What Michael Conforto opting in means for SF Giants

After an underwhelming 2023, Michael Conforto will opt in to an $18M salary for next season rather than test the free agent market.

In the fourth inning of an otherwise mundane game at the end of July, Michael Conforto stepped into the batter’s box for the 350th time last season, earning him the right to opt out of his contract after the season. Decision day came Monday, and Conforto will be sticking around.

Of the three Giants with player options or out-out clauses, Conforto will join Ross Stripling in returning for 2024. He will make $18 million in the second year of the two-year deal he signed last offseason, while Sean Manaea, the third in that group, will head back to the free-agent market.

All three players bet on themselves, but only the only one who performed well enough for it to pay off was Manaea, who is likely in line for a multiyear contract. The other half of the deal is the risk taken on by the Giants, who are now on the hook for $30.5 million in salary next season for players who aren’t necessarily part of their long-term plans.

Conforto, 30, hoped to show teams that he was back to full strength after missing the entire 2022 season while recovering from surgery on his right shoulder, potentially setting him up to receive a free-agent deal comparable to the nine-figure extension he reportedly turned down with the Mets before 2021.

However, while his shoulder proved to be a nonissue, he wasn’t able to rediscover his previous level of offensive production, finishing with a .239/.334/.384 batting line, a .718 OPS that was the lowest of his career.

Conforto was also a nonfactor down the stretch, hitting the last of his 15 homers on Aug. 13, shortly before suffering a hamstring strain that cost him three weeks. Upon returning, Conforto went 4-for-36 over his final 14 games, with two doubles amounting to his only extra-base hits.

For a flicker in May, Conforto appeared to be heading toward an easy decision at the end of the season. Eight of his 15 home runs came during the 22-game stretch, during which he batted .359/.422/.692, bringing his OPS to a high-water mark of .822. But Conforto would go on to hit only three more home runs over his final 72 games, and now will back as part of an increasingly crowded Giants outfield.

With a relatively set infield contingent, Farhan Zaidi identified the outfield as the easiest place to upgrade the Giants’ hitting and defense.

Former Dodger and 2018 MVP Cody Bellinger and Korean center fielder Jung-hoo Lee are two potentially attractive options on the free-agent market (once Lee is posted, as expected) who would instantly upgrade the Giants on both sides of the ball. But with Conforto back, it may take some more maneuvering to create the roster space with a group that already includes Conforto, Mitch Haniger, Mike Yastrzemski, Austin Slater and Luis Matos.

That said, either the Giants’ outfield personnel or their production must improve from last season. Defensively, the group ranked 28nd in Outs Above Average and 22nd in Defensive Runs Saved. Offensively, Giants outfielders ranked 24th in wRC+, 10% below league average. Altogether, they produced fewer Wins Above Replacement than all but the White Sox and Rockies, two teams that both lost 100 games.