Ray declines opt-out; Flores exercises player option with Giants
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One day after left-hander Blake Snell opted out, two other Giants veterans decided to opt in.
Lefty Robbie Ray will remain in the Giants’ rotation after declining to opt out of the final two years and $50 million remaining on the five-year, $115 million deal he signed with the Mariners following his 2021 American League Cy Young campaign. Infielder Wilmer Flores also exercised his $3.5 million player option for 2025, giving him a chance to return for a sixth season in San Francisco.
The Giants expected Ray to stay through the remainder of his contract after acquiring the 33-year-old from Seattle in exchange for Mitch Haniger and Anthony DeSclafani last offseason.
Ray missed the first half of the year while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but he returned to the big league mound on July 24 and logged a 4.70 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 30 2/3 innings over seven starts for the Giants in 2024.
Ray ended the season on the injured list after sustaining a left hamstring strain in his return to Seattle on Aug. 27, but the Giants are hoping he’ll be able to regain his Cy Young form and serve as Logan Webb’s co-ace over the next two years. Ray posted a 2.84 ERA with 248 strikeouts across 193 1/3 innings in his AL Cy Young Award-winning season for the Blue Jays. Then he followed that up by recording a 3.71 ERA over 32 starts in his first year with the Mariners in 2022.
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Flores, 33, led the Giants with a career-high 23 home runs and an .864 OPS in 2023, but he endured a down year after struggling to overcome a right knee injury that required a season-ending Tenex procedure on Aug. 6. He batted only .206/.277/.318 with four homers over 71 games in 2024, all of which were the lowest full-season marks of his 12-year career.
The Giants have platooned Flores and LaMonte Wade Jr. at first base over the last few years, but it’s hard to envision a scenario in which both are back in 2025, particularly with another power-hitting first baseman -- No. 1 prospect Bryce Eldridge -- now on the cusp of the Majors.
While Flores is under contract for next year, the Giants will have to decide whether to move on from the popular infielder or keep him on the 40-man roster for the offseason and see how he recovers from his knee procedure next spring. They’ll face a similar decision with Wade, who will be due an estimated $4.7 million in his final year of arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors.