Projected 2027 arbitration salaries for nine (!) Giants

On Friday night, MLB Trade Rumors posted their annual salary arbitration projection article , which uses Matt Swartz's formula and has come pretty close to nailing the final figure year in and year out. Last year was a little bit different for we spectators and the formula's relevance concerning our favorite team. The San Francisco Giants had three arbitration-eligible players , with two (Patrick Bailey & Ryan Walker) just missing the eligibility cutoff.

Of course, both non-tendered players wound up back with the organization at some point in 2026 — Luccehsi in a Spring Training deal he opted out of when the Giants picked up Ryan Borucki and Knizner in a major league deal back in August to give depth to a depleted catcher corps . Supremely low stakes and low performance all around (these three players combined for +0.7 fWAR in 2025 and -0.4 in 2026), but it's worth pointing out that being a Major League Baseball player isn't easy. Fewer than 1,000 dudes a year are good enough to play it.

These arbitration eligible players amount to cases for the team to contemplate as they approach the offseason. They can always sign these players to a contract before anything becomes fraught. That's where the MLB Trade Rumors formula provides insight. This is the general range if not exact dollar amount teams an player alike are starting with; arbitration-based salaries are based on recent MLB history, but also need. Sure, the team might need player X, but not at cost Y. Sometimes, cost Y is a virtual given, but player X might not be quite worth it — and that's when you see non-tenders. A non-tender is a team giving up their exclusive "rights" to or "control" of a player, but it doesn't mean team and player can't negotiate anymore. And, of course, in addition to non-tendering or winding up in an adversarial arbitration hearing, a team and player can simply agree to a contract.