Thanks to Kevin Gausman’s enormous rebound effort in San Francisco this year, the Giants decided over the weekend to issue the free-agent right-hander an $18.9MM qualifying offer. It’s possible Gausman will accept it by the Nov. 11 deadline, which Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic writes would be palatable for the Giants. However, the Giants are also interested in re-signing Gausman to a multiyear contract, according to Baggarly.
As a soon-to-be 30-year-old fresh off an excellent season, Gausman may be the second-most appealing starter on the open market. Indeed, the Giants do have him ranked as the No. 2 option available, trailing only ace Trevor Bauer, per Baggarly. While Gausman won’t do nearly as well as Bauer this winter, a deal in the three-year, $40MM to four-year, $50MM range isn’t out of the question, Baggarly notes. If the hard-throwing Gausman’s breakout continues, a contract along those lines could be a bargain.
Gausman has already given the Giants plenty of bang for their buck since they signed him to a $9MM guarantee last December. In what may go down as his only year as a Giant, he provided the club 59 2/3 innings of 3.62 ERA ball with the National League’s seventh-best K/BB ratio (4.94; 11.92 K/9 against 2.41 BB/9) and its ninth-ranked FIP (3.09).
In other Giants news, the club has made a pair of noteworthy cuts behind the scenes, Baggarly relays. Longtime major league righty and former Giant Dave Righetti is out after 21 years as an assistant. Righetti was the Giants’ pitch coach for 18 years, a span in which he helped the team to three World Series titles, before moving into a special assistant role prior to 2018. Along with Righetti, the Giants waved goodbye to Shawon Dunston, who held coaching roles with the organization for 12 years. Dunston had a long big league career as an infielder/outfielder and spent four seasons with the Giants.