Giants chairman Greg Johnson discussed several topics in an interview John Shea of the San Francisco Standardincluding some conversations about how the team plans to spend this winter. As is common with any senior executive, Johnson spoke in generalities about payroll rather than citing specific figures, and downplayed the idea of huge spending sprees. For example, while Johnson quoted: “start pitching“as”probably number 1 on the listof offseason priorities, he said the Giants’be very careful with it‘ signing a pitcher to a nine-figure contract.
On whether or not the Giants would exceed the $244 million luxury tax cap, “it just depends on what is there. We may be over. We may be underJohnson said.We’re going to look at each situation and make the decision and see how it fits not only into next year, but also into the longer-term plans..”
San Francisco has crossed the Competitive Balance Tax line four times in its history. They paid the tax in each of the 2015-2017 seasons, as a function of the increasing costs associated with keeping their championship core together from the teams of the early 2010s. The club also narrowly exceeded the tax limit in 2024, a result of the Giants making a series of expensive acquisitions during the 2023-2024 offseason.
In 2025, the Giants dipped back under the tax line even after some more prominent moves – i.e. expanding Matt Chapmansignature Willy Adames to a seven-year/$182 million free agent deal, and their trade before June Rafael Devers. Even when it comes to these salaries, plus major obligations Logan Webb, Junghoo LeeAnd Robbie RaySan Francisco’s books are relatively clean, as almost all of the team’s money is tied up in these six players alone. Ray is also a free agent next winter, leaving more room for longer-term commitments, even if Johnson is wary of such contracts.
“We can go upstairs [in spending]but I think there is a risk that too many people have similar six-year deals, creating less payroll flexibilityJohnson said.I think you can always do things on a shorter basis, but you have to be careful that too many of your players are in their late 30s and on high salary levels. I think you have to balance that.”
San Francisco fans may not like hearing about ownership’s financial prudence, but still, virtually any owner or front office executive would share Johnson’s concerns about spending too much money now on players who could soon be future albatrosses. In fact, this was exactly the situation the Giants found themselves in during their previous taxpayer years, when some of the key players on their World Series teams began to decline.
There’s also the fact that the Giants are far enough under the $244 million tax line that there’s room for the team to spend quite a bit this winter while still staying under the threshold. Cot’s Baseball Contracts estimates the Giants to have a payroll of approximately $152.7 million and a tax figure of $182 million for 2026, while Grid source’s estimates are slightly higher ($169.3 million payroll and a tax ID of $192.4 million).
Whichever estimate you prefer, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey figures to have financial flexibility as we pursue bigger goals this winter. Upgrading the pitching staff (not to mention the team’s other needs) likely won’t come cheap, and with just one winning record in their last nine seasons, the Giants figure to once again be very active in their efforts to get back into contention.
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