Foxes and close Camilo Doval held talks last year about a contract extension that would have paid Doval nearly $50MM, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It is not known if the Giants have since made a larger offer, or if the two sides have continued negotiations in any significant way.
Regarding the timing of the $50MM offer, Slusser notes that Edwin DiazThe five-year, $102MM deal with the Mets through November 2022 comes “shortly” after talks between Doval and the Giants. So it's probably safe to assume the two sides will be in talks during Spring Training in 2023, as teams typically evaluate long-term contracts with their infielders during spring camp.
Doval is still an arbitration player, as the right-hander will only enter the arb process for the first of three seasons this coming season. He's scheduled to hit free agency following the 2027 campaign, so it looks like the Giants' offer includes Doval's two remaining pre-arb seasons, his three years of arbitration, and one free agent season, which could be and club option. or two are also attached.
It would be a financial commitment for a pitcher with just 94.2 MLB innings under his belt heading into the 2023 season, especially for a Giants team that has been wary of offering any kind of long-term contract to the pitcher since becoming president. of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi took over the front office. It should be noted that the spring of 2023 saw the Giants complete a five-year, $90MM extension with. Logan Webbalthough a long-term deal with a circuit breaker is less risky than a long-term deal to a dealer.
There haven't been many relief pitchers in history who have received contracts (either extensions or free agent deals) worth $50MM or more. Doval was also an international favorite for a $100K signing bonus in 2015, so even if he considers the offer unsatisfying after Diaz's deal to reset the market, it should take some confidence. Doval's part of the life-changing safety transfer for San Francisco's expansion.
Now two months into the 2024 season, Doval's decision to bet still looks sound. Doval has a 2.89 ERA over 90 1/3 innings since Opening Day 2023, with an outstanding 30.4% strikeout rate, 55.6% slugging rate, and an average fastball of 99.2 mph . Some metrics stand out as red flags, as Doval is always prone to walking, and his hard contact numbers have been decidedly below average over the past two years.
Since mundane stats like saves are valued more by umpires than depth stats, the number that may be most important to Doval's future earnings is Doval's 75 saves in 87 chances over the past three seasons. Assuming he stays healthy and productive for the rest of 2024, he'll enter his first round of arbitration with a solid three-year field of quality ninth-inning results. This will be followed by incremental salary increases over his next two years if all goes well, and then a free agent deal in the 2027-28 offseason (when he's 30 years old) that could set a new level of closeness. contracts.
That's still a ways down the road, of course, which speaks to the long-term risk Doval is taking on raising the above. There's nothing stopping Doval and the Giants from coming together on a long-term deal any time over the next four seasons, though San Francisco could be open to other options for their top innings. As Slusser writes, a rookie Randy Rodriguez he looked good in his first taste of MLB action, and he could be the closer of the future. This could mean the Giants could end up exploring trading Doval to address needs elsewhere on the roster, while saving some money on Doval's rising arbitration salary, and perhaps trading up to some extent. Those high levels of hard contact, for example, or Doval's ongoing control issues may have given the Giants more concern about Doval's long-term performance than they had in the spring of 2023.
Source link
