitt INF $760,000

Infielders/Outfielders
Eldridge INF/OF $760,000
Wade INF/OF $5,000,000

Outfielders
Lee OF $18,000,000
McCray OF $760,000
Ramos OF $760,000

DH/Utility
Encarnacion OF/DH $1,000,000
Luciano UTIL $760,000
Wisely UTIL $760,000

Relief Pitchers
Doval RP $1,250,000
Hjelle RP $760,000
Miller RP $760,000
Rodrigues RP $760,000
Rogers, Ty RP $5,000,000
Roupp RP $760,000
Walker RP $760,000

Starting Pitchers
Beck SP $760,000
Birdsong SP $760,000
Bivens SP $760,000
Harrison SP $760,000
Hicks SP $12,500,000
Ray SP $25,000,000
Webb SP $12,000,000

Total Payroll
$139,003,333

[Mick]

It’s time to start thinking about the ‘25 thread…..

My June 1 lineup

Lee RF
Fitz. 2b
Ramos LF
Eldridge 1B
Chapman 3b
Bailey C
Kim SS
Luciano DH
McCray CF

SP Burnes

Bench

Wade (LF/1b/DH)
Murphy
Matos
Schmitt/Wisely (utility) 

One can dream….

Funnily enough, with slight variations (I'd switch Fitz & Lee), I actually think that will happen. The free agent market outside of Soto next year will be mediocre at best. I like the idea of Kim at SS. He made $8 mms. last year and is having a mediocre year this year (2.4 oWAR and 0.9 dWAR compared with 4.2 and 2.1 in 2023). He'll be 29 next year, and he was a gold glove last year. I'm sure he'd like to be reunited with Kim. SI theorized in January that a seven year extension between $130 mms. and $150 mms. would do the trick. Assume the lower end given his year and we're at $18 mms. per year. I think it's doable.

Make a run at Soto? Why not...the Mets and Yankees will have a bidding war for him. He's a 4x all star including the last two years, and he'll only be 26. Corner outfielder and DH. 1.012 OPS this year.

I suspect Johnson may be exhausted by the recent free agent signings, and frankly, Farhan's best bet to keep his job is to point to all those young players and say "see? it's working..."  The payroll will be $139 million for 30 players. My operating assumptions are that Ray opts in and Snell opts out, that Chapman signs long-term for $21 mms. next year, that we get Kim for $18 mms. next year, and we lose both Canha and Yaz. Yaz's OPS numbers have declined three of the last four years, he'll be 34 next year, his walks and OBP are down considerably...pretty expensive to keep, tbh, although he is leading the Giants and is fourth in MLB in triples with 9. Just an oddity. I made a few arbitrations on the low end. Still, a manageable number, and if we finally score a big free agent like Soto, still affordable. And given the likely attendance shortfall, we might need to go lower on the payroll.

How does this look?

Catchers
Bailey C $760,000
Casali C $1,000,000
Murphy C $4,000,000

Infielders
Chapman INF $21,000,000
Fitzgerald INF $760,000
Flores INF $3,500,000
Kim INF $16,833,333
Schmitt INF $760,000

Infielders/Outfielders
Eldridge INF/OF $760,000
Wade INF/OF $5,000,000

Outfielders
Lee OF $18,000,000
McCray OF $760,000
Ramos OF $760,000

DH/Utility
Encarnacion OF/DH $1,000,000
Luciano UTIL $760,000
Wisely UTIL $760,000

Relief Pitchers
Doval RP $1,250,000
Hjelle RP $760,000
Miller RP $760,000
Rodrigues RP $760,000
Rogers, Ty RP $5,000,000
Roupp RP $760,000
Walker RP $760,000

Starting Pitchers
Beck SP $760,000
Birdsong SP $760,000
Bivens SP $760,000
Harrison SP $760,000
Hicks SP $12,500,000
Ray SP $25,000,000
Webb SP $12,000,000

Total Payroll
$139,003,333