Robbie Ray rejects opt-out clause in Giants contract

Left-handed Robbie Ray has opted out of the opt-out clause in his contract, meaning he will remain with the Giants for both the 2025 and 2026 seasons. ESPN’s Jeff Passan (X-Link) was first to report the news. The five-year, $115 million contract Ray signed with the Mariners prior to the 2022 season has been pushed back slightly so that Ray will make $25 million in each of the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

It’s not particularly surprising that Ray takes the proverbial bird in hand here. In May 2023, he underwent ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, commonly known as Tommy John surgery, and flexor tendon repair. While he was recovering from that surgery, the Mariners traded him to the Giants.

Ray got back on track with San Francisco in 2024, but managed seven starts with an unimpressive 4.70 earned run average before spending the month of September on the injured list with a left hamstring strain.

Pitchers with injury question marks can still get paid, but Ray will have a hard time finding more than $50 million on the open market. Carlos Rodon had many injury layoffs in his early career, but was able to secure a two-year, $44 million contract from the Giants through 2022. However, Rodón had just made 24 starts for the White Sox in 2021 with a 2.37 ERA and was heading into his age 29 season. Ray, on the other hand, is now 33 years old and has made eight starts over the past two years with a 5.03 ERA.

Taking all of this into account, Ray’s best financial move was to keep that guarantee in place. He will return to the Giants next year and hopefully get back on track. While it’s probably unrealistic to expect him to return to his Cy Young-winning form starting in 2021, it would be nice to get even a portion of it back. The year he earned that hardware, he made 32 starts for the Blue Jays with a 2.84 ERA, a 32.1% strikeout rate and a 6.7% walk rate.

A Giant starter leaves, as Blake Snell has backed out of his deal. Next year’s rotation projects in San Francisco include Ray, Logan Webb And Kyle Harrison. Perhaps Jordan Hicks will get another chance to start, or maybe he’ll be back in the bullpen. Boys like Landen Roupp, Keaton Winn, Tristan Beck, Hayden birdsong and others would also be in the mix.

If the club tries to strengthen this group, people like Snell, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Jack Flaherty and many others. The trading market should be there Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray and more.