With the Carlos Correa deal having fallen apart, the Giants still have given just two three-year contracts to free agent position players. On Wednesday, they admitted defeat on one of them.
To clear a roster spot for reliever Taylor Rogers, the Giants DFA’d veteran infielder Tommy La Stella with a year remaining on his contract. They will eat the remaining $11.5 million on the backloaded three-year, $18.75 million deal he signed before the 2021 MLB season.
The Giants hoped they could help La Stella reach the next level after a career spent mostly as a bench bat, but he played just 136 games in two seasons with the Giants. La Stella was worth 0.3 WAR in his first season and negative 0.7 last year, when he was limited to 60 games because of offseason Achilles surgery. The Giants admitted later that he actually had surgery on both Achilles.
Giants officials publicly had maintained hope that La Stella could be a contributor in 2023, but it was hard to see how he fit the roster.
The Giants already have Brandon Crawford, Wilmer Flores, J.D. Davis, Thairo Estrada and David Villar set for lots of playing time in the infield and would like to get LaMonte Wade Jr. more time at first base. There also were questions about whether La Stella would be able to handle second or third given the new restrictions on shifts.
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The Giants still could use infield help, but they added a big piece to their bullpen in Rogers, a hard-throwing lefty who has past experience as a closer. Rogers’ three-year deal is worth $33 million, paying him $9 million next season and $12 million the following two years.
