The San Francisco Giants’ unparalleled offseason took another twist Friday morning.
Barely 72 hours since their blockbuster deal with Carlos Correa fell apart, they quickly pivoted to their two next-best options, reportedly reaching deals with free-agent outfielder Michael Conforto and reliever Taylor Rogers.
As Giants fans are well aware of now, both deals aren’t final until the team checks off on the players’ physical exams.
The agreements with Conforto, a former All-Star who missed all of last season following shoulder surgery in April, and Rogers come days after the Giants had “a difference of opinion” about Correa’s physical after reaching an agreement on a $350 million, 13-year deal and the star shortstop then pivoted to the New York Mets. That came on the heels of the Giants finishing second to the New York Yankees in the Aaron Judge sweepstakes.
Conforto, whose deal is reportedly for $36 million over two years, rounds out the Giants’ outfield, after they added Mitch Haniger on a three-year deal earlier this month. The deal, which hasn’t yet been announced by the club and was first reported by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, reportedly includes an opt out after 2023.
Rogers, reportedly is in agreement on a three-year, $33 million contract, gets a chance to team up with his twin brother, Tyler, and gives the Giants the back-end bullpen arm they were seeking. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal was first to report the Rogers deal.
Conforto, who turns 30 during spring training, and Rogers, 32, were considered among the best players remaining on the free-agent market.
It’s worth noting that Conforto’s agent is Scott Boras, whose stable of clients also includes Correa.
After a failed physical scuttled Correa’s agreement in San Francisco, it might seem perplexing that the Giants’ other two biggest free-agent agreements came with Haniger, who has played 100 games twice in six big league seasons, and Conforto, who missed all of last year after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder.
However, Farhan Zaidi has said he believes Haniger’s health problems have been “flukish” — he already passed his physical — while Conforto is expected to be fully recovered from his operation by spring training.
Conforto played in 153 games in 2018, 151 in 2019 and 53 of a possible 60 games in 2020 before he injured his shoulder during an offseason workout in January 2022. The 2017 All-Star played his first seven seasons in New York, batting .255 with 132 home runs, 396 RBIs and an .824 OPS. He has experience in all three outfield spots, though has primarily played right field.
The Giants made it a goal this offseason to upgrade their dreadful outfield defense, which ranked last in the majors last season, and accomplished that task to some degree. Although they preferred to find a center fielder, which would have maximized Mike Yastrzemski’s defensive value in right field, Zaidi also acknowledged that Yastrzemski’s versatility allowed them widen the scope of their search.
Yastrzemski and Austin Slater are expected to share center field duties, with Conforto and Haniger in the corners. That allows the Giants to primarily use Joc Pederson at designated hitter and LaMonte Wade Jr. at first base.
While neither Conforto nor Haniger would be favorites in a footrace, both come with cannons for arms. In 2021, the last full season for either player, Haniger’s arm strength measured in the 83rd percentile leaguewide, while Conforto ranked even higher, in the 87th percentile. However, Conforto’s surgery was on his throwing shoulder, and whatever ramifications, if any, remain to be seen.
Like Haniger, a Santa Clara native, joining the Giants is a West Coast homecoming for Conforto. He grew up in the Seattle area (although he said as a kid his favorite player was Barry Bonds) and attended Oregon State University before the Mets took him with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 draft.
Conforto was one of the most productive hitters in the majors from 2017-2020, producing a slash line of .265/.369/.495. He hit at least 27 home runs three straight seasons, topping out with 33 in 2019, and batted over .300 for the first time during the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. But he only hit 14 home runs in 2021 with a slash line of .232/.344/.384 and then injured his shoulder last January while working out during the lockout.
Rogers adds much-needed depth to the Giants bullpen, as well as a compelling story to a team that garnered criticism — and, perhaps, hard evidence in the form of the lowest attendance in the history of Oracle Park — for not giving fans a reason to watch.
Taylor, an effective lefty, and Tyler, a submarining righty, will be the fourth set of twins in major-league history to be teammates, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Only 10 sets of twins have reached the majors, and José and Ozzie Canseco were the last to appear on the same team, on the 1990 A’s.
They became the second set of twins to appear in the same game last April, when Taylor’s Padres visited Tyler’s Giants, and will be the first to appear in the same game more than once.
The lefty has two 30-save seasons to his credit, including last season with the Padres and Brewers, but likely will serve as a second option to closer Camilo Doval depending on workload and matchups. The Giants were concerned with the level of Doval’s workload toward the end of last season and wanted to add an alternative late-inning option.
In seven seasons with the Twins, Padres and Brewers, Rogers has 81 saves and a 3.42 ERA.
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Staff writer Laurence Miedema contributed to this report.
