SF Giants' Robbie Ray Declines Opt-Out (Report), Wilmer Flores Exercises Option

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, left-hander Robbie Ray has not opted out of his contract with the Giants and will remain in San Francisco. Ray has two years and $50 million remaining on the five-year, $115 million contract he signed before the start of the 2022 season.

Additionally, infielder Wilmer Flores has exercised his player option for the 2025 season, the Giants announced Saturday morning.

The news comes a day after left-hander Blake Snell opted out of his contract and became a free agent.

Ray, acquired in a trade with the Mariners last season, didn't make his debut for the Giants until late July while recovering from Tommy John surgery. In seven starts with San Francisco, Ray had a 4.70 ERA with 43 strikeouts over 30 2/3 innings. The 33-year-old left-hander and former Cy Young Award winner will lead next year's rotation alongside Logan Webb.

Flores signed a three-year, $16.5 million contract extension with San Francisco in September 2022 with a shared option for 2025. If Flores had exercised his opt-out, the Giants would then have an $8.5 million club option Had dollars, which they probably would have refused.

The 33-year-old Flores is coming off the worst season of his major league career, posting career-lows in batting average (.206), on-base percentage (.277) and slugging percentage (.318) with four home runs and 26 RBIs. Defensively, Flores was worth -2 defensive runs held at first base. In August, Flores underwent Tenex surgery on his right knee, which ended his season early.

Last season, the Giants used eight different players at first base: Flores, LaMonte Wade Jr., Mark Canha, David Villar, Trenton Brooks, Jerar Encarnacion, Tyler Fitzgerald and Brett Wisely. This group (when playing first base) combined for an OPS of .699, which ranked 21st in all of baseball.

During general manager Perry Minasian's introductory Zoom address, president of baseball operations Buster Posey said the Giants will “explore every option available to make our team the best it can be.”

“When you think about roster construction, for me it's similar to how I envisioned life as a baseball player,” Posey said. “As a baseball player, you want to be as complete as possible on both sides of the ball. I think that’s ultimately the way we want to put a roster together, with strong pitching and strong defense and the ability to score some runs in different ways.”

There are several first basemen on the free agent market, led by slugger Pete Alonso. However, the Giants' options on the open market do not include Cody Bellinger, who picked up his $27.5 million player option for the 2025 season and remains a Chicago Cub.

Wade, who turns 31 in January, is entering his final year as an arbitrator and is expected to make $4.7 million, according to MLB Trade Rumors projections. He missed time due to a hamstring injury and finished the season with a .260 batting average, eight home runs and a .761 OPS.

Bryce Eldridge, the 16th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, could potentially factor into San Francisco's first base equation next season. Eldridge began his first full professional season at Low-A San Jose and played his way up to Triple-A Sacramento, where he finished the year with a .291 batting average, 23 home runs and 92 RBIs. The 20-year-old will likely receive an invitation to spring training, but since he has only played eight games with the River Cats, he will likely start in the minors next season.

Originally published: November 2, 2024 at 10:57 am PDT