SF Giants: Farhan Zaidi says there is "mutual interest" in a reunion with Carlos Rodón
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The best player on the SF Giants this season, left-handed starting pitcher Carlos Rodón, is almost assuredly going to opt out of his contract this offseason and become a free agent. In a Zoom press conference with reporters on Friday, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi shared that "there is mutual interest" between the team and Rodón about a long-term contract that would keep him in San Francisco for years to come.
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The Giants signed Rodón to a two-year, $44 million contract last offseason that included a player opt-out after the 2022 season. Rodón was excellent for the Chicago White Sox early in 2021 but was unable to secure a long-term contract because teams were concerned about a late-season injury. However, he had the best year of his career in 2022 and is ready to cash in.
Rodón made a career-high 31 starts this season, recording 237 strikeouts and a 2.88 ERA across 178 innings pitched. This summer, he was selected to participate in the All-Star Game for the second consecutive year and will likely finish in the top five of National League Cy Young Award voting.
There is reason for skepticism about the Giants willingness to pursue a long-term deal with Rodón. The Giants have yet to sign any pitcher to a contract spanning more than three years or worth more than $50 million. After Rodón's record-setting season, he will likely receive a deal with a nine-figure guarantee based on free agents with similar track records, the Giants have not shown a willingness to spend like that under Zaidi.
"It's easy to infer sort of a set of rules from that, but we don't have strict hard and fast rules in terms of contract length," Zaidi said, trying to dispel the notion that the front office is opposed to making a large commitment to a starting pitcher. "With starting pitchers, there's a track record of the history of the longer contracts, and you try to factor that in, but he had a spectacular season for us. There's no doubt about that."
Zaidi concluded his comments on Rodón by noting his conversations with the southpaw and his agent, Scott Boras. While Zaidi did not say the two parties have engaged in extension negotiations, he sounded confident that Rodón is interested in returning to the Giants and that the front office has a similar goal in mind.
"So again, as we talked about with the high-end free agents, he's gonna have plenty of suitors," Zaidi said. "I'm sure we're gonna be talking with Scott Boras about bringing him back. The feedback from Carlos and from Scott is he enjoyed being here, he enjoyed pitching in our park, and so, I would say there's mutual interest, and we'll just have to see how it plays out."
